An interesting point about Proverbs 22 is in the middle of the chapter we’re told we are being offered “Thirty sayings of the wise.” We don’t get thirty sayings before the end of the chapter, which is because the verse and chapter notations were added centuries after the proverbs were written. Any time we read a book of the Bible, or a chapter or portion of a chapter from it, we need to remember the chapter breaks were assigned by folks who thought they made sense. Many of them do, but we find some strange ones as we read through the Bible from cover to cover. (Probably the strangest chapter break of all is found between Acts 21 and Acts 22. Most of the modern English Translations have changed it, but the phrase “in Aramaic” was originally separated from the end of Acts 21, and was the beginning of Acts 22.) One of the best-known verses in Proverbs is found in this chapter: 6Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) The verse encourages us as we parent to teach our children the ways of the LORD, because they will live them when they grow up, or at least when they are “old.” We need to make an important distinction here: Proverbs 22:6 is a principle not a promise. A principle is generally true, while a promise is assured to all who receive it based on the integrity of the one who promises. If we train up our children in the way they should go, generally speaking, they won’t depart from it. The opposite is also true: if we train our children to be deceptive, or dishonest, generally speaking, they will continue that pattern into adulthood. But, and this is an important but: this is a principle not a promise. Because our children have the freedom to choose the direction of their lives, they might choose not to follow their upbringing, which would be good if it was bad, and bad if it was good!
While Proverbs 23 starts out much as the previous dozen chapters, it ends with a focus on the ills of drunkenness. King Solomon devotes the final seven verses to telling and illustrating what it is like when a person walks down the road of drunkenness. He doesn’t use the world alcoholism, but we can imply Solomon was talking about a habitual pattern of drunkenness. He calls us to avoid it, because it is a path that leads to destruction. As Jesus’ followers, we know Jesus didn’t condemn the consumption of alcohol, and the Apostle Paul commended Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach, or for medicinal purposes. Both Jesus and Paul stood with Solomon, though, when it comes to drunkenness: it is destructive. I have long abstained from the consumption of alcohol, because we live in a cultural that talks about social drinking, but means drunkenness. I have worked with so many folks who have suffered through the impact of alcoholism, and for them sobriety, not drinking is the only solution. When I have asked them, “How many people did you know growing up who didn’t drink alcohol?” The answer was always, “None.” I raise my hand, and say, “Now, you know one.” I don’t do that to pat myself on the back. I do that to show them it is possible to live without alcohol. That life can be enjoyable without it. Each of us needs to come to our own understanding of how our consumption of alcohol might impact those around us, particularly those whom the Apostle Paul referred to as “weaker brothers.” Solomon’s admonition is clear: drunkenness destroys lives.
Proverbs 24 is filled with wisdom we could consider here, but let’s pause where King Solomon did at the end of the chapter: sloth. Sloth, of course, is resting taken to an extreme. Rest is good. We’re called by God to live in rhythms of work and rest. But when rest becomes laziness, when it becomes an unwillingness to work, it ruins our lives. Just as drunkenness leads to destruction, so does sloth. We live in a culture that is often driven. The tendency seems to be to over do it, rather than not doing it, but in every era there are those who would rather sit back and watch than to engage in life. Solomon reminds us the end result of that approach is poverty. He was meaning financial poverty. The poverty that comes from sloth carries over throughout our lives, and impacts every area of it.
As we return to Luke 19, Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem. We are moving to the last week of His life. Jesus tells the parable of the minas, which is a reminder to us all that everything we have is entrusted to us by God, and we are to use it to His glory. He also tells us of the impending suffering that will take place in Jerusalem not long after He dies, rises again and returns to heaven. He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and cleanses the Temple of the moneychangers there. All this incites the anger of the religious leaders, because they see Jesus’ direct defiance of everything traditional. Jesus takes credit they see belonging only to the Messiah, and they have rejected Him as the Messiah. The religious leaders have determined to end Jesus’ life, and the only question for them is, “When?” The crowds were so enthralled with Jesus, the religious leaders were afraid of the reprisals from them, if they attempted to arrest Jesus during Passover week.