Most people don’t think of death when they sin; they have other things on their minds, usually the immediate gratification and pleasure that they derive from their sin. It doesn’t help, either, that popular culture often extols adultery and other iniquities. In contrast, the book of Proverbs places sin in the right perspective, a view echoed many years later by Paul: The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).
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Read Proverbs 7:22-23 (NKJV). […]
Right after his warning about adultery (Prov. 6:24–29), the author starts talking about another sin: stealing (Prov. 6:30-31). The relationship between the two commandments (stealing and adultery) shows how disobedience to one commandment can affect our obedience to the others. The attitude of compromise, to pick and choose in regard to God’s law, could be even more dangerous than complete disobedience to the law. The strongest bulwark of vice in our world is not the iniquitous life of the abandoned […]
As we have just seen, the author of Proverbs 6:23, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, directly links light and life to God’s law. In the next verse he gives a solid example of how the law, as light and life, can offer us powerful spiritual protection.
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What are we being warned about in Proverbs 6:24? Besides the obvious, what more subtle warning is given here?
When a religious person is tempted, the greatest […]
You can view a discussion of the current lesson in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. (Adobe Flash Player version.) A Youtube version of this week’s lesson at Hope Sabbath School is below. You can download the video, the MP3 audio, and the lesson outline from the HopeTV Sabbath School Site. You might also want to bookmark the HopeSS Youtube
Read Proverbs 6:23. How is the law related to light?
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In the Bible, the word of God or His law has been compared to light: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps. 119:105, NKJV). In the Hebrew mind there is a connection between the idea of law and of light. Just as the lamp illuminates the path where we walk, the law will help us […]
My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. Keep their words always in your heart.Tie them around your neck. Proverbs 6:20-21 NLT
Obey my commands and live!
Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.
Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart. Proverbs 7:2-3 NLT
While many people think the ten commandments should be posted on courthouses and schools, I saw a t-shirt that read, “Put the Commandments back where they belong, in […]
Read Proverbs 6:21 and Prov. 7:3. How are we to understand the bodily images used in these texts regarding how we should relate to God’s law?
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As we saw in an earlier lesson, in Proverbs the heart represents the seat of emotions and thoughts. By telling us to bind the law upon our hearts (Prov. 6:21), the teacher means that we should always be in close connection with the law. There is no […]
Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 5:21–30; Prov. 6:21; Prov. 7:3; Prov. 6:23; Prov. 7:2; Prov. 6:24; Prov. 6:30-31; Prov. 7:26-27.
Memory Text: For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life (Proverbs 6:23, NKJV).
Two brothers were left home alone, but given a strict warning by their mother not to eat the cake that she had just baked. To make sure that the boys would obey, she added […]
After they married, Roland and Jackie started talking about ways to reach out to the native Alaskan community around them, and decided to build a Seventh-day Adventist school on their property by the lake. They called it “The Mission School” and offered grades 1-8. Students and parents were delighted, and kids came from as far away as Nome just to attend the mission school. In order to accommodate the students, two dormitories were built. Additionally, the Moodys started an Adventist […]
Further Study: Read Ellen G. White, Moral Standards, p. 326–339, in The Adventist Home;In Contact With Others, p. 489–491, in The Ministry of Healing; Other Object Lessons, p. 117–120, in Education.
The student of the Bible should be taught to approach it in the spirit of a learner. We are to search its pages, not for proof to sustain our opinions, but in order to know what God says. . . .
One of the chief causes of mental inefficiency […]
