chapter23

Dainties with rich ruler

(Verses 1 to 3 are clubbed).

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: (Proverbs 23:1).

And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite (Proverbs 23:2).

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat (Proverbs 23:3).

The special food meant for the rich rulers are so tempting for an ordinary person that the latter may lose his integrity or honesty. When you are seated with a ruler, you have to maintain your integrity. The dainties meant for the ruler are special food being offered to the guests of the ruler to solicit favours from the guests concerned. This is deceitful meat. When you are called to his banquet hall, you should not overeat and enjoy the food in his presence. The ruler calls you to his banquet hall with an ulterior motive to entangle you in his scheme.

Do not become rich

(Verses 4 & 5 are clubbed).

Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom (Proverbs 23:4).

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven (Proverbs 23:5).

You should not labor just to be rich. You can earn your livelihood and in the process you can have all the necessities of this life. You can start a business and give livelihood to many people. Your aim should not be to be rich. If you acquire riches without equitably distributing the same to those who help acquire such riches, the riches acquired by you will go out of your hands one day. The government may tax your excess income or your descendants may squander the same ricklessly. No riches will remain permanant in this world.

Riches earned for self-gratification will fly as an eagle toward heaven. Do not set your eyes upon riches which you cannot carry with you when you die.

Friendship with one having evil eye

(Verses 6 to 8 are clubbed).

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: (Proverbs 23:6)

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee (Proverbs 23:7).

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words (Proverbs 23:8).

Avoid company with one who has an evil eye to covet, to deceive, to harm. Do not have close relationship with him even if his dainty meats attract you. Do not accept invitations for food from those who are evil in their heart. The thoughts of him with an evil eye do not benefit you even if he offers tasty food because he does not love you from his heart. The morsel which you have eaten on his table will not physically increase your health. In due course, you may fall ill. The sweet words spoken by you to him will not change his evil character.

Ears of fool

Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words (Proverbs 23:9).

Do not advise or argue with a fool. The fool will despise your words of wisdom.

Old Landmark

(Verses 10 to 12 are clubbed).

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: (Proverbs 23:10)

For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee (Proverbs 23:11).

Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge (Proverbs 23:12).

Do not covet the possession of the fatherless or the poor people who have none to help by manipulating legal documents. If you do so, God will plead their cause and will judge you. Apply your heart unto moral instructions and listen to the words of knowledge by those who advise you.

Correcting wayward child

(Verses 13 & 14 are clubbed).

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die (Proverbs 23:13).

Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (Proverbs 23:14).

You should punish your wayward child. Punishing your child need not be by a rod. It can be by rebuke or by withholding any reward. Rod means strong action that pinches the heart of the child concerned. and makes the latter repent. If your child does not obey you, you should take strong action against him so that the child may not become worthy of entering the hell on death.

My son

(Verses 15 and 16 are clubbed).

My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine (Proverbs 23:15).

Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things (Proverbs 23:16).

It is the Lord who calls you "My son" in the words of Solomon. You have also a spiritual father who rejoices in your being wise. You should speak right things always so that the Lord rejoices over you. Think before you speak. The spiritual father who mentors you will feel happy in his heart when he finds you speak right things.

Envying sinners

(Verses 17 and 18 are clubbed).

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long (Proverbs 23:17).

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18).

When sinners rule or flourish, do not envy them. Let them continue in their sin. But you should fear God all the days of your life. There will be surely an end to their acts. Your expectation of divine judgment on them shall not be cut off. God will surely punish them before your eyes.

Warning from father

(Verses 19 to 21 are clubbed).

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way (Proverbs 23:19).

Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: (Proverbs 23:20)

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags (Proverbs 23:21).

You should listen to your spiritual father and should be so wise that your heart should guide you in all your ways. Do not sit with whinebibbers or with riotous eaters of flesh. Your food has to be both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. It should not be only non-vegetarian or flesh. Overeating and consumption of alhocol will make you pauper one day. Even if you are too rich to afford drinking of alhocol, you will become poor mentally and spiritually in your life. You will lose all your reputation and will be considered as a dead person. Ultimately, as a drunkard you will become drowsy and will be treated like a beggar wherever you will go. Drowsiness will clothe you. You will not be in your senses.

Listening to parents

(Verses 22 to 25 are clubbed).

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old (Proverbs 23:22).

Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding (Proverbs 23:23).

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him (Proverbs 23:24).

Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice (Proverbs 23:25).

You should hearken unto your father who has begotten you and should not despise your mother when she is old. This is the truth you should learn at all costs. You should not forsake this truth at any cost. Your father should teach you wisdom which comes from God, instruction on righteousness and understanding of moral laws. The father has to mould his son to be righteous so that he may greatly rejoice over begetting him. The parents cannot give birth to a wise child on birth but should mould the child to be moral. If the child becomes immoral, the sole responsibility rests on his parents.

Giving heart to Lord

(Verses 26 to 28 are clubbed).

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways (Proverbs 23:26).

For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit (Proverbs 23:27).

She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men (Proverbs 23:28).

The Lord asks you to give your heart to Him and wants you to let your eyes observe His ways. In this place, it is not Solomon who had deviated from the divine path in his later days due to temptations which came to him through strange women but the Lord Jesus who speaks to you. Study the gospel to follow His ways. Jesus had lived a holy life and kept Himself from all the sexual temptations that came to Him.Though He was in the company of His women disciples, yet He was sinless. Nowadays, many people of God have fallen into the deep ditch of adultery or fornication.

The children of the world fall an easy prey to this sexual sin. The whore waits for her prey and spreads her tentacles among men making them trasngressors of the Law of Moses. On sighting such women, men should flee from them.

Drinking wine

(Verses 29 to 35 are clubbed).

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? (Proverbs 23:29)

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine (Proverbs 23:30).

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright (Proverbs 23:31).

At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder (Proverbs 23:32).

Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things (Proverbs 23:33).

Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast (Proverbs 23:34).

They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again (Proverbs 23:35).

This passage talks about the consequences of drinking of wine. Addiction to alcohol causes sorrow, contentions, babbling, wounds without cause and redness of eyes.

People addicted to the drinking habit spend more time on their table talking for hours together. Mixed wine is more effective than normal wine. The wine red in color in a transparent cup in fact gives you a warning which you should not ignore. It may look harmless but it will bite you like a serpent and will sting you like an adder. Your family or your life will be ruined and your health will have a terrible setback. Your eyes will behold strange women and your mouth will utteer perverse things. You will be as one who lies down in the midst of the sea or who lies down upon the top of a mast. You will die any time due to this sin.

You will lose your conscience. You will not be conscious of what is happening around you. After you awoke from sleep, you will seek it yet again. It will be a vicious circle. Your whole life will perish.

Next....Chapter 24