Proverbs 7:1-20 - Wisdom and the Forbidden Woman

Proverbs 7:1-20
¹ My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
² Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding intimate friend;
⁵ That they may keep you from an adulteress, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.

⁶ For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,
⁷ And I saw among the naive, discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense,
⁸ Passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house,
⁹ In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.
¹⁰ And behold, a woman to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
¹¹ She is boisterous and rebellious, her feet do not remain at home;
¹² now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner.
¹³ So she seizes him and kisses him and with a brazen face she says to him:
¹⁴ “I was due to offer peace offerings; today I have paid my vows.
¹⁵ “Therefore I have come out to meet you, to seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.
¹⁶ “I have spread my couch with coverings, with colored linens of Egypt.
¹⁷ “I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸ “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with caresses.
¹⁹ “For my husband is not at home, he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰ He has taken a bag of money with him, at the full moon he will come home.”

Message:  Wisdom and the Forbidden Woman

Time: King Solomon is the principal writer of Proverbs. Solomon's proverbs were penned around 900 B.C. In the Book of Proverbs, Solomon reveals the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations, too. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.

What the Lord is Saying:

Keep, Treasure, Bind

My son

• Keep my words
• Treasure my commandments
• Keep my commandments 
• And live
• Keep my teaching as the apple of my eye 
• Bind them on your fingers
• Write them on your heart
• Wisdom is my sister
• Understanding is my intimate friend

I look at these opening verses and its clear that a parents words hold value to our children. The words of those over us, that have wisdom have value to us. They are to be a treasure, or of value in our lives. These verses don't express mere listening. Listening is assumed. Words are to be kept. They are to be followed. They are to kept as I live. They are to be wrapped and memorized and held onto in our lives, in our heart. Foolishness comes when we live to our own way. Without the Holy Spirit at work, living in us, we look foolish. There is a desire for wisdom and understanding because it's worth is clearly seen. We want it.

Resist Temptation
Why is it so important to keep the words, and treasure these commands? Because sin is lurking. Sin is waiting. Temptations are near and all around. In this passage, the danger is personified in an adulteress, luring us away. While adultery is the subject here, the issue here is one of being enticed away. The purpose of adhering to the commandments is they:

• Keep you from an adulteress
• From the foreigner who flatters with words

This is the entire purpose of this passage, to keep us free from what is present in this world in which we live. The adultery is real. The foreigner is real. These are not people that may be present. They are present. They are active and present in our lives. And keeping the commandments and words are meant to keep us from these people, from being swayed away. People will flatter us with words, but we must keep God's word close to our heart.

Looking in the wrong places
The Father will now tell of a story, of a situation of a young man, lacking sense. And now we will see why this young man lacks sense.

He says, this young man was Passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness. This is huge. The young man didn't just go any way, but purposely passed through the street near the adulterers corner, taking the way to her house. And he was at night, in the middle of the night, amidst darkness. He put himself in harms way. He didn't take precautions. Maybe he thought he could handle it. Maybe he was going somewhere else, and had no intention of seeing the adulteress, but he put himself in the way. He gave in to his trigger. 

In life, we have to stay out of harm's way. 

And this woman shows all the danger signs: And behold, a woman to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious, her feet do not remain at home; now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner. This woman goes to meet him. She isn't waiting. And she is dressed for her role. She is cunning. She is boisterous and rebellious. She does not reside at home, but lives really in the streets. She may sleep at home, but she doesn't live at home. Her business is in the streets. 

Verses 13-20 focus on her seizing this young man, taking him back to her place. Her husband is gone so they can have fun. There is a big danger here. But, it started with the son not keeping the commandments, but desiring to go his own way. 

Promise: We are to stay close to keeping the commandments and treasuring them so we will be kept out of the wrong places and be able to resist temptations. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the clarity of you Word. Thank you for showing us the importance of staying close to your commands. You are concerned about my forever, not just my today. Help each of my family members, my children to be able to resist temptations. Give them the power to flee from things that will bring them down. Help them to keep commandments and treasure the words both that we put forth as parents and from the Words of the Lord. Place them in Christ.