LESSONS ABOUT WISDOM PROVERBS _KEITH SIMONS_ CHAPTER 21 V1 A king is like a canal that God controls. God leads the king in the way that God decides. V2 A man supposes that all his actions are right. But God knows the man’s secret thoughts. V3 Do the things that are right and fair! This matt... [ Continue Reading ]
God directs both good and evil kings. God directed King Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem. This was a punishment because the people in Jerusalem were very evil (2 Chronicles 36:15-17; Daniel 1:2). Later, God gave a dream to Nebuchadnezzar. This dream was about the future (Daniel 2:28). Later, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
We might think that we are always right. But God knows our real intentions.... [ Continue Reading ]
Two men, called Cain and Abel, gave gifts to God. God did not accept Cain’s gift, so Cain was angry. God warned Cain, ‘Do the things that are right! Then I (God) will accept you. But if you do wrong things, then your evil attitudes will control you.’ Cain did not obey God’s advice. Instead, Cain ki... [ Continue Reading ]
Evil people are proud. They think that they are more important than other people. And evil people think that they do not need God. Evil people are proud when they look at other people. When they see other people, they hate those people. The desires and actions of evil people are all wicked.... [ Continue Reading ]
A businessman must think hard when he makes his plans. Then his business will succeed. He must think carefully, before he makes each decision. This is true about all our plans. We should not make plans in a hurry. We must use intelligence, and make our plans carefully. If we follow our emotions, th... [ Continue Reading ]
This person cheats and steals to get money. He refuses to work to earn his money. God will punish him, even if judges do not punish him. Suddenly he will lose all his money. See Luke 12:20-21.... [ Continue Reading ]
Many evil people love to be cruel. They use cruelty to get money. They use cruelty to control other people. But evil people will also suffer in the end. Evil people will receive a severe punishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
Life is like a journey. A guilty person is like a traveller who chooses the wrong path. A guilty person’s actions may cause his death. His actions may take him to hell. So he needs to confess his evil deeds to God. But an innocent person is like a traveller who chooses the right path. This innocent... [ Continue Reading ]
The corner of a roof is not a comfortable place to live. But it is better than a big house, if the man’s wife argues. This man escapes to his roof. We should not argue. We should aim to be content. See Philippians 4:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
This man is wicked. He does not want to do the right things. He wants to do evil things. This is why he is unfriendly. He hates his neighbour. A wicked person does not want to help his neighbour or anyone else.... [ Continue Reading ]
The man who insults might not learn from his punishment. But other people can learn. Simple people have not learned to be wise. So simple people do evil things. But the simple people will see the punishment of the man who insults. So the simple people will be able to learn from that man’s error. A... [ Continue Reading ]
God sees evil people. He watches their evil actions. He knows their evil thoughts. God will punish them. V13 Perhaps a man does not listen to the cries of poor people. Then nobody will listen to him, when he too cries for help. V14 A secret gift takes away a man’s anger. A bribe (secret gift) in... [ Continue Reading ]
God cares about poor people. We also should care about them, and try to help them. If we do this, then God will help us. When we have problems, we can cry out to God. God will hear our prayers. See Psalms 40:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Solomon does not want us to give bribes (secret gifts). He teaches that bribes are evil. See Proverbs 15:27. A man might seem to be very angry. Perhaps the man really is angry. Or perhaps he just wants money. Perhaps he is like the buyer in Proverbs 20:14. So this angry man is bargaining for more m... [ Continue Reading ]
We want judges to be fair. We want them to make the right decisions. We want them to refuse bribes (secret gifts). An evil person does not think this. A fair judge will punish evil people as they deserve. A good judge will send evil people to prison. A good judge will not allow them to cheat other... [ Continue Reading ]
Life is like a journey. If we follow God, then he will guide us. We shall not be like travellers who wander on the wrong path. If we do not obey God, then we are in danger. This is like a man who wanders on to a dangerous road.... [ Continue Reading ]
This person wastes his money. He buys expensive wine and oil. He does not save his money. He spends it on every luxury. This person will drink the wine. He will use the oil. Soon nothing remains. He has spent all his money, so he is poor. We should be careful with our money. Then we shall not wast... [ Continue Reading ]
This is God’s principle. It is not a human principle. On this earth, good people sometimes suffer, even when wicked people do not suffer (Psalms 22:7-8). Sometimes innocent people suffer (Luke 13:1-5). However, in the end God will punish evil people. Sometimes evil people suffer instead of good peo... [ Continue Reading ]
This is similar to verse 9. However, this man lives in the desert. The desert is a terrible place to live. But it is better to live there than to listen to constant arguments.... [ Continue Reading ]
This reminds us of verse 17. The foolish man wastes everything. The wise man stores the best things. The wise man works hard so that, in winter, he will have plenty of food. This shows to us the wise man’s character. A wise man does not only store food. A wise man also stores wisdom and knowledge i... [ Continue Reading ]
We should not desire money, or fame, or foolish things. Instead, we should desire love and goodness. Love and goodness come from God. ‘God is love.’ (1 John 4:16) God gives good gifts (Matthew 7:11). God wants to give love and goodness to us. And he will also give other gifts to us, for example, lo... [ Continue Reading ]
A wise man is not afraid of strong men. He is wise, so he serves God. Through his wisdom, he can even destroy a strong castle. Wisdom is better than strength. Solomon tells a similar story in Ecclesiastes 9:13-16. In that passage, the wise man defends his city, when a strong man attacks. Both pass... [ Continue Reading ]
Our words can be dangerous. We might gossip or tell lies. We might insult other people. We might even make evil plans. We do not want to suffer a punishment for our evil words. We should ask God to forgive us. And we should be careful with our words. See James 3:1-12. V24 A man may be proud and in... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse explains how to identify a proud person. A proud man does not respect anyone else. He only thinks about himself. God wants us to be humble. See James 4:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
These two verses belong together. They compare a lazy man with a good man. This lazy man is greedy. He wants food. He needs money. But he refuses to work. So he tries to persuade other people to give these things to him. He will fail. He will die because he cannot earn anything. This good man is g... [ Continue Reading ]
If a wicked man gives a gift to God, that man is still wicked. He does not change his behaviour. He does not confess his evil deeds. He does not ask God to forgive him. This is more important than any gift. See Psalms 40:6-8 and Psalms 51:16-17. This man is wicked and his reasons are wicked. Perhap... [ Continue Reading ]
God punishes people who lie. Lies are evil (Deuteronomy 5:20; Mark 10:19). But a good listener will say helpful things. Such a person learns from what he hears. So his words will not suggest a wicked scheme. The second line might mean, ‘The words of a man who does not lie will always be true.’ Or,... [ Continue Reading ]
When people see this wicked man, he seems bold. Really, he is not bold, but he is stupid. An honest man would think about his actions. An honest man would be much more careful. V30 There is no wisdom that can defeat God. There is no knowledge that can defeat God. There is no plan that can defeat... [ Continue Reading ]
Some people think that selfish ambitions are wise (James 3:14-15). This is not really wisdom, and it cannot defeat God. Some people think that they are clever. They think that there is no God. The Bible calls them ‘fools’ (Psalms 14:1). Their intelligence cannot defeat God. Their knowledge cannot d... [ Continue Reading ]
For Solomon, his horses were like today’s tanks. (Tanks are strong, powerful, army vehicles.) A horse was strong and fast in a battle. It could pull a chariot (vehicle) or carry a soldier. The enemy was afraid of the horses. Horses need food, water and exercise. Soldiers trained the horses for the... [ Continue Reading ]