Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20110828.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Proverbs: Motivating Teens And Adults To Align With God's Fixed Moral Order
Part III: Solomon's Proverbs Reflecting God's Fixed Moral Order For Blessing, Proverbs 10:1-22:16
A. Contrasting Wise, Righteous Living With Foolish, Wicked Living, Proverbs 10:1-15:33
1. Studying Proverbs 10:1-5
  1. Introduction
    1. Solomon's actual proverbs hop from one subject to another, likely "to force readers to grapple with and meditate on the thoughts of one verse before moving on to the next," Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 925.
    2. We thus focus on each one to draw out its insight as implied exists in each via Proverbs 1:5-6 as follows:
  2. Studying Proverbs 10:1-5 (as follows):
    1. Proverbs 10:1 claims a wise son makes a merry (samah, Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1166; B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., 1968, p. 970) father where a son with a mind closed to correction (kesil, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. K. C., O. T., p. 908) is a grief (tugah, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 387) to his mother. A father expressed merriment in a feast where a mother grieved even in private, implying a son open to correction brings public celebration to his parents where one with a mind closed to correction brings grief.
    2. Proverbs 10:2 asserts that treasures or storehouses of treasures (osar, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 69-70) gained wrongly do not profit where righteousness delivers from death. Even treasuries of vast wealth gained by sin will not profit since those wronged will get revenge to the fall of the wrongdoer, but upright dealings keep one from being avenged and thus losing what he has! One is far more financially secure to be upright in making modest wealth gains than to obtain great riches by means of wickedness!
    3. Proverbs 10:3 NIV claims God will not let the life principle (nephesh, Ibid., Kittel), the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional life (Gen. 2:7; Ibid., Kittel, p. 3) of the upright go unfulfilled, but will thrust away the wicked from meeting even his deep cravings in all these realms. Righteousness and sin lead to greatly contrasting effects in one's entire experience! Also, the name for God here is Jahweh (Ibid., p. 1166), the Name God introduced to Israel when He delivered her from Egypt (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Ex. 3:14) by His great power that enabled her as a nation of slaves financially to spoil her masters, the Egyptians (Ex. 12:29-36) and to see their menacing chariot army utterly destroyed while Israel was totally delivered at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The implied contrast between blessing and its lack here is huge!
    4. Proverbs 10:4 explained that even the palm of the hand (hadaf, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid, B. D. B., p. 496) of the negligent, idle one makes him a poor man, but that the entire hand (yad, Ibid., Kittel) of the diligent (harus, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 358) makes them (Ibid., Kittel) rich. As the palm is the strong part of the hand that takes the least skill to use, and the fingers take far more skill to use well, this proverb claims diligence has great wealth-producing effects as it leads one to gain in skill and industry (by exercising his whole hand) where the negligent develop no skills, and suffer poverty in the end. The proverb in the Hebrew text shifts from focusing on one negligent man to a plurality of diligent people, meaning all who are diligent will eventually be wealthier, meaning it is inevitably, always productive for anyone to be diligent in whatever he attempts!
    5. Proverbs 10:5 ESV teaches that the son who gathers crops in the summer is prudent, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. As attested by the discovery of the Gezer inscription that taught youths the seasonal activities of Israel's farmers (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., vol. One, p. 75-78), even youths in Israel knew that the basic, staple crops like barley, wheat, grapes and figs were harvested in the summer. Thus, Solomon implied a son wise enough to notice merely the obvious opportunities to advance his financial welfare will make an income and thus be prudent. However, foolishness [via sin] makes one so calloused to opportunities of advancement that he sleeps in harvest, failing to be aware that even obvious opportunities for gain, so he suffers loss to where even youths shamefully view him as being foolish.
Lesson: One must be teachable, gain income rightly, be righteous, diligent, and observant in wisdom to enjoy rich blessings in his life versus suffering enormous loss, and that in all realms of experience.

Application: May we align with God's fixed moral order through faith in Christ and reliance on the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Gal. 5:16-23) to experience blessing in all the Proverbs 10:1-5 realms of life.