If the YouTube video above is not available, here are two other ways to view:

God’s Secrets in Proverbs

19-Proverbs-01

191105AM

Download Student Notes here

CLASS-1:  God Has Given the Guide to Wisdom in Proverbs 

God's Secrets in Proverbs

The Book of Proverbs is the 20th book of the 66 books of the Bible.

The Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters; 915 verses; the 513 key proverbs God wanted recorded of the 3,000 that Solomon spoke; and the entire book totals 15,028 words in English.

Proverbs is about God’s will like stepping stones across the lake, if know where they are not even get wet; step out right now and land right in the middle of God’s will for the next step.

 

WOLBI Proverbs Class Themes

Hour-1:      God Has Given the Guide to Wisdom in Proverbs

Hour-2:      The Best Life Possible is: Doing the Will of God for Life

Hour-3:      Don’t Waste Your Life Like SOLOMON

Hour-4: The Ultimate Sin is Pride

Hour-5: The Second Greatest Day of Your Life

Hour-6: The Un-intoxicated Life

Hour-7: Raising Kids Who See Your Character & Look for the One God Says is Best

Hour-8: Cultivating a Godly Work Ethic

Hour-9: Fools, Focus & Avoiding Being Lost in Electronica

Hour-10:     The Power of Spoken Words

 

 

Outline: Proverbs

  1. God’s Wisdom Written Down (1:1–7)
  2. God’s Purpose in Wisdom (1:1–6)
  3. God’s Theme for Wisdom (1:7)
  4. God’s Wisdom for the Young (1:8–9:18)

III.   God’s Wisdom for Everyone (10:1–29:27)

  1. Through Solomon (10:1–22:16)
  2. Through Wise Men (22:17–24:34)
  3. Through Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (25:1–29:27)
  4. Through Agur (30:1–33)
  5. Through Lemuel (31:1–31)

 

The Implications of Divine Inspiration

God Himself wrote every word of the Bible, through 40+ men He guided over a period 1,500+ years of history, from c. 1446 BC to c. 90 AD. The very first step in studying any part of God’s Word is to reaffirm the implications of inspiration. Many believers either do not fully understand, or they don’t fully remember the truths of this Divine Book we have called the Bible. God Himself engineered this book.

From Genesis to Revelation there is the very same degree of purity of Divine Truth. The first choice we need to make if we are ever going to love, serve, follow, and know the Lord fully: is to hold the same very high view of the Scriptures that Jesus held. The following is what Jesus believed, held to, and taught during His earthly ministry.

 

God Speaks in the Books of Moses

God Himself wrote every word of the Pentateuch through His servant Moses and others. It is not like Moses had a bunch of scientifically questionable records, historically inaccurate reports of early societies, and some fictional legends thrown in with some other boring stuff.

Every chapter and verse of the Pentateuch is truth from God, flawlessly capturing as the beginning of the Universe we see around us, and chronicling the arrival of Adam the first human, after the planet Earth was formed by God followed by the Sun, Moon, and stars.

God also perfectly accurately tells us where every person on Earth descended from. God relates the details of the Global cataclysmic Flood, and then traces the rise of God’s Chosen People of Promise the Jews.

If you want to understand Astronomy, Geology, the laws of Physics, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Ethnology: understand the Pentateuch that God wrote.

 

God Speaks in the Books of History & Prophecy

God Himself wrote every word of the Historical & Prophetic Books through His servants the Prophets and others. Its not like the Historic Book are crude records of a barbaric horde of escaped slaves, filled with pillaging, conquest, and murder of innocent inhabitants of Canaan.

Every chapter and verse of the Historical & Prophetic Books is truth from God, flawlessly capturing the arrival of the Jews from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land. The condition of the Canaanites and other inhabitants are the absolutely most reliable record of what the Middle East looked like on the ground 3,500 years ago. Plus what will characterize society from then, through now, to the end of human history.

God sketches in great details the nations and events that will shape history as it inexorably marches towards Armageddon, mankind’s second to the last global rebellion against God Himself. From now to the end God has made an unbreakable promise with the Jews, that they are His chosen people and all of history revolves around His plan for them.

Every event happened just as it was written down, and all the people named are the perfect record of individuals and how they are seen by their response to obey or resist God Himself. Thus, every promise, prediction, and prophecy will unfold just as God said it would.

If you want to understand the culture we live in, the flow of History, the foundations of Psychology, and every part of past and future events in Prophecy: understand the Historical & Prophetic Books that God wrote.

 

God Speaks in the Books of Wisdom

God Himself wrote every word of the Wisdom Books through His servants the Prophets and others. Its not like the Wisdom Books are a first try, somewhat lacking in the authentic doctrinal ring of Paul, the Gospels or any other portion of God’s Word. God is as perfectly revealed, flawlessly speaking, and doctrinally to be heeded in the poetry and wisdom of those books from Job through the Song of Solomon, as He is in Romans or the Gospel by John.

The same Author wrote Genesis through Revelation. The same Spirit breathed it out. The same God is revealed from verse to verse. The same Almighty, Wise God is speaking in every verse, chapter, and book. He speaks clearly. He speaks consistently. He agrees with Himself from cover-to-cover. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine. All Scripture is profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

If you want to understand the cosmic battles raging this moment, as well as the purposes of suffering and disasters read the Book of Job. If you want to see the answers to an unending life of joy and peace, and understand the place of depression, grief, rejection, and hopelessness read the Book of Psalms. If you want to see the best life possible on Earth, how to make wise choices that invite God’s blessing, read the Book of Proverbs. If you want to understand the emptiness of pride, selfishness, materialism, sensuality, and addictions read the Book of Ecclesiastes. If you want to see love as God displays it to us, and we are to find in marriage, read the Book of Song of Solomon. All of this and so much more is found in the Wisdom Books that God wrote.

 

Wise Living is How God Describes His Will for Us in Proverbs

God is the source of true wisdom. God is reflected in a person’s life to the extent that they exhibit the wisdom that He produces. God gives us a sure fire way to see if we are wise, and those around us are wise by measurable and illustrated means.

The Book of Proverbs is God’s Word about wisdom lived out in every day life. A wise person grows in wisdom, they learn, they are correctable. On the other hand a foolish person decreases in wisdom, flees from correction, and reflects their foolishness in the character, they relationships, and in their words.

God explains to those who are wise, that you can understand what  a person really is like by taking enough time to analyze them from three perspectives.  God says watch and measure people in three ways: watch for reflections of their internal, spiritual character, observe their relationships, and listen to their words. Those three will reveal what that person is really like.

God says that His wisdom shows up in a person’s desire to know and follow the character qualities that God has declared. God says that His wisdom shows up in a person’s desire to know and follow the relational guidelines that He has laid down. God says that His wisdom shows up as either present or absent in the words that always flow from our heart’s abundance.

Proverbs (MSB)

Title

The title in the Hebrew Bible is “The Proverbs of Solomon” (1:1), as also in the Greek Septuagint (LXX). Proverbs pulls together the most important 513 of the over 3,000 proverbs pondered by Solomon (1 Kin. 4:32; Eccl. 12:9), along with some proverbs of others whom Solomon likely influenced.

The word “proverb” means “to be like,” thus Proverbs is a book of comparisons between common, concrete images and life’s most profound truths. Proverbs are simple, moral statements (or illustrations) that highlight and teach fundamental realities about life.

Solomon sought God’s wisdom (2 Chr. 1:8–12) and offered “pithy sayings” designed to make men contemplate 1) the fear of God and 2) living by His wisdom (1:7; 9:10). The sum of this wisdom is personified in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:30).

 

Author and Date

The phrase “Proverbs of Solomon” is more a title than an absolute statement of authorship (1:1). While King Solomon, who ruled Israel from 971–931 BC and was granted great wisdom by God (see 1 Kin. 4:29–34), is the author of the didactic section (chaps. 1–9) and the proverbs of 10:1–22:16, he is likely only the compiler of the “sayings of the wise” in 22:17–24:34, which are of an uncertain date before Solomon’s reign.

The collection in chaps. 25–29 was originally composed by Solomon (25:1) but copied and included later by Judah’s king Hezekiah (ca. 715–686 BC.).

Chapter 30 reflects the words of Agur and chap. 31 the words of Lemuel, who perhaps was Solomon.

Proverbs was not assembled in its final form until Hezekiah’s day or after. Solomon authored his proverbs before his heart was turned away from God (1 Kin. 11:1–11), since the book reveals a godly perspective and is addressed to the “naive” and “young” who need to learn the fear of God.

Solomon also wrote Psalms 72 and 127, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Background and Setting

In 4:1–4, Solomon connected 3 generations as he entrusted to his son Rehoboam what he learned at the feet of David and Bathsheba. Proverbs contains the principles and applications of Scripture which the godly characters of the Bible illustrate in their lives.

 

Historical and Theological Themes

Solomon came to the throne with great promise, privilege, and opportunity. God had granted his request for understanding (1 Kin. 3:9–12; 1 Chr. 1:10, 11), and his wisdom exceeded all others (1 Kin. 4:29–31). However, the shocking reality is that he failed to live out the truth that he knew and even taught his son Rehoboam (1 Kin. 11:1, 4, 6, 7–11), who subsequently rejected his father’s teaching (1 Kin. 12:6–11).

Proverbs contains a gold mine of biblical theology, reflecting themes of Scripture brought to the level of practical righteousness (1:3), by addressing man’s ethical choices, calling into question how he thinks, lives, and manages his daily life in light of divine truth. More specifically, Proverbs calls man to live as the Creator intended him to live when He made man (Ps. 90:1, 2, 12).

 

The Promise of God in Proverbs

The recurring promise of Proverbs is that the wise (who are the righteous who obey God), generally:

  1. The wise live longer (9:11),
  2. The wise prosper (2:20–22),
  3. The wise experience joy (3:13–18),
  4. The wise experience the goodness of God temporally (12:21).
  5. The fools suffer shame (3:35) and death (10:21).

On the other hand, it must be remembered that this general principle is balanced by the reality that the wicked sometimes prosper (Ps. 73:3, 12), though only temporarily (Ps. 73:17–19). Job illustrates that there are occasions when the godly wise are struck with disaster and suffering.[1]

 

CLASS-1:  God Has Given the Guide to Wisdom in Proverbs

 

Proverbs: 915 Verses & 140+ Topics or Themes

There are over 140 different themes & topics covered by God in Proverbs.

These can be distilled down to three key areas God targets:

My Character, My Relationships & My Words.

Here are the topics:

 

First, God’s Will Revealed for My Character

  1. God Wants to Make Me Wise, Not Foolish.
  2. God Wants to make Me Teachable, Not Stubborn[2].
  3. God Wants to make Me Righteous, Not Wicked.
  4. God Wants to make Me Humble, Not Proud.
  5. God Wants to make Me Self-controlled, Not Rash.
  6. God Wants to make Me Forgiving, Not Vindictive.

 

Secondly, God’s Will Revealed for My Relationships

  1. God’s Will revealed in Five Areas for our Relationship To Our Parents.
  2. God’s Will revealed in Five Areas for our Relationship To Our Wife.
  3. God’s Will revealed in Nine Areas for our Relationship To Our Children.
  4. God’s Will revealed in Seven Areas Relationship To Our Friends and Neighbors.

 

Thirdly, God’s Will for My Words

  1. God wants me to understand the Power of My Words.
  2. God wants me to know the Limitations of My Words.
  3. God’s Will for the Character of My Words.
  4. God’s Will is that I understand the Source of My Words.

 

First, God’s Will Revealed for My Character

  1. God Wants to Make Me Wise, Not Foolish so that Six Areas of My Life Point towards Him as Lord: 

God wants me to fear Him as Lord (9:10;14:16;15:33);

God wants me to trust Him as Lord (3:5;16:3,20);

God wants me ever mindful of Him as My Lord (3:6);

God wants me to choose the His way of wisdom as My Lord (8:10-11;17:24);

God wants me to submit to His discipline as My Lord (1:2-3;3:11);

God wants me to confess my sins to Him as My Lord (28:13).

Conclusion: God wants me to know the benefits of His wisdom (2:20–22; 3:13–18; 9:11; 12:21; Job 28:17; Psalms 37:3; 91:10; 1 Peter 3:13).

 

LXX Septuagint—an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek

[1] MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., pp. 874–875). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.

[2] The original ideas for this study were based on an article from:  From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Proverbs
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Slides


Check Out All The Sermons In The Series

You can find all the sermons and short clips from this series, Ancient Wisdom – Unleashing God’s Secret In Proverbs here.

Looking To Study The Bible Like Dr. Barnett?

Dr. Barnett has curated an Amazon page with a large collection of resources he uses in his study of God’s Word. You can check it out here.