Hi James and Ellen,
Proverbs is a collated collection of contrasting couplets. The majority of Proverbs Book’s axioms are quotes from Solomon’s notes on living a pragmatic life. Solomon was from 970 A.D. to 930 A.D. the third positioned king to rule over the Israelite people group guys and gals. Over 1,000 years before Solomon began his 80 or so year God scripted planet Earth tenure, God established a binding covenant with a nomadic guy by the name of Abraham. At the time when God made His unbreakable vow to Abraham – which had God promising Abraham that He would always have his lineage be His specially chosen guys and gals, Abraham was possibly living in the vicinity of where the city of Jerusalem was founded and which is where Solomon resided when he reigned as king over the Israelite people group guys and gals. Solomon’s dad was David. David ruled as the second positioned king over the Israelite people group guys and gals. Solomon’s ma was Bathsheba. David and Bathsheba’s relationship began illicitly after David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof of where she lived and after David carnally felt compelled to meet her and to . . . when Bathsheba told David that she was pregnant, David commanded his army general – whose name was Joab, to order Bathsheba’s Hittite soldier husband – whose name was Uriah, to lead an attack against an Ammonite people group fortress. David’s unconscionable, deviant behavior was compounded when Uriah was killed. David’s appallingly, aberrant actions led to the baby dying who was born to David and Bathsheba. Solomon was the next kid who was born to David and Bathsheba. During the 40 years that David was king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, David – using his army, expanded the land of Israel’s border, David – using his position, accumulated an enormous amount of wealth. David – because of not using discipline, had family infighting that led to heartrending outcomes. Solomon – because he grew up as a privileged palace kid, had for nearly 40 years life conditioning in an environ that included access to an unlimited amount of treasure, opportunities to a limitless number of revelries and expectations that were only limited by sibling rivalries. In spite of having a dad who had an immoral, homicidal history, Solomon also had a dad who had a very genuine, intimate relationship with God. The authentic, personal rapport that his dad had with God perceptibly rubbed off on Solomon – which led him to ask God for wisdom versus asking God for something tangible – such as glory, long life, wealth, etc., when God told Solomon – when He had him be named the next king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, that He would give him what he desired.
Even though it can be said that Solomon by his getting caught up in the grandeur and opulence of being a king wasted the wisdom gift that God gave him, Solomon still found time to think of and record pithy, proverbial taunts or oracles or parables. Even though Solomon’s lifestyle – which included amassing wives and mistresses, seems to portray otherwise, Solomon is very clear and adamant that a guy – or a gal or kid, must always pursue knowledge and wisdom – with knowledge and wisdom being found only through the fearing of God. Obtaining wisdom – to Solomon, is not amassing intelligence but is an intentional compliance to an inner moral virtue compass. Through his recorded adages, Solomon uses wisdom, understanding, integrity and knowledge to underpin holiness and fool, folly, simple, mocker and quarrelsome to define evil.
Your grandpaa is conflicted with Solomon. The proverbial truisms that are attributed to Solomon are to your grandpaa teaching imperatives that are to be applied to real life experiences and not on second hand accounts. Your grandpaa thinks that if Solomon really internalized what he said or scribed as life absolutes, your grandpaa wonders why Solomon – per what the Kings and Chronicles Book authors scribed, ostensibly would often do what he stated or scribed that a guy was not to do. Your grandpaa at the same time would be the first to urge a guy, gal or kid to carefully peruse the 31 chapters in the Proverbs Book for insightful assistance on subjects ranging from duplicity, the tongue, honesty, generosity, parental discipline, alcohol and on and on. Your grandpaa also uses how Solomon resolutely encourages and admonishes guys – and gals and kids, to make the pursuit of knowledge a life objective as a reason for why a guy or gal today is to proactively find ways to assimilate the Word of God so that when the time comes, he or she will have the wisdom to wisely clarify the Word of God to another guy or gal in a manner which will have the guy or gal perpetually helped and eternally blessed. Your grandpaa is concerned today that young guys and gals seem to be more intrigued with the idea of having God – as God the Spirit, manifesting Himself in him or her then he or she is of being desirous in glorifying God – as God the Father, by diligently and faithfully meditating on His written living words. Even though Solomon – to your grandpaa, put the pride stamp on what he did – such as having his palace constructed bigger and more grandeur than the temple of God that he saw to the building of in the city of Jerusalem, to meet the perception that he had of himself as being a great world leader, his legacy is still his ability to elucidate in a few words practical living skills that Christ-follower guys, gals and kids are to apply daily in their lives. Proverbs Book – to your grandpaa, is the most underused, overlooked canonized book in the entire Bible.
Proverbs