Proverbs 7:22 (Mini Sermon)

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22. Pro 7:22 - "He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;" A. He goeth after her straightway, i. Go v. - 50. go after - To go in pursuit of; to visit as a wooer or a disciple. ii. Straightway adv. - 1. By a direct course, straight from or to a place. Obs. (last usage in 1587) 2. Immediately; without interval or delay; at once. Now only literary. iii. Once the strange woman had broken down the young man's inhibitions by way of her fair speech and flattery (Pro 7:21) he immediately went in pursuit after her. a. He was led away by his lust (2Ti 3:6; Jam 1:14; Pro 5:20). b. Ravished v. - 1. Carried away by force; violated; ravaged. iv. If the young man would have instead been going after his God straightway and delaying not to keep His commandments (Mat 4:20; Psa 119:60), he would not have been led away by the strange woman. B. as an ox goeth to the slaughter, i. Because oxen are brute beasts they have no understanding (Psa 32:9). a. They don't realize that the farmer has devised evil against them as he leads them to the slaughter (Jer 11:19). b. At least oxen have an excuse for their simplicity. ii. The man that goes after a strange woman has no such excuse. a. He lacks understanding that he should possess (Pro 6:32). b. He thought he was being honored by the strange woman through her flattery, but, being without understanding, he was like the beasts that perish (Psa 49:20). c. Growing up as a Jew in Jerusalem, he was no doubt instructed out of the law to not commit adultery (Exo 20:14). d. He obviously did not receive that instruction and therefore manifested himself to be just as stupid as the ox (Pro 12:1). C. or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; i. Stock n. - 8. a. pl. An obsolete instrument of punishment, consisting of two planks set edgewise one over the other (usually framed between posts), the upper plank being capable of sliding up and down. The person to be punished was placed in a sitting posture with his ankles confined between the two planks, the edges of which were furnished with holes to receive them. Sometimes there were added similar contrivances for securing the wrists. ii. Only a fool would voluntarily go straightway to the correction of the stocks if someone tried to talk him into it. iii. The fool that goes to the stocks has pain and suffering awaiting him. iv. So does the man who is led away by a strange woman to her house.