The Strand Study Bible

PROVERBS

962

PROVERBS

19:18 & 20:30 & 22:15 & 23:13-14). Lesson #10. How should we respond biblically to reproof and the rod?

The answer – seriously (despise not – Prov 3:11/ Heb 12:5a ) and steadfastly (neither be weary – Prov 3:11/ Heb 12:5b ). APPLICATION: Pillar #6 ( Wisdom’s How ) deals with how God works , i.e., discovering God’s order of things ( I Cor 14:33 ). Question: Is God a God of order? Then it is our job to discover how He works. According to God, there is an order to everything. Find that order and it will put order in your own life; it will hold up your Christianity. For example, there is an order to: 1. How the universe works ( Psa 139:13 ) Take for example the Periodic Table: Although there were precursors, like Antoine Lavoiser (1789), Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner (1829), German chemist Leopold Gmelin (1843), Jean Baptiste Dumas (1857), German chemist August Kekule (1858), English chemist John Newlands (1864), and German chemist Julius Lothar Meyer (1864), Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1869) is generally credited with the development of the periodic table. Mendeleev was actually able to predict the existence of other elements and their properties [such as, germanium (Ge - 32), which lies between silicon (Si -14) and tin (Sn - 50); gallium (Ga - 31), which lies between Aluminum (Al - 13) and Indium (In - 49); and scandium (Sc - 21), which lies before Yttrium (Y - 39)] on paper before they were even discovered. In fact, English chemist John Newlands produced a series of papers in 1864 and 1865 that described his own classification of the elements: he noted that when listed in order of increasing atomic weight, similar physical and chemical properties recurred at intervals of eight, which he likened to the octaves of music. The universe, like music, has an order to it, and God is the one who ordered it. NOTE – The periodic table is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number (the number of protons in the atomic nucleus). Every element through Copernicium (Cn), element 112, has been isolated, characterized, and named, and elements 113 through 118 have been synthesized in laboratories around the world. The periodic table is said to be a masterpiece of organized chemical information, and is said to be the blue print for how our universe works. 2. How we work; our DNA ( Gen 1:11 and Psa 139:6,7 ) Government’s role was instituted by God in order to deter crime (Eccl 8:11) and to keep people from hurting each other and causing civil unrest. Thus, God ordained government to uphold the civil laws ( Rom 13:1 -7). George Washington in his first Presidential Inauguration (April, 30, 1789) said: We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained. 1 Fact: One of the seven pillars on which your Christianity stands is to discover God’s order of things . Pillar #7 (Wisdom’s Wealth ) According to God, acquiring heavenly wisdom: (1) is more valuable than acquiring earthly riches (Prov 3:13-14 & 8:10,19 & 16:16 & 20:15); and (2) is more valuable than acquiring the most coveted object in a person’s heart (Prov 3:13-15 & 8:11). According to God, children should respond properly to parents because most parents want: (1) what’s best for their children (Prov 3:11-12); (2) their children to be pure (Prov 17:3, I Pet 1:7 and Jms 1:2-4); (3) their children to become more knowledgeable (Prov 12:1); (4) their children to live longer lives (Prov 15:10 & 23:13-14); (5) their children to have more character (Prov 20:30 & 25:4); and (6) their children to become wiser (Prov 22:15). 3. How everything works ( Deut 6:4 ) 4. How to grow as believers ( Heb 5:12 ) 5. How to grow in grace ( II Pet 1:5 ) 6. How to study God’s Word ( I Cor 2:13 ) 7. How to pray ( Lk 11:1,2 ) 8. How to prioritize your life ( Prov 9:1 – Pillar #1 ) 9. How to look for a mate ( Prov 18:22 ) 10. How to perform as a government ( Gen 9:6 & 26:5 )

Lesson #11. Note the value God places on “acquiring heavenly wisdom ”

Lesson #12. Note the value of “responding properly” to a parent’s instruction, correction, and chastening

Lesson # 13. Note the value of “self-correction”

According to God, if we judge ourselves: (1) we shall not be judged (Prov 28:13 and I Cor 11:31-32).

Lesson # 14. Note the value of “saying the right things”

According to God, saying the right thing: (1) often means saying nothing (Prov 10:19 & 11:12 & 12:23 & 17:27,28 & 18:13 & 25:20 & 26:4 & 27:14 & 29:11,20); (2) means not talebearing (Prov 11:13 & 16:27,28 & 17:9 & 18:8 & 20:19 & 24:28 & 26:18-23 & 27:6 & 30:10 and Mt 18:15); (3) means not bragging (Prov 27:2 & 30:32); (4) means learning to