PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life” (Proverbs 7:22-23 KJV).

The old saying, “He’s as dumb as an ox” must have come from this verse. An ox really isn’t as dumb as some folks think, “The ox knoweth his owner” (Isaiah 1:3 KJV). Some folks don’t have the sense that an animal has.

“. . . as a fool to the correction of the stocks,” in the Puritan days when a person committed some immoral act or some other antisocial behavior, he would be put in the stocks for a time. Today we take a criminal and put him away somewhere in prison and no one sees him again until his sentence is finished. Maybe the stocks would work today, take one of these first-time offenders and stick him out in the stocks for two or three days, and let him endure the shame of public exposure—it might do him some good. If no other benefit, people entertaining the notion of doing what that fellow did might rethink their actions. Seeing another enduring a public spectacle of shame might just do the trick.

There were all kinds of unique ways to punish people back then, but now we are too civilized. Now we put two or three men in a 10x10 cubicle where the toilet is out in the open, and no one has any privacy. We pack in 2,500 prisoners in a prison that is built for 1,500. We are much more civilized today.

“He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,” is the very epitome of a fool. He could turn to the left or the right or put his body in reverse and head out of there. But he is so caught by the woman’s invisible chains that he storms straight on, figuring he’ll deal with the results later on.

“Till a dart strike through his liver,” which is the result that he didn’t plan on. That “dart” is something very different than the little object that we throw at a cork board in our den. It is a lot more deadlier. Darts are what Joab killed Absalom with: “Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak” (2 Samuel 18:14 KJV).

Solomon illustrates it further by saying, “as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.”

In Proverbs 1 we were told: “Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird” (Proverbs 1:17 KJV). For this man, the trap is not as obvious. Everything has been covered over. That is the way that sin is.

Apostate religion is that way. It looks good. There are some very beautiful churches out there, but it is just like an ornate funeral. There are flowers all around it, and the casket is most beautiful. But it is still filled with the dead. The Gospel probably hasn’t been preached in those places for decades. And people are attracted by the beauty only.

Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!

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V. 21 reads: With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.

Guess we can’t say that anymore... (-:

So, it’s entirely all her fault? It’s pretty difficult to persuade, seduce, or entice a man that is set on doing right. Is it not?