Proverbs (Part 054) - Pro 5:13-14

---

 

13. Pro 5:13 - "And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!" A. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, i. God has given us teachers to keep us on the narrow way. a. Teacher n. - 1. That which shows or points out; an indicator; the index-finger. Obs. rare. (used in 1290) 2. a. One who or that which teaches or instructs; an instructor; also fig.; spec. one whose function is to give instruction, esp. in a school. b. Our teachers include: (i) God (Psa 32:8) (ii) The prophets and apostles through the scriptures (Psa 119:24) (iii) Pastors (Eph 4:11) (iv) Parents (Pro 22:6; Eph 6:4) (v) School teachers (Gal 4:1-2) c. All of these teachers either do or should teach young men to avoid strange women and fornication (Pro 5:8). d. Those that ignore them do so at their own peril. ii. The voice of teachers is to be obeyed, not just heard (Jam 1:22). a. Obey v. - 1. trans. To comply with, or perform, the bidding of; to do what one is commanded by (a person); to submit to the rule or authority of, to be obedient to. b. Those that are not forgetful hearers but doers of the word will be blessed in their deeds (Jam 1:25). iii. Those who don't obey the voice of their teachers when they hear them the first time will be judged by them when they continually hear them in their mind as they are suffering the consequences of rejecting their counsel. a. So it is with the man who fornicates or commits adultery with strange women. b. As he suffers the consequences of his sin, he will continually lament, I "have not obeyed the voice of my teachers." B. nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! i. The young, foolish man's lament continues. a. His father had exhorted him to incline his ear to his instruction (Pro 2:2; Pro 4:20). b. Incline v. - 1. Bend or bow (the head, the body, oneself) towards a person or thing, and hence forward or downward; b. To bend or turn one's ear(s) towards a speaker, to give ear, listen favourably, attend (to). c. Those who won't incline their ear unto wisdom will later incline their heart in sorrow (Pro 12:25). d. Stoop v. - 1. a. intr. Of a person: To lower the body by inclining the trunk or the head and shoulders forward, sometimes bending the knee at the same time. Often with down. ii. This is the first verse in the book of Proverbs that ends with an exclamation point (!). a. Exclamation - 1. The action of exclaiming or crying out; the loud articulate expression of pain, anger, surprise, etc.; clamour, vociferation. Also, an instance of this, an outcry; an emphatic or vehement speech or sentence. b. Exclamation points convey emotion and are (or should be) used sparingly. (i) "The exclamation point indicates the end of an emotional expression. The function of the exclamation point is to show emphasis, usually emphasis of feeling rather than of idea. Careful writers use the exclamation point sparingly: they are aware that the writer who tries to stress everything, like the speaker who gushes, really emphasizes nothing." (Charles H. Vivian & Bernetta M. Jackson, English Composition, 1961, p. 358) (ii) The book of Proverbs contains only four exclamation points (Pro 5:13; Pro 15:23; Pro 16:16; Pro 30:13). (iii) By contrast it contains hundreds of periods (.) and 49 question marks (?). c. This young man did not hearken when Wisdom cried (Pro 1:22-25); now he is the one crying, but it's too late (Pro 1:28-32). 14. Pro 5:14 - "I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly." A. The punishment of the fornicator or adulterer isn't limited to social (Pro 5:9), financial (Pro 5:10), physical (Pro 5:11), and mental suffering (Pro 5:12). B. It also extends to spiritual suffering as well as this verse makes clear. C. He was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. i. Congregation n. - 1. The action of congregating or collecting in one body or mass. ii. Assembly n. - I. The action or fact of assembling, the state of being assembled. 1. a. Gathering together, meeting; the state of being collected or gathered; = assemblage 1. iii. Congregation and assembly are both synonyms of a church (Heb 2:12 c/w Psa 22:22; Jam 2:2; Heb 10:25). iv. The Old Testament church (which the man in Proverbs 5 would have been a part of) was called the congregation (Act 7:38 c/w Exo 16:2). v. He was in the midst of the church when he was suffering this judgment. a. Midst n. - 1. The middle point or part; the centre, middle. 2. The position of being in the interior of, involved or enveloped in, or surrounded by (something, or a number of things or persons, specified or implied). Now almost exclusively in the phrase in the midst of (formerly also †among the midst of), chiefly in the senses: Among, amid, surrounded by (a number of things or persons); while fully engaged with, ‘in the thick of’ (occupations, troubles, etc.); during the continuance of (an action or condition). b. He was assembling with the church surrounded by believers while he was in the middle of a sinful relationship with a strange woman. c. The member of the church of Corinth who had his father's wife was in the same position (1Co 5:1). d. He was living the life of a hypocrite and enduring the condemnation in his conscience for it (Rom 2:15). D. He was almost in all evil... i. This man was almost entirely swallowed up in sin. a. Evil n. - 1. a. In the widest sense: That which is the reverse of good; whatever is censurable, mischievous, or undesirable. Also with adj.: moral, physical evil. b. What is morally evil; sin, wickedness. c. What is mischievous, painful, or disastrous. b. Almost adv. - 1. Mostly all, nearly all; for the most part. c. All adj. - 1. With n. sing. The entire or unabated amount or quantity of; the whole extent, substance, or compass of; the whole. ii. To an outsider, this man would have looked like a worshipper of God assembling with the saints, but inside he was almost completely consumed with sin. iii. Sin left unchecked can work all manner of concupiscence in us (Rom 7:8). iv. A man who has started down the path of sexual sin better repent before it's too late when his conscience gets seared and becomes past feeling, and he is given over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness (Eph 4:19). v. What starts out as fornication can lead to more wicked sexual sin such as sodomy if God gives a man over to it (Rom 1:24-27).