Proverbs 6:20- 7:27 - Outline of Proverbs (Book Notes menu page)

The Wisdom of Experience - The Character of Sexual Seduction

In the first half of Proverbs chapter 6, the wisdom of experience counseled sons concerning the dangers of debt and of co-signing for another person's debt (Pro 6:1-5), and warned against laziness, contrasting the ant and the sluggard (6:6-11). The section closed with a look at seven things which the Lord hates (6:16-19). This is not an exhaustive list, for other passages specifically say that the Lord hates some things that are not mentioned here. Rather, these things are mentioned to show the contrast between the "sons of Belial" and the "sons of God." The characteristics of the heavenly Father ought to be reflected in the lives of His children.

In the closing section of ch. 6 and continuing through ch. 7, the wisdom of a wise father continues to flow to his son.

6:20-24 - The Father's Word illuminates Seductive Danger.
  ...wisdom is a lamp...- "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psa 119:105
    By heeding wisdom, a son can avoid stumbling, or taking a wrong turn, or following a road that leads to a dead end (Pro 16:25).
  ...reproofs {HB=towkechah, correction} of instruction {HB=muwcar, discipline, chastening}...
    ...are the way {path, road, direction} of life...-
    Through receiving correction, a son, who has taken a wrong turn, may return to the path of life, before it is too late.
  ...to keep thee from... the strange woman...-
    The path of adultery and other sexual sins is a path from which there is no return. Pro 2:16-19
6:25 - Sexual Lust can burn your bosom badly.
  ...Lust not after her... in thine heart...-
    Sin (and also, righteousness) is a matter of the heart (Pro 4:18-23).
    Jesus emphasized this point in Mat 5:27,28.
  To 'Lust' after something is to desire or to covet the thing,
    because you imagine that life will be more pleasurable once you have obtained the object of your affections. David lusted after the beauty of another man's wife, and took her to himself (2Sam 11:2-5). Samson lusted after Delilah and "told her all his heart," when he was conquered by the flattery of her tongue, and the look in her eyes (Judg 16:15-17). Every man is susceptible to the same kind of wrong desire (Jam 1:14,15).
    Rather than bringing a life full of joy and pleasure, lust leads to destruction, misery, and death... as wisdom goes on to warn its sons:
6:26-28
  ...a man is brought to a piece of bread... -
    ie., to extreme poverty, to loss of everything: family, reputation, wealth and possessions.
  ...can a man take fire in his bosom... and not be burned?
    Fire held closely causes blistering destruction. cp. Job 31:9-12
6:29-35
  ...a thief... when he is hungry...-
    We may feel sympathy toward a man who steals to feed his family. Yet, such a man, when caught, will pay the penalty demanded by the law, which may place a heavy financial burden upon him, long into the future.
  ...but whoso committeth adultery... destroyeth his own soul...-
    The reproach (disgrace), of becoming one flesh with a stranger, cannot be removed from his heart. His wife may forgive him. But things may never be the same between them. There will be lingering questions: 'Was that the only other woman?' 'What or who is he hiding from me now?'
  ...a wound and dishonour shall he get... - Pro 5:8-11
  ...jealousy is the rage of a man... he will not regard ransom {HB=kippur, atonement}...-
    No payment will pacify the anger of the strange woman's husband. There will be no way to make things right with him.
  Therefore, (as we move into chapter 7) wisdom again exhorts the son to give heed, before the destructive path is entered upon:
7:1-5 - The Father's Word, if kept, will keep you from seduction.
  Sons who give their hearts to heeding God's Word, and whose affections are directed toward wisdom (as toward a woman, 7:4), will avoid two things which cause men to fall for the strange woman:
    1. lust for her (6:25-29).
    2. seduction by her (7:5-f). - "Flatter" {HB=chalaq, divide, plunder, flatter}. See Pro 5:3,4
       Wisdom has seen this sad scenario before, and relates it, in warning to the listening son:
7:6-14 - The Subtle heart of the Seducer.
  I have peace offerings... I have payed my vows...-
    She purports to be clean and right with God. 2Sam 11:4
7:15
  ...diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. -
    She purports to have been looking for him all her life, and finally she has found her soul mate.
7:16-20
  ...the goodman {HB='ish, man, husband} is not at home...-
    She promises protected and protracted pleasure.
    ie., There is no danger that my husband will discover our tryst and take vengeance. He will never know. We will have unbounded pleasure together. King David's own lust led him to commit adultery. But as a servant in Egypt, Joseph was confronted with the moral danger of a seductive woman (the wife of Potiphar, his master, Gen 39:7-12). Joseph "fled, and got him out."
    Not so, this foolish young man...
7:21-23 - The Slaughter of the Seduced.
  The end of the path, to the strange woman's house, could not be described any more vividly.
7:24-27 - The Spiritual side of Seduction.
  In addition to the warning against sexual sin, this passage also warns against the seductive nature of spiritual adultery (Jer 5:7; Jam 4:4). The cult members who approach you on the street, or at the door of your house, or who enter your living room through your TV, may look very attractive. Their literature and their speech may be very appealing. Those, who have not taken to heart God's Word, are easily swayed by "another gospel which is not another" and which leads to death rather than to life (2Cor 11:13-15; Gal 1:6-9). "Let him be accursed" {GK=anathema, designated for destruction} is very strong language. But such condemnation is deserved by those who seduce men away from the true gospel, to lead them in "the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."

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