The Path To Wisdom

Who, what, where, when, why. 

Who wrote it?:
Solomon highly likely penned chapters 1 to 29.
Agur wrote chapter thirty.
King Lemuel wrote chapter thirty-one.

When was it written?
During his reign from 970 to 930 B.C.
When was it compiled? Compiled and edited from 715 to 686 b.c.
The role of Hezekiah's men (see 25:1)

Why was it written: it’s spelled out for us in the first chapter.

Background leading up to Proverbs.

A little about Solomon,
2nd child of David and Bathsheba
2 Samuel 11-12. The first child died at birth and was conceived in adultery.

Because of David’s adultery, his oldest sons never became King. (a judgment of God)
Solomon became the next King. King number 3.
Close call for Solomon.
Absolom was the first born. He tried to steal the kingdom from David and eventually was killed.
The next in line was Adonijah, He tried to take the kingdom, without David even knowing about it.

The folks closest to David,
Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Bathsheba went directly to David and had Solomon become King.

Solomon was given a choice from God.
[1Ki 3:5 ESV] At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."
[1Ki 3:6 ESV] And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
[1Ki 3:7 ESV] And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
[1Ki 3:8 ESV] And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude.
[1Ki 3:9 ESV] Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?"
[1Ki 3:10 ESV] It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
[1Ki 3:11 ESV] And God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
[1Ki 3:12 ESV] behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
[1Ki 3:13 ESV] I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
[1Ki 3:14 ESV] And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."

Overview of Proverbs: See outline in powerpoint.

Chapter One!
[Pro 1:1 ESV] The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

Purpose:
[Pro 1:2 ESV] To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
[Pro 1:3 ESV] to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
[Pro 1:4 ESV] to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth--
[Pro 1:5 ESV] Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,
[Pro 1:6 ESV] to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Where it begins:
[Pro 1:7 ESV] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Gospel.
Know that you are a sinner,
know that you need a savior.
If you are not afraid of God’ wrath, then you are not willing or able to embrace God’s Love.

Wisdom Leverages Other People’s Experiences, good or bad.
[Pro 1:8 ESV] Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,
[Pro 1:9 ESV] for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Teenagers struggle with this because they in the process of becoming independent.

Don’t follow the popular evil people. They may be “cool”, but they are fools.
[Pro 1:10 ESV] My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

A Fools plan. Easy money, community, provision. (evil gain)
[Pro 1:11 ESV] If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;
[Pro 1:12 ESV] like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
[Pro 1:13 ESV] we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;
[Pro 1:14 ESV] throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse"—

Warning: it leads to death.
[Pro 1:15 ESV] my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,
[Pro 1:16 ESV] for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
[Pro 1:17 ESV] For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,
[Pro 1:18 ESV] but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.
[Pro 1:19 ESV] Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

Wisdom personified
[Pro 1:20 ESV] Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;
[Pro 1:21 ESV] at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
[Pro 1:22 ESV] "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
[Pro 1:23 ESV] If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

Nobody likes to be told that they are wrong. Especially when not asked.
[Pro 1:24 ESV] Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
[Pro 1:25 ESV] because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

No mercy for the foolish.
[Pro 1:26 ESV] I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,
[Pro 1:27 ESV] when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Sometimes there are No second Chances.
[Pro 1:28 ESV] Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
[Pro 1:29 ESV] Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
[Pro 1:30 ESV] would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

Consequences for rejecting the Gospel
[Pro 1:31 ESV] therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
[Pro 1:32 ESV] For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

[Pro 1:33 ESV] but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."

Promise from Jesus
[Jhn 10:27 ESV] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
[Jhn 10:28 ESV] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
[Jhn 10:29 ESV] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
[Jhn 10:30 ESV] I and the Father are one."

Seal
[2Cr 1:21 NIV] Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
[2Cr 1:22 NIV] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Seal
[Eph 1:13 NIV] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
[Eph 1:14 NIV] who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

Tell people about Jesus, you cannot lose.
[2Cr 4:5 NIV] For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
[2Cr 4:6 NIV] For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
[2Cr 4:7 NIV] But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
[2Cr 4:8 NIV] We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
[2Cr 4:9 NIV] persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
[2Cr 4:10 NIV] We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
[2Cr 4:11 NIV] For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

Chase Wisdom

More PowerPoint presentations from Jeff Rossignol