Proverbs 5:9 (Mini Sermon)

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9. Pro 5:9 - "Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:" A. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, i. Solomon gave the commandment to stay far away from the strange woman in the previous verse (Pro 5:8); now he gives the reason for the commandment. ii. Removing himself from the strange woman and not going near her house will prevent a man from losing his honour. a. Lest conj. - 1. Used as a negative particle of intention or purpose, introducing a clause expressive of something to be prevented or guarded against b. Honour n. - 1. High respect, esteem, or reverence, accorded to exalted worth or rank; deferential admiration or approbation. a. As felt or entertained in the mind for some person or thing. c. As received, gained, held, or enjoyed: Glory, renown, fame; credit, reputation, good name. The opposite of dishonour, disgrace. iii. The man that commits adultery with a strange woman (Pro 6:24) loses his honour and instead gets dishonour (Pro 6:33). iv. His honour will be given to others. a. This could happen when his wife divorces him and marries another man who receives the honour from her that would have been given to him (Eph 5:33). (i) Reverence v. - 1. trans. To salute (a person) with deep respect; to show respect for (one) by bowing, kneeling, etc.; to make obeisance to. Obs. b. To treat with respect or deference. Obs. c. To esteem; to value highly. Obs. (ii) To reverence is to honour. b. This could happen when his children stopping honouring him (Eph 6:2) because of his heinous crime and bestow their respect instead on someone else who is worthy of it in their eyes. c. This could happen when his brethren in the church stopping honouring him (Rom 12:10) because he has been excluded for adultery or fornication, and the honour that was his is put on another faithful brother in the church (1Co 12:23). d. This could happen when his subjects or employees who would normally honour him (1Ti 6:1; 1Pe 2:17) lose respect for him and give it to someone else to whom it is due (Rom 13:7). e. This could happen to a pastor who does such a reprehensible thing and loses the honour of his church members (1Th 5:12-13) which will be given to the man who takes his place. v. When a man chooses to go in unto a strange woman, he has given his honour unto others; nobody has taken it from him. a. Honour is not seemly for a fool (Pro 26:1). b. It only takes one slipup to destroy a man's honourable reputation (Ecc 10:1). B. and thy years unto the cruel: i. Cruel adj. - 1. Of persons (also transf. and fig. of things): Disposed to inflict suffering; indifferent to or taking pleasure in another's pain or distress; destitute of kindness or compassion; merciless, pitiless, hard-hearted. a. Falling into the hands of cruel men is a dreadful punishment. b. Let this be a stern warning to stay away from strange women. ii. The remainder of the years of the life of the adulterer who goes in unto a strange woman will be subject unto cruel people who will show no mercy. a. He will get a wound and dishonour from them, and his reproach will not be wiped away (Pro 6:33). b. The woman's husband will not spare when he takes vengeance because of jealousy, even if the offender tries to pay him off (Pro 6:34-35). c. Jealousy is cruel as the grave (Son 8:6). d. The wrath of man is cruel (Pro 27:4). iii. In Biblical times a man that went in unto a strange woman would be punished by the judges (Job 31:9-12). a. The punishment for adultery was death by stoning which was a cruel death (Deut 22:22-24). b. The punishment for a woman who fornicated prior to marriage and was found out to have done so after marriage was stoning (Deut 22:21). iv. When Shechem defiled Jacob's daughter Dinah by fornicating with her (Gen 34:1-2) his years were given to the cruel. a. Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, were enraged at what Shechem did to their sister. b. They deceived all the men of Shechem and convinced them to get circumcised so that they could marry their daughters (Gen 34:15-16). c. On the third day after the men were circumcised and were sore Simeon and Levi killed them all and took all their wealth that they had worked all the years of their lives to acquire (Gen 34:25-29). d. This was a cruel act (Gen 49:5-7). v. Let this be a sobering warning against whoredom and fornication.