Proverbs 5:4 (Mini Sermon)

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4. Pro 5:4 - "But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword." A. But her end is bitter as wormwood, i. The beginning of the encounter with a strange woman is as sweet as honey (Pro 5:3). ii. But her end is bitter as wormwood. a. Bitter adj. - 1. a. One of the elementary sensations of taste proper (i.e. without any element arising through the nerves of touch): obnoxious, irritating, or unfavourably stimulating to the gustatory nerve; disagreeable to the palate; having the characteristic taste of wormwood, gentian, quinine, bitter aloes, soot: the opposite of sweet; causing ‘the proper pain of taste’ (Bain). 2. transf. a. Of anything that has to be ‘tasted’ or endured: Attended by severe pain or suffering; sore to be borne; grievous, painful, full of affliction. 3. a. Hence, of a state: Intensely grievous or full of affliction; mournful; pitiable. b. Wormwood n. - 1. The plant Artemisia Absinthium, proverbial for its bitter taste. The leaves and tops are used in medicine as a tonic and vermifuge, and for making vermouth and absinthe; formerly also to protect clothes and bedding from moths and fleas, and in brewing ale. It yields a dark green oil. 2. fig. An emblem or type of what is bitter and grievous to the soul. iii. Her affliction will be bitter (2Ki 14:26). a. Those that turn away from God have a root in them that bears wormwood (Deut 29:18). b. Wormwood is used in scripture to describe a condition of judgment and affliction (Jer 9:15; Lam 3:12-19). c. Normally speaking, the end of a thing is better than the beginning of it (Ecc 7:8). d. But in the case of the strange woman her end is worse. e. This world is all the heaven she gets. iv. The man who gets trapped in her snare will find that she is more bitter than death (Ecc 7:26). B. sharp as a twoedged sword. i. A twoedged sword is used for piercing (Heb 4:12). ii. It is used to execute vengeance and punishment (Psa 149:6-9). iii. It is an instrument of death (Exo 22:24). iv. It will bring someone to a sudden death. v. Therefore, the end of the strange woman will be sorrowful and sudden. vi. The end of her lovers will be the same as will be seen in the next verse.