Journey Through Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Jobਨਮੂਨਾ

Proverbs: Sayings of Sages: In Front of the Text

Name some Proverbs that you have treated as personal promises, perhaps leading you to frustration, disappointment or anger. (If none come to mind, what passages have you noticed have been used that way by others?)

Reflection on Promises & Principles (Greg W. Parsons*)

There are some passages in Proverbs that we can read as timeless truths. The Proverbs below all tell us something about God that is true in every situation and era.

A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,

But a just weight is His delight.

Proverbs 11:1 (NASB)

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,

But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

Proverbs 12:22 (NASB)

The eyes of the LORD are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

Proverbs 15:3 (NASB)

The rich and the poor have a common bond,

The LORD is the maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:2 (NASB)

When we’re not talking about God’s character in Proverbs, we have to be careful how we interpret the maxims we find here. As we noted In the Text, we need to distinguish between principles and promises.

Name some Proverbs that you have treated as personal promises, perhaps leading you to frustration, disappointment or anger. Explain below.

If none come to mind, what passages have you noticed have been used that way by others?

It’s important to see how various genres in the Bible function. We’ve seen in this lesson, for example, that proverbial statements are not meant to be taken as promises that will always come to pass in every case. For example, acquiring wealth through deception will normally be short-lived (Prov 21:6). But there may be cases when someone with ill-gotten gain retains their wealth for decades.

The point of the Proverb is not to suggest that wealth gained in this manner will always be a “fleeting vapor” (NASB). Rather, it’s a warning against engaging in deceptive practices for gaining wealth.

As a result, you can see how respecting the genres in the Bible can provide interpretive guardrails for us.

Wrap-up

Nicole wraps up this lesson on Proverbs—timely and timeless wisdom, all grounded in the fear of YHWH and illustrated simply by a choice between two paths—a choice that is made every day. This is “practical” theology at its best—taking all we know from Scripture and what we observe around us, processing what we learn from those who’ve gone before, and living out what we discover with reverence and humility.

*Reference: Greg W. Parsons, “Guidelines for Understanding and Proclaiming the Book of Proverbs,” Learning from the Sages: Selected Studies on the Book of Proverbs, edited by Roy Zuck, 1995, pp. 157-160.