October 31, 1948 WISDOM LITERATURE IN THE BIBLE Prov. 10:1-9; Eccles. 2:1-3
ous words stir up anger.” When some one speaks angrily to you, try answer ing him quietly and see what happens. When we faithfully deliver a message which someone sends by us, we bring joy to the heart of the ,sender as the mountain snow brings joy by cooling the drinking water for those working in the harvest. Those who are lazy (slothful) in their work are equal to those who are great wasters. It is wise to choose a good name or a good reputation rather than to have a poor name for the sake of having great riches. Those who cannot rule themselves are like a broken-down city that has no walls to protect it from its enemies. It is impossible to live ac cording to these wise sayings in our own strength. Christians can do all things through Christ who strengthens them.
The material for this week’s lesson is found in that part of the Old Testament known as the Poetical Books. These in clude Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Through poetry, truth is presented in a beautiful and forceful manner. It is surely so in regard to the poetical section of the Old Testament which presents the worship and instruction of the saints of God in inimitable fashion. Proverbs of Solomon (Prov. 10:1-9) The word proverb _ comes from the Hebrew word meaning to rule. Hence a proverb is a short saying with an applica tion to life and conduct. The Proverbs- under discussion are in the form of He brew parallelisms of the antithetic type, that is, the truth of the first part of the parallelism is presented by contrast in the second part. Usually this type of comparison is indicated by the word but which connects its two parts and intro duces the opposite side of the matter. The Proverbs of our lesson deal with the following subjects: 1. Sonship (1). Two kinds of sons are portrayed, the “wise” and the “foolish” . The effects of each on the heart of the parent is set forth. 2. Living (2-3). Two kinds of living are presented in these two Proverbs, righteous and wicked. The rewards of each are suggested. Surely there is a whole sermon here. 3. Diligence (4). There is no place for slothfulness in the Christian life. (Com pare 2 Thess. 3:7-12.) Faith ought to lead to zeal, not to laziness. 4. Opportunity (5). Now is the time to labor for the Lord. The summer time is the time of harvest. Wise Christians redeem the time because they realize it passes but once and it possesses eter nal possibilities (Eph. 5:16). 5. The just (6-7). Their blessings and happy memory are suggested. One could spend time recounting these blessings and memories. 6. Submission (8). A wise man listens to the Word of God. A fool loves and heeds his own empty words. 7. Walking (9). The one who walks with God is on sure ground. He will come out all right in the end. Take Enoch for example (Gen. 5:24). The re verse is true of those who refuse to walk with God. They shall be punished. Experience of Solomon (Eccles. 2:1-3) The key phrases of Ecclesiastes are under the sun and similar expressions. The purpose of the book is to show that apart from God, life is full of weariness and disappointment. It is “ vanity of vanities” (1:2). Solomon places him self as a natural man and seeks to show the true nature of such a man’s life. In these verses he shows how unavailing are the pleasures of this world to satisfy the longings of the human heart. S E P T E M B E R , 1 9 4 8
Helps for the Children Wise Sayings from the Bible Prov. 15:1; 18:9; 22:1a; 25:13, 28 Memory Verse: “He that giveth heed unto the word shall find good; And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he” . (Prov. 16:20 R.V.) Some of the books in God’s Library contain wise sayings. A few of these sayings which were written by King Solomon in the Book of Proverbs we shall study today. Solomon realized how important are our words. He said, “A soft answer turneth away wrath [anger] : but griev
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