A Treasure Worth Seeking
Study Scripture: Proverbs 2: 1 – 5, 3: 1 – 6, 13 - 18
Lesson 10

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Key Verse

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding

Proverbs 3:13

 

INTRODUCTION

 The Book of Proverbs has a different but complimentary approach to the things of God from the Books of Scripture that we have studied recently.  

We have studied the physical, mental and spiritual agony that was experienced by a mature man of God named Job. He could not understand why he was suddenly plunged into immense difficulties, despite his faithfully loving, reverencing, fearing God, and scrupulously following the Commandments of God.

He was eventually made to realize that the plans and purposes of God cannot be easily understood by mere mortals.  He came to more fully understand the nature of the righteousness, justice and honor of God and so he bowed the knee in repentance, after he had come to see God in a new and intimate way.  

Then we studied some lessons from the Book of Ecclesiastes where we looked at the ‘cry’ of the soul of man.  There we saw that the mind of man operates according to human reason, so as to drive him to analyze, evaluate and examine everything that he could possibly do

under the sun’. The aim was to achieve happiness by discovering certain facts about life, which if used, would allow man to achieve happiness and peace.   

We looked at the wisest man who ever lived, who in addition had every possible material, intellectual and spiritual advantage. He asked ever possible question about life ‘under the sun’ and examined all the possible ways of having a successful and happy life. His conclusion was that “all”, “everything” was vanity and that the only thing that made sense was to ‘fear God and to keep his Commandments, for that was the entire duty of man”.  

Now we come to the Book of Proverbs and this book not only looks at the cry of the soul of man, but addresses the will of man, appeals to the will of man and makes certain conclusion about man’s will.  

The Book of Proverbs then deals at great length with the things about which man should make a decision, in other words it deals with the choices of life.  

This Book has application for all men, at every stage in life and at every age of life.  It speaks to those in the stage of childhood, those who are youths and those who are mature.  

It addresses the choices of life in a very practical way and clearly and simply gives directions as to how to solve many of the mysteries of life.  

In a compelling way, it necessarily spends a great deal of time advising those that are moving out into the world for the first time, exposing themselves to its ways and its mysteries and of course its many and complex dangers, which all aim to destroy.  

Proverbs approaches life affirming that God has all the answers. Why? Because He is all-wise and knows everything. He understands all mysteries, nothing is hidden from him and riddles are trivialities for Him.   

The Book stresses that the beginning of wisdom is to reverence and fear God. So we are back to this matter of “fearing God”, on which Job placed so much importance.  Let us examine this word at the outset.  

The word “ fear” as used in 17th century England means a proper attitude toward other people, for example being reverent and acting in submission in the presence of royalty. This is how people living then understood the meaning and the translation was quite accurate. The word did not emphasize the idea of being frightened, which is what people take it to mean nowadays.  

Fear of the Lord thus means a reverent and loving obedience to our Lord and his will. This involves appropriate humility in the presence of the Lord, a behavior that flows from the recognition that the Lord is God, that he is our Creator, we are part of his creation, and are definitely not God's equal.  This rules out def ian ce on our insides, but also grovelling and pretence reverence on the outside.

The Book claims six purposes.

The first is to find out the will of God so that there would be disciplined godliness in our behavior.

The second is to have people discern between good and evil and choose the good.

Third, it aims to have man live a wise and honest way of life, to act prudently, circumspectly, to pursue righteousness and uprightness toward other men.

Fourth, it strips away the false, deceiving veil which blinds the eyes and puts the naïve, inexperienced, and the “simple” against the very dangerous and subtle snares of life.

Fifth, it enables the prudent man to heed the warnings of the Book, thereby increasing in learning and in wise counsel, thus enabled to steer himself and others properly through the difficult ‘waters’ of life.

Sixth, it enables the wise to put in plain words the difficult to understand sayings and riddles.  

Proverbs is written to make men become wise or wiser, shrewd, to become prudent, to have understanding, to instruct or to discipline, that is to train, correct and impart self-control through attaining wisdom.  

This moral discipline, this self-control, is a virtue named in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galat ian s 5:22-23.  

The book aims to equip one to discriminate between things, to be able to choose between good and evil, to do as Paul prayed for the brethren in Philipp ian s 1:10, to “discern what is best”.  

In order to do what God wants there must be a combination of good thinking, careful planning and skilful actions.  

Servants of God especially are to have this calculating approach to life, where cost is counted and where as Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, those following God and in his service would be

“ wise as serpents and innocent as doves”.  

The young and the simple (the inexperienced) need to and can learn wisdom.  The early focus is actually on them.  

It is a chilling reminder to the fact that it is not appropriate for adults to act like children.  Moreover, the wise and discerning must continue to learn (1:5), for obviously advancing years is no guarantee of wisdom.  

Verse five actually states that the wisdom that the Book of Proverbs teaches is like a steering wheel, which if used properly will guide a person through the curves of life, around obstacles and enable that person to reach their intended destination. Hence the emphasis is always on the reverent and loving obedience to the Lord and his will, for this is its theme, namely, the overriding and essential requirement of the “ fear of the Lord”.  

One other matter. When we are told that this fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it does not mean that this is the first stage in wisdom or knowledge.  There are no other succeeding stages of development. The word used for beginning means literally ‘origin’ or ‘source’ and is used to describe the headwaters of a river, the source from which the river flows.  

This book starts by telling us that a right relationship with the Lord is the most critical thing, for all wisdom and understanding always flows from that right relationship.  The Lord is the only source of wisdom.  A person must therefore be continually open to receive from that fountain of wisdom. As the Apostle Paul writes in Coloss ian s 2:3 that in Christ “ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.  

The mark of foolishness is deviation from that fountain of wisdom, and doing whatever is different or opposite from the Commandments of the Lord, which are of course revealed in this Book.  Any deviation from the inspired word of God is absolute foolishness and will lead to vanity and meaninglessness.  

One other important point.

Wisdom is sometimes personified in Proverbs as an attractive, beautiful lady, logically conveying an attractive message.  This message is:

wisdom is attractive

wisdom is a gift, not an achievement.  

Very important is that ‘Lady Wisdom’ does not wait for people to chase after her, but like the Old Testament prophets confront people in their daily lives as they go about their business, meeting them wherever they assembled to do business and to enjoy themselves and issues her invitation, making her sales pitch.  

She is not fooled by people and by the realities of life and she understands that many people, though not stupid, are attracted to doctrines and habits that are harmful to them, since sin is so attractive and has such excellent public relations.  

So she lifts up her voice over the noise of daily life and cries out to the simple ones, the scorners, and the fools, to “turn at her rebuke”,

( the word “turn” is the same word used by the prophets meaning to “repent”) and to get her many benefits.  

Though ‘Lady Wisdom’ promises much to those who listen to her,

she recognizes that there is a great irony that people can be warned of the consequences of their evil and still choose to pursue that evil anyway.  So ‘Lady Wisdom’ knows that she will laugh at them when calamity strikes.  

She knows that refusing her will lead to ultimate destruction and even if refusing her ways lead to prosperity, that prosperity will ultimately lead to ruin. So she cries out that anyone who listens to her will dwell in safety. When people obey her instructions, she will bring fulfillment and joy.  

Chapter 1:27 and 33 reminds us that evil will and must bring fears.  The fears will come suddenly and powerfully like the whirlwind.  There will be desolation, destruction, distress, anguish and there will be absolutely no way to avoid those judgments.  

So as we study the text, let us not forget that we must have the wisdom given by God, live by it and be blessed.

THE TEXT

Verse 1.   We are here into the instruction form of the writings, and it is structured to emphasize the way that wisdom saves those who will follow her.   

This kind of ‘wisdom’ teaching aims at disciplined living and focuses on the method by which wisdom is acquired, the training, the correction and self-control.  

This book of Proverbs is revealing itself as a book that touches very real, practical issues, and is a very helpful book even for those who don't know the Lord.  

This ‘son’ or the ‘reader’ is to begin first by being receptive to the words, or the commands that are being presented to him.  

He is to receive and treasure his father’s sayings.  The words are wisdom words and he is to hide them, for they are treasures of great wealth.  If the son will seek wisdom, there will be many benefits and these will be soon described.  

This raises the matter that there is a price for wisdom, and the question is whether or not the son or the reader will be willing to pay the price.  We were previously told that wisdom has taken the  initiative and has gone out to the public places to seek followers.  But it is equally true that those hearing the call of wisdom must respond.  

The son or reader must become active with his mind having listened carefully, because in humility he has recognized that he doesn't know everything yet.  He must be convinced that the words of God are from the fountain of wisdom and understanding.  Here we have a display of faith.  

For us the Words of God are trustworthy for they are the truth.  They are the only reliable source of information, counsel and advice for here God has spoken.  When we ignore or downplay the value of these words, we will pierce ourselves through with many sorrows, and have many sad experiences, thinking that what we are doing was right when in fact it was very wrong.  

Since this Book is concerned with the development of godly character and since the highest goal of the believer is to become like Christ, we must be concerned with our ability to discern character.  

A godly person is not simply one who professes to believe certain things, but according to James it is one who believes and also practices them.  We have to learn to avoid those who will not receive the words of God and if they say they have received them will not treasure them.  Christ ian s should not simply live the theoretical or the abstract but look for applied truth also, where principles are held firmly and translated into practice.  So says Amos in 5:24, Jesus in Matthew 23:23-24, James in 1:21-27, Isaiah in 1:10-17, and Jeremiah in chapters 20 through 29.

Verse 2.  The hiding or treasuring of the Commandments in faith will keep the head and heart turned to wisdom, obviously exciting the person to exercise their heart to understanding.  That person will begin to actively go after what he is hearing.  

The call is to grab every opportunity to hear the word of God, to listen to it seriously and with great attention, holding fast this great treasure so that it will never be lost.  This is serious engagement.

Verse 3.  It is emphasized that attitude must be crying after knowledge, treating it as if one were always and continually dying of hunger, never having enough, strongly desiring knowledge since we recognize our need and want of knowledge.  

So as newborn babies we cry after this “sincere milk of the word”, according to the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:2.  In this matter examine carefully Psalm 38:9, 73:25, Isaiah 26 9, and Luke 6:21.  

Those who want something to pray for should pray for wisdom, insists Ephes ian s 1:17.  We should all be much in prayer.  

Note that there is a shift from being a listener, to searching and doing.  

The ability to discern, the knowing of truth from error, good from evil, best from good, the obtaining of discretion, follows effort.  Our attitude should be to lend our voice to understanding the word of God, speaking in support of it and placing our tongue under the command and control of wisdom.  When we are active, and pray for wisdom we will obtain it.

Verse 4.  There is effort involved in obtaining wisdom.  Men who want the wealth of this world make strenuous efforts to get it.  Those who mine for silver and gold work very hard, and take tremendous risks with their very lives.  Those who search for treasure are very diligent and will go to the bottom of the sea to retrieve sunken ships with their treasures.  They leave no stone unturned to get money.  

Those who seek wisdom must be similarly diligent, seeking, searching and constantly following after her.  

What is even better is that this search and obtaining of wisdom will never be in vain.

Verse 5-6.  Success is guaranteed, for the center of things, the heart of wisdom, is the living God himself.  Note that the fear of God and knowledge of God cannot be separated.  Both speak of closeness, understanding, love and intimacy.  

Once the methods instructed are followed there will be acquaintance and communion with God. God will lead and understanding of his mysteries will result.  

The promise from God is that those who seek wisdom and its treasures will be able to discern or understand what is involved in a right relationship with the Lord.  We call it walking in the light where the Father dwells. (1 John 1).  

Despite the foregoing, the next verses immediately emphasize that it is not our efforts or our seeking that produces wisdom.  God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge, the only way to get such wisdom is certainly not by effort, but by being in right relationship with Him.  

Wisdom is a gift from God.

Verses 7.   The benefits of this relationship is now made clear. God guards the path of his own, he is a shield to his people who walked uprightly, (note the action of walking) and he protects his own.  

Let us not forget that there are many wrong turns that we can make, wittingly or unwittingly, many cliffs that we can fall off (some of them we might not even see as we journey) and many wrong choices can be made, when we come to the forks in the road.  

We need direction.  

Our journey through life if it is to be successful, needs the presence and wisdom of God and it is essential that we maintain our right relationship with him and that he remain our shield and protector.  

This wisdom brings pleasant things to the insides, to the soul.  It preserves and keeps.  It points out the evil men and women who wait to drag the unwary into sexual immorality and into sins which ruin the judgment of the young and involve them into vices which ruin and destroy.  They are many corrupt men out of the world who are profane and who seek to lead the young into the ‘jaws of death’.  There are also many women with corrupt practices that lead the young into fleshly lusts that defile the body.  

Wisdom is a great guide to direct men and women in what is good and channel them away from the destructive ways of evil.  It is to be noted that the paths of the righteous are the paths of life and the wise will stay in those ways.  

Brethren, the stakes are high.  The blessings of life, the love of God, and possessing the inheritance of God throughout eternity, are what is at stake. So choose wisdom and the treasures that it brings.

Proverbs 3

Verse 1.  It is now as if the son has grown up and is prepared to go out into the world and live on his own.  He has been instructed and has become involved, knowing the living God, but now he faces a new danger.  So here comes the emphasis  

DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AND LEARNED.  

We must look at life realistically, for ignorance is definitely not bliss and naivety is not to be encouraged in any way. There is a need to urge people to remember! especially when there has been success in teaching about life, for success always heightens the tendency to forget the cause for success.  

Let us remember that Solomon, though the wisest man, did not even heed his own counsel.  He knew that he should not follow strange women but that is exactly what he did.  He knew how sons and daughters should be taught, but he did not succeed in raising a wise son, for his son and successor Rehoboam, refused to listen to the counsel of the older and wiser advisors in his father’s court, and the result was that the kingdom was divided.  

We must be careful, for sometimes or greatest strength becomes or greatest weakness.  When we think we are strong in a certain area that area is precisely where we fail.  

It seems that knowing the right thing to do is not enough.  Apparently wisdom is not just knowing some truths but obediently and humbly practicing them.  

Solomon might have thought that he could sin and keep it under control and “beat the system”, but remember that wisdom is a relationship with God.  

Actually, the problem with Solomon was not in his head, but in his heart.  

We must come to realize that the problem is often in our hearts. The smarter, more knowledgeable, and more mature we get, the more then the problem locates in our hearts. So everything inside us, our hearts must be such that we will keep on keeping God’s Commandments.

Verse 2.   Faithfulness to the commandments of God is indispensable; for when the will and affections are fixed on obedience blessings are promised and certain things will follow

This blessing comes about when we continually pay regard to the precepts of God and submitting ourselves to the restraints and determinations of the divine law.  

God assures us of a long life of peace. The wiser we become, the more likely it is that we will anticipate problems and avoid them. As a result we will live successfully, avoid stress, eat properly, get adequate rest and avoid the guilt of sin. Often this mental and physical load shortens life. We should live at peace and do what is necessary to have a lengthy life.  We will have a good useful life and then God will add eternal life.

Verse 3.  Nothing should be done to lose the mercy and truth of God.  These are so important and comforting, that they must be kept close and placed around the neck as a graceful ornament.  This mercy and truth of God will be reflected in the person’s life and show in the sincerity, uprightness, faithfulness and love toward other men.  

These beautiful virtues of God will be written upon the ‘tables on the heart’ by the work of the Spirit of God,

 (Proverbs 7:3, Jeremiah 17:1, 11:33, 2 Cor. 3:3). God wants the truths of mercy and truth to be chiselled in our hearts, so that they cannot be forgotten.

Verse 4.  This condition of the heart and the graceful ornament of mercy and truth which all men will see continually, will recommend us to our God as well us to our fellow men.  God will be pleased with us, for He knows we will always be seeking his favor.  He will give us good understanding, since we are the children of ‘wisdom’, for he himself looks favorably on everything that is said and done.

Verses. 5-7.  The secret for success is now summarized.  There are ways to have success and they were previously mentioned.  But the final admonition is that the way to success, is to trust the Lord with all our heart.  

Note that we can never really understand life and so the only important thing is to hold onto our relationship with God and refuse to trust yourself.  This applies to everything and all.  There must be no area of life that God does not control and direct.  Entire confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God must always be in our hearts.  We will never understand life, except by looking at our relationship with God, understanding that he is to make all decisions and to guide us in whatever path he chooses.  

This instruction deals with both the positive and negative choices.  We are to lean on him and refuse to lean on our own understanding, doing both at the same time.  

The wiser we become the more we will understand that we are only a ‘weak reed’ and if we depend on our self, or on anyone else, we will certainly fail.  The only place to place our confidence is in God's wisdom, power and goodness.

Verse 9-12. We are warned that in times of great success, a person must not allow their success to seduce them and keep their heart from God.  Everything about God must be branded on the heart. Then logically, the first choice that is made with material blessings would be to give to God.  

Note that the heart must dictate and this rules out things being done mechanically and with pride.  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in

Luke 11:42, and Matthew 23:5; for though they gave to God, the state of their heart was certainly unacceptable to Him.  

This state of dependence on God and on God alone, constantly and continually learning the wisdom of God, remaining humble, having an awareness of our capacity for sin, self-love and weakness, should make us treasure what wisdom brings to us.  

With all that guidance, having been given wisdom, we should never despise, repudiate, reject, or disdain what God does to us or allows to happen to us. The discipline and correction of God is instructive punishment.  

We have confidence in God because his behavior is that of the loving father not as a vindictive judge.  He loves and he corrects those he loves, because he wants the best for them. He acts to prevent trouble. (See Revelation 3:12.)

Verses 13-20.  

Six things are stated about the person who finds wisdom.  Let us summarize them:

First, that person is happy.

Second, the person is in truth, prosperous and spiritually wealthy.  This is the only true prosperity and wealth.

Third, the person will inevitably get long life, wealth and honour.

Fourth, those who find wisdom will enjoy walking in the pleasant ways of wisdom and in the paths of peace.

Fifth, they will enjoy the ultimate permanent experience of spiritual life.

Sixth, that person will share in God's awesome knowledge.

Verse 13.  The person who has found wisdom and possesses it, obtaining the benefits of understanding, now begins to draw continually from the fountain of all wisdom, namely God.  He knows where to get answers to life and he knows how to use his talents for his own benefit and for the benefit of others.

Verses 14-15.  He trades with wisdom, making it his business and he communicates this wisdom to others.  He is diligent in its use and like the traders who constantly turn over their stock and increase their ability to create wealth, he too constantly improves on his wisdom, using it to do great and greater good.  

He produces true prosperity and spiritual wealth, which is better quality and of more lasting value than the wealth produced by those who profit from trading in silver and fine gold.  

It is true happiness, a transcendent happiness that comes to those who deal in the sure word of God, who draw from the fountain of wisdom continually and who experience the grace of God day by day.  

They learn that the wisdom from heaven is superior in every respect to the wisdom of the world.  They know that the wealth of the world cannot give lasting satisfaction but is vanity and emptiness.  The wise receive massive enjoyment from communicating the words of God to men, to lead them to salvation and to support, strengthen and bless those that are already on the road to heaven.  They know that building up treasure in heaven is the only thing of value that man can do.  

They know that wisdom is more valuable and precious than rubies and the most desirable things in life.

Verse 16.  Here wisdom is likened to a beautiful Queen, with gifts in both hands for the benefit of her subjects.  Those who follow for and submit to her government will be in line for the most valuable, unmentionable blessings.  

In her right hand is the most valuable blessing of all, namely life, good life that is long and secure, that will extend into everlasting life in a better world.  

In her left hand are riches and honor, the wealth of the world in sufficient quantities that is good for the wise.  They might seem to be relatively poor, but in God’ eyes they are rich and as well, in the eyes of the world they are excellent people to have around, commanding respect even if they are not particularly liked for their stance for God.

Verse 17.  The wise person is properly described in Psalm 119:165

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them”.  

They are blessed and are like trees planted by the rivers of water.  God directs them to walk in paths that will delight and satisfy them. They will enjoy community with God and doing good to their fellowmen.  These are pleasant ways, ways of peace, ways of reconciling men to God and bringing the peace of God to men.  

With wisdom is the tree of life, the happiness of paradise.  This is real enjoyment of the fullness of spiritual life.  ‘She’ will hold unto those that come to her, bringing life to them and keeping them prepared for their eternal home.  It is emphasized that wisdom brings great satisfaction and joy and leads to eternal life.  Clearly this is happiness that God gives and there is no life like it.

CONCLUSION

To know wisdom is to know God and to participate in the life of God.  Wisdom only comes from God for it is his gift to man.  

The Book of Proverbs is a book which gives us practical instruction from the mind of God and it would be extremely helpful if we read it through at least once every month; one chapter each day.  

If we want to see who the people of God are, to discover them, we must first look at what Proverbs teach us and then see if the professing believers around us are doing what these words of God says.  If they are falling short we should warn them.  

The Book of Proverbs is a delight, since it is concerned with the development of godly character.  When we look at what Proverbs has to say about godly character, we will understand practical and personal holiness.

Then we will know:

-Who to avoid and who to associate with,

-What to do and what not to do,

-How to choose our friends,

-How to choose our mates.

-How to live in such a way that there is no distinction between the sacred and secular,

-How to know what is always good and what is always right.

-How to always think right,

-How to look at life realistically,

-How to always obtain divine guidance

And more….

May we above everything else, learn to trust in God with all of our heart, not just our head and to never ever follow our own understanding.