THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Do not just act upon, think
“Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
Ecclesiastes 8:3 (KJV)
Ecclesiastes 8
A wise man will be noticed by his countenance
Ecclesiastes 8:1 (KJV), “Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.”
The daily goings and comings of a person can and will change at a moments notice. Stay straight in the path of the Lord and misery will avoid you
Ecclesiastes 8:5-7 (KJV), “5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?.”
Death is inevitable and only God can control that
Ecclesiastes 8:8a (KJV), “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war.”
God gives us free will to accept him but, if you choose not to…
Ecclesiastes 8:8b (KJV), “neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.”
Everything we do for are own sweat pleasure is wasteful and ultimately yields emptiness
Ecclesiastes 8:14 (KJV), “There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.”
This does NOT mean that God does not want us to have pleasure in our lives, just pleasure with His wisdom
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (KJV), “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”
Science, in of itself, will never fully comprehend what our Creator has accomplished and will continue to accomplish
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 (KJV), “16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) 17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.”
Amos
Amos was a shepherd and farmer from the Judean village of Tekoa, about five miles south of Bethlehem, who had a vision and became a prophet for the Lord.
Amos 1:1 (KJV), “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
Brown-Driver-Briggs – 5. ׳אֶרֶץ הַגּ of Israelites living east of Jordan (as a whole)
Even in unrighteousness of Israel, God’s protection still exists
Amos’ primary prophecy was that of destruction to those neighboring nations that had Jews living among them
Jeremiah 51
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
A reoccurring theme of God’s ultimate love and protection of Israel even though…
Jeremiah 51:5 (KJV), “For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”
Jeremiah 51:19 (KJV), “The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.”
Through verses 20 – 23, God emphasizes that Israel will be the destroyer only because God will be with them
Jeremiah 51:20-23 (KJV), “20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.”
Proverbs 6
Dangerous promises – surety
Proverbs 6:1 (KJV), “My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger.”
There are three key words in this initial verse; surety, friend, and stranger
[you become] Surety
Strong’s Concordance (6148) – arab: to take on pledge, give in pledge, exchange.
Look at the original intent of the word surety
1828 Webster’s Dictionary 5. In law, one that is bound with and for another; one who enters into a bond or recognizance to answer for another’s appearance in court, or for his payment of a debt or for the performance of some act, and who, in case of the principal debtor’s failure, is compellable to pay the debt or damages; a bondsman; a bail.
[for your] Friend
- Strong’s Concordance (7453) – rea: friend, companion, fellow. Brown-Driver-Briggs – 2. in weaker sense, fellow, fellow-citizen, even another person, with whom one stands in reciprocal relations.
[for a] Stranger
- Strong’s Concordance (2114) – zuwr: another. Brown-Driver-Briggs – a. to the family, of another household.
- When you place yourself in this position, you are fully and legally taking on the entire responsibility [trapped] for someone outside of your earthly family
Snared
- Proverbs 6:2 (KJV), “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”
- Strong’s Concordance (3369) – yaqosh: to lay a bait or lure.
- 1828 Webster’s Dictionary SNA’RED, participle passive Entangled; unexpectedly involved in difficulty.
- Why would Solomon use such a hard word as ‘trapped’?
He then proceeds to advice to do whatever it takes to get out of it
Proverbs 6:3-5 (KJV), “3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. 5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.”
- Do this now
- and deliver thyself
- Strong’s Concordance (5337) – natsal: to strip, plunder, deliver oneself, be delivered, snatch away, deliver. Brown-Driver-Briggs – 1. reflexive tear oneself away, deliver oneself.
- Humble thyself [and Plead with]
- Strong’s Concordance (7292) – rahab: to act stormily, boisterously or arrogantly.
- Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids
- Do not sleep and be as arrogant and as boisterous as you can be, do not let up
- Same word as before; deliver thyself
- Get out of that trap
The Folly of Indolence – laziness
Proverbs 6:9-10 (KJV), “9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber [sleep], a little folding of the hands to sleep.”
Sluggard
1828 Webster’s Dictionary A person habitually lazy, idle and inactive; a drone.
Proverbs 6:11 (KJV), “So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth [travels in groups], and thy want [need] as an armed man [crooks].”
Picture a group of beggars travelling together and looking and plundering for whatever they can find
The six things the Lord hates
Proverbs 6:16 (KJV), “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.”
Those things which God hates it is no thanks to us to hate in others, but we must hate them in ourselves
To me, it is obvious what is meant by seven in which are an abomination to the Lord
Of the six things the Lord hates, lying is repeated; a lying tongue and A false witness who speaks lies, which become the abomination to the Lord
Proverbs 12:22 (KJV), “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.”
As you go in life, it is important to keep the laws or ground work your earthly father and mother have given you
Proverbs 6:20 (KJV), “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.”
Adultery
What is adultery?
The Hebrew word avah is sometimes translated as “lust,” sometimes as “craving” or “desire.” Another word is chamad [see Proverbs 6:25] which makes its most important appearance in the Ten Commandments, “You shall not covet.” It’s related to the idea of being desirable or pleasing. In the New Testament, the word for lust is epithumia [see Matthew 5:28]
Proverbs 6:24-25 (KJV), “24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust [chamad] not after her beauty [adultery] in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.”
Brown-Driver-Briggs – a. in bad sense of inordinate, ungoverned, selfish desire.
Exodus 20:14 (KJV), “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Brown-Driver-Briggs – a. usually of man, always with wife of another.
Matthew 5:27-29 (KJV), “27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust [epithumia] after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
Strong’s Concordance (1937) – epithumeó: desire, lust after. Usage: I long for, covet, lust after, set the heart upon.
To lust after someone is not to look at but to desire
- 1828 Webster’s 2. To have carnal desire; to desire eagerly the gratification of carnal appetite.
- Once you continue after your gratification of your carnal appetite
Proverbs 6:26 (KJV), “For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.”
In keeping with what Jesus told the crowd in Matthew 5, He was not redefining adultery
- Matthew 5:17 (KJV), “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
- He came to explain it
Obadiah
A descendant of Saul: A Benjamite named Obadiah was one of the six sons of Azel and a descendant of King Saul
Obadiah 1
Obadiah’s prophecies focus on God’s judgment against the Edomites (a hostile neighbor of Israel) for their part in destroying Jerusalem
Obadiah 8-9 (KJV), “8 Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? 9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.”
Grow in the Word of the Lord 