Proverbs 7: Lessons for Guarding Your Heart from Sexual Seduction and Your Soul From Spiritual Seduction
Introduction: God gave Solomon great wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34). But Solomon misused his gifts and took 700 wives and three hundred concubines. This sadly turned his heart away from God (1 Kgs. 11:3). Solomon later regretted how he squandered his God-given wisdom (Ecc. 7:26). Thus, he gave his son three prior warnings about sexual immorality (Prov. 2:16-17; 5:1-4; 6:24-35). Here, he returned again to the subject of sexual temptation when warning his son about one of the greatest risks to his walk with Yahweh. But this chapter should also be seen as a contrast between the spiritual harlot (the devil) and the cry of Wisdom (Jesus Christ) found in Proverbs 8. “In this chapter and the following a contrast is drawn between the adulteress and Wisdom.” (Pulpit Commentary on Prov. 7).1 The harlot in Proverb 7 should therefore be read both as a literal warning against sexual sins and a foreshadow of the spiritual harlot who will sadly lead many people away from the faith in Jesus (Rev. 17:3). From Solomon’s warnings, the Bible reveals lessons for guarding both your heart from sexual seduction and your soul from spiritual seduction. These include: (1) memorizing God’s Word, (2) vigilance, (3) denying your flesh, (4) discernment, (5) fleeing temptation, (6) fearing God, and (7) fearing His judgment.
First, to guard his heart from a harlot who could destroy him, Solomon urged his son to memorize both Yahweh’s Law and His Word. Jesus also wants you to memorize His Word and His Law to guard your heart from sexual seduction and your soul from spiritual seduction. Second, in Solomon’s story, a young man made himself vulnerable to temptation by wandering alone in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Jesus wants you to cling to Him and be vigilant against temptation. This also includes accountability. Third, the woman seduced the man with her dress, her words, and her actions. Jesus wants you to turn to Him for the strength to deny the desires of your flesh. Fourth, the woman used religious words to lower the man’s guard against her evil plans. Jesus also wants you to turn to Him for the wisdom to discern evil. Fifth, the man gave into the woman’s desires and after she sexually enticed him. Jesus wants you to rebuke Satan in His name and flee from temptation. Sixth, the man followed the woman to her house believing that he could sin without being caught. But no sin escapes Jesus. Jesus wants you to fear Him by hating what He calls evil. Finally, Solomon warned of the destruction of those who embrace evil. To stay holy for Jesus, fear the consequences of embracing sin.
1. Memorizing Jesus’ Word and Law: Jesus’ Word and His Law Will Keep You From Sin, or Sin Will Keep You From His Word and His Law. Prov. 7:1-5.
Guard your heart and your soul by memorizing Jesus’ Word and His Law. Before warning his son (possibly Rehoboam) about the sexual seduction of the foreign harlot who could lead him from his walk with Yahweh, Solomon urged him to memorize both God’s Word and the Law. “1 My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. 2 Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ And call understanding your intimate friend, 5 so that they may keep you from an adulteress, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.” (Prov. 7:1-5). “We must lay up God’s commandments safely. Not only, keep them, and you shall live; but, keep them as those that cannot live without them. Those that blame strict and careful walking as needless and too precise, consider not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye; indeed the law in the heart is the eye of the soul. Let the word of God dwell in us, and so be written where it will be always at hand to be read. Thus we shall be kept from the fatal effects of our own passions, and the snares of Satan. Let God’s word confirm our dread of sin, and resolutions against it.” (Matthew Henry on Prov. 7:1-5).2
Memorize Jesus’ Word and Commandments to protect your heart from temptation. Solomon followed Moses’ direction for every parent to teach their children Yahweh’s Commandments (Prov. 7:1; 2:1-5; 3:1-4; 4:1-4; Dt. 6:6-9). Here, Solomon also called for his son to “treasure” Yahweh’s “commandments within” him (Prov. 7:1). This meant that he needed to memorize the Ten Commandments to guard his heart from unexpected temptations. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.” (Josh. 1:8). “But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.” (Ps. 1:2). “The Law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.” (Ps. 37:31). “I have treasured Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You… How I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Ps. 119:11, 97).
Treat Jesus’ Ten Commandments as a great treasure that will protect you3
The Law does not lead to salvation, but it does protect you by convicting you of sin. Solomon promised his son, “Keep my commandments and live,…” (Prov. 7:1). This repeated his prior promise, “Keep my commandments and live;…” (Prov. 4:4). This does not mean that salvation can come through following the Law. If that were true, Jesus did not need to be brutally crucified at the cross. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal. 2:21). Instead, believers are saved by their faith in Jesus. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9). The Law instead protects you by guiding you to avoid what Jesus defines as sinful. “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.”’ (Ro. 7:7).
Guard your heart and your soul by being a doer of Jesus’ Word and the Law. When Solomon told his son to “keep” Yahweh’s “commandments” (Prov. 7:1), it was a call for him to obey and follow them at all times. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals that He is the “I AM” of the Old Testament who gave the Ten Commandments (Jo. 8:58; Ex. 3:14). If you love Jesus, you will want to follow His Commandments out of love for Him, not obligation. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Jo. 14:15). “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” (Jo. 15:10). “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 Jo. 5:3).
Follow Jesus’ Word and the Law to avoid seduction. Solomon previously stated that the Law would guide his son. “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and rebukes for discipline are the way of life.” (Prov. 6:23). This also applies to Jesus’ Word generally. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Ps. 119:105).
The Spirit will remind you of the Word in the face of physical or spiritual temptation. Solomon stated that the Law and the Word “may keep you from an adulteress, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.” (Prov. 7:5). When you face either physical or spiritual seduction, the Holy Spirit causes you to remember Jesus’ memorized Word and His Law so that you may both recognize evil and resist it. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.” (Jo. 14:26). “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (Jo. 16:13).
2. Vigilance: Cling to Jesus and be Vigilant Against Temptation. Prov. 7:6-9.
Be on guard at all times by avoiding places where you may be tempted. In Solomon’s account, the young man made himself vulnerable to temptation by wandering alone in the wrong place and at the wrong time. “6 For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, 7 and I saw among the naive, and discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense, 8 passing through the street near her corner; and he walks along the way to her house, 9 in the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night and the darkness.” (Prov. 7:6-9). “He was passing through the street besides her corner, where she resided, not where she met him (v. 12). Here we see his fundamental flaw: without wisdom the youth is clueless as to the danger of wandering through darkening streets in her ‘hood.’ He was taking strides suggests a pompous gait. On the way to her house does not mean he deliberately headed to her house, since she has to come out to meet him and persuade him to accompany her. Rather, his folly is leading him into moral jeopardy. And so he ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every phase or word in the scenic depiction of v. 9 pertains to darkness…The darkness simultaneously symbolizes the moral darkness of the foreign adulteress and the dark destiny now ‘approaching’ her victim.” (Bruce Waltke and Ivan De Silva on Proverbs 7:7-9).4
Be prudent and vigilant to avoid places of temptation. The young man encountered temptation when he was alone on a dark street near the seductress’ house (Prov. 7:8-9). “Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,” (Prov. 5:8). The Bible warns believers to be on guard at all times for Satan’s attacks. The greatest damage Satan can do to you is when he deceives you turn away from Jesus to satisfy the sinful desires of your flesh. “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil people. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on.” (Prov. 4:14-15). “A prudent person sees evil and hides himself, but the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.” (Prov. 22:3; 27:2). “so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.” (1 Thess. 5:6-7). “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8). “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13).
Be accountable. The young man also had no one to hold him accountable. Thus, he later believed that no one would discover his sins if he gave into temptation. “The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ And he disguises his face.” (Job 24:15). Thus, the Bible warns believers not forsake the accountability that comes from being in a fellowship group in your church: “not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:25). This accountability should include accountability to a single person, not just floating in and out of a large megachurch.
Pray for Jesus to lead your path away from temptation. Jesus also encourages believers to pray for His guidance to stay away from areas of temptation. “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matt. 6:13; Lk. 11:4). “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13).
Stay on Jesus’ narrow path. Solomon warned: “There is a way that seems right to a man. But it ends in the way of death.” (Prov. 14:12; 16:25). “A wise person’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish person’s heart directs him toward the left. Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.” (Ecc. 10:2-3). Jesus also warned: “. . . the way is broad that leads to destruction . . . the way is narrow that leads to life.” (Matt. 7:13-14). Are you praying for Jesus’ guidance to travel on the narrow path that He has set for you?
3. Denying Your Flesh: Turn to Jesus For the Strength to Deny the Desires of Your Flesh. Prov. 7:10-13.
Deny your flesh and turn away from temptation. The woman first captured the desires of the young man with her provocative dress, and then his mind with her provocative words, and finally his heart with a brazen kiss on a dark street. “10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart. 11 She is boisterous and rebellious, her feet do not remain at home; 12 she is now in the streets, now in the public squares, and lurks by every corner. 13 So she seizes him and kisses him, and with a brazen face she says to him:” (Prov. 7:10-13). “This woman represents the woman on a scarlet-colored beast, the mother of harlots, who, though she pretends to be the spouse of Christ, is an errant whore, Revelation 17:3; with the attire of a harlot; not with her face veiled, as Tamar was, Genesis 38:14;” (John Gill Commentary on Prov. 7:10).5
The woman seduced the young man with her provocative dress and actions6
Deny the sinful desires of your flesh. Believers are warned to make no provision for the lusts of the flesh. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Ro. 13:14). “Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.” (1 Pet. 2:11). “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” (1 Jo. 2:15-16).
The second look or the prolonged stare gives birth to sin. When left unchecked, temptation leads to lust and other sinful desires. “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.” (Jam 1:14-15). You cannot stop people from dressing provocatively. But you can turn away from them.
Show your love for God by seeking to stay pure for His use. David’s love for God included a vow to keep his eyes and body pure for God’s use: “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” (Ps. 101:3). Like his other vows, David would fail in this vow with his adultery. But he still tried to be pure. He further repented of his sins and returned to God when he failed.
Make a covenant with your eyes. As our example, Job made a covenant with his eyes because he knew that he was a sinful man who was susceptible to lust: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). Based upon his many failures, Solomon also previously warned about the temptations that come from failing to control what you look at: “Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids.” (Prov. 6:25). If you fill your eyes with evil, you may act on it: “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23). Unchecked lust can overwhelm your decisions. “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.” (Ro. 1:24). Are you taking steps to guard your eyes from unholy things?
Filling your eyes with sinful things leads to even worse sins. David’s adultery with Bathsheba started with him secretly staring at her while she bathed on her roof. “Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.” (2 Sam. 11:2). Likewise, Eve ate from the forbidden fruit only after staring at its beauty (Gen. 3:6). Satan uses the lusts of the eyes to entice people to engage in sins ranging from pornography to adultery: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” (1 Jo. 2:16). His goal is to destroy families and anyone who submits to him. “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” (Jam. 1:14-15). “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” (Matt. 15:19).
4. Discernment: Turn to Jesus for the Wisdom to Discern Evil. Prov. 7:14-15.
Pray for discernment to recognize and avoid evil. The woman then used religious words to make the man feel that it would not be a major sin to give into her seduction. “14 ‘I was due to offer peace offerings; today I have paid my vows. 15 Therefore I have come out to meet you, to seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.” (Prov. 7:14-15). “The foolish young man will stop and listen while she tries to sweet talk him into believing she is a good, upright woman. She says she made her peace offering, which speaks of religion. She would like to hide under the veil of religion and make the young man think there is nothing wrong in her way of life.” (Ronald Young on Prov. 7:14).7
Pray for the discernment to recognize evil. Solomon later warned that only a fool believes everything that he or she is told. “The naive believes everything, but the sensible person considers his steps.” (Prov. 14:15). Jesus also warned believers to be discerning at all times for the schemes of the devil. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves.” (Matt. 10:16; Lk. 10:3). “but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,” (1 Thess. 5:21). “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 Jo. 4:1).
Let Jesus be your shield by taking refuge in Him. Believers must put their trust in Jesus to resist temptation. This includes putting on the armor of God: “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Ro. 13:12). “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11). “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (Eph. 6:13-14; Is. 59:17; 1 Thess. 5:8). When you trust in God, He becomes the shield in your spiritual armor. “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Prov. 30:5). “You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.” (Ps. 115:11). He has also left you with His Word as a sword against the devil. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12). Are you using each part of God’s armor against the devil?
The devil tries to deceive you by making what is evil appear to be good. The young foreign woman knew enough about Jewish culture to make it look like she was an observant Jews with a reason to eat a large celebratory meal to honor Yahweh. “The flesh of ‘peace-offerings for thanksgiving’ was to be eaten on the day on which it was offered; but if it were ‘a vow, or a freewill offering,’ what remained might be eaten on the morrow (Leviticus 7:15-16). She would represent him therefore as having happily lighted on her feast-day, when she was looking out and longing for his company. It is most unnatural to suppose that a foreign woman would thus accommodate herself to Jewish religious customs and seasons, especially when it is remembered that the example of accommodation set by the Court was quite the other way (1 Kings 11:1-8). On the other hand, the desecration of sacred Seasons and religious Festivals to secular or even sinful purposes, which was only too common in Israel (Isaiah 1:11-15; Amos 5:21-22), might only too easily find a parallel in Christian times and countries.” (Thomas Thomason Perowne, Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, Prov. 7:14-15).8
Satan’s spiritual seduction can also have a false appeal. Just as the man was seduced with a false religious appeal, believers can be spiritually seduced by false prophets who twist Jesus’ Word. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?” (Matt. 7:15-16). To protect yourself from either physical or spiritual temptation, you must know the Word and pray.
5. Fleeing Temptation: Rebuke Satan and Flee from Temptation. Prov. 7:16-20.
Run from any temptation and make no attempt to debate it. After capturing the man’s eyes, mind, and heart, the woman then appealed to the man’s sexual desires. “16 I have spread my couch with coverings, with colored linens of Egypt. 17 I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses. 19 For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey. 20 He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon he will come home.’” (Prov. 7:16-20). “She designs to inflame his lust by the mention of the bed, and by its ornaments and perfumes.” (Matthew Poole’s Commentary on Prov. 7:16).9
The man gave into the woman’s comprehensive plan to seduce him. Because the man did not flee, he eventually gave into temptation. “At the end of it all, her seduction was successful. With her enticing speech and her flattering lips she convinced the simple young man to sin with her sexually. She used words and actions to successfully walk her victim through these steps of seduction: · A well-chosen target (simple…a young man devoid of understanding, Proverbs 7:7). · Available to meet (the path to her house…a woman met him, Proverbs 7:8, 7:10). · Provocatively clothed (with the attire of a harlot, Proverbs 7:10). · Of bad character (loud and rebellious, Proverbs 7:11). · Looking to trap and seduce (she caught him, Proverbs 7:13). · Free with physical affection (kissed him, Proverbs 7:13). · Gave some recognition to religion (peace offerings…paid my vows, Proverbs 7:14). · Pursuit to make one feel desired (I came out to meet you, diligently, Proverbs 7:15). · Promise to please the senses (I have spread my bed…I have perfumed my bed, Proverbs 7:16-17). · Invitation to her bed (I have spread my bed…I have perfumed my bed, Proverbs 7:16-17). · Promises of love, delight, and sensual pleasure (let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love, Proverbs 7:18). · Persuasion that the risk of discovery is very low (my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey, Proverbs 7:19).” (David Guzik on Prov. 7).10
Flee from temptation just as Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. Potiphar’s wife longed for Joseph. Because her heart was evil, she (like Eve) longed for the one thing in her house that she could not have. With no way to reason with her or work somewhere else, Joseph fled for his life: “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,” (Gen. 39:12-13). Like Joseph, believers are urged to, “Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” (1 Cor. 6:18). “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Tim. 2:22).
Unlike the young man in Solomon’s story, Joseph fled from temptation11
Rebuke the devil, and he will flee. God does not want you to engage with the devil. Instead, He has given you the power to resist Satan and drive him away by rebuking him in faith in Jesus’ name. Jesus’ name is so powerful that the mere use of His name by the archangel Michael was able to drive Satan away: “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!”’ (Jude 1:9). The Apostle James also admonished: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jam. 4:7). Likewise, Peter also admonished: “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” (1 Pet. 5:9). Have you rebuked Satan’s attacks in Jesus’ name?
Jesus wants you to guard your heart by avoiding sexual temptation, including adultery. Solomon previously warned about the dangers of seduction. “To rescue you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who flatters with her words, who leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;” (Prov. 2:16-17). “the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;” (Prov. 5:3). “24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the foreign woman. 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids. 26 For the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for a precious life. 27 Can anyone take fire in his lap and his clothes not be burned? 28 Or can a person walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? 29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her will not go unpunished.” (Prov. 6:24-29).
Jesus came to raise the standards for sexual purity. Jesus did not come to repeal the laws against sexual immorality. Instead, He raised the bar on the type of conduct that He expects from believers. “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28; 19:9).
6. Fearing Jesus: Fear Jesus By Hating What He Calls Evil. Prov. 7:21-23.
Fear God by avoiding what He calls evil. The man then gave into the woman’s sexual temptations. “21 With her many persuasions she entices him; with her flattering lips she seduces him. 22 Suddenly he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool, 23 until an arrow pierces through his liver; as a bird hurries to the snare, so he does not know that it will cost him his life.” (Prov. 7:21-23). “First, she influenced his mind, and bent his will to her purpose by her evil eloquence. The Hebrew word means ‘doctrine, or learning’ - devil's pleading (Proverbs 1:5; Proverbs 9:9) … She talked him over, though indeed he had put himself in the way of temptation, and had now no power to resist her seductions. Then with the flattering of her lips she forced him; drew him away. His body followed the lead of his blinded mind; he acceded to her solicitations.” (Pulpit Commentary on Prov. 7:21).12
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Solomon later revealed that those who fear God will hate evil. “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.” (Prov. 8:13). Many, however, love the darkness of sin more than they fear disappointing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.” (Jo. 3:19-20). “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 Jo. 1:6-7).
Wisdom begins by hating what Jesus defines as evil13
Fear God because there is no sin that you can hide from Him. The man gave into the woman’s advances believing that he would not be caught. But God knows everything. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3). “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:13). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7; Ps. 111:10; Job 28:28). Like the man in Solomon’s story, Judah also showed that he had no fear of God. He directly sought out the temptation of temple prostitutes (Gen. 38:11-26).
Walk with the Holy Spirit, and you will have no desire for the things of the flesh. If you are walking with the Holy Spirit and praying, sinful desires will have no appeal. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Gal. 5:16).
7. Fearing Judgment: To Stay Pure and Holy for Jesus, Fear the Consequences of Embracing Sin. Prov. 7:24-27.
The fear of God includes the fear of His discipline or judgment when you embrace sin. Solomon concluded with a warning that God’s judgment awaits for those who embrace sin. “24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth. 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. 26 For many are the victims she has brought to ruin, and numerous are all those slaughtered by her. 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.” (Prov. 7:24-27). “The house of the harlot is now likened to a field of battle strewn with the corpses of the many slain.” (Albert Barnes on Prov. 7:26).14 “Even the mightiest fail to resist her deathly allurements.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary on Prov. 7:26-27).15
For those who reject Jesus and refuse to repent, the wages of sin are death. Some falsely believe that the God of the Old Testament is allegedly wrathful while the God of the New Testament is only about permissive love. But the New Testament repeatedly warns that those who reject Jesus and refuse to repent of sin face judgment. “Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death … For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro. 6:21, 23). “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death.” (Ro. 7:5). “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, … envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19, 21). “For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (Gal. 6:8). “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.” (Jam. 1:15).
Be vigilant for spiritual adultery. This account is meant to contrast with the next chapter about Yahweh’s Wisdom (Jesus). Thus, the warnings of this chapter also apply for spiritual adultery. “This warning is to be taken literally, and there is also a spiritual application for you and me today. The Scriptures have a great deal to say about spiritual adultery. God called it when His people left Him and went after idols. They were snared by idols. They were snared by idolatry, and they were brought into subjection. They departed from the living and true God. They were to be joined to Him, but they had separated from Him. They were actually playing the harlot; they were being unfaithful and untrue to Him. That is spiritual adultery.” .” (J. Vernon McGee on Prov. 7).16
Be holy for Jesus. Jesus delivered the Jews from Egyptian bondage and gave them both the Ten Commandments and the Promised Land because He wanted them to be holy for His use in the world: “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44; 20:26; Ex. 19:6). He also wanted them to be holy out of love toward Him (Dt. 10:12). He expected the Jews to be holy so that they would be a light to the rest of the world (Is. 49:6; 60:3). Jesus also wants you to be holy and follow His wisdom to be His light to the lost in a fallen world (Matt, 5:14-16).
Image credit: Living Our Lives Well: Proverbs 7 Scripture Pictures↩︎
B. Waltke and I. De Silva, Proverbs, A Shorter Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2021), p. 145.↩︎
Image credit: Proverbs 7:10 Artwork | Bible Art↩︎
R. Young, Proverbs, A Commentary on the Book of Proverbs (SureWord Publications, Baltimore, MD, 2005), p. 104.↩︎
(emphasis in original) Enduring Word Bible Commentary Proverbs 7↩︎
Image credit: Joseph in Egypt↩︎
Image credit: Proverbs Wallpapers - Wallpaper Cave↩︎
J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Commentary Series, Proverbs (Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville TN 1991), p. 75.↩︎