Proverbs (Part 007) - Pro 1:10-12
Submitted by Pastor Chad Wagner on Wednesday, January 23, 2019.
10. Pro 1:10 - "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." A. Having exhorted his son of the importance and benefits of getting wisdom for the first nine verses, Solomon begins a warning to his son of potential danger that lies ahead. B. Children are born into this world with a depraved heart (Psa 58:3; Gen 8:21). i. If that wasn't bad enough, they also have ungodly friends who try to entice them to do evil. ii. Entice v. - 1. trans. To stir up, incite, instigate (to a course of action); also to provoke (to anger). C. My experience with children has taught me that they generally fall into three categories. i. The instigators a. There are usually one or more these children in every group. b. They are the trouble-makers. c. They are not necessarily bad kids (although sometimes they are), but they need constant supervision and restraint. d. They instigate other children (the instigated) who normally would behave themselves if they were not incited to foolishness by the instigators. e. To maintain order, the instigators must be identified and publicly reprimanded (or punished if necessary) so that the other instigators and the instigated will see and fear (1Ti 5:20; Pro 19:25; Pro 21:11). f. These children make managing children a challenge. ii. The instigated a. There are usually between a handful to a small majority of these children in every group. b. If the instigators are not reigned in early, the ranks of the instigated will grow as the more timid children (potential instigateds) are emboldened to join in the folly. c. The instigated children behave well in the absence of an instigator. d. Trouble-making doesn't come as naturally to them. e. If they or one of their fellows are punished, they quickly calm down and remain that way for a while. iii. The unaffected a. There are usually between a handful to a large minority of these children in every group. b. They are unaffected by the actions of the instigators and the instigated. c. They sit quietly and mind their own business no matter how much chaos is going on around them. d. These children make managing children a breeze. iv. The instigated are the children and young adults that particularly need to heed the warning of (Pro 1:10). v. Raising children on an uninhabited island would be much easier, but that's not the world we live in. D. Peer pressure is a powerful influence for children and adults alike. i. This is why God warned Israel to not follow a multitude to do evil (Exo 23:2). ii. King Saul fell into this snare when he listened to the people (1Sa 15:9,20-21) instead of God (1Sa 15:3). iii. Men have a tendency to adopt "herd mentality" and follow the crowd, even when they have no idea where it is headed. iv. This happened with the two hundred men who followed Absalom in his rebellion against David (2Sa 15:11). v. This type of "group think" was responsible for the uprising in Ephesus instigated by Demetrius the silversmith who had ulterior motives (Act 19:23-32). E. Patriots should take note: there is usually a presented reason for a political uprising, and then there is the real reason. i. Christians should be very cautious in getting involved in such demonstrations because it might just be that sinners have enticed them to action only to be used for their own nefarious purposes. ii. Never forget Solomon's warning: "A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good" (Pro 16:29). F. Solomon's warning to his son should teach us another valuable lesson: we don't have to, nor should we, consent to enticement. i. Consent v. - I. To agree together. 1. intr. To agree together, or with another, in opinion or statement; to be of the same mind. II. To agree to a proposal, request, etc. 6. Voluntarily to accede to or acquiesce in what another proposes or desires; to agree, comply, yield. ii. The scripture teaches that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (Jam 1:14). iii. Enticement is not itself sin, nor is it irresistible. iv. Lust and enticement consented to brings forth sin and death (Jam 1:15; Pro 1:18). v. To prevent this, we must "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (consent not), but rather reprove them" (Eph 5:11). vi. A companion of fools shall be destroyed (Pro 13:20). vii. Heed the wise words of Solomon, and "Do not err, my beloved brethren" (Jam 1:16). 11. Pro 1:11 - "If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:" A. Solomon here describes the nature and thinking of fallen, depraved men. i. These are sinners (Pro 1:10) who have not been saved by grace (Pro 1:16 c/w Rom 3:15). ii. Therefore, it can be concluded that the conspirators in Pro 1:10-19 are not a rare exception to the generally good members of the human family. iii. They are actually the norm which all men would imitate if not saved by the grace of God, or, in the case of the reprobate, restrained by the hand of God (Psa 76:10). iv. For a child of God with a conscience, it is difficult to imagine that there are men in this world who actually "lay wait for blood" and "who lurk privily for the innocent without cause", but there are such people among us. B. They carry out their despicable deeds privily. i. Privily adv. - 1. In a privy manner; not openly or publicly; secretly, privately; stealthily; craftily. ii. They do their devilment in the darkness because they are darkness (2Co 6:14), and they love darkness (Joh 3:19). iii. Sinners commit their sins at night when they are concealed (2Pe 3:10; 1Th 5:7). iv. Deeds that must be done in secret are usually evil (Eph 5:12). v. Thank God that we who were sometimes darkness are now light in the Lord (Eph 5:8). C. These reprobates would be classified as psychopaths today, for they "lurk privily for the innocent without cause." i. Psychopaths show no empathy for their fellow man, even for those they know to be innocent. ii. Their consciences are seared with a hot iron (1Ti 4:2). iii. They target the vulnerable without cause, feeling no pricks in their stony hearts, and deriving pleasure thereby. iv. When a young man, or any man, comes into contact with someone possessing these wicked tendencies, he most certainly must steer clear of them completely (Pro 1:15). 12. Pro 1:12 - "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:" A. These wicked conspirators devise a plan to "swallow [the innocent] up alive...and whole." B. Solomon likely learned of the ways of these evildoers from his father David who begged God for protection from such abjects (Psa 56:1-2). C. These immoral men learned this tactic of swallowing up their prey alive from their father the devil, "that old serpent" (Rev 12:9) who "was a murderer from the beginning" (Joh 8:44). i. Snakes swallow up their victims alive and whole. ii. Snakes lay wait in the grass and lurk privily for their prey (Pro 1:11). iii. The serpent's children do the works of their father (Joh 8:41) because they are "by nature the children of wrath" (Eph 2:3), being "full of...murder" (Rom 1:29). D. Knowing that there are wicked men in the world who plot and scheme to murder the righteous could make a man paranoid and afraid to leave the house. i. It is wise to walk circumspectly (looking around) (Eph 5:15). ii. This is true in both in a spiritual and in a natural sense (Pro 22:3). iii. But we must never be driven by fear (2Ti 1:7). E. How do we "fear not" when we live in a dangerous world? i. Fear needs to be countered with faith and trepidation with trust (Psa 56:3-4, 13). ii. We must never fear what men can do to us (Heb 13:6). F. The reprobates who desire to swallow up the righteous as those that go down into the pit will be the ones who are swallowed up of the grave and of hell (Pro 28:17; Psa 7:14-16; Psa 9:15-17).
