THE GREATEST OF BLESSINGS

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

The usual understanding of this proverb is that when a gift is truly from God, it is totally free; there is no work added to it. Yes; the blessing of the Lord enriches, and there is not work, or ‘sorrow’ added to it. Is it truly so? Adam was given a garden that he was told to tend. He was also to tend his heart towards keeping God’s one and only commandment. We may marry the love of our lives, but marriage also requires to be ‘tended’, or it will fail. We may get saved, but even Paul tells us to’ work’ this freely given salvation with fear and trembling.

We are overly used to think of wealth in terms of dollars and cents. Why do we forget that physical wealth is fickle? From day to day, the biggest fortunes of the world lose and gain value according to the whims of a man made market. The physical is temporal, but the spiritual is eternal, so really, the blessing of the Lord can only be a spiritual value.

The only thing we get for free is this life, the only blessing that truly makes rich, the only thing that the true spiritual men of God looked for and considered the highest of God’s blessings is to live in God’s presence; to live in His house.

God’s presence is given for free. There is no extra effort or ‘sorrow’ added to it. When we are in God’s presence, He fills our hearts to the uttermost. The principle is easy to understand. In everything on this earth, we are the one who tends, who cares, the responsible ones. But when we are in the presence of the Almighty El-Shaddai, we are the ones cared for, the ones tended unto. When we enter the presence of Yahweh, we become the Bride enveloped in the love and care of her husband.

Is there a greater blessing that to find the place where we can lay down our tools and sheath our weapons? Than to find the place where we can de-activate the ‘protective shield’ of outward appearances we feel we have to project in order to protect ourselves? Is there a greater blessing that to be able to let go of everything and just snuggle in the arms of our husband and Creator?

THE WORDS OF THE WISE FEED

Proverbs 10:21

The lips of the righteous feed many:

But fools die for want of wisdom.

Literal translation: The lips of the righteous shepherd many. . . ..
The shepherd, or pastor, provides guidance, care and food. Our Lord and Master Jesus-Christ was an excellent example of this by providing all of these to His disciples, and He has promised to continue. He has promised us food and raiment; for the rest we work. He has also promised the needs for the execution of the work He has assigned us to do for Him on earth. For His work not ours; even though He may also indulge us in that. He has not promised our wants, He has promised us our needs. He has not promised the ‘top of the line’ in everything, even though He may indulge us in that too, He has promised us our needs.

There is cause and effect in this phrase. The words of the righteous leave us with a sense of satisfaction, spiritual and physical. Pastoral Words inspired of God leave us with a counsel that presents a light at the end of the tunnel; with a providing practicality. After all, isn’t one of the names of God: Yehovah-Yiree: God, the Provider?

Literal translation: But many fools die for want of wisdom . . . .
The understanding of this phrase is in the contrasting properties of the sentence structure of this Book of Proverbs. A literal translation with inferred meaning would maybe read:
The lips of the righteous shepherd many, thus keeping them alive and wise;
but fools die in foolishness because they do not receive the words of the righteous.
Again, we find cause and effect. Fools, who are not recipients of the wise words of the righteous, die for want of food and wisdom.

It is sad when people die because of a famine of righteous words, but it is depressing when fools die when the Word is published and easily available.

John, the disciple, is quoted to have ended the Book of Revelation in these terms, Let the righteous be righteous still, and let the wicked be wicked still. . ..

May the righteous faithfully teach and feed the flock the only Words of eternal life; and may people allow God to open their eyes that they may see the path of truth wherein lies all of God’s bounties.

THE GAUGE

Proverbs 10:20
The tongue of the just is as choice silver:
The heart of the wicked is little worth.

Let us here remember the maIn literary structure of the Book of Proverbs: contrast.

In today’s text, the tongue, an instrument of the heart, is contrasted with the heart itself. The just, one who is justified by Jesus-Christ, is contrasted with the wicked: one who is not justified. Choice silver is contrasted with ‘little worth’, which in the contextual Hebrew text could be seen as mere silver shavings falling off the tool of the silversmith.

Jesus told us that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So in the case of the just, if his tongue is valuable, how much more his heart. But in the case of the wicked, if his heart is worthless, his speech also is.

The Hebraic mind is one of simplicity. To the Hebrew, if it looks like a duck, if it sounds like a duck, if it acts like a duck: it is a duck. You can’t tell the true Hebrew mind, ‘no, it is not a duck, because in his heart, he is really a chicken’. In the same manner, you couldn’t tell the Hebrew, ‘oh, this person only acts and sounds bad, but in their heart, they are good’.

Applying this very important principle to basic theology in today’s text, we could therefore say, ‘If these words I hear benefit my soul like choice silver, the heart that produced them must be justified, and of even greater worth than the words themselves. But if the words I hear are of no more value than, contrasted with choice silver, the silver shavings falling from the tool of the silver smith, the heart that produced these words must also be, by contrast, of worse value than the words themselves. This is hard gauge by which to judge, but it is a gauge as infallible as the law of gravity. It is a safe gauge.

‘May the words of our mouths be few, but may they be fit. May they shine to audiences big and small with the golden glow of our salvation in Jesus-Christ. May they be godly wealth to the hearer, a spiritual map to the traveler and true comfort to the mourner. And by Your grace oh Lord, may our words not be vain or poisonous, for how could the same fountain give both sweet and bitter waters?

What can be said of your words?

WISDOM IN SILENCE

Proverbs 10:19
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin:
But he that refraineth his lips is wise.

The Master reminded us that by every one of our words we shall be judged. Each and every one of our idle utterances will be brought before the throne of the Almighty, and placed in the quantum of evidence concerning our case. What will these words prove?

Will our words be arrows in the arsenal of accusations of the accuser of the Saints, or will they provide the Master, our Defense Attorney, with evidence of sincere repentance and devotion?

In light of our subject today I will not say more, but let us instead be silent and ponder on this question.

CLEAN INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

Proverbs 10:18
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

The Word of God is not only concerned with our actions; it also challenges the intentions of our heart. In the case of our text today, the Word instructs us that to entertain evil thoughts against someone while at the same time outwardly acting friendly towards them, is as foolish as to openly let out our negativity towards them.

The Word doesn’t leave much room for hypocrisy. The word ‘hypocrite’ means ‘one who pretends to own a virtue that he does not possess’. The word ‘hypocrisy’ also comes from the Greek word, “actor’. When we entertain evil thoughts that, for a reason or another we do not want to reveal, we put on an act. But eventually, our words or our actions betray us. It is often practiced in politics; it is called ‘diplomacy’. It is also practiced in commerce; it is called ‘good business’. But whatever man calls it for whatever reason, God calls is foolish.

Now if we try to make peace with someone by doing the right thing and being nice to them when we don’t feel like it, this is different. This is almost viewed to God as a sweet flavored sacrifice of obedience. The idea here is to truly repair the breach in communication; to truly heal the relationship. It s not just to apply some cosmetic cream or powder on the wounds in order to alleviate the pain or hide the scar, and try to pretend it is not there.

When Moses was instructed to build the Ark of the Covenant, he was told to make it of acacia wood laid in gold inside and outside. We can easily question the purpose of the expensive inside layer. This is a sample to teach us that we must strive for our hearts to be pure on the outside that every can see, but also on the inside that only God can see.

TEACHING CHILDREN BY EXEMPLE

Proverbs 10:17
He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction:
But he that refuseth reproof erreth.

The Hebrew word used for ‘instruction’ in this text is actually ‘discipline; to ‘discipline’ means to train, educate, to disciple.

Anyone who has children knows that the subject of discipline is all encompassing. Children do not like to receive it, and parents feel intimidated to give it. Yet, the Bible tells that to give discipline is part of love, and it also tells us that to be disciplined is a sign of being loved.

It is obvious when children refuse discipline. With teenagers it is sometimes a bit trickier; they learn to play game before our eyes while they have a secret life behind our backs, often online. With adult, we mostly have to fight ‘drama’, and sensitivity.

The apostle Paul warned us that in the end time, we would live in a generation that refuses discipline and instruction. What more could define the times we now live in? Children are unruly and do not naturally obey their parents. Teenagers feel that it is their right to legislate their own lives. And while children are prey to the viles of this premature sense of fake freedom, adults live contrary to the Laws of the loving God who created them. Could it be that our attitude towards God’s instruction and training is connected with our children’s attitude?

I believe that we should teach by example. It is very hard to teach a child to use proper language when our own mouth needs cleaning. It is difficult to teach a child to eat properly when we indulge in junk food or in other unhealthy habits. It is very difficult to teach a child to have wisdom in his choice of media when we ourselves are glued to its vain shows and magazines. Could it be that if we, as parents, with all sincerity of heart, showed a life yielded to God’s instruction, a life submissive to God’s discipline and to His training, we would stand a better chance with the training of our children?

It may or may not be, but one thing I know: when I come in the presence of the Almighty God; when my life’s works are weighed in the balance; I do not want to realize that it is I, who through my own rebellious attitude towards God and His Instruction, was the one who patterned rebelliousness in my children.

REVELATION

Proverbs 10:16
The labour of the righteous tendeth to life:
The fruit of the wicked to sin.

There is a day when our works will be weighed. There is a day when our worth will be measured. Everything we have done, said, omitted, judged, boasted of, cried, emphasized and minimized will come back to our face to judge and expose our heart’s true motives. The Foundation upon which we have based our faith will be revealed.

If our foundation consists of the sands of man’s doctrine, of man’s carving of its own god according to his own likings, nothing, absolutely nothing of our life’s work will remain standing in the sight of the true God of eternity. If the foundation is the Rock Jesus-Christ, the living fiery Word first revealed in the stone of Mt Horeb, this foundation will evaluate our life’s worth, through the testing of fire.

On that day, the elements of our life will be revealed. It will be revealed to all whether they lead to life or to sin. Relativism in judgment will be done with. The only arbitrator shedding light of our life will be fire of God’s Word. John taught us that sin is the breaking of the Law. Paul said that the wages of sin is death. A life of consciously breaking God’s law results in death, and is there an atonement left after we have willingly sinned? Is there salvation after willingly rejecting Christ in the form of rejecting His Word? That question still rages in theological debates and certainly deserves to be answered.

But why take a chance. If a man’s life is turned towards God’s Word, there is no more doubt. This man’s life tends to life eternal. Jesus Himself said that in this man, the spirit of God becomes a river of Life Eternal flowing from his belly. Not only his words but his actions, his interests and his priorities are in sync’ with the Spirit of God. They seem to both walk in unison as two hearts beating as one. It is an amazing thing, but if we put two heart cells together, eventually they beat as one. If our heart in near to God’s, we also beat as one, and bring life to the world.

Let man boasts of its works. Let him come before the court of public opinion and play his game before the jury. Let him bring his most precious prize that it may be tested in the fires of God’s eternal judgment. Watch it all disappear in smoke, leaving place for the rebuilding of a brand new society based of the loving Laws of our Father.

RICH MEETS POOR

Proverbs 10:15
The rich man's wealth is his strong city:
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

A rich man trusts his wealth. It provides him with a false sense of safety and security. It makes him feel invincible. Also, once he has grown to a certain social status, he despises the poor. He despises the poor by either his generosity, his false pity or by plain disdain of people who are not as refined as he is. But here is where God comes in the picture: Another one of King Solomon’s Proverb says, The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. Biblical society was different than ours in the sense that there was no middle-class. The rich were the rulers, the clergy and the merchants. The poor were usually the manual workers and the farmers. The wealth of the rich was dependant on the labor of the poor.

Even today, through the dynamics of business and banking, there is not a rich man on earth whose wealth does not originate from misfortune of the poor. The richest men on earth live on the back of those who buy into their ungodly business practices. God does not approve of this and His retribution system in the society of the humans is that: The destruction of the poor is their (the rich man’) poverty. When the poor loses, they both go down. We see that time and again. Whenever things get too tough for the poor, it affects the rich so they have to do things like cut interest rates or give tax rebates. This gives a boost to the economy by mostly keeping things moving. It helps the working class get their basic needs so they don’t revolt, and it keeps the money moving back into the coffers of the rich.

How diabolical therefore for the rich to seat of their mountain of gold and despise the laboring class to whom they owe their wealth. God was wise in creating both classes. The handling of wealth really helps reveals one’s character.

Maybe we need to get back to God’s economic system. God had established a jubilee every seven years. At the jubilee slaves were freed, properties acquired through bankruptcy were returned to their owners, debts were forgiven. One could not refuse to lend because he knew the jubilee year was coming. The Bible said that God established this system. That He did it so the rich never go too rich and the poor never got too poor, so there would not be oppression in Israel.

It has been calculated that Jesus was possibly born in or near a jubilee year. His return will be the greatest jubilee of all. All people will be again given the land of their inheritance; debt will be cancelled; offenses forgiven, the whole system will reboot with a new improved platform: God’s platform. At that time also, all our earthly works will be judged in the fire of god’s judgment. Will your stand the heat?

FOOLISHNESS AND WISDOM

Proverbs 10:14
Wise men lay up knowledge:
But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Our dear beloved Master said, by their fruits ye shall know them. Our text today exemplifies Jesus’ statement.

In the Holy, Book, ‘knowledge’ means ‘the knowledge and understanding of God’s Inspired Laws and Statutes. ‘Wisdom’ means the ability to appropriately apply the knowledge and understanding of God’s Inspired Laws and Statutes in our lives. ‘Foolish’ is the opposite of wisdom. A foolish man is one who: is ignorant of God’s laws and statutes; who knows God’s Laws and Statutes but who, due to ignorance, misapplies them to his own hurt and that of others; one who purposely goes against God’s Laws and Statutes.

Who is the wise? Who is the knowledgeable? King David, the Father of our author is known to have said, The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Can therefore one who denies the existence of God be considered wise? Can one who denies the deity of Yehoshua ha Mashiah be considered a person of knowledge? Should they teach us? Should they teach our children? Should we sing their songs? Should we consider their laws right though we have to obey them? Should we emulate them? Should we speak about them with honor, glory and adoration? Should we exemplify them to our children?

Under the leading of foolish ungodly men and women our world is not nearing destruction; it is destroyed. True faith in the God who created us is destroyed and replaced by religion. God’s model of family structure is destroyed and replaced by biology and emotions. Dedication, loyalty and self-sacrifice for God are destroyed and replaced by dedication and loyalty to self-pleasuring and gratification. God himself in the eyes of man has been destroyed and replaced by idolatrous mind-representations that are contrary to Him and his sense of love and justice.

May God help us. May God help us to follow and emulate wise men and women who are able to show us the way back to God, and to His Laws and Statutes. We have gotten so smart that we have forgotten them. We thought we knew the way but instead we got lost.

There is hope to find the way back though: careful exegetical study of the Word; true hunger for righteousness; unequivocal desire for the truth, all mixed with the tears of desperation for closeness to God is the unfailing recipe to get us out of the confusing theological mud of today.

THE WORDS THAT RETURN

Proverbs 10:13
In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found:
But a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.

Oh, how great is God’s wisdom. How He has within each of us placed the judgments of our own conscience.

A man wise in the understanding of God’s Instruction speaks; his mouth drips honey. His words bring sweetness to his life, to his wife, to his children and to all around him. He wakes and he is blessed. He surrounds himself with his family and they enjoy his presence. He works and his advice is heeded. His words return to him in the form of blessings.

It is not so with the man void of understanding of God’s Instruction; his mouth pusses perversion. His words cause bitterness to his life, to his wife, to his children, and to all around him. In the morning he despises God’s mercies. His family, victim to his foolishness, loathes his presence. His works only add heat to his already seared conscience. His words return to him as the rods of God’s faithful correction on his back.

Have your words come back to haunt you? Have they revealed a heart void of God’s Instruction? Words are often like toothpaste; once it’s out the tube, it can’t be put back in. They also have a way of coming back to us activated in the actions and words of others.

Jesus said that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The Holy Book also says that the entrance to our heart is trough the eyes is the ears. If we fill our hearts by watching and listening to Godly things, we will not have a problem with comes out of our mouth.

THE OUTSIDE PROVES THE INSIDE

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirreth up strifes:
but love covereth all sins.

The Bible is a very simple book. The Bible is a very simple book because God is a very simple God. God is not ethereal; God is ‘entirely-real’. Some people want to teach us that the realm of the Spirit is neither comprehensible nor tangible to us, but the Bible teaches us that we understand the things of the spirit by the elements of earth (Romans 1:20).

In the relative world of today, not even hatred and love have defined concepts. People want convince themselves and others that they are loving, but reality shows that they wreak havoc everywhere around them. How can that be? Faith in God is proven by a life of godly works and attitude. If the life of godly works and attitude are not present, neither is the faith. The fruits of what is inside are proven by the outside actions. The life inside emanate on the outside. The same goes with love and hate. If there is love inside, there is no strife outside.

In our passage today, we learn that it is hate that stirs up strife. One cannot claim to love if his life is marked with strife and contention with others. We are to hate and strive against evil, against false doctrine. We are to contend for the faith; uphold the right; hate the wrong; not hate people.

When someone constantly searches for the point of disagreement that causes strife, it simply reveals the hatred that dwells in his heart. It reveals the hatred in his heart because love does the exact opposite. Love finds a way to cover the sin; it seeks to hide the offense. That was, and still is, the main work of the Messiah. Not that the offense does not occur; He does not obliterate it; He simply covers as snow covers the ground with a sheet of white.

May the Almighty El Shaddai help us to come to grips with the reality of our lives. Is our life marked with contention; constant fighting and ‘bad blood’? Then we need to realize that somewhere we have a hate problem to uncover. We may need to follow its thread all the way back to childhood and uproot it. Only then we will stop trying to validate ourselves through conflict with others. Only then we will feel secure enough to cover others offenses towards us. Our heart must break to empty itself of its poisonous puss, and be filled instead with the balm of God’s love and Spirit.

GODLY COMMUNICATIONS

Proverbs 10:11
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life:
but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

The concept of fruits of the tongue is often repeated in the Bible. James described it, Jesus said we would be judged by it and David prayed that the words of his mouth would be acceptable unto God. King Solomon gives us much good advice on the use of the tongue also. The proper use and mostly control of our speaking ability is one the most obvious sign of wisdom.

Our text today shows us that we can discern a man by the fruit of his words, even by his withholding of words, for not talking is also a form of communication. More is communicated in what is not said than in what is said. It is the wise man who knows how to control his mouth and say nothing when nothing needs to be said. The Hebrew word used for ‘well’ in this text is a word that also means ‘vein’; an allusion to the great aorta vein which convey the blood from the heart to every part of the body. The Words of the righteous man are as oracles from God and just as Jesus’ Words, they are a vein of life-giving blood to His hearers. So are the words (words as in communications done either with speech or withholding of it) of a righteous person. They may hurt for a while, but in the end they bring life.

It is not so of the wicked. The wicked talks peace with his tongue; he flatters with his lips; he cajoles and sweetens his speech with right words and attributes. He say all the right things but in the end the true motivation of his heart finds him out: violence, divisions, ego, pride, selfishness, are all under his poisonous tongue hidden by a smokescreen of personal righteousness.

Oh, but oh, how God’s spirit searches the hearts. How He reveals the hidden perfidy of the wicked to those who know His Voice and His Voice only. They will not be tricked by a stranger. They will not be led astray by what is only a form of righteousness.

As we set the words of this text in our heart, let us by God’s wisdom, discern by their fruits and their end result the source of the words spoken to us.

THE TRUE JUDGE

Proverbs 10:9
He that walketh uprightly walketh surely:
but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

Uprightness is another word for integrity. In a court of law, a man is convicted by the verdict of the jury and by the decision of the judge. The case of a said criminal is built through a trail of evidence that the defense lawyer will use in his favor. On the other hand, the prosecuting attorney will also use a trail of evidence against this same man to get him convicted. A big part of their case is built on trying to prove or disprove the personal integrity of the said criminal, and even sometime of each other. In the end, the two attorneys present the case to the jury for its verdict.

Through our new ability to prove or disprove the culpability of a said criminal through the use of D.N.A., we have recently found out that we have many people on death row who are actually innocent. They very well may be innocent, but a lawyer was able to find enough evidence against them to convict them and very often, not always tough, because the lack of integrity of their lifestyle spoke as evidence against them. A man’s lack of integrity can be used against him

If a man is falsely accused of a crime, the real perpetrator of the crime is still on the loose, and we have this promise that one day he will be known, even if it is by God, and he will have to pay his due. His perverted way will eventually find him out.

Two thousand year ago Jesus walked the earth. During the hay days of His ministry He was vilified; public opinion threw His lot with that of criminals. On the other hand, those who were familiar with Jesus knew of His integrity. They couldn’t be swayed by the self-righteous roars of manipulated public opinion. Jesus’ lifestyle spoke of Him before Him. Because of it, throughout history, Jesus’ true friends have willingly given their lives in some of the most horrible manners in order to prove His point. They also wanted to emulate Jesus’ integrity.

At the time of Jesus’ trial, the political and religious powers who brought Him to court were found to be the devilish usurpers who came with many promises of bliss they couldn’t fulfill. Their perverted ways culminated in the conviction of Jesus, the Righeous.

What a blessing it is to know that whatever man may say about us, our integrity is forever and foremost before the God who will one day judge and vindicate us through the testimony and integrity of Jesus-Christ Himself.

THE WISE AND THE FOOL

Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

Oh, for the meekness of the wise. Oh, for the humility of the matured heart. Because he has seen the bad, because he has experienced the evil side of man, he comes before his Lord and like the Children of Israel in Horeb, he accepts the terms of the holy covenant even before he knows them. He understands because he obeys first. The truly meek and the truly matured has seen is Lord at work; he doesn’t need proof anymore. He hears the voice and the command of his shepherd and master and he responds. He drinks every Word from the mouth of God. He wouldn’t dream of wasting any. Because he has been purged of the rocks and of the bramble, the commandments of his God go deep in the chamber of his heart and abide there forever.

It is not the same with the arrogant fool. He speaks wisdom; he professes maturity; but his actions betray his pride. He has a form of godliness while he denies the power thereof. Hear his words proudly legislate righteousness and establish wisdom. Watch his folly spread like a green bay tree. Listen to his endless analysis of the Word of Truth. The end will tell the beginning: will he stand in the eyes of God as he does in the eyes of man? The fool doesn’t receive the commandment of God. He questions it, ‘Has God truly said?’ He doesn’t receive in all humility because he doesn’t trust God. He wants to understand before he obeys. He wants God to show the plan before he follows. Because he has rejected the love of the truth, he is given an energy of error that leads him to his own destruction.

Abba Father, I pray that you make me what you’d have me be. In the name of your son, the only Mediator between you and us: Yehoshua.

TO BE REMEMBERED FOR THE RIGHT THINGS

Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the just is blessed:
but the name of the wicked shall rot.

The ‘just’ and the ‘wicked’ both are part of our lives. They constantly walk beside us trying to influence us. The just tells us how to live a life of godliness, the wicked teaches us the ways of the world. The just reminds us that we are sinners and that we need God, the wicked helps us find excuses for our behavior. The just reminds us of God’s Word, the wicked distracts us from it. But when we come to end of the road, when the day of accounting has come, when we are faced with the sum of the decisions of our lives, who will we remember with gratefulness? Which name will we bless for having shown us the way into eternity?

God said one day to Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Until this day people all over the world bless the name of Abraham. They bless his name because in him, many families all around the world are, and will still be blessed. They are and will still be blessed with the hearing of the Gospel.

When we come to the Lord and our works are weighed in the balance, I think that the greatest reward that can be given us is to see all those in whom we have been instrumental in showing the way to the Lord. Most of us can remember the person who brought us to the Lord. When we finally experience what it is that we gained that day we gave ourselves to Jesus, we will want to go and find that person who showed us the way, maybe even all those involved, and vehemently thank them for having been concerned enough for our soul. Is there anything better to be remembered for? We certainly don’t want to be remembered for being the ones having instructed others of bad worldly ways, provided the, with excuses for their sin nor distracted them from the Word of God. If we are so, they will certainly wish our name to rot.

One of the most infamous names in the Bible is the one of Judas, the person who betrayed Jesus. I have never met anyone called Judas. It is a name that rots in the memory of man as belonging to the person who made the biggest boo-boo in history.

Let us make sure that our name is remembered for the right thing; that it is remembered with positive heavenly associations, and that people bless us when they hear it. As our kingly author also says, A good name is better than precious ointment.

THE CHOICE

Proverbs 10:6
Blessings are upon the head of the just:
but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

Let us look upon this proverb as a plain observation.

Our Master exemplified this concept for us. His life looked like anything but a blessing. We considered him afflicted of God Isaiah says. In the end, Jesus died as a common criminal and the pure mention of His name still causes some of the deepest controversies the world has aver known. Yet, because of His faithfulness and willingness, God honored His Son Jesus the Righteous with the highest honors that ever were given. God put all His enemies under His feet; in fact, the whole universe.

The wicked on the contrary, he who lives his life of pleasure on earth; he who denies his soul the benefits of godliness; he who denies others the blessings of his God-given wealth; he who lives a selfish life of heavenly bliss on earth in total disregard to God’s commandments; his end is an end of violence. The devil exemplified this. Though he presently owns the world, which also gives him allegiance, he is the chief wicked one of the universe. All wickedness, disobedience selfishness, pride, lies and violence proceed from him. His end and that of his cronies has been determined from the beginning of time. The lake of fire awaits they and none can save from the judgments from El Shaddai, the Almighty God.

We need to always remember that. Whatever life has in store for us on this earth, if we are just, if we have endorsed the righteousness of the Lamb of God who gave His life as atonement for our sins, our end will be one of everlasting blessings in the place the Son has prepared for us, and the gifts of God are without repentance. But if we follow the prince of this world; if we now receive blessing upon blessing from his hands who shed innocent blood, we are doomed to the violence reserved for the unrepentant.

Which will be for you?

THE GREATEST HARVEST OF ALL TIMES

Proverbs 10:5
He that gathereth in summer is a wise son:
but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

To sleep at the time when the harvest is to be gathered is the utmost foolishness. Such a lazy farmer is doomed to bankruptcy. Yet, as we reflect on this proverb, let us also rise to the level of its spiritual interpretation.

The author of the Bible is an agrarian God. He wrote it through an agrarian people living in an agrarian society. Today, we who have become urban have lost touch with the rhythm of the earth and of its season. Because of it, we are in fact slightly Bible illiterate.

The wise author of these words lived in Israel. He knew that the harvest season started around the end of the month of March at Passover with the barley harvest. It continued with the wheat harvest in June at the festival of Pentecost. The Feast of Trumpets in September saw the sifting of the grains before it was gathered into barns around the Festival of Tabernacles at the end of the month. To sleep during this season would be unthinkable.

God used this rhythm of the season of an agrarian society to give us His message. Jesus came at a time when there hadn’t been a prophet for a while in Israel. This famine of the Word, without the ‘Sun of Righteousness’ in the spoken Word of God was like a spiritual winter. John the Baptist, who announced the coming of the greatest Farmer of all time who would gather the harvest of humanity into God’s barns, was born during the Passover season. Jesus was born six months later, around the time of the Festival of tabernacles.

The death and resurrection of Jesus signaled the beginning of the harvest of the earth. For centuries God had seeded the earth with the words of the prophets, with the sample Israel had been to the world. Now God sent His son to reap the harvest. Jews have always believed that the September Festival of Trumpets signaled the actual coming of the Messiah, the end of the great human harvest, the sifting of God’s people: The great Tribulations. The Feast of Trumpets leads us straight into the season of tabernacle, when, as the grain is stored into the barns before winter. At that time we, the great human harvest of God, enter God’s barn into the peace of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Since Jesus came to the earth, each area of the world has seen its season of revival in its own generation. The Sates had its great times of revivals; one of the last one was among the youth in the 60’s and 70’s. We have seen a great harvest in Russia during the Perestroika. We have seen the opening of China and the flourishing of the underground Church. Through the dynamics of modern-day politics we see now the spiritual awakening of many in the Muslim closed countries of the Middle East. Even in Israel, which is definitely anti Jesus, the Messianic movement is now growing by leaps and bounds and that my friend is a sign of the soon return of the Lord: when the Jews start seeing their savior.
\We, the workers of the Chief Farmer of all times need not to be found sleeping during this harvest. It may be the last hour of the day, but the Husbandman of the earth is still looking to hire those who haven’t found a field to harvest. He will still pay us for the full day’s labor; are you on, sickle in hand? Or are you like the lazy son who sleeps in the harvest?

HEAVEN: THE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT STOCK.

Proverbs 10:4
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

From the very beginning of civilization, God has ordained that we should eat our bread in the sweat of our face. The apostle Paul reiterated this concept by saying, He that shall not work shall not eat. Our verse today teaches us that God always blesses the work of industrious men and women, but is it the only lens though which to see this saying of Solomon?

Jesus taught to not put our trust in earth’s uncertain riches. He also taught us to not work for the meat that perishes but to work for that meat which endureth unto eternal life. Jesus and Paul also often speak in terms of rewards in Heaven for a work well done on earth. In the light of these statements, we can conclude that the concept of rewards for diligent work needs not to be solely understood as a earthly concept, bus also as a spiritual one. It needs to be applied for most important of all investment stocks: Heaven.

What is that ‘meat which endureth unto eternal life’ that Jesus mentioned to His disciples? What can we take from this earth that will endure in heaven? What are those ‘works’ that are transformed into these starry crowns promised unto us for our diligent faithfulness?

Jesus said that the work of God was to believe on Him whom God has sent. Daniel tells us that if we turn people to righteousness we will shine as stars in the firmament. To become a star was a Middle-Eastern Semitic concept of afterlife reward.

The souls we win to our Master and the spiritual wealth we amass during our stay on earth are the only things we can take with us when we leave this earth. God will not ask about our bank accounts nor about our real estate spread on earth. He will not ask to see our wardrobe, the type of car we drive nor if we use the latest technology. God will simply take look at the state of our heart, and through a careful assessment of its condition, He will easy see how much we have invested in the true spiritual riches of the kingdom of Heaven, how much we have study and most of all obeyed the Words of His Heavenly instructions, of His contract given to us in the Torah. He will also take a poll of the souls in Heaven and see how many claim your instrumentality for finding the Word of Truth that led them to God.

Let us think about these things. Are as concerned and careful of our investments in Heaven as we are of our investments on earth?

CHOOSE YOUR FATE

Proverbs 10:3:
The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish:
but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

Thus is the promise given to whoever puts his trust in the Lord God Yahweh. Famine may come and with it bring hunger and pestilence, the righteous, those whose who are subject to God, have the promise that they will not be destroyed by it.

We do not have the promise that we will never suffer the pangs of hunger, but Job teaches us that even in famine we are redeemed from death; that we will not perish from it. King David teaches us that even though young lions lack and suffer hunger, those who trust in God shall not lack any good things. In his service for God, Paul mentions suffering of hunger; and in the endtime, just as in the olden days of the Sinai experience, God Himself feeds the church in a place He has prepared for her for three and a half year. When Egypt put her trust in Joseph, who was an early type of Messiah, God saved her from extinction by famine. The wicked by comparison, he who has obtained his substance through wickedness, will lose even that which he has put aside against the day of famine. In the book of Job it is written that God will cast it out of his belly; he will have him vomit it. The wicked has no one to redeem him when evil time comes.

This word also teaches us that when we put our trust in God, we never suffer hunger for lack of the Word of God. We have the promise of the Torah written in our hearts, which is for us our constant source of instruction and inspiration. By comparison, one who has rejected the Word of God lives in spiritual confusion, darkness and hunger. He has to rely on man’s wisdom, emotional highs and false entertainment in order to soothe his famished soul. He is confused as to standards of right and wrong. He gropes in darkness and like a drunk man cannot keep his balance. He is ready to fall at any time. He is the prey of predators.

We can take comfort as we look back at history as a witness to this infallible truth. Let us therefore not fear following the Lord and his leadings. We should not fear endtimes what it will bring. We should put our trust in our Lord and hang on for He is mighty to supply for even the littlest of his children.

THE TRUE VOICE

Proverbs 10:2
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing:
But righteousness delivereth from death.

Our dear Lord and Master Jesus, Yehoshua Ha Mashiah’ always endorsed the Scriptures once delivered to the saints. He was in fact an epiphany of those Words which were given to men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Jesus so understood the original meanings of the Scriptures that he was able to apply and teach us them. He was, is, and will be the true one and only oral commentary of the Scriptures.

Scriptures often offer different levels of understanding. Sad to say, this often pits people one against the other which is wrong in the sight of the Lord. With our text today, I desire to take you to the place where Jesus compared Himself to our shepherd. This place is found in the Gospel of John chapter 10, and Jesus says there that He is our shepherd, the one true shepherd who comes through the door of the sheepfold and feed the sheep at the cost even of His own life if necessary. Jesus makes these statements about Himself by comparison to Ezekiel 34 and 37 where God warns of the bad shepherds come in the sheepfold through an illegal entrance. They do not really care for the sheep; they are in it just for the shearing. Because of it, God had promised His people Israel a true Shepherd who will unselfishly care for them. Jesus announced that He was that true Shepherd. This whole analogy represents the contest between Jesus and the devil for the possession of the flock and people of God

The false shepherds of Ezekiel 34 and 37 represent the devil. They are thieves Jesus said. They do not come through the door of the heart of the people; they come through somewhere else. They move in through the windows of the mind and of intellectual philosophy. Or, like Santa, they come in through the chimney of gifts, of the fairy tales and of invented speculated theology. They are thieves and robbers. They do not speak with the voice of the oracles of God known by the people of Israel; their voice is not the voice of the Torah. They are strangers and both Jesus and Paul warn us about these. They are mercenaries only in it for the shearing. They think to wickedly profit from the flock of God but God has promised that it will profit them nothing. These shepherds are those whom Jesus said beat the servants while the husbandman was gone. They will be severely judged for taking advantage of the people of God.

Jesus represents God’s leadership of God’s people. He is the One and only true Shepherd. He comes in through the door of our heart. He is the One true representation of the voice of God because He speaks the oracles of the Torah. He is therefore easily recognizable. He is in it for us, to feed us, protect us, care for us, and ultimately to deliver us from death.

Let us be wise therefore, not gullible. Let us study the oracles of God so we can easily make the difference between the voice of the true shepherd and the voice of the thief who steals from the flock of God. It is our responsibility to do so.

I am reminded of this scene in the movie, ‘The March of the Penguins’. Before leaving his chick in the care of the mother, the father sings to his chick. He does it so at his return from feeding, his son recognizes him. The sound of the father’s voice is the sign of his true fatherhood and ownership of our soul. Jesus also ‘sang’ His Words to us before He left. Let us make sure we rehearse His voice so we can properly discern Him amongst all those who fake His voice and pretend to come in His name.