Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20001119.htm

PROVERBS: ALIGNING TO GOD'S FIXED MORAL ORDER
Part III: Displaying God's Fixed Moral Order
U. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order
(Proverbs 30:1-33)
  1. Introduction
    1. After motivating a young man to heed an observed fixed moral order, the literary genre of the Egyptian sboyet that the Book of Proverbs uses works to supply actual proverbs to reveal that order, cf. Bruce Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 136:543, p. 221-238.
    2. Solomon reveals that order to be God's order for his son to heed. We continue that study of that order.
    3. However, clarification is in order regarding Proverbs 30: it contains the sayings of Agur, a man whose identity is uncertain, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Pr. 30:1. However, since Jesus implied all of the 39 Old Testament canonical books were divinely inspired in Luke 11:51, we accept Agur's words here:
  2. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order From Proverbs 30:1-33.
    1. A son must learn that he must both acknowledge his lack of understanding all about God and yet seek to know Him if he would be truly aligned to God's fixed moral order, 30:1-4! Conversely (1) believing one knows all about God or (2) not desiring to know Him more expose his misalignment with that order!
    2. In learning about God, a son must learn to turn only to His Word: only that revelation has God's perfectly refined truth, and only heeding exactly what that Word says will bring God's approval and blessings, 5-6.
    3. A son must see that the highest goal in life is to (1) align to God's fixed moral order, and (2) to keep that good character by use of a moderate lifestyle that avoids undue temptations to sin, Pr. 30:7-9.
    4. A son must learn not to meddle in someone else's domestic affairs to be upright with God, Pr. 30:10.
    5. A son must learn to avoid the following kinds of general behavior if he would align himself to God's fixed moral order for blessing: disrespect for proper authorities (30:11), hypocrisy (30:12), arrogance (30:13) and oppression (30:14), Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 970.
    6. A son must learn to avoid granting handouts to lazy leeches, for their greed is only enabled by such handouts: they are as insatiable in their greed as the grave is for more bodies, the barren womb (in Ancient Near Eastern culture) is for a child, the land is for rain and fire is to consume the flammable, 30:15-16.
    7. A son must learn that disrespecting his parents is as evil as the greed described in Pr. 30:15-16 (30:17).
    8. A son must learn that a man has a mentally influential advantage over a virgin woman at every level of courting her (at the sight level, at the touch level and at the physically intimate level); hence, he must be careful how he relates to virgin women to be upright in accord with God's fixed moral order, 30:18-19.
    9. A son must learn that an immoral woman can use her physical attributes to unduly control him since her moral faculties are distorted as a prostitute, Proverbs 30:20. Thus, he must be careful to avoid contact with such immoral women for his own welfare.
    10. A son must learn that he must strive hard in leadership to have his subjects assigned to their proper roles in oversight and submission: failure here leads to deep social unrest, Proverbs 30:21-23.
    11. A son must learn he can offset life's risks of failure providing he exercises the following actions that align to God's fixed moral order: (1) exercising foresight to acquire wealth through faithfully investing even if one's curent income is seriously limited (the ant, 30:24-25), (2) obtaining insurance from outside sources to compensate for the risk of overpowering harm (the cony, 30:26), (3) organizing one's affairs well to offset a leadership or leadership ability vacuum (the locust, 30:27) and (4) being extremely opportunistic to offset the threat of unavoidable risks (the vulnerable lizard in a king's palace, 30:28).
    12. A son must learn to respect true strength in others if he would protect himself from harm, Pr. 30:29-31.
    13. A son must learn that if he has exalted himself or planned calamity against a superior force [described in verses 29-31] so as to arouse its wrath, he must shut his mouth to avoid making matters worse, 30:32-33!
Lesson: From these proverbs, we learn that a youth is much better off learning from his parents that heeding God's ways is to his own distinct advantage in the adult world.

Application: (1) We parents must have the courage under God's leading to inform our maturing sons and daughter of the VALUE of heeding God's fixed moral order. (2) As maturing children or as adults ourselves, we can apply these truths to our own lives for eventual blessings.