Category: Proverbs - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Proverbs 31:10-31 - Lectionary for Mary Magdalene

7/19/2021

7/19/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading from Proverbs 31:10-31 is a tall order. Who can find an excellent wife? If she has to fulfill all of these qualities, all the time, the answer is that nobody can find an excellent wife. In fact, there is not going to be any one person who is able to keep up this kind of a life. Is it worthy? Certainly. Should a woman strive to model her life after this woman? No doubt about it. But will that woman face failure? Day after day, yes.

This is a precious wife indeed. She is worth more than many jewels.

Now many men, faced with this picture, would quickly say, "Just give me the money and I'll keep my own wife, even if she is inferior." In saying this I say nothing against my wife, nor do I criticize the many excellent wives I have known over the years. But if I have a wife who isn't able to run a successful business, who doesn't bring wealth, who doesn't create fine specialty fabrics from raw materials, who doesn't supervise a household of servants, and who actually has to sleep in sometimes, that's fine. I still love her dearly. I wouldn't mind having the jewels instead.

Normally I don't go in for allegorical interpretations of Scripture all that much. I think they can be dangerous. However, I don't see any way of dealing with this passage other than either allegorizing it or using it as bludgeon for the less than perfectly industrious and gifted woman. And I really want to avoid using the Scripture as a club to beat anyone.

In the New Testament quite plainly, and slightly less obviously in the Old Testament, we see God pictured as the husband of Israel, or the husband of the Church. What light does this shed on Proverbs 31? If we look at it in that context, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman is all of God's people, working together.

As a collective, we are able to do all the things the Proverbs 31 woman does. Not all of us can do all of the work. Sometimes we are strong and sometimes not. My talent and ability runs out, but by God's grace your talent and ability pick up there, or we overlap a little bit. What's the result? God is glorified and the whole family, as the one in the text, is blessed, prosperous, respected, and has no fear of the future.

Who can find an excellent wife? God has found an excellent wife, in the Church. We all get to contribute to this life of prosperity, joy, and delight.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 8:11-22 - Lectionary for Trinity 23

11/9/2020

11/9/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Proverbs chapter 8 personifies wisdom. Most Christian commentators have historically understood Jesus, God the Son, to be the personification of wisdom.

Our passage from Proverbs calls us to take on some of Christ's character qualities. In verses 13 and 14 we see an appropriate kind of hatred. What is it that Christians are to hate? We are to hate evil, pride, and arrogance. This is relatively easy to say, but rather more difficult to do.

Why is this so difficult? In part because we live in a world which has tried to redefine evil. I've often been told by people who aren't Christians that if I were a real and relevant Christian I would be focused on a variety of social issues which are not closely connected to the distinctively Christian message of Christ's work of reconciling sinners to God through his forgiveness.

Evil has been redefined in many circles, just as predicted by Orwell. Evil is called good. Rather than looking to God to define good and evil, rather than finding divine priorities as recorded in Scripture, we are to look deep within ourselves. We then become the arbiters of what is good.

That works all right if we happen to have the same priorities that God does. But a secularized world, which exalts itself instead of submitting to God's Word is not going to have the wisdom of God. It will not find the same priorities.

To put it bluntly, our passage in Proverbs 8 condemns this idea. We are to hate evil, and that evil is any rejection of what God has called good. It is, by nature, pride and arrogance.

Rather than embracing evil in our pride and arrogance, the Christian is to live a life of repentance. We look to the forgiveness we have in Christ, the restoration of fellowship with God, the great salvation which acknowledges God and His Word as the source of life.

Christians are to hate that which brings death. We are to love the one who brings life. This is found in Jesus, the one who created truth, the one who himself is the truth. This is gospel. It is enlightenment. It is a sure and certain hope in this life and in eternity. We pray, then, that all Christians everywhere would be increasingly changed into the image of God. We pray that all would see Christ as our life, and turn to him, rather than to themselves. Yes, hatred of evil brings love of life. Let us then love life, trusting in Christ.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 25:6-14 - Lectionary for Trinity 17

9/28/2020

9/28/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Reputation, it’s a big deal. Much bigger than we often wish to admit. To solidify my point, I’ll use two words. “Social Media.” We’ve all seen and heard examples of those who would exalt themselves or try to spur dissension when they are in a nice safe place on the other side of an anonymous computer screen. And many of us have been guilty of doing exactly the same thing.

Proverbs 25:6-7 speaks to exalting ourselves. It reminds us that we are probably not the world authority on anything, and that even if we are, our authority doesn’t extend to every topic. Experts and non-experts alike, if we are wise, will cultivate an attitude of a learner. We might be exalted to another place, or we might not really be fit for that place. But we approach it with humility.

Our world of virtual interactions is a place where hostilities can arise just about any time, and many of those hostilities are a jostling for position. I recall a conversation on social media where several people from widely divergent viewpoints were responding to a question I had asked about the underlying causes and later effects of a particular historical event. One of the respondents spoke in a rather authoritative manner, essentially saying that several others were not taking the whole situation into account, and that reliable historians would take a particular different view. When one of the people he had contradicted pressed him about why he thought he and those other people were correct, he observed that he was familiar because he held an advanced degree in history. He was then criticized for “pulling his credentials” like someone might pull a weapon. This is not an uncommon event. When we approach culture, events, and public affairs with a spirit of humility we will not become involved in as many conflicts as we might otherwise. Our right points of view will eventually be respected. Our wrong points of view will eventually be corrected. We and those around us will grow because of it.

Verses 8-10 speak about confrontations, and how they should be relatively private. Again, the issue is that if we make public accusations or condemnations (or, for that matter, praise) without knowing and considering the facts adequately, we may be shown to be wrong. Then we are worthy of criticism. The situation also has been made worse because of our rash speaking or actions.

Again, this is often the case in public discourse these days. When someone says something, or is thought to have possibly said or done something, thanks to modern technology, the alleged news can be spread around the world in a matter of minutes. Criminals become saints, saints become criminals, the person who is doing nothing wrong may become the target of outcry, the person who does wrong may be thought to be doing right. We neglect the due process of the rule of law in our rush to judgment. Rather than resolving issues as reasonable adults, we find ourselves in fights worthy of condemnation. The fire, once started, is very difficult to quell.

Lots of wisdom in our Old Testament reading for this week. God always speaks wisdom. May He speak it into our culture.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 4:10-17 - Lectionary for Trinity 14

9/7/2020

9/7/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading in Proverbs 4 points up the difference between the way of wisdom and the way of folly. Through wisdom, which is here defined as doing what is within God’s revealed will, we can find security and even long life.

On the contrary, those who have departed from God’s wisdom are not content until they have brought harm on someone. The way of folly is destructive. Wickedness, violence, and stumbling are on the way of folly.

So many in our world today think that the Bible is an old, out-of-touch, irrelevant book full of primitive ideas that are intended to cause trouble for anyone and everyone. Much of Western Christianity has, sadly, been willing to go along with these views. We are told that we don’t matter. We shrug and act like we don’t matter. We are told that we are intolerant because we think the Scripture speaks of differing roles for male and female. We find a way to argue that the Scripture says male and female are alike and that they are “mere” social constructs. We are told that political solutions are what we really need if we are going to have justice in the world. We become social activists. We are told that Christianity doesn’t have answesr to hard questions. We act as if we are ignorant of the thousands of years of practice Christians have had dealing with hard questions in the world.

What’s wrong with us? God has given us words of life, of peace, of hope, and many means by which we can care for our fallen and hurting world. It’s high time we recognize this and act as if we have received the gifts our Lord would have us bring to our world.

Lord, help us be instruments of good, not of evil. Amen.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 9:1-10 - Lectionary for Trinity 2

6/15/2020

6/15/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament passage this week speaks to the invitation made by “wisdom,” normally understood as an expression of the person of God through one of His attributes, for everyone to come and receive the blessings which are stored up for all.

Verses 7-10 then provide counsel which not only calls us to action, but helps us understand the way the Proverbs are interpreted. We are told not to reprove a scoffer, to reprove a wise man, to instruct a wise man, and to teach a wise man. All would make sense in isolation except for the first. How do we know who the scoffer is? People change their attitudes over time. They may be scoffers sometimes, then ready to accept instruction at other times. What do we do?

Very simply, as well as understanding that many of the ideas in Proverbs are truisms rather than hard and fast commands, or promises, we also realize that the worst which will happen if we try to instruct a scoffer will be to create animosity. It could be worse than that. What if the person just appears to be a scoffer but is actually asking hard questions because he wants to learn? The instruction will be a delight to us and to him.

God’s Word works in His people. We pray that we will be fair and charitable, sharing the words of God which bring life and light into our world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 25:2-10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 12C

8/26/2019

8/26/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Proverbs 25:7b-10 provides our society with a much-needed corrective. Here we are told not to be too quick to testify about something, realizing that there may be contrary witnesses, and we are told to keep disputes as private as we can. This flies in the face of a popular culture in which almost everyone has a videocamera in his pocket and already posts pictures of food before eating it. When someone is injured it seems all the onlookers are more intent on posting the injury on live social media than helping the person who was harmed. In cases of military or law enforcement activity we presume that the authorities are up to no good, acting in a discriminatory or oppressive manner, trying to abuse their power.

This is an arrogant attitude. While vigilance is appropriate, and while we want to bring a healthy skepticism to our interactions with others, especially when they have been known to abuse authority, we do not know the information the police officer does any more than he or she knows what we do. There may be a very good reason for someone to do what appears to be nonsense. We want to gather as many facts as we can before rushing to provide testimony, and especially before passing judgment.

In the end, we are assured that God is able to govern this world for the best. He uses our service, our testimony, our wisdom as we try to unravel a complicated story. But ultimately God is the authority. He will bring all our trials to their end in one way or another. We try to help those who are in trouble, rather than taking pictures of them. We try to respect authorities but we realize that they are almost as likely to abuse their abilities as we are. We try to render fair judgment, but we recognize that we will not know the whole truth from the start. Above all, we ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance. He alone can open our eyes to unravel the mysteries we see.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 - Lectionary for Trinity C

6/10/2019

6/10/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Proverbs 8 describes wisdom as God sees it. Here Wisdom calls out (v. 1) asking to be heard. She calls out here and there, in the places where important people gather - at the heights, the crossroads, and the gates (vv. 2-3). This is a really great thing. While our natural inclination is to look for some kind of secret wisdom, possibly buried deep inside ourselves or only accessible through special teaching or even mind-altering drugs, God says His wisdom is hanging around in the places we go, calling out to us. The Christian doesn’t look for anything secret. The Christian looks for God’s revelation in public.

In verses 22-31, God’s wisdom is not only public, but also eternal. The Christian looks at this passage, compares it to the prologue of John’s Gospel, and concludes that Jesus, God the Son, the living Word of God, is God’s wisdom. We notice especially Proverbs 8:30, where Wisdom is God’s companion, “like a master workman” (ESV).

What is the big point of this passage, though? It is not that Wisdom is public, or even that Wisdom’s identity is no less than God the Son, Jesus, but that in verse 31, that Wisdom delights in this world and the humans who people it (v. 31). God’s wisdom calls out to you and me. He wants us to hear from him. He delights in us and our good, as we benefit from him. It is to the glory of God for us to learn from him to trust him, and be conformed to his image. God’s wisdom is good for us.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Proverbs 9:1-10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 14B

8/14/2018

8/14/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading for this week is from Proverbs chapter nine. Here “Wisdom” is the main character. Let’s take a look at the nature of this “Wisdom” and see how she is described.

In verse two she provides for others. In verse three she calls out invitations. She does this from the high place, the part of an ancient city where the defenses were greatest and where the temple to a god would be. In verse four she calls out to those who are foolish or inexperienced, offering them welcome and provision. Verse six calls those very people to some sort of conversion, as they are to follow her rather than themselves. In verses seven through nine she brings correction.

Who is “Wisdom”? She’s got all the characteristics of God, as shown in the Bible. He is the one who calls people to himself. He is the one who created and sustained everything and provides for human needs. He is the one who changes people’s lives, who corrects them, and who shows them the way of life. He is the high and exalted God, the strong tower, the defense of all who believe him Him.

When we are called to true wisdom, we are called to the true God of the Bible. There’s no substitute. He is the only one who has ever made concrete promises and then kept every last one. Knowing God by His grace through faith is the only way to wisdom and understanding. May the Lord open our eyes.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

A Proverb Is a Very Particular Thing

3/27/2018

Tuesdays are for the Old Testament
3/27/18

Lessing, R. Reed & Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014. Chapter 18, “Proverbs” pp. 315-236.

Lessing recognizes the nature of Proverbs as a book of divine wisdom. He considers that it is often read without an understanding of God’s redemptive grace. This treats it primarily as a self-help book. Rathe, we can read it as a foreshadowing of God’s kingdom with us (Lessing 2014, 315). Though it is normally associated with Solomon, there are a number of authors identified in the text, covering a span of about 500 years (Lessing 2014, 316).

Proverbs 1:1-22:16 are ascribed to Solomon. Lessing considers this a reasonable claim (Lessing 2014, 317). That portion of the book shows an overall pattern of organization which Lessing considers consistent with Solomon. 22:17-24:34 seems to be collected from other sources. Lessing notes that Solomon would have had the connections to do this, particularly the Egyptian material (Lessing 2014, 318). Proverbs 35-29 is allegedly a transcription, probably of Solomon’s work, but in the time of Hezekaih (Lessing 2014, 318). Chapter 30 is ascribed to one Agur. Chapter 31 is derived from the mother of “king Lemuel,” who cannot be identified (Lessing 2014, 319). The entire book has a variety of brief aphorisms as well as other literary forms throughout.

The concepts of wisdom and foolishness are central to Proverbs (Lessing 2014, 321). Lessing describes the related words and characteristics in some detail. The brief aphorisms are intended to describe the world and people in general, rather than to make very specific commands or promises (Lessing 2014, 322).

The Masoretic text of Proverbs has some very problematic portions which Lessing sees as scribal corruption (Lessing 2014, 322). In general, the Septuagint and other ancient versions dependent on it are less problematic (Lessing 2014, 323). There are, however, a number of rearrangements and reinterpretations of the Masoretic Text in the Septuagint.

Lessing notes a broad range of themes in Proverbs. He does point the reader to the way God the Son is pictured in Proverbs (Lessing 2014, 324). He finds the idea of Wisdom personified to refer to Christ, the one who created and blesses the world, enabling kings to rule well, etc. Especially Proverbs chapter 8 is often considered to be about the pre-incarnate Christ (Lessing 2014, 324). Throughout the book, people are warned about the consequences of sin and urged toward godly behavior. The right relationship of Israel to God is one which looks for his mercy. This is affirmed in Proverbs (Lessing 2014, 325).

Proverbs 25:2-10 - Pentecost 15 C

8/25/2016

Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading for this week is from Proverbs 25:2-10. It’s identified in the text as a passage of proverbs of Solomon.

Verse 2 points out that in fact God is the one who hides some things, but kings have a desire to reveal them. A king is typically very inquisitive. He does not want to be outdone by anyone, even by God. Yet, at the same time, while we think of God as being unsearchable, it is actually the king who is difficult to read and understand.

The verses which follow draw a concept from verses two and three. Here the ideas are grouped in chunks of two verses each, rather than the one verse which was used earlier. Verses 4-5 compare wicked people to dross, which pollutes pure silver. Like dross is removed from silver so it can be used rightly, it is in everyone’s best interest to remove wicked people from the king. This allows the good king to follow his God given calling to lead his people well.

Verses 6-7 speaks to the idea of allowing others to advance you. While we should not purposely give a false impression that we are unworthy, it is better to allow advancement than to seek advancement. The person who is always seeking self-promotion is going to be demoted by someone else.

Verses 8-10 speak to making peace with neighbors. Rather than entering into litigation to get our way we work out peace with our neighbors. This guards our reputation and also may serve to guard our neighbor’s reputation.

To pull the context back together, we remember that while God has concealed things, the king seeks to uncover them. The ideas of living in society, working within a cultural or political culture, and being at peace with our neighbors are often difficult for us to understand. If they are not unintuitive, they often go against our inner desires. While God has made them clear by his very nature, they often remain hidden to us until pointed out by someone, in this case, a king.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.