WATCH OUT WHAT YOU PRAY FOR

Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways:
And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

There is old gypsy blessing that says, “May God give you want you want’. King David, then Father of our author wrote that we are gods. Of course, he didn’t mean that we are ‘God’, but he meant that our ability to live by choice instead of by instinct like animals is a godlike faculty. Yet freedom of choice, as wonderful as it is, has its drawbacks. One of them is that it imputes us with the responsibility of our decisions, good and bad.

This proverb leaves us on a sad fatalistic note. One who has a backslider’s heart, like the proverbial prodigal son, will be filled of the perverse things which he enjoys. He will be recompensed with the things which he desires. I personally cannot think of a greatest curse. I saw a short movie recently about a gangster who died in a shoot out with police. After he died he was taken to a place where his every whim received compensation: Women that responded to his every want; food and wine to his fill; casinos where he won every game. He could even fake a bank robbery where he of course, would succeed. In the end he got bored to death with the predictability of it all and desperately wanted to leave, but couldn’t. Our gangster then asked his ‘guardian angel’ guide what in the world gave him a place in heaven instead of the ‘other place’. The guide then answered him, ‘this is the ‘other place’.

On the other hand, a good man, a man whose heart desires the things of God more than things of the world, will also receive compensation from the desires of his heart. But since his heart loves the Father, He will receive the heavenly compensation that only the father can give.

Let us be mindful of what we ask for; we might just get it!

OF JOY AND SORROW

Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

Every human heart knows its own sorrow. It carries within itself the natural melancholy that comes with the knowledge of its separation from its true spiritual home. The nothingness and temporal nature of the joys of this world only add to its secret sorrows grown from infancy on. But oh how men like to hide it; yes especially men.

Even the when the heart indulges in the joys of this life, even in spite of mirth and merriment, sadness makes itself perceptible. It reveals the subconscious nature of joy: a momentary earthly tool to escape the sorrow of the soul until that day, when reunited with its Creator, it will finally experience and own the true joy that it was created to own. The German writer Euchel knowledgeably writes: “No, man is not made for joy. Why weep his eyes when in heart he laughs?”

The Father made us so. He created us unable to experiment the full nature of joy and happiness on this earth so that we would long for home, for Heaven. Just like with the Children of Israel of old, life had to become tough in Egypt for them to desire to return to their land. The twentieth century saw the purchase of the state of Israel by the British right after WWI, but it wasn’t until the tragic events of WWII that the Jewish people decided to return to their Land. It was by the river of Babylon that they hang their harps unable to sing the songs of Zion because of the sorrow that captured their hearts. They knew that their own sins kept them away from their home. Today, melancholy also reigns in our heart because of the knowledge that our own sins keep us away from the Father’s beautiful garden.

The Father has created all things for us freely to enjoy, so let us enjoy life on this earth, but as we do, let us always remember one thing. Let us always remember that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth. That do not belong to this reality, but that our lives is merely in transit here, waiting for the day when we will enter the true joy of the Father, a joy that is ours by the covenantal blood of Messiah.

We will then experience the fullness of the Sabbath of which we today only get a weekly foreshadow.

HIS WAY/OUR WAY

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

In the very beginning, when God established the foundations of the earth and of the seas; when He established the boundaries of the cosmos, He also established the ways of righteousness. In His magnificent wisdom, the Creator of the universe imbedded the principles wherewith we are to live within the very elements and schedules of His creation; He taught us to live in rhythm and harmony with the world He created for us. According to His command, we are to live a 7-day work week; work 6 days and enjoy a rest in an appointment with Him on the seventh day. We are to start our twenty-four hour schedule at end of the day, our month with the new moon, and our year according to rain and agriculture in the place where He has set His Name. If we remember and follow this schedule, we will work in rhythm and harmony with the Creator of it all, and we would never be lost.

Sad to say, there are always people on earth who claim to know better than God. They are like immature teenagers who think they always know better than their father. Two thousand years ago, Julius Caesar, a sun-worshipper, wanted to change the calendar to honor his god. He proceeded therefore to create the solar calendar upon which our whole world depends today. A few hundred years later, a monk called Gregory, implemented this calendar for the whole Roman Empire.

God’s calendar is ruled by the stars in the cosmos. Imbedded within, we find not only the rhythm of the seasons, but alongside, we find the plan for the redemption od the world. Paul wrote to the disciples in Thessalonica that he did not need to teach them about the time of the coming of the Antichrist nor of the return of Yahoshua because he knew that they were familiar with the calendar that taught them these things. As a result he said: you are not of darkness, but of the light.

Without the light of God’s plan to lead us, we go establish our own form of righteousness in our own calendar and our own feast days. In the end, because we do not walk anymore in step with the Creator who leads us to life eternal, in our blindness, our way becomes the way of death.

May we rediscover the plan of the Almighty by rediscovering His calendar. May we be bold and courageous enough to step out of the ways of blindness leading to death through ignorance, and start walking in God’s life’ rhythm.

TENT OR HOUSE?

Proverbs 14:11
The house of the wicked shall be overthrown:
But the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

It is interesting to see how in this saying, the wicked lives in a firmly founded house, while the righteous lives in a temporary tent (tabernacle = tent). In another one of his proverbs though, Solomon assigns the house to the just, but the term ‘house’ can also refer to ‘lineage’.

Believers should be reminded that this age is not the end. This age is the means to bring us to the end; it procures the process that brings us to our final destination. Our end, our destination, is the restoration of all things: Yeshua, living on earth with us as it was in the Garden of Eden. We should therefore not grow our foundations too deep. Even today’s present volatile geo-political and economic situations should remind us that nothing is certain in this world. We should consider ourselves like righteous Noah who saw his generation come to an end, and like Abraham who considered himself a pilgrim and stranger on this earth.

The wicked on the contrary is pleased with the present world. In his arrogance, he establishes a strong house in it, which he thinks will last forever. He doesn’t mind the confusion, the wickedness, the pollution, the dirt, and the spiritual contamination of all things. He feels right at home in it.

The strong firmly founded house of the house shall be overthrown. When the day of judgment comes, the arrogant wicked who felt right at home in the filth of this present world will see his world unravel and come apart. Dusk will take him by surprise and the wintry night will encompass and overcome him. But the just, who put his trust in the Father of the heavens, in the One who created and who holds the universe in place, will see his tent flourish and rise over the destruction of the wicked. The sun of a new day will bring him the buds and blossoms of a renewed season of life.

WHO KNOWS THE HEART OF MAN

Proverbs 14:10
The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

This enigmatic proverb actually has a very simple meaning. The saying, “Every one knows where the shoe pinches him”, touches some on its message. Only the heart of man, the element in the center of his individuality, knows what brings bitterness to his soul. He only knows what troubles him, what brings him grief. That is why a ‘stranger’, one who is not ‘us’, cannot fully experience the joy that comes to us when these grieving elements in our life are superceded by the things that bring us joy.

This principle explains the relative properties of joy and happiness. One who has experienced hunger has a deeper appreciation for his daily bread; he is less picky about his food. One who has experienced loneliness is more grateful for the company others; he more easily overlooks their flaws. One who has seen the miseries of the world rejoices more when good news come his way; little joys are more easily found.

This principle is also true of salvation. The clearer we understand our sinful nature, the greater our joy of salvation. The better we understand the final end of our fallen spiritual state, the more we appreciate our redemption. The more, through the personal experience of persecution, we can relate to the sufferings of the Master, the more we appreciate what He has done for us.

A lonely woman recently died as her car crashed into the church of a small town in Western Oregon. She was unknown to most of the town’s people so for most, the story will quickly die as common daily news. A closer look at Linda’s life through the heart and eyes of the very few people who knew her, reveals a kind woman exposing the flaws of our spiritually broken and sick society. This woman was never noticed during her life, but now, in her death, she has made state news. Who was she? What happened? Will anyone ever know? Our appreciation of her earthly contribution in our midst can only come by knowing more about her, but we don’t know much. How many people on this earth, be they teachers, soldiers, firemen, parents, common folks like you and me are overlooked for accurate appreciation, just because we don’t know them?

GRAB HOLD OF THE SACRIFICE

Proverbs 14:9
Fools make a mock at sin:
But among the righteous there is favour.

It is the Hebrew of this verse which reveals its contrast nature. The word used for sin really is actually a word that means the ‘atoning sacrifice for sin’. In the Hebrew there is also a subject change to where it is the ‘atoning sacrifice for sin that mocks the fool’. What we have here is an instance where the sacrifice chides the fool for his carelessness disobedience towards God’s commandments to sacrifice. The commandment exposes the fool as a sinner separated from God. The commandment shows the fool he needs the sacrifice to restore him to his relationship with God. The sacrifice stands there in full view of the fool who is to foolish and proud to reach out to it so he could come again close to the peace of God. The fool is being chided through the confused emptiness of his life while the righteous, one who is straight in his relationship with God, because he cares about the commandments, finds favor meaning, and true purpose.

The sacrifice of Messiah stands near to all us ready to restore us unto the Father. But we first must let the commandment convict us as sinners. It is the Torah, the instruction erroneously called in English ‘the Law’, which teaches us the knowledge of sin and therefore reveals to us we are sinners. Through this Instruction we are meant to discover that we need the sacrifice of the ‘Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world’ to erase these sins from us so we can again find peace in the arms of the Almighty Father.

Let us stop the scoffing right now. Let us grab hold of the atoning blood of Messiah for a whole guilt and sin offering. Then we will, as the elders did at Mt Horeb, seat at the millennial bridal banquet table of the Prince of Peace for the most grandiose of peace offering feast. The we will, in the presence of the Son, find final peace for our souls.

LET US NOT BE IGNORANT

Proverbs 14:8
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way:
But the folly of fools is deceit.

How easy it is to passively walk our life. How tempting it is to let status quo, habits, fads and flows lead our step without any understanding of our ways. After all, aren’t we supposed to walk in consensus? ‘This is the way people have believed for hundreds of years, they certainly cannot be wrong. Forget trying to dig deeper into the roots in order to uncover the true foundation of faith. Let us just continue drifting with the flow asking no question for the conscience.’

The problem with that is that we are not made as the animals who walk by instinct. The great Creator of the universe has seen fit to give us a mind and a soul so that we can walk by choice. To properly walk by choice, we must intelligently understand our way, otherwise, we can easily be deceived by smooth-tongued teachers.

It is the responsibility of each one of us to understand our faith, the things we believe and why we believe them. I was told about God’s care for me when I was 11. I received Yahoshua as my Messiah when I was 17. For a long time I learned all that others had to offer me until one day, when I was 40, I decided that I wanted to know why I believed the way I did. This research took me straight back to Mt Sinai and to the first Jewish Messianic church of first century C.E. It is there, in the Pentecost Sinaitic connection that I discovered the roots of my faith and that I understood what I believed and most essentially why.

This is wisdom beloved: to understand our way.

The folly of fool is deceit in the passivity of voluntary ignorance.

CHOOSING FRIENDS

Proverbs 14:7

Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

The concept of excluding those who do not reflect our values from our midst is not as unpopular as the one that defines: ‘lips of knowledge’.

In our present context, ‘lips of knowledge’ refers solely to a practical and applied knowledge of the Word. Practical and applied, because whereas it is foolish enough not know the Word, it is utter foolishness to know it and not do it.

The reasons for ‘going’ from the presence of the ‘foolish man’, from the man who either does not know the Word, or knows it but doesn’t practice it, are given us in the following proverbs, let it therefore now suffice to say that wisdom demands that we do not enter intimate dependant fellowship with such people.

The application of such in this day and age certainly does have the potential of leaving us lonely, but lonely is good. Lonely brings depth as we are one on one in the presence of God. Lonely takes us away from the games we play in the presence of others and close to God as we are faced with the reality of our true self.

If anything can teach wisdom, that does.

Of course, this proverb also has to be balanced with other proverbs who tell us to utter wise words to the ‘fool’ so maybe he would repent from his foolish ways. What we are told here is not to enter intimate fellowship with such. In the old days, potential friends had to be brought home for approval.

Do we bring our friends to the Father for His approval?

LIVE CLOSE TO THE SOURCE

Proverbs 14:6
A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not:
But knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

Life has a tendency to make us cynical. It is difficult today to believe in purity, truth, love, justice and integrity. It is much easier to become cynical and doubt all the good we see and could imagine. That is why it is of the utmost importance that we stay close to the Master in our heart, mind and Spirit.

Knowledge is easy to him that understands because he lives close to the source. Scorners do not live close to the Master. They actually doubt His presence; mock the pure goals He tries to accomplish; they laugh at His attempts to restoration of the world; they are distant to him. Because of their ‘distance’ between them and Him, they cannot find the wisdom that could bring virtue to their lives.

On the other hand, those who live close to Him have no difficulty in finding wisdom. How do we live close to Him? Ancient Jewish sages used to disciple their students. Elijah did it when he met Elishah. Prospective Torah student would often renounce all other worldly ambition in order to live close to their Rabbi; they even became part of the Rabbi’s family. We see this dynamic illustrated in the New Testament. Paul claims to have begotten the community of believers in Corinth. John calls the assembly of believers his ‘children’. This is what He referred to when Yahoshua said that those who follow and obey God’s commandments are his mother and brethren (notice he did not say ‘father’). He was defining His relationship with his followers, not that with His relatives. He was bringing his disciples to His close family circle, not distancing himself from His family in favor of His disciples. That would have been anti-contextual.

And what do we learn from that? If wisdom is to be found easily, we have to live close to the Master; to live close to the Master and be a part of His family of disciples, we have to obey God’s commandments.

There is no big secret: water, pure water, is found by living close to the source.