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Proverbs 1:13

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Proverbs 1:13 "We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:"



Solomon wrote his proverbs to help people, especially his young son.  In order for his readers to benefit from the book, Solomon knew he needed to capture and keep their attention.  There is probably no greater threat to the teacher’s effort to get and keep the attention of the student than the distraction of mischief-makers. In the classroom, one influential trouble-maker can derail the entire lesson.  In the classroom, a pair of problem students can render the teacher’s efforts useless by recruiting others to join them in their mischief.  Solomon understood that sinners could easily derail his efforts to help his son and others become morally successful in life.  It was for this reason that he chose to inform his readers early on to beware of the enticement and distraction of mischief-makers. 
In verse 11, Solomon exposed their heartless intentions to harm the innocent.  In verse 12, …
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Proverbs 1:12

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Proverbs 1:12 "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:"
In trying to help his son pay more attention to father and mother, Solomon highlights the danger of succumbing to negative peer pressure.  He describes evil peers with precision so as to give his son all of the insight necessary to recognize the crowd that poses the most risk to his life.  First, he exposed their Approach as being one of enticement in verse ten.  Secondly, he exposed their Aim as being the baseless harm of the innocent in verse eleven.  Thirdly, Solomon exposed the Appetite of sinful peers as being ravenous in verse twelve.  The exposure of these important details would give the young reader the knowledge necessary to identify & ultimately avoid an unsafe group of peers.
Let it be known to believers of all ages that we should avoid the group of people that have an insatiable appetite for wrongdoing against other people.  The group of sinners in Proverb…
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Proverbs 1:11

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Proverbs 1:10-11 "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:"



Starting in verse 10, Solomon spends some quality time on peer pressure, a topic especially important for young readers like his son.  While he encouraged his son to listen very carefully to his parents, he discouraged his son from listening to mischievous peers.  To help identify which peers he shouldn’t give in to, Solomon took time to describe the type of person he was warning of.  The first detail provided was their self-proclaimed intention to privately lay wait for blood.  But their intention by itself wasn’t the problem; the problem is who they were waiting to harm and why.  They intended to wait to harm the “innocent without cause.”
The intention to contend with another person in itself isn’t an indication of evil but the intention to contend with an innocent person without a justified reason is a…
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Proverbs 1:10

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Proverbs 1:10  "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
Over the course of its thirty-one chapters, the Book of Proverbs will offer wisdom to men and women of all ages.  This book is a wealth of wisdom for all of mankind in all the world.  That truth being said, the first ten verses should reveal why the book comes so highly recommended for the young man and young woman.  Already in ten short verses, we read of the author’s intent to give those virtues that young people desperately need to avoid life-long dilemmas.  In but ten short verses, Solomon points the young to the old; the inexperienced to the experienced; the simple to the wise; the child to the parent. Solomon’s first piece of advice has to do with who to listen to.  His next piece of advice to the young is who not to listen to.
Success for every young person starts with hearing the right people while failure for every young person starts with heeding the wrong people.  The first time Solomon addresses his…
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Proverbs 1:9

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Proverbs 1:8-9 "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."



For the first time in his Book of Wisdom, Solomon pulls out the paint brush and palette full of colors.  One of the reasons so many people like Solomon’s writing is because he crafted sentences in many shapes, sizes and colors.  More than any author in the Bible, Solomon used images to communicate truths.  Many of his proverbs were taught through mental images that he knew would not soon be forgotten.  This was his preferred method of communication in all three of his books contained within the Old Testament; a method that confirmed his wisdom.
The image he chose to use first had to deal with the outward appearance of man.  In communicating the importance of listening to the wisdom of father and mother, Solomon used the coveted image of ornaments and jewelry.  He knew how important the outward appea…
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