Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20000528.htm

PROVERBS: ALIGNING TO GOD'S FIXED MORAL ORDER
Part II: Sparking The Reader's Motivation To Heed God's Fixed Moral Order
M. Motivating YOUNG MEN To THINK THROUGH The GRAVITY Of Their CURRENT CHOICES
(Proverbs 9:1-18)
  1. Introduction
    1. When a maturing offspring is about to move into the world, knowing the choices he or she makes now will yield huge and contrasting consequences in time makes the parent want to urge his offspring to THINK about his choices' results!
    2. Before Solomon finished his section on motivating his son to heed God's moral order, he laid out a scene with a lesson on how to teach our offspring to think of the results of their current decisions (as follows):
  2. Motivating YOUNG MEN To THINK THROUGH The GRAVITY Of Their CURRENT CHOICES.
    1. We have noted that Solomon structured the book of Proverbs after the Egyptian literary genre of a sboyet. This genre was used to train young princes to adhere to an observed fixed moral order for success.
    2. Well, summarizing his section of Proverbs on motivating his son to select God's fixed moral order, Solomon painted a picture of his son caught in the throes of having to make a critical decision as follows:
      1. Proverbs 9:1-6 pictures God's fixed moral order seeking to appeal to the impressionable young adult who was about to start out in his life. It called him to heed God's fixed moral order for blessing:
        1. Solomon showed how Lady Wisdom (God's fixed moral order) had made extensive preparations to bless Solomon's son were he to choose to cross the intersection to her side of the street, 9:1-3.
        2. Accordingly, she was beckoning to Solomon's son starting out in the adult world to cross the intersection to her that he might be blessed, Proverbs 9:4-6.
      2. Yet, and presumably from the opposite side of the figurative intersection of his son's pathway in life, Solomon pictured the woman, Folly calling in competition with Lady Wisdom to his son, Pr. 9:13-17:
        1. Solomon also presented Lady Folly (rebellion against God's fixed moral order) was calling to urge naive young men to go the undisciplined, hedonistic route of violating God's moral order, 9:13-17.
        2. In contrast to happiness gained in the long-term, Lady Folly called for immediate gratification, 9:17.
      3. In the midst of this critical scene of decision, Solomon stood like a father with his hand on his maturing son's shoulder to give some last minute advice before the son chose which siren call to heed on his own -- that of God's (Lady Wisdom) or of folly (Lady Folly), Proverbs 9:7-12, 18.
      4. That advice was designed to get his son to think through the gravity of the choice immediately before him just before his son crossed the intersection into his pathway:
        1. Solomon implied that if his sob crossed over to Lady Folly, he would end up mocking good advice, and other wise men would soon stop giving him helpful advice to protect themselves from his mocking, Proverbs 9:7-8a. That would lead to the son's going down an accelerating slide to destruction without friends left to pick him up, Pr. 9:12b. Eventually he would die in failure, 9:18.
        2. Conversely, Solomon related if his son crossed over to Lady Wisdom, he would be open to instruction and receive helpful advice from other godly men to his successful progress, Pr. 9:9-12a.
        3. Thus, it was IMPERATIVE that Solomon's son DEEPLY CONSIDER the long-term effects of his INITIAL selection of God's fixed moral order or lady Folly: that choice would set things in motion for DEEPLY contrasting, long-term effects!
      5. Then, presumably, Solomon took his hand off of his son's shoulder and backed away so the youth could choose his pathway and cross the intersection himself!
Lesson: Solomon supplied some "hands-on experience" where he could show his son in REAL LIFE experiences HOW to arrive at correct decisions that his SON actually FACED just before leaving him!

Application: After having TOLD our children ABOUT making right decisions in their lives, we need to give them room to MAKE decisions while they are STILL at home WITH us, but with our helpful OVERSIGHT as a final preparation for their advancement into the adult world. That oversight needs to motivate them to think clearly about the EFFECTS little decisions they make NOW will produce, enabling them to function effectively in the real, adult world with its enormous STAKES!