by Gary L. Evans
Spiritual Gifts— Part 7
Pro 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The word “proverbs” is from the Hebrew “maw-shawl'” which means “superiority in mental action; properly a pithy maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse): – byword, like, parable, proverb.” So it is the Hebrew equivalent to the word “Parable” used in The New Testament.
We are given a list of Eight benefits from these Proverbs. The number Eight implies “New Beginning” in Scripture:
- Wisdom
- Instruction
- Understanding
- Justice
- Judgement
- Equity
- Knowledge
- Discretion
The word “subtilty” is from the Hebrew “or-maw'” which means “trickery; or (in a good sense) discretion.” So a better translation would be in this context: “to give discretion to the simple.”
The word “fear” is from the Hebrew “yir-aw'” which means “fear (also used as infinitive); morally reverence.”
For a sinner, The FEAR of The Lord is the beginning of basic knowledge. But after repentance and receiving The Lord’s mercy, The REVERENCE of The Lord is the beginning of more complete knowledge.
Pro 1:8-9 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
God is our Father, and Israel is our Mother.
The word “grace” is from “liv-yaw'” and means “something attached, that is, a wreath.” Dr. Bullinger translates it to “garland.”
The word “”chains” is from “aw-nawk'” and means “a necklace (as if strangling).”
Dr. Bullinger explains “neck. Showing cheerful and willing obedience, in contrast with stiffneckedness (Exo_32:9) and pride (Isa_3:16). See also Gen_41:42.”
Pro 1:10-14 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
Do not consent to taking part in the wickedness of this world, because that is the way to death, even death of the soul.
Pro 1:15-19 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Sinners imagine that they are harming “other” people but getting gain for themselves. But the truth is in reality that they are harming their own selves! They lack wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion, and therefore are simply incapable of perceiving this fact.
Pro 1:20-22 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
God’s Word has been sent into all the world, especially among the twelve tribes of Israel scattered throughout Russia, Europe, The United Kingdom, and North and South America. All true Wisdom comes from God, from God’s Word. And He offers it freely to all who reverence Him. Our Father calls out to us, repent, repent, become wise.
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
The phrase “turn you at my reproof” implies “turn and listen to my reproof.” And when we do then The Lord will give us His Spirit and show us the full meaning of His Word.
Pro 1:24-33 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
The stubborn rebellion of fools will cause their death. But everyone who listens to our Heavenly Father through His Word will be saved from death and have peace of mind.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Spiritual Gifts— Part 8
Pro 2:1-5 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
When we listen and consider the Wisdom which only comes from God, then we will come to understand True Reverence to The Lord, which is the beginning of the Knowledge that can only come from God.
Pro 2:6-9 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
The word “buckler” is from the Hebrew “maw-gane'” which means “a shield (that is, the small one or buckler); figuratively a protector; also the scaly hide of the crocodile.”
The word “saints” is from “khaw-seed'” which means “properly kind, that is, (religiously) pious (a saint).”
In the New Testament the word “saints” is from the Greek “hag’-ee-os” which means “sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated).”
Pro 2:10-12 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
The term “froward things” is from “tah-poo-kaw'” which means “a perversity or fraud.”
Wisdom and Discretion preserve our lives, and Understanding protects us from evil persons who speak lies and deceit who cause much harm to innocent people.
Pro 2:13-15 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
The word “darkness” is from “kho-shek'” which means “the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness.”
The word “crooked” is from “ik-kashe'” which means “distorted; hence false.”
Such persons are so perverse and deceitful they cause only misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, and wickedness. But keep in mind that they can become talented con artists able to pretend that they are something that they are not, and that is how they can so easily deceive other people.
Pro 2:16-19 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
Dr. Bullinger translates these words as:
“strange woman. Hebrew. zur = apostate to a false religion, of which prostitution formed part.”
“stranger = foreigner. Hebrew. nakar = foreign woman. Not of Abraham’s seed (Gen_17:12): ever a snare to Israel.”
“house. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for household.”
“the dead. Hebrew Rephaim, who have no resurrection. Compare Isa_26:14 (“deceased”), Isa_26:19 (“the dead”); and see App-25. This shows that a Canaanite woman is referred to here.”
Here we see that “women” in The Scriptures are sometimes used symbolically to represent “religion,” that is, “Worship of The Lord God.” And thus they can represent “true religion” or “false religion.”
The Lord’s warning in these verses is about This Certain False Religion that leads all of her congregation to death and hell. No one who attends her services ever repents and turns to The Lord nor do they ever learn the way to Eternal Life. This “whore” is reminiscent of The Great Whore in Revelation, Mystery Babylon, Mother of Harlots.
Pro 2:20-22 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The word “upright” is from “yaw-shawr'” which means “straight (literally or figuratively): – convenient, equity, Jasher, just, meet (-est), + pleased well right (-eous), straight, (most) upright (-ly, -ness).”
The word “land” is from “eh’-rets” which means “to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land).”
The word “perfect” is from “taw-meem'” which means “entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth: – without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright (-ly), whole.”
All who are righteous and complete without blemish will live in the earth and remain in it (for The Eternity). But the lawless will be put to death.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Spiritual Gifts— Part 9
Pro 3:1-2 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
The Lord addresses us as His sons and admonishes us to obey His Commandments in order to be provided a long peaceful life.
Pro 3:3-4 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
The word “mercy” is from “kheh’-sed” and means “kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opprobrium) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty.”
The word “truth” is from “eh’-meth” and means “stability; figuratively certainty, truth, trustworthiness.”
The word “favour” is from “khane” and means “graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or objectively (beauty).” This is the same as “grace, unmerited favor” in The New Testament.
Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
To worship God Most High with all of our hearts and minds and strength, The First Commandment, we must also put all of our trust in Him. And when He tells us to do something or never to do something, we must never think that we know a better way. Then The Lord will guide us each day in this world as a personal counselor, being our Life Coach, if you would.
Pro 3:7-8 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
We must never think too highly of our Spiritual Gifts, but instead Reverence The Lord, and The Lord will watch over us for our good.
Pro 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
We should help the poor and needy from our increase each year to give The Lord thanks for all of His blessings.
Pro 3:11-12 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Again, The Lord calls us His sons and explains that whenever we need our Father’s correction, it is to train us to have self discipline for our own good.
Pro 3:13-18 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
Wisdom and Understanding is a Tree of Life to everyone who finds them and holds onto them while dwelling in the flesh. These provide us the Way to Eternal Life.
Pro 3:19-24 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
The Lord used Wisdom to create the Earth and by Understanding Created the Heavens. So when He gives us the Spiritual Gifts of Wisdom and Understanding, we are literally made Eternally Alive.
Pro 3:25-26 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Fear is NOT of God, so we should never fear, even when we witness criminals being destroyed. The Lord watches over us for our good.
Pro 3:27-28 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
We must be generous to the poor and needy when it is within our ability to help them.
Pro 3:29-35 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Please, my friends, keep all of these precepts in mind as you live your lives. They will guide you and direct your path in this world. Remember, we must follow The Straight and Narrow Path that Jesus taught us about in order to obtain Eternal Life, and very few ever do that.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Spiritual Gifts— Part 10
Pro 4:1-6 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
God’s Law is good doctrine and we must never turn back from obeying His Law. We must study God’s Word in order to gain the understanding of its precepts, and our Lord’s Promise to us when we do that is to give us Eternal Life.
Pro 4:7-9 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
If we obtain Wisdom and Understanding from God’s Word, then we will be in The First Resurrection when Christ returns and be among His Priests, and possibly one of His appointed Kings.
Pro 4:10-13 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Jesus taught that The Words that came out of His mouth were The Holy Spirit and Eternal Life. All of God’s Word came to us by The Holy Spirit speaking through devoted men (except the book of Esther which was obviously a work of fiction by the Kenites).
Pro 4:14-19 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
Mat 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Letting our God Given Light shine before men is the very path of the Just that we must follow in order to Glorify our Heavenly Father here on earth.
Pro 4:20-23 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
The Promise of The Father is the New Covenant sealed by The Blood of Christ. And His Promise is to give us a New Heart and New Mind and to teach us His Law and enable us to obey His Law just as Jesus did when He walked this earth. Then we would truly be His Chosen People and He would be our God. These precepts are just some of the “issues” of our New Heart.
Pro 4:24-27 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
We must never turn away from loving God and loving God’s Word.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.
Spiritual Gifts— Part 11
Pro 5:1-6 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
The word “wormwood” is from “lah-an-aw'” which means “a curse; wormwood (regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed): – hemlock, wormwood.
The word “moveable” is from “noo’-ah” which means “to waver, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively (as subjoined): – continually, fugitive, X make to [go] up and down, be gone away, (be) move (-able, -d), be promoted, reel, remove, scatter, set, shake, sift, stagger, to and fro, be vagabond, wag, (make) wander (up and down).” In this context, it is best understood as “stagger to and fro, and wander up and down.” In other words This False Religion’s ways are confusing and meaningless.
Our Father warns us to use discretion about this “strange woman.” We learned that “women” often symbolize “religion” in Scripture. And a “strange” woman represents “False Religion.” Everyone who is deceived by this False Religion will die.
Rev 17:1-5 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
“Waters” symbolize “people, multitudes, nations, and languages of the world.”
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
The Great Whore is the most deadly of all False Religions and rides on the back of The One World Government at the end of this world, The New World Order. Her works are Abominable Wickedness. Her name is Mystery, Babylon The Great, Mother of Harlots. Thus she has spawned daughter denominations just as whorish and wicked as she is.
Pro 5:7-13 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
Stay away from this False Religion, because those who enter her so-called “church” will be Spiritually Dead when Christ returns.
We can think of the word “strangers” today as those many “antichrists” that Jesus warned us would be deceiving many people in this world.
Pro 5:14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
We are given a glimpse of the wickedness inside her so-called “House of worship.”
Pro 5:15-19 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
These metaphors represent that we must drink The Waters of Life given to us by Jesus Christ and by The Holy Spirit. The “wife of our youth” is The Wisdom God gives to us upon our rebirth in Christ Jesus. She is our First Love. We must remain faithful to her and not look at other “women”, that is, at other “religions.”
Pro 5:20-23 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.