LYING BY INCONSISTANCY

Proverbs 14:5
A faithful witness will not lie:
But a false witness will utter lies.

The Hebrew word for witness is ‘add’: to repeat.

The faithful witness is not necessarily an eloquent preacher, an intelligent expounder or a smooth lips teacher. The witness doesn’t technically have to explain the message nor, as in the case of Balaam’s donkey, doesn’t have to understand it. The job of the witness is to repeat; to repeat what he has heard, to repeat what he has seen. All the witness has to do is to repeat what he has heard and what he has seen with integrity; without adding, without embellishment; just to repeat.

As witnesses of the El Shaddai, we on earth repeat and concur the Words of the Father with our mouths, but most importantly with our lives. People will understand the love of the Father much more by our action than by our wise rhetoric. It is important therefore that the ‘walk’ matches the ‘talk’. If the ‘walk’ is inconsistent with the ‘talk’, we find ourselves uttering lies and our lot will be thrown with that with that of false witnesses who lead people astray from the father. We will be like the parents who try to teach their children to be wise with their time and money, while they themselves indulge in shallow, foolish expensive activities.

Friends, may we not be found guilty of working against the father and His will to establish righteousness on earth as it is in Heaven.

May the language of our daily ‘conversation,’ be in sync with the rhetoric of our wise proclamations.

May we not be found guilty of lying by inconsistency.

HE CARES FOR THOSE WHO BEAR THE BURDEN

Proverbs 14:4
Where no oxen are, the crib is clean:
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.

The Father has ordained that we should work on the earth. He actually has commanded us to work the earth to make it fruitful. It is our duty to subject creation to our will to bring us all we need; not all we want, but all we need.

Abundant harvests and increase are even sometimes indications of His blessing.

To do the hard work of farming, our Father has given us help, mainly the strength of the ox, but no energy is free. If the farmer refuses to properly feed his ox, eventually the beast will become weak and die. At the least he will not work to his complete abilities. The increase of the farmer is dependant on the health and well being of his ox.

Today, especially in western cultures, less and less of us are farmers. We create business-like companies where people are the ‘oxen’. People are the strength of the company. In India, we used to tell prosperous Sikh factory owners that if they provided more sanitary conditions to their Hindu workers, such as clean water, clean food and a clean work area, his workers would not be sick so often, that they would be healthier and therefore produce more. Thailand prides itself to have never been invaded by a western foreign power, and that they have always kept the communists at bay. The present King, Rama IX, is like a father to his people. He uses his position to travel all over the poor areas of the country to help people develop their resources and better their lives.

As a result, people in Thailand deeply love, respect and obey their king.

The principle also works here. A worker whose needs are not met will not be as functional as one whose needs are met; not only his needs but also those of his family. It is contrary to God’s way of doing things when C.E.O.’s pocket multi-million dollars profits, but their workers struggle to get health insurance. If the worker is well tended to by his boss, like the ox, he will put in the effort just out of love and gratefulness.

Let us make sure to properly reward those who work for us, be it man or beast, and doing so, serve and worship Him in the purest sense of the words:

by obeying His Words.

‘PEH’ THE MOUTH

Proverbs 14:3
In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride:
But the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

James, the New Testament apostle, compares the tongue to a bridle leading a horse. He also compares it to a small rudder that can change the direction of a vast ship. He must have known about this proverb from King Solomon.

The tongue certainly leads a person in the direction in which it speaks. If we were fully aware of this fact, we would be careful to speak less and listen more. Maybe this is the reason why we have one mouth and two ears: we should do twice as much listening as we intent to speak.

It is impossible that we set ourselves to hear the Voice of the Father without getting humbled; as we listen to Him, we are then protected from the sin of pride. A teacher and speaker to the Body of Messiah should spend as much time as, if not twice the time to listen to the Father as he intends to speak. This will keep him from the snares of the foolishness of pride that will lead not only himself, but others astray. The concept of foolishness in the Bible refers to one who is ignorant of, oblivious to, spiteful of, and careless to obey the Word.

Foolishness therefore is certainly rooted in pride.

The mouth is not just a part of the body; it is a concept. The Hebrew word for mouth is ‘peh’: ‘orifice’. Things go in and out of an orifice. This is why Yahoshua said that from what goes ‘out’ of our mouth, we defile our body, inferring thus that something goes in every time we speak. It is actually a scary thought. Every time we open our mouth, we stand to defile our body; anything can come in even as we thoughtlessly chatter.

What is then the concept of the lips of the wise that shall ‘keep’ (the Hebrew word is ‘guard’, ‘defend’) them? Maybe to keep their mouth closed and only open it when spoken ‘through’, and even then, with prudence and prayerfulness.

ATTITUDE; ATTITUDE; ATTITUDE

Proverbs 14:2
He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD:
But he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.

When we digress from walking in our uprightness, when we are less than He expects of us; when we stray from the straight and narrow to the right and to the left; we show spite for the Almighty and His ways and we deface Him in the heart of others.

There are some of us who are called to lead. We are called to lead as teachers, pastors, leaders or worship leaders. One cannot lead the flock into an upright walk unless he knows the way. One cannot know the way unless he’s walked it before. A leader who has properly walked and investigated the way has located pitfalls. He is therefore able to warn others by his words, but mostly, people will follow his footsteps. They will walk where he walks; they will follow his example. That is why a novice, one who is still prey to the pitfalls of pride and arrogance attached to any type of office, should never be given a position of leadership. His attitude will misrepresent that of the Great Shepherd and thereby deface Him in the sight of the people. Moses himself did not get away with it.

All believers are called to leadership. From the instant we confess in any shape of form to be representatives of The Almighty, we put ourselves in a position of leadership towards the unbelievers. They will judge every one of our steps in attempts to either prove or disprove our statement of faith. Great eloquent and talented words and performances can do much, but when accompanied with a wrong attitude of pride and arrogance, they become as vomit in a plate on top of a tasty dish; inedible.

If we are meant to know better, we also become responsible before God.

May we take this responsibility seriously. As leaders, may we represent The Almighty in a way He would have us do. May we walk in our uprightness, which is Yahoshua, and be accurate representations of His Image to both believers and unbelievers.

WIVES: THE GLUE OF A HOUSEHOLD.

Proverbs 14:1
Every wise woman buildeth her house:
But the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

The depth of this saying is found in its cultural and etymological roots. The ancients qualified a wife/mother as the root and foundation of the house. Isn’t the unity of a household more dependent on the mother than on the father? A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father will still find it very difficult to prevent the dissolution or separation of the household. The mother always tries to get everybody to come back to the ‘nest’. She is at rest when she knows her brood is together in one place. The Hebrew word for mother, (eemah), literally means glue. Hebrew women used to take the remaining parts of animals, such as hooves and hides, and boil them in water. A thick substance would then float to the top of the water to be collected and used as glue. This was the word for ’mother’, the’ glue’ of a household. Yet, if that woman is not wise, she will have the total opposite effect.

As the Bride of Messiah, we also function as ‘mothers’. Teachers of the Body have the responsibility to ‘glue’ the body together in unity. This is actually one of the on-going missions of messiah, to re-unite together as one the greater House of Israel. It is sad when teachers, preachers and expositors of the Divine Word of the Almighty, like foolish women, use knowledge to draw people after themselves, and that, at the cost of the greater unity of the overall Body. This shows how little knowledge and understanding of the purposes of God they really have.

May we, those who have been given the responsibility of teaching His Words by the Almighty El-Shaddai, be like Moses of old, and do so in the spirit of bringing all the families and tribes of Israel behind the Lord Tsavaot , the Lord of hosts. Let us rally the troops behind one standard, one faith, one doctrine, one immersion in water, that we may all receive together as one body the reward allotted to those who follow Him in integrity and sincerity.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Proverbs 13:25
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul:
But the belly of the wicked shall want.

There are a couple of ways we can expound on this proverb from our wise King Solomon. First we can relate it to our daily life. The righteous, because he is righteous, does not have an inordinate appetite. He has learned to be content with whatever the Father has chosen to give him. He receives it with thanks and is satisfied to his sufficiency with what he receives. The wicked on the other hand is a glutton and is insatiable. He is selfish, self-centered, narcissist and always wants more. He doesn’t need more, but he wants more.

He also believes that he deserves more than others.

The other way to look at this proverb is the eschatological way. Notice how the first clause is in the present tense, and the second clause in the future. In our world today, the righteous often suffers want and persecution, while the wicked seem to enjoy all the pleasures life has to offer. The day is coming for a reversal of fortune.

Today, the righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul by exercising restraint and thankfulness. He does this while the wicked indulges himself in gluttony and wanton waste. It shall not always be so. A time is coming when the belly of the wicked, who has received his pleasure here on earth, will want. It will suffer the pangs of hunger and the discomfort the righteous has suffered through the ages.

It can be a temptation for a believer who owns a business to want to use the same crooked methods as their ungodly successful counter-parts do. But we cannot fix our eyes on today’s outcome. We must fix our eyes on the outcomes of eternity, when the Father righteously rewards humanity. At that time, the righteous will be recompensed for his integrity with the satisfaction of his main desire: to be in the presence of the Father; while the wicked will reap the fruits of his ungodliness and hunger for the Kingdom.

FATHERLY DISCIPLINE

Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son:
But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The word for “betimes’ in the Hebrew text is ‘in his youth’.

Many of us can certainly agree that a child needs to be regularly and appropriately chastised in his youth if he is to grow into a responsible and mature human being. The problem is that for that to happen, his parents have to be intimately involved in his life. Many teenagers today claim independence when they haven’t really earned it. Independence can be only granted once a child pays his own bills; until then he is a dependant and has to live under the ‘golden rule’:he that has the gold, makes the rule (pun intended).

In order for parents to be intimately involved in their child’s life, the child has to be home and educated by the parents. Sad to say, today’s western society makes it very difficult. Parents feel that they each need a job to keep up, so they send their children to public school. As a result, children receive their educated from an ungodly system and they derive their values from their peers, which becomes a case of the ‘blind leading the blind.’ To top it all, after a long week of hard work, parents want to relax. Ass a result, the child spends most of his time watching TV, playing cyber-games, listening to his music, on the phone or visiting friends. He is really only physically home, and his parents only correct him when he gets in their way. Our next generation will be interesting, to say the least.

Our statement needs also be understood on a corporate level. Jews, and our author is a Jew, always referred themselves as children of God. Paul reinforces the idea by mentioning that those believers grafted into the Covenant of Israel are adopted, and also become children of God. Throughout history, Israel has certainly received its share of correcting for its sins; it is probably ready now to receive again the favor of the Father. Paul explained his troubled ministry to timothy saying that, all those who live in a godly fashion in the Messiah shall receive tribulations. Trials and tribulations are God’s intolerable compliments. They are the marks in our flesh that make us sons and not bastards.

Let us not therefore despise the discipline of the Father. Let us not loathe His reproof. For whom the Father loves He reproves, as a Father the son whom He delights in.

RICHMAN; POORMAN

Proverbs 13:23
Much food is in the tillage of the poor:
But there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

This proverb, whose style can leave us perplexed, teaches us one of the cardinal dynamics of finances. Though seemingly different than Proverbs 13:22, its text reaches out to the same conclusions.

Someone told me once that days are like suitcases. Each day has the same amount of hours, but some can put more in it than others. It is the same with finances. When I was doing social world in India, people in Europe would send us support. Not having much money, we had to make do with what we had, so we used to tell our sponsors that we can ‘squeeze’ the dollar till the eagle screamed.

I presently run a gleaning ministry. I collect close-dated and non-shelveable food items from a big grocery store as well as from a meat company, and distribute them to low-income families. There is nothing wrong with these products except that maybe their shelf life is short, or that their box is slightly damaged. The sad part is that if I wouldn’t take these items, they would be tossed in the garbage. According to the dynamics of industrial marketing, it takes more time and money to sort though, in someway use and remarket these things than it does to throw them away.

The poor, because he has to make do with what he has, is more saving and resourceful. He is also less picky; therefore whatever he has seems to yield much more than the rich who is more wasteful. The rich on the other hand, destroys what is still good because of his lack of judgment, justice and appreciation. In the end, like in the parable of the talents, the Messiah will judge us, not by the amount we have, but by our faithfulness towards what had been given us. Some people also are poor because even though poor, they have a ‘champagne’ taste and behavior towards material things that cannot be supported on a ‘beer budget’. Ever though poor, they are wasteful and picky.

Another way to read this statement is: While the (industrious and God-fearing) poor man is richly nourished from the piece of ground which he cultivates, many a one who has incomparably more than he, comes by his unrighteousness down to a beggarly state, or even lower.

Let us not be guilty of waste because of a lack of judgment towards what the Almighty gives us in His goodness.

A SURE INHERITANCE

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children:
And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

When read in the Greek mind that dominates current western theological and philosophical perspective, this verse can easily be interpreted to endorse what is called today the Prosperity Doctrine. Again, we need to remind ourselves that we are reading a text written possibly about 3000 years ago by a person with a Semitic philosophy and an Hebrew mind. To contextually understand the spirit of this statement, we also need to remember that in the mind of the Semitic Hebrew, Scripture was not mainly a manual of healthy godly living. In the mind of those who were given charge of the Oracles of God, Scripture represented God Himself; a semantic description of His persona; a revelation of the integrity of His character which assured us that he would fulfill His promises towards us.

Whereas God can bless the ‘good man’ with wealth, wealth doesn’t determine that a person is ‘good’ and blessed by the Almighty. Also, many a wicked rich person is able to pass on their inheritance to their children. This verse therefore cannot be telling us about an equation between wealth and goodness. Rather, as we ponder on this Scripture, we are given reassurance of the promises, the One who Yahoshua called the only Good One, the Father, made to us.

Not only His chosen children will inherit, but also will their fruit in the nations. Our Father owns everything, and through the mouth of Yahoshua He said that the meek shall inherit the earth, concurring the second clause of our text today that the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

This verse is messianic. In it, Solomon saw the Messianic age of rewards, retribution and restoration. So no matter how wicked the world may become; regardless of the poverty we may suffer at times here; we can look to our Almighty father and rest assured of the full inheritance of which we already have the earnests in Yahoshua. We are assured, like King Solomon was at the beginning of his reign, that if we desire Him first, the Almighty Father will put everything in our hands.

“JUSTICE DEMANDS ANOTHER LIFE”

Proverbs 13:21
Evil pursueth sinners:
But to the righteous good shall be repayed.

The Hebraic contrast nature of Proverbs reveals the wisdom behind this statement.

As evil pursues the sinner, of he who does not walk the path of El Shaddai, so goodness pursues the righteous, he that is a faithful follower of the Master.

My wife quoted me a secular proverb the other day. It said,

‘Justice demands another life’;

I do not remember its author, but this statement is so true. Even non-believer can see that too many things go wrong in this life; too many things are left hanging and unrepaid. If we believe at least in the principle of justice, justice demands that we live another life, in order to reset the slate.

Believers know that they will live another life; it is their hope. They know that this next life, this rebirth, this resurrection, is the restoration of all things. Wrongs will be made right and all tears wiped from their eyes.

But what about sinners?

The prophet Daniel saw the end of all things and said,

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Some, will resurrect to everlasting life: the restoration of man’s former edenic state; while some, will resurrect to everlasting shame and contempt: the repayment. We see now how evil pursues the sinner, and how the righteous good shall be repaid.

Let us be part of the latter, not the former.

DESIRES VS TEMPTATIONS

Proverbs 13:19
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul:
But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

From the beginnings of time desire is what has caused mankind to go astray from God. Yes, the desire accomplished brings such peace, satisfaction, rest in the soul. It also feeds that inner wicked feeling of entitlement that is so common today in western society.

The Father wants to please us his children. It is written that no goodness He will refuse to them that love him. He loves to accomplish the deep desire of our hearts just to see our faces light up the pleasure he procures us with His mighty goodness.

It all goes fine and well when our desires are towards Him in the respect and keeping of His Instruction; but most of the time, our sinful natures bends our lusts towards what the heavenly Father, in His great love, wisdom and faithfulness wants us to refrain from.

By subjecting ourselves to the Father’s Instruction, we learn to differentiate between healthy desires and sinful lusts. But only living close to and in love with Him makes us want to essentially please Him, and keeps us away from us the pull of temptation towards sinful lusts. The fools, which is one who has no respect for the Father’s Instruction, has no power to want to depart from evil, so it is an abomination for him to restrain his wicked appetites.

“Abba, Father:"

"I want to pray the prayer Your Son taught us to pray when He visited us on earth. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, ‘ lead us not into temptation’, and ‘deliver us from evil’. Help us also to make the difference. The evil one (cursed be his name) often tricks us by promoting to us things that seem godly, healthy and wise. Help us, by a thorough intelligent understanding of your Words of Instruction not to fall for his wicked devices.

In the Name of Yahoshua Hamashiach,

I pray.”