PERSPECTIVE

Proverbs 7: The properties of the evil woman
Proverbs 8 and 9:The properties of the wise ‘woman

We look here at the construction of the Book of Proverbs. Chapters 1-7 tell us of the evil woman typified ‘whorish’. It tells us through and through that staying faithful in the study and obedience of the Torah (the 5 first books written by Moses: Genesis through to Deuteronomy) is our one and only hope against her lures. Chapters 8 and 9 now introduce the good woman typified ‘ wisdom’. The rest of the book continues into the properties of the good ‘Woman’, to climax at the end with the very famous Proverbs 31.

I could take chapters 7-9 apart line by line but I think that too much of that has been done with the Bible at the cost of a loss of the perspective of the text. We get so close to the trees that we loose the map of the forest. For this one, I want to show you the forest.

As I’ve said before, Hebrew poetic literature rhymes by concepts; two sentences developing a full idea by expressing opposites. This is accomplished here also at the level of the whole book of Proverbs, contrasting the bad woman with the good woman. Here is what to do with it:

One day, a bushman in Africa found a page of the Gospel by a train track. He felt that this was important so he walked 2 days to the nearest village where he could find a missionary to read for him what was written on that page. It was the segment from the book of John about Jesus being the bread of life. The bushman’s reaction upon hearing the apostolic words was, ‘the person who wrote these words seems to know me; it must have made me’. Upon this the missionary introduced the bushman to his Savior.

The Bible is about us. It is not necessarily about us being presented with choices. Proverbs is not about being exposed to the bad and to the good woman; it is about us being either. It gives the properties of both so we can reflect; so we can look in a mirror, make comparisons and adjust. Do I look and act more like this one or like this one? The whole Bible is designed to make us reflect so we can see where we go wrong. The Torah is the embodiment of Jesus himself. It reveals to us the fullness of His properties and character The prophets of both Old and New Testament, and even Jesus Himself all refer us to the Torah to reflect on for our source of conduct.

A goldsmith was asked one, when do you know when the gold in your caldron is pure? He said, As long as there are impurities in the gold, the heat makes them come up to the top and they sizzle at the surface. When the impurities are gone, the gold stops sizzling and is quiet. When I can see my face in the quiet gold, I know the gold is pure.

In the very same way, when Jesus can see his reflection in us, when He can see the Torah in us, whe have been purified.