Posted on 02/02/2020 5:39:10 AM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead” (Proverbs 2:16-18 KJV).
Not only will discretion and wisdom deliver you from the evil man, but they will also keep you from the strange woman. About 80-90% of all advertising uses women to sell their product. In most cases, they use the “strange woman,” obviously whorish and adulteress women, because they know that sex sales. “which flattereth with her words,” which is one way they get your attention, they flatter you, “You’re a nice-looking man. You deserve a vacation. You deserve the best liquor. You should be driving this fine car!”
“Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,” now, here again is one that has left the path of righteousness, a professor of but not a possessor of eternal life. “And forgetteth the covenant of her God,” of course, Israel forgets the covenant with her God in the Old Testament and forsook the guide of Israel’s youth. Not only that, but in this age, the church does the same thing. It can be applied not only to the individual, but to the nation, and to the church itself. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4 KJV). James says that there are apostate adulterers even in our church age.
“Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,” “Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?” (Jeremiah 3:4 KJV).
“For her house inclineth,” now notice that, in verse 2 it says, “so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,” God will keep you from the evil ones. But if we fool around with the wrong people, and the wrong source of material, and the wrong source of wisdom, then you incline her way, “for her house inclineth unto death.” “The wages of sin is death.” But the problem is that that house inclines so slightly, that you can’t see it until it is too late. That is the way that sin is.
All people initially see is the excitement, the fancy glitter and the glamour, but they don’t see what is behind of it. You take somebody 30-40 years down the road after they have been fooling with all that and see what you have. They fooled around with drugs, they fooled around with liquor, they fooled around with sex, and they are in all kind of troubles today. Financial trouble, social trouble, emotional trouble, physical health-related trouble, psychological trouble—I tell you what— “her house inclineth unto death.” Believe me, they don’t see the glitter and the glamour any more. They wish they could have it to do all over again, with a little more wisdom. It warped their personality and it warped their character.
“. . . and her paths unto the dead,” Spiritually, “who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), physically, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12 KJV). “. . . and her paths unto the dead,” dead physically, ending at the great white throne.
Lost people in this life are dead spiritually, and they are still dead when they have died and gone to hell. When God brings them up, they are still classified as the dead. There is a resurrection of the dead.
Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so 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! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.
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