I Hear Voices All the Time

Proverbs 2:1-22

Main Idea: Listen to the voice of Wisdom.

1. Make a Decision for Wisdom—Jesus Christ (2:1-11).
2. Wisdom—Jesus—Will Save You from Evil (2:12-22).

When I ( Jon) was five years old, my parents volunteered to clean the church building once a month on Saturdays. On the Saturdays that they cleaned, they brought their four sons with them and told us to play on the playground. There was a bridge on the church property that overlooked a creek. My dad sternly warned us not to go down to the bridge or play in the creek or we would get a spanking. We were to stay in the playground only. Well, we didn’t listen to my dad. We went to the bridge to throw rocks into the creek. Once we had thrown all of the rocks, we started to frantically look for more rocks to throw. I saw one on the ledge on the other side of the bridge rails, so I decided I could climb over, hold onto the rail so I wouldn’t fall, and grab the rock to throw. My plan didn’t work. I fell into the creek, almost breaking my ankles. My brothers helped me up to the building, where I entered the room my parents were cleaning, soaked to the bone. My dad made good on his threats!

The reason my dad warned us not to go down to the bridge or the creek was because he wanted what was best for us. He didn’t want us to get hurt. At the time I thought he was trying to keep me from having fun, but that wasn’t true. He knew that the most fun we could have was on the playground. And he knew that even though the bridge looked fun at the time, there was danger there. I should have listened to his voice.

In life we are bombarded with all kinds of voices and messages. These are human voices. They might be a parent, a teacher, a coach, a coworker, a friend, or a commercial, but these human voices have spiritual voices and messages that stand behind them. There are godly messages, and there are evil messages. These messages instruct us, exhort us, warn us, and make promises to us. The questions we must ask are, Whose voice will I listen to? What message will I trust as good and helpful? What message will I reject as bad and harmful?

God warns us and instructs us to keep us from harming ourselves—not to keep us from having fun. He wants what is best for us, and he doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves. Will you listen to his voice? Or will you listen to the voice of another because it seems to offer more happiness at the time? The difference between the good life and the foolish life is the voice you heed. This is the key to Proverbs. Wisdom is a person—Jesus. Will you listen to him? If you will, he will make you wise. But we learn in Proverbs 2 that foolishness is also personal. There are voices in your ear, in your head, and the person Folly often stands behind them trying to get you to yield. Will you? Notice the competing voices in Proverbs 2:1-22.

Make a Decision for Wisdom—Jesus Christ

Proverbs 2:1-11

Proverbs 2:1-11 motivate the son to get wisdom, and verses 12-22 tell him the dangers that wisdom will deliver him from. Verses 1-4 give a conditional clause. If you do this, then this will happen as a result. Again, Solomon is a masterful teacher. We can’t just tell our children what to do; we must tell them why they should do it. Verses 1-4 pose the condition for the son—if he will pursue wisdom—then verses 5-11 tell him the helpful outcomes it will produce in his life, such as a right relationship with the Lord who grants the gift of wisdom and a new ability to walk in righteousness (as promised in the introduction; see 1:1-7).

Solomon appeals to “my son” (v. 1). The father—King Solomon—is teaching his son—the crown prince—wisdom. Again, Solomon is obeying the exhortation of Deuteronomy 6 to teach the law to his children, and he is obeying Deuteronomy 17 that says the king is to be a man of the law in order to establish his kingdom. He wants his son to receive his sayings and hide his commands within his heart. The son will only do this if he trusts that the wise sayings are true. Solomon wants his son to commit to and embrace his teaching. His teaching is the rest of the book. Proverbs 2 seems to imply that the wisdom of Proverbs is the law of Moses fleshed out in daily life. That’s why the teachings are repeatedly called “laws” or “commandments.” That’s why wisdom starts with the “fear of the Lord” (i.e., love God, which is the greatest command) and leads to how you treat others (i.e., love neighbor, which is the second command; Matt 22:34-40). In order for the son to live them out, he must internalize them. The law needs to be written on the heart. But how? Words can go in one ear and out the other. But words can also go in the ear and down into the heart to produce inward-out transformation (Prov 2:2).

Solomon exhorts his son to call out for understanding (i.e., call out to Wisdom like she called out to you; 1:20-33). If the son will call out to her, she will save him from evil (vv. 12-19). Solomon tells his son to seek wisdom like a hidden treasure. Go on a treasure hunt for wisdom because wisdom is more precious than silver or gold (8:10). Nothing you desire can compare with wisdom.

If the son will commit to Solomon’s teaching—if we will commit to Christ, the embodiment of Solomon’s teaching—then we will understand the fear of Yahweh and know God. Wow! Wisdom—Jesus—is the mediator who brings you into right relationship with God.

There is a reciprocal cycle laid out here in Proverbs 2. Seek Wisdom, and you will find God. Find God, and you will gain wisdom. A right relationship with God will make you wise. Knowledge implies an intimate relationship. This happens by faith. Oftentimes allegiance precedes understanding. I was counseling with an unbeliever whose marriage was ending because of his addiction to pornography. This man was a confessed atheist, yet he came to me for counseling. I tried to lay out, as best I could, the wisdom of God’s design for sexuality. But I constantly told the young man that this won’t work—these things won’t make sense to you—unless you first believe Jesus is Lord and his ways are best. And they didn’t end up working for him. This is the cycle we see here.

So we should pursue wisdom by studying Proverbs and calling out to Wisdom ( Jesus) because that will lead us to know God. This is essential because the Lord is the one who gives wisdom; it comes from his mouth (2:6). There is a paradox here. Wisdom—like salvation—is both a gift to be received and something to work out with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12-13). Wisdom is a pursuit (Prov 2:1-4) and a gift (vv. 6-7) (Goldsworthy, Tree of Life, 52–53). So we need to be diligent and work at wisdom. As Solomon does, we need to observe the world around us and see how it works. Solomon looks at ants and is instructed (6:6-8). We need to do this as well, but we do it through the fear of the Lord—through dependence on God and his Word. And as we seek, God grants more to us. James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom we should ask the Lord for it because he gives it generously. Solomon already knows this because he asked the Lord for it (1 Kgs 3). The gift of wisdom is found in God’s Word. Solomon’s words are God’s words, and we should commit to them because wisdom is found here.

Proverbs 2:6-9 clearly states that the Lord gives wisdom as a gift to his faithful covenant people, and he thereby guards them from the temptations that might destroy them (we will see this later). Commit to the Lord’s wisdom, and you will understand righteousness and the good path (v. 9). We see in Proverbs 2 the same words used to describe multifaceted wisdom in 1:1-7. So pursuing wisdom and receiving it from the Lord will give you what the introduction to Proverbs promised. Again, wisdom is not a high IQ; it’s moral discernment of good and evil. It is the ability to see life from God’s perspective and then to act accordingly.

How does God produce morality in us? Proverbs 2:10 says that wisdom will enter our hearts. For us to walk the path of righteousness and wisdom, we must have the law written on our hearts and experience an inner transformation. That’s the only way we can obey God (see Jer 31; Ezek 36). Proverbs is not teaching tips for behavior modification. That won’t work. You can’t obey the Lord until you know him intimately in a personal relationship and his law is written on your heart. When that happens, discretion will keep a protecting watch over you (v. 11). This is essential to wisdom in daily life. You must listen to the voice of the Lord (vertical relationship) in order to live wisely before others in the world around you (horizontal relationships). He will protect you. That raises the question, What do you need protection from?

Wisdom—Jesus—Will Save You from Evil

Proverbs 2:12-22

Wisdom will save you from the path of evil that leads to death. There are two groups mentioned in verses 12-22—two sets of voices that can pull you toward ruin and death: (1) evil men and (2) an evil woman.

First, wisdom will save you from the men who speak perversely (v. 12). These people, similar to the gang of Proverbs 1:8-19, are rivals to the voice of the father and the voice of God. And as we will see later in Proverbs, there’s a personal being that stands behind these human figures. Like Satan in the garden, these men distort reality and try to get you to follow the distortion. They seduce you. That’s what it means to speak perversely. Perverse speech distorts ultimate reality. The people who are saying this may genuinely believe that what they are saying is right and true and helpful, but it goes against the created order. Their words go against the way things really work. For example, a woman may genuinely think that marriage is just about two people who really love each other instead of a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for a lifetime. But that goes against the natural and God-ordained order of things. A man may think that not being happy with his wife is a legitimate ground for divorce, but that goes against the order of things as established by God. A boy or young man may genuinely think that fooling around with his girlfriend before marriage just helps you know what you like and don’t like, but that goes against the order of things and God’s call to be holy.

Perverse speech calls sin “good” and rejoices in evil. Proverbs 24:24 states, “Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent’—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him.” Justifying someone’s sin or saying that it’s not a sin is perverse speech. For example, it is perverse speech to tell someone their grudge is warranted because the hurt perpetrated against them was very severe. It is not right in the eyes of God. Proverbs 30:20 says, “This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’” People can find all kinds of ways to justify their sin as if it’s not wrong. “It’s OK for me to flirt with this woman at work because my wife doesn’t respond to me the way that she should.” With our mouths we justify and rationalize and minimize our sin or the sins of others. Any person who will counsel you in such a way as to justify sin in your life is someone of perverse speech that should be avoided. They are leading you down dark paths, and they rejoice in evil (2:13-14).

Wisdom will deliver you from them. What are the harmful consequences for listening to counsel like that from yourself or someone else? They will take you down the twisted path toward death.

Wisdom will also save you from the “forbidden [or foreign] woman” who is smooth-tongued (v. 16). This is the first time we meet the forbidden woman in Proverbs; she will be a major character in this book. She is the subject of the father’s warning many times. She is clearly presented as Solomon’s competitor for his son’s affection and attention because her “flattering talk” (v. 16) rivals his words (v. 1) and the Lord’s words (v. 6). Her flirtatious words mimic the dad in order to get the son to listen. Who will he listen to?

Here she refers to a literal person with whom the son can commit sexual sin. But later she will be personified as Woman Folly—the rival to Woman Wisdom (Prov 9). Folly will be described in the same way as this woman. They are both flatterers who lure their prey to death (cf. 5:3; 7:14-21; 9:13-17 and 2:18; 7:27; 9:18) (Murphy and Huwiler, Proverbs, 21). If the son begins an affair with this forbidden woman, it will reveal that he has rejected his father, Wisdom, and the Lord. Embracing the human forbidden woman by means of sexual sin reveals that spiritually he is in a relationship with Woman Folly instead of Wisdom (i.e., Jesus). This is not shocking since sexual sin and spiritual sin are tied together throughout the Bible. Already in Proverbs 1:32 rejecting Wisdom is described with the same word as unfaithfulness to the Lord in the prophets. Adultery is the distortion of the most intimate human relationship, and 1 Corinthians 6 reveals that it is also a distortion of the most intimate spiritual relationship. The whole point of Proverbs 1–9 is that if our horizontal relationships are off, our vertical are as well, and vice versa. Solomon knows this full well because he fell for forbidden “foreign” women who led him to idolatry and destroyed his dynasty (1 Kgs 11:1-5). Falling for the forbidden woman would reveal that the son is being led away from the Lord (Wisdom) and is instead embracing Folly.

How does this woman work? She flatters with her words. This is perhaps shocking to some. Most of us think of unfaithfulness as starting with looks, but that’s not the case in Proverbs. Adultery and sexual sin start with flattery. One of the top needs that men have is respect and admiration; so if a woman inflates the male ego, he will usually respond. They are suckers for flattery. This may start in a subtle way that the man doesn’t recognize as unwise. His coworker might lend a sympathetic ear, or she may laugh at his jokes. He may think of their conversations as just “harmless flirting.” Or perhaps he justifies his flirtation with, “I’m not happy at home.” Before long, he starts to look forward to work events that she will be at, or he begins to send secret messages to her on Facebook. Before he knows it he’s cheating on his wife, and it all started with what many looking on would justify as “harmless conversation.” This can happen with women too. Solomon is teaching his son, but if he was teaching his daughter he could warn about forbidden men that flatter with their words to get women to do what they want!

Any sexual activity outside marriage’s covenant commitment before God and witnesses to your heterosexual spouse is sinful, foolish, and deadly. This woman forsakes her husband and the vows she made to her God, and she will lead you to do the same. She violates the covenant law of God, and so would you by your foolish embrace of her. Her house sinks down to death, and those who enter never return to life. This destruction may happen now with the loss of your family, your reputation, or your money in alimony, or it may happen later at judgment. But, mark it down, it will happen. The wages of sexual sin is death with no hope of return. What is the antidote? Proverbs 2 says that it’s a right relationship with God through Wisdom (vertical relationship), and Proverbs 5 says it’s an intimate relationship with your wife (horizontal relationship).

So listen to the father and get wisdom so that you can walk righteous paths that protect you from derailing. The upright—those who are connected to the Lord through Wisdom ( Jesus)—will inhabit the land (i.e., Israel in that context and the new creation for us in Christ). This is a reference to the eternal life with God in the homeland he provides for us. But the wicked—those following after Folly as evidenced by their distorted worldview and sexual sin—will experience the “death” of exile (i.e., Israel’s exile in that context, and ultimately hell for those outside of Christ).

Conclusion

Jesus is not only the Wisdom of Proverbs, but he is also the Son who perfectly listens to his Father, perfectly keeps the covenant, and avoids immorality. However, in the end, Jesus takes the penalty that covenant-breakers like us deserve. He went down into death for sexual sinners like us, but three days later he triumphantly returned to the paths of life! Through his life, death, and resurrection he has defeated all of our enemies. It is not inevitable that they will drag you down to death. He can rescue you from them by empowering you to walk in wisdom. It is not inevitable that they will cause your exile from God forever. Jesus came out of death to inherit the whole earth, and you can be his coheir if you are united to him by faith. If you find yourself giving in to evil, consistently rationalizing your sin, or being enslaved to sexual sin, then circumstances may be revealing to you that you’re not listening to the voice of Wisdom. You have, instead, been seduced by the voice of another. If that’s true, come to Jesus—the Wisdom of God—and follow his leading voice! Listen to him. He has the words that lead to life.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Are there times when you can still hear an authority figure from your past (parent, family member, teacher, coach, etc.) warning you about a certain action?
2. How will viewing the voices in our lives (people, commercials, etc.) as having spiritual voices and messages that stand behind them change the way we make decisions? How should it affect the voices we are allowing to speak into our lives?
3. Did you have an authority figure growing up who never told you why something was off-limits but only said, “Because I said so”? Why is that so maddening? How does Solomon model proper parenting/adult leadership in Proverbs?
4. What are some specific ways that the wisdom of Proverbs is the law of Moses fleshed out in daily life?
5. What is the “reciprocal cycle” in Proverbs? How should this cycle change the focus of our lives, the priority of our pursuits?
6. Is wisdom a gift from God or something to be worked for?
7. According to Proverbs 2:10, what is foundational to living in wisdom?
8. How is “anyone who says perverse things” (Prov 2:12) a rival to the voice of Wisdom? What tactics does this person use?
9. What does Proverbs tell us is the first step to sexual sin and adultery? How is this different than what we would normally think?
10. While Proverbs is not about behavior modification, what does it say that your behavior reveals? If you find yourself giving in to sin, what does it say about more fundamental issues?