Proverbs (Part 117) - Pro 10:4-5

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4. Pro 10:4 – "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." A. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: i. The Bible gives a number of ways to become poor, such as: a. Refusing instruction (Pro 13:18). b. Following the advice or example of stupid people (Pro 28:19). c. Having a lack of judgment (Pro 13:23). d. Loving pleasure and having expensive taste (Pro 21:17). e. Going into debt (Pro 22:7). f. Hasting to be rich (Pro 28:22). g. Being cheap and stingy (Pro 11:24). ii. Pro 10:4 is the first usage of the word poor in the book of Proverbs, and if there is any truth to the so-called "law of first mention," the primary cause of poverty is laziness. a. Poor adj. – I. 1. a. Having few, or no, material possessions; wanting means to procure the comforts, or the necessaries, of life; needy, indigent, destitute; spec. (esp. in legal use) so destitute as to be dependent upon gifts or allowances for subsistence. In common use expressing various degrees, from absolute want to straitened circumstances or limited means relatively to station, as ‘a poor gentleman’, ‘a poor professional man, clergyman, scholar, clerk’, etc. The opposite of rich, or wealthy. b. Deal v. – II. To take part in, have to do with, occupy oneself, do business, act. 13. a. To carry on commercial transactions; to do business, trade, traffic (with a person, in an article). 14. To have to do with (a thing) in any way; to busy or occupy oneself, to concern oneself with. c. Slack adj. – I. 1. a. Of persons: Lacking in energy or diligence; inclined to be lazy or idle; remiss, careless; negligent or lax in regard to one's duties. iii. He that deals with a slack hand is one who is lazy, careless, negligent, and lax in his business and whatever he occupies himself with. a. Such a man is a slacker. b. He lacks energy and diligence and works only half-heartedly. c. He mopes around and does everything slowly. iv. Such a lazy man will become poor and will have few or no material possessions, will lack the means to procure the comforts and necessities of life, and will depend on others to take care of him. a. His poverty will come unexpectedly and forcefully (Pro 6:6-11). b. Such a man will destroy himself (Pro 10:15). v. Lazy people love to sleep which will bring them to poverty (Pro 20:13; Pro 23:21; Pro 24:30-34; Pro 26:14). vi. Lazy people will not work during difficult conditions and will therefore be poor (Pro 20:4). a. Sluggard n. – A. n. a. One who is naturally or habitually slow, lazy, or idle; one who is disinclined for work or exertion of any kind; a slothful or indolent person. b. When a lazy man does work, he does so very slowly. vii. Lazy people waste food and material and will therefore become and remain poor (Pro 12:27; Pro 18:9). a. Slothful adj. - 1. Of persons, etc.: Full of sloth; indisposed to exertion; inactive, indolent, lazy, sluggish. b. Sloth n. - 1. Physical or mental inactivity; disinclination to action, exertion, or labour; sluggishness, idleness, indolence, laziness. viii. Lazy people refuse to work (Pro 21:25). a. Those who will not work shall not eat (2Th 3:10). b. Let them starve! c. Starvation is a great incentive to work (Pro 13:4; Pro 19:15). ix. Lazy people always have an excuse for their laziness (Pro 22:13; Pro 26:13) and always justify their slothfulness (Pro 26:16). B. but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. i. This second clause is connected to the first clause by the word but which is a contrasting conjunction. ii. Whereas a lazy man will become poor, a diligent man will make himself rich. a. Diligent adj. – 1. Of persons: ‘Constant in application, persevering in endeavour, assiduous’, industrious; ‘not idle, not negligent, not lazy.’ b. Assiduous adj. - 1. Of persons or agents: Constant in application to the business in hand, persevering, sedulous, unwearyingly diligent. c. Industrious adj. - 1. Characterized by or showing intelligent or skilful work; skilful, able, clever, ingenious. 2. Characterized by or showing application, endeavour, or effort; painstaking, zealous, attentive, careful. d. Rich adj. – 1. a. Of persons: Powerful, mighty, exalted, noble, great. Obs. 2. a. Having large possessions or abundant means; wealthy, opulent. e. A man who is works at whatever he does with constancy, persevering in his endeavors painstakingly, zealously, attentively, and carefully will be a wealthy man of abundant means if he is humble and fears God (Pro 22:4) and God blesses his efforts (Pro 10:22). f. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness (Pro 21:5). g. He who labors will increase (Pro 13:11; Pro 14:23). iii. Christians should be diligent workers at whatever they do. a. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…" (Ecc 9:10). b. Christians should do whatever they do as if they were doing it for Jesus Christ (Eph 6:7; Col 3:23-24). c. Christians especially should be not slothful in business but fervent in spirit (Rom 12:11). (i) Fervent adj. – 1. Hot, burning, glowing, boiling. 2. Of persons, their passions, dispositions, or actions: Ardent, intensely earnest. (ii) Christians should be the hardest working people around. (iii) A lazy Christian is an oxymoron. d. Those who work diligently will not be poor. 5. Pro 10:5 – "He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." A. This verse has both a literal and figurative application to our lives. B. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: i. In a literal sense, summer is the season of the year in which crops which were planted in springtime begin to ripen and can be harvested. a. A wise son of God will begin gathering the fruits which he planted in spring as soon as they are ripe in summer. b. Wise adj. - 1. a. Having or exercising sound judgement or discernment; capable of judging truly concerning what is right or fitting, and disposed to act accordingly; having the ability to perceive and adopt the best means for accomplishing an end; characterized by good sense and prudence. Opp. to foolish. c. He will let nothing go to waste and rot on the vine (Pro 12:27; Pro 18:9; Joh 6:12). d. A wise man works hard when it's time to work. e. Those who have gardens should be ready to put in the work of harvesting their produce as soon as it begins to ripen. f. We should learn from the ants to be wise and gather in summer (Pro 6:6-8). ii. In a figurative sense, summer is the season of life in which the effort a young man put into education, training, and working his way up the career ladder begins to pay off. a. A wise son of God will not slack off and leave opportunities on the table during his "summer" of life. b. He will not turn down promotions or advancements due to laziness or fear which would be best for him and his family (Pro 22:13; Mat 25:25-26). c. He will not turn down a moderate amount of overtime which would allow him to save more money to get ahead. C. but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. i. In a literal sense, harvest is the season of the year in which the majority of crops which were planted in springtime are ripe and can be harvested. a. Harvest n. - 1. The third of the four seasons of the year, the autumn. 2. The season for reaping and gathering in the ripened grain. b. This is the time of year when it is most critical to work to reap the benefit of the labor which was expended during planting in spring and weeding and watering in summer. c. A son of God who sleeps during harvest time and lets the food he worked hard for go to waste is a son that causes shame. (i) Shame n. - I. 1. a. The painful emotion arising from the consciousness of something dishonouring, ridiculous, or indecorous in one's own conduct or circumstances (or in those of others whose honour or disgrace one regards as one's own), or of being in a situation which offends one's sense of modesty or decency. (ii) Any person who would plant a garden or a field and then sleep while it should be harvested and waste all that God has blessed him with is indeed a person who deserves dishonor and disgrace. d. We should learn from the ants to be wise and gather in harvest (Pro 6:6-8). e. Those who have gardens should be ready to labor diligently in the fall in order to gather and preserve as much of their produce as possible. ii. In a figurative sense, harvest is the season of life in which the effort of a lifetime of labor and diligence produces maximum income. a. It is the period right before the "winter" of life when a man can no longer work. b. It is the time in a man's career where he is at his peak and is earning the most money of his life. c. This is the time of life when the most money can be earned and saved for the coming "winter" of life. d. Just as a son who sleeps during the literal harvest causes shame, so does the son of God who figuratively sleeps during the harvest time of life. e. Make hay while the sun shines. f. As Jesus taught, it's important to work while it's day because the night cometh when no man can work (Joh 9:4). iii. Millions of Americans have been "sleeping during harvest" for the last generation or two. a. The American Dream for many has been to retire as soon as possible and spend the rest of their life playing and enjoying leisure. b. Florida is full of such people. c. Many of these people were able to get away with living beyond their means and saving very little for their entire lives because they trusted that pensions and social security were going to provide for them in their old age. d. Most pension plans, and the social security system itself, are insolvent. e. If social security checks continue to be sent in the future, they will be able to buy less and less because they will not keep up with inflation. (i) I have been warning about this repeatedly for many years. (ii) Last year (2021) the effects of all the government spending, and money printing which facilitates it, finally began to show up in significantly higher consumer prices. (iii) The CPI (Consumer Price Index) was 7% in 2021, which means that according to the government prices went up by 7%. (iv) The government changed the CPI calculation in the 1980s so that it would understate inflation which would allow them to give smaller cost of living increases to SS recipients. (v) This means that social security payments increase at a slower rate than prices are rising. (vi) This means that the income in real terms of social security recipients is decreasing every year. (vii) The real inflation rate in 2021 was about 15% or more. (viii) That means that social security recipients actually got a cut in their benefits by 8% in real terms last year. (ix) There is no reason to believe that inflation is going to come back down, but will most likely continue to rise every year due to more and more money printing. f. It won't be long until those who have been "sleeping in harvest" are going to wake up in the dead of winter and realize that the shelves are bare. (i) At that point, they are going to have to go back to work, not because they want to, but because they have to. (ii) The American Dream will be over, and it will be time to get back to reality. (iii) This has been happening for years, but I think it will begin to happen a lot more in the coming years. 1. I saw old men coming back to work 10 years ago when I worked at an engineering firm. 2. They didn't do so because they wanted to, but because they had to. (iv) There are going to be a lot of people in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s coming back into the labor force competing with younger people for jobs. (v) They will likely not get the high paying jobs they had when they retired, but will have to settle for much less desirable jobs due to their advanced age and diminished abilities. (vi) If they would have been like the ant and laid up during the summer, and worked diligently during the harvest of life, they would be able to rest during the end of their lives when they truly are a point where they can't work, or can barely work. (vii) It's sad, but decisions have consequences. iv. For more information, see notes on Pro 6:6-8.