Chapter 5

Wisdom and understanding for son

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. (Pro.5:1-2)

Here, the Holy Spirit calls the people of God individually "My son." It is also applicable to the women of God. In the sight of God, we are all masculine in nature. The Proverbs, a pool of wisdom, does not distinguish a man of God from a woman of God. It does not call any woman of God "My daughter." You may be a female. But if you are in Christ Jesus, you are "My son" indeed. A son has more privileges than a daughter. A son is supposed to be bolder than a daughter. A son is supposed to work harder than a daughter. A son is supposed to be a warrior more than a daughter. If you are a son in Christ Jesus, then you have to attend His wisdom which comes from above and to bow your ear to His understanding. Understanding means understanding His commandments or His instructions in righteousness.

You need to have His wisdom and understanding so that you may regard discretion and that your lips may keep knowledge. Discretion follows wisdom and knowledge. Discretion is the fruit of wisdom and knowledge. Discretion is seen in the acts of the person who has received wisdom and knowledge. Discretion is manifested through the acts. For example, a child of God is filled with wisdom and he possesses wonderful knowledge. Then he invents or produces something wonderful which is seen by others. Discretion is thus ultimately seen. The wisdom of a child of God will definitely result in discretion. A child of God filled with wisdom and understanding reveals knowledge through his lips. Wisdom and understanding are inputs whereas knowledge is the output. Knowledge means knowing God. The children of the world acquire worldly wisdom and understanding but do not know God. A child of God has to speak as the oracle of God in this world. Through his lips only, the children of the world will hear the gospel.

Strange woman

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; (Pro.5:7-10)

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. (Pro.5: 3-23)

The lips of a strange woman bring forth words to attract you towards her as an honeycomb. A woman of a shady character speaks very nicely so as to bring the man who hears her into her net. In many cases of illicit relationship between a man and a woman of dubious character, the words emanating from her do matter a lot. At times, such relationship is developed fast over communication through phone or internet chat. Many married men fall into the snare of such illicit relationship in their work places or in their churches through such conversations. The words emanating from her are as an honeycomb but these are poisonous. Her mouth is smoother than oil. The man who enters such unhealthy conversation finds nothing amiss in this act because her mouth brings forth words smoother than oil. During internet chatting, the man and the woman engaged in such conversation are fascinated by the words exchanged. The end of the strange woman is bitter as wormwood. If she does not repent and accepts Jesus as her Savior for salvation, she would find herself in the abyss only in the same manner a wormwood dies. Her destruction is compared to the death of a wormwood. There is no other escape for her in the hell because it would kill her soul like a two-edged sword cuts a fruit into pieces which cannot be rejoined together.

In the area of illicit sex or extra-marital relationship, many children of God fail miserably. This is the powerful weapon in the hands of the devil to tempt a child of God. We as children of God have to take heed to the words of wisdom in this regard. In many churches, no message of warning is given in this particular area of human temptation. If you come across a strange woman in your life, you have to remove your way far from her and should not come nigh the door of her house. If you fail in your sex life, you are giving all the honour of your earthly life to others. People of this world would ridicule you when they come to know about your secret life. The secret lives of many religious leaders who claim themselves to be the mouthpieces of God are exposed to the public eye. The honor enjoyed by them over the past years just disappears in one day. All the years of a fallen man become very cruel not only in this life but also in the life after death.

Secondly, the strangers inherit the wealth of this fallen man and all his labors fill the house of a stranger. The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. NIV “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short. The money, fame, earned by him do not remain with him permanently. On his death bed, he will suffer loneliness. His children will not inherit his wealth but strangers will inherit the same because his wealth, if inherited by his children, will be taken away from them by strangers through deceit. The fruit of his hard labor will ultimately go to a stranger whom he does not know in his life time. It speaks of the life after his death in this very world.

Do not have extra-marital affairs or sex outside your marriage. If you are unmarried, get married immediately to put an end to this illicit sex. There are many boys and girls living as couples in the west without the formal sanction of marriage. After some time, their relationships break and their lives become miserable because they were not drinking waters out of their own cisterns. Until and unless a man and a woman are united in matrimony, they live in sin only if they practice sex during their live-in-relationship. Married spouses do have extra-marital affairs in their places of work.

You are free to enjoy sex with your spouse, and not outside your marriage. The wife or the husband has to cooperate with each other in fulfilling his/her sexual desire. It has to be reciprocal. The fountains of your marriage life would be dispersed abroad. People would be greatly blessed by your integrity which is spread out. Your blessings would flow like rivers of waters in the streets.

In your sex life with your spouse, it should be only thine own. Many spouses watch some movies or "blue film" to get the sexual urge and they thus bring "strangers" in their marriage life. The husband or the wife should enjoy their sex fully because it is ordained of God. Let the fountain of the husband be blessed and he has to rejoice with the wife of his youth. He has to fulfil the sexual desire of his wife. Many marriages are broken when the husbands are not able to fulfil the sexual urges of their wives.

The husband should not be attracted to the beauty of other woman or women in his life. He should be satisfied only with her breasts. The wife has to adorn herself to look comely in the sight of her husband so that he may be ravished always with her love. The wife has to take the initiative to fulfil the sexual urge of her husband. Otherwise, the husband may be ravished with a strange woman and embrace her bosom.

The Lord is in the midst of the sex life between a husband and a wife. The ways of man are not hidden from the Lord. The husband may hide his secret life from his wife. The Lord ponders all his goings. The man becomes wicked when he goes astray in his sex life and his own iniquities shall bring judgment on his head. The cords of his sins will punish him and he will die without instruction.

Today, many men servants of God fail in their sex life miserably. They do not take care of their spouses in the name of God's ministry with the result that the tempter entices their spouses to sex outside their marriage. In some churches, celibacy is given importance to work as ordained priests or pastors. They quote the Scriptures from one angle to promote this false doctrine. If someone commits himself or herself to God's ministry without entering into marriage, it is a personal vow and not a doctrine. He or she can break this vow at a later stage with God's approval.