King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, June 22, 2024
Chapters: PROVERBS 30-31
Message: Living A Virtuous Life
Hello My Friend,
I had a job interview that went pretty well until she asked me to solve a simple, but important math problem that I got wrong. After I thought about it I knew the correct answer, but at the time I could not think straight under the pressure. Oddly, this gave me a better understanding now of how that one command that God gave Adam and Eve was so important to obey, [Genesis 2:16-18 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.]
There will be many who will reject God saying that He set them up with this temptation. Likewise, there will be many who reject God saying that man should have the right to that knowledge. I say two things: One; God, cannot lie or tempt us with evil, man does that all by themselves through their own reasoning, [James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
And two; too much knowledge is too wonderful for us and it is a good thing that we do not know everything that God knows, [Job 42:1-3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.]
My husband and I will be married one year in sixteen days, and let me tell you when two strong willed, very set in their ways people unite God certainly has a way of humbling you. And talk about things too wonderful for me to understand, my husband is having what I call a Job moment, and as a wife that is one of the hardest things to watch as this is something that I cannot fix, but only God can. As we return to and come to the end of the reading of Proverbs, we find that they are written by two different men. First, we have Agur who was likely a dear friend of Solomon’s, and he starts his writing with an amazing prophecy.
[Proverbs 30:1-6 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, 2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. 4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? 5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.]
[what is his name, and what is his son’s name,] I do not care what era that you came from, everyone knew that God has a Son, they may not have known that His name is Jesus, but they did know that they needed Him, [Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.]
[lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.] And this is coming from someone who is not a preacher, priest, or even a servant of God. We cannot doubt one word written in His Word, nor attempt to put in it what we believe ought to be there. God’s Word, is inspired, meaning that God Himself is the one who told these Holy Spirit filled men to tell His story, often through their own stories. There is countless evidence proving these events to be true, but of course, people are attempting to erase history by removing these valuable landmarks, which is why they are so adamant about doing it. Removing history as well as God’s valuable words will come with consequence, [Deuteronomy 19:14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. Deuteronomy 27:17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.]
God, has always given us signs of Christ being here since He created the earth, of His first coming as man, and also of His return as KING, but if there was ever a time more certain of His return, it is now. And given the fact that they are not only trying to rewrite God’s Word, but history itself, there is no doubt the prophecies of His return are coming quickly as we see those curses become more prominent. The older I get the more I understand our aim in this life ought not to be how much we can get from the world rather what God gets out of us.
[Proverbs 30:7-10,15-16 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. 10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. 15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.]
[feed me with food convenient for me:] Let me tell you, the older I get the more I understand this as I cannot eat many of the things I grew up eating. I probably could not eat them back then either as I have had digestive problems most of my life. Nevertheless, there are times when God provides us with the means to enjoy steak and potatoes and other times just the potatoes, but either way we ought to be thankful and grateful for getting what is convenient for us, [Romans 14:6-8 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.]
[There are three…yea, four things say not, It is enough:] Think about it, God knows what we have need of, whether it be a feast or famine we are given it for a reason and only a season. The grave will never be satisfied because life for the flesh ends at death. The barren womb will never be satisfied because life begins in the womb. The earth will never be satisfied without water because it would die without water. And fire will never satisfied because its only desire is to devour everything in its path. There is one thing that can stop fire in its tracks and that is water, in fact, since Jesus is the living water for the soul we can safely say that anyone who receives Him as their Saviour is saved from the fire of hell, [Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.]
I will admit that some of these things are way too wonderful for me to understand, and I probably never will, but there is one thing that I do understand is that because of my faith in what Jesus did for me hell is not an option. The Proverb goes on to show us four things that are just too wonderful for us to understand in our own human comprehension.
[Proverbs 30:18-19,21-23,32-33 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: 22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; 23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. 33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.]
[The way of an eagle…the way of a serpent…the way of a ship] I know it seems like these things have likely explanations, but think about it. Eagles are one of the few of God’s creatures that mate for life, their eyesight is incredible, they can soar up to the highest point in the atmosphere, then dive straight down to the lowest point of the ground without a flinch and catch its prey. Snakes, while cursed to slither all their days on earth, slide up rocks, hang on trees, and even swim in water, yet in a moment capture their prey by wrapping itself around it. A ship is perhaps one of the most incredible inventions made by man, it can withstand the most tempestuous of storms and yet can sink to the bottom if water gets in. The wonders of God are truly amazing and something to be remembered, [Psalms 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.]
[the way of a man with a maid.] As for a woman, well, she is mans greatest influence, she can make or break him in an instant, which is why they are often too wonderful to understand. From the time that the woman was created from man, she has been able to influence men to do ungodly things. However, the power of a Godly wife is a great asset to her husband, [Proverbs 12:4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.]
Proverbs 31 is famous for being written as a spiritual guide for wives, even though it starts out by King Lemuel, giving advice given to him from his mother. Lemuel is likely Solomon as his name was also Jedediah, which has a similar meaning, [2 Samuel 12:24-25 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.] Since Bathsheba had to deal with her own indiscretions with David, she would certainly have some good advice for Solomon.
[Proverbs 31:1-7 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? 3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. 7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.]
[Give not thy strength unto women,] In order to understand this we need to understand what the meaning of strength is here, [Strength; Support; that which supports; that which supplies strength; security. Legal or moral force; validity; the quality of binding, uniting or securing.] The woman is not to be the legal or moral force of the man’s decisions. In other words, she is not to influence him into anything that would bring him to make immoral decisions that will destroy not only his testimony, but turn him away from God. Man or woman, we all need to be mindful of who we are around and not get caught up with anyone who ruin our testimony, [2 Corinthians 6:16-17 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,]
This actually makes sense coming from Solomon since his heart had gotten turned away from God through his love for the ungodly women in his life. All throughout the Bible you read about men being blessed by living by every word of God, but once in a while something pops up to remind women did as well, perhaps even more than men. There is a word for a Godly woman and it is virtuous and every man ought to be blessed when he finds one.
[Proverbs 31:10-18 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. 15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.]
[Who can find a virtuous woman?] [Virtuous; Morally good; acting in conformity to the moral law.] God did not design man to be alone otherwise there would be no women and when you think about it if there were no women life would cease to exist because without males and females there will be no more reproduction. So, in this world of wickedness, and a shortage of men who are afraid, corrupt, or too lazy to stand up and do what is right, it is imperative that Christian women step up and be the Godly influence that God has designed them to be, [Titus 2:3-5 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.]
[She riseth also while it is yet night,] It is not uncommon for a woman to rise up well before everyone else in the family to have her time with God before she get things in order for her family. A virtuous woman is in command of her own spirit, she is a help meet to God or her husband, a good teacher to children, whether or not they are hers, and stands by the principles of God’s Word. A virtuous woman is honored by God, prosperous in all that she does, and is well known yet humble.
[Proverbs 31:23-27,30-31 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.]
[She looketh well to the ways of her household,] This is something that my husband and I are working on, whenever I make decisions I am thinking about how it will affect everyone in my house and sometimes we clash because he has other plans. And that is where God comes in, He is the one who sets things in order for the husband and wife, [Ephesians 5:22-23,25,28 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.]
[a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.] We all mess up sometimes, after all, we are not perfect, but those who fear God and live by His Word are greatly blessed and their hard work will get noticed, even if it is only God who notices. God, has given us the life He has given us because He knows we can handle it, as we find our strength through Him. While living by every word of God is not what saves us, it is what helps us out of struggles and keeps us guarded against all evil, [1 Timothy 6:6-8,12 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Proverbs 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?]
Today’s Prayer: God, I believe that everything in Your Word is true and that I will receive all the promises You made as I learn and grow in it. You have us here for a purpose, and that is to shine the light of Christ in this dark world. Lord, Lead me and guide to a virtuous life and show me how to be a Godly influence to on those around me and especially my spouse. Give me Your power, wisdom, guidance, and the will to be both a hearer and a doer of Your Word. Let me not be tempted by others who are not living by Your Word to go astray and use me to be an example on how to influence others live virtuous lives. Also, give me Your mercy, grace, and strength to keep going and show me how to be content, yet not become idle. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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