Read Proverbs 12:1-28 and focus on the theme of words, especially in the context of telling truth or telling lies. What message do we find here about honesty and lying? Philosopher Sissela Bok has convincingly demonstrated how lying can be harmful for society. She writes: A society, then, whose members were unable to distinguish truthful … Continue reading –>
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them (Prov. 11:3). What evidence do we have of the truth of this verse? What examples have you seen or heard about in which this spiritual truth has been revealed? By contrast, what things have you seen that mean that, … Continue reading –>
The mouth (with its components, the lips and the tongue) is the most important organ in the book of Proverbs. In the New King James Version of the book, the word mouth is used 50 times,lips occurs 41 times, and tongue 19. The use of this organ in speech is a particularly important theme in … Continue reading –>
Read Proverbs 10:1–7. What various principles about life and faith are revealed here? There is a story about a man in a boat who began to drill a hole under his feet where he sat. When people in the boat demanded that he stop, he responded: This is none of your business. This is my … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Proverbs 10:1–14, Matt. 19:19, Proverbs 11:1-12:28, John 3:16, Proverbs 13:1-35. Memory Text: Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked (Proverbs 10:6, NKJV). As the title suggests, this lesson looks at the blessings of the righteous. The Hebrew wordzaddiq, for righteous, is … Continue reading –>
Travis didn’t know what to do with his camper. At age 12, Logan* was the toughest kid in the cabin and wanted to be in charge of everyone and everything. One night, Logan decided he wasn’t going to bed, so Travis and his co-counselor came up with a plan. OK, they told the obstinate camper, … Continue reading –>
Further Study: The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate — a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … Continue reading –>
Following wisdom’s appeal, the inspired author of Proverbs 9 urges his audience to make a choice now between two lifestyles: wisdom or folly. The first and last six verses (Prov. 9:1–6, Prov. 9:13–18) are symmetrical and bring out the contrast between the opposite camps. Compare Proverbs 9:1–6 and Proverbs 9:13–18. What is the difference between … Continue reading –>
The last few verses of this proverb return to the personal — to the practical application of what it means to have wisdom. By contrast, the intellectual knowledge about wisdom’s preexistence, about wisdom’s presence at Creation, is certainly deep. But in the Bible, truth must always at some point come down to the human level … Continue reading –>
In Genesis 1 we see that each step of the Creation concludes with the same refrain: God saw that it was good (see Gen. 1:4, Gen. 1:10, Gen. 1:12, Gen. 1:18, Gen. 1:21, Gen. 1:25, Gen. 1:31). The last step (Genesis 1:31) goes even further: It was very good. The Hebrew word for good contains … Continue reading –>
