PROVERBS 5


5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

A man should never permit the words of a woman to intervene between him and the laws of God. This is a rock upon which myriads have made shipwreck of the faith. Adam sinned in consequence of listening to Eve's silvery discourse. No temptation has proved more irresistible to the flesh than the enticing words of woman's lips.

Adam was a striking illustration of this truth...

Elpis Israel 1.4.



11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

This time of closing the accounts of life comes inevitably to all, and how unbelievably soon it seems to come!

In youth, life seems to stretch out endlessly before us, with all its glitter and attraction; but how soon it is all over, and wise indeed are they who early face this universal fact!

Bro Growcott - She openeth her mouth with wisdom



18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 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.

According to the Scriptures a wife has to come first (after God) in a man's affections. Her needs, physical and spiritual, claim the primary place in all his arrangements.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the ecclesia"

(Ephes 5:25; Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7).

How did Christ love the ecclesia? His love was shown in his tender regard, his eagerness to comfort and enlighten, in his ever-readiness to make sacrifices for the advancement of its well-being.

These are the qualities that should be exhibited by husbands in their treatment of their wives. It is not weak for a man thus to love his wife. Where a husband is faithful to God's will, the wife is not treated as a servant.

She is not unnecessarily stinted in money or food. Her authority is not lowered in the presence of her children, nor her position in the eyes of strangers. The husband will not be found here and there on pleasure, whilst the wife is solitary and miserable at home.

He will not be careful concerning his own salvation and indifferent concerning hers. God's mind respecting a husband's obligations are interestingly shown in Deut. 24:5; Lev. 18:18; Prov. 5:18-19; Eccles. 9:9; Mal. 2:14.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, July 1900



20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?


The book of Proverbs is also known as the Parables (Prov 1:1), because it reveals great truths concealed in figures and similitudes. It is an exhortation to flee from unlawful lusts and the occasions that give rise to it. It is rife with a father's admonition to his son against strange women whose offering of sexual intimacy is a great temptation, and if not resisted will lead to spiritual death (Prov 2:16-19; 6:24-28; 7:1-27; 9:13-18; 22:14; 24:26-28,33; and see Ecc 7:26).

A strange woman is any woman who is not the wife of the man. Solomon begins by pointing out the negative consequences of getting involved with a whorish woman in verses 1-14, and then gives his reasons why this is so and encourages his son to rather have a wife to ravish himself with in verses 15-19. The negatives deal with our conscience convicting us (vv. 11-14); sexual addiction will destroy us (vv. 22-23; Prov 23:27-28), and how unlawful pleasure for a moment will lead us to an eternal grave (Prov 9:17-18). Furthermore, our actions will give God's enemies the opportunity to blaspheme Him (2Sam 12:14), and our prayers will not be heard (Psa 66:18). If we do not turn away and repent from sin, we will go astray (Prov 5:23), and in the end suffer utter destruction (Prov 7:25-27; cf. Rev 21:8).

We read in 1Cor 5:5, the apostle Paul's command to deliver fornicators to "Satan," that his spirit may be saved because 

".... If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer; or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

 In other words, not to have fellowship with him as instructed by Paul (cf.Heb 13:4). Our ultimate desire and purpose is always to save the guilty person. Paul further tells us that the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body (1Cor 5:13). Of course, this action is taken in line with Matt 18:15-17 that the brother feel ashamed (2Thess 3:14-15) of his deeds, repent of it, and return to the body of Christ.

Like Joseph, we are to run away from temptation (Gen 39), and like Job, we are to make a covenant with our eyes (Job 31:10). Christ said that if our eye causes us to stumble, remove the cause of the stumble that causes us to sin with our eye (Matt 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47). "Offend" in all these passages is the Greek word, skandalizo, # <4624>, "... to entrap, i.e. trip up (fig. stumble [trans.] or entice to sin... " Every time we refuse to look at lewd photos, or scenes on TV, we are making a covenant with our eyes, whether we realize it or not. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned, or walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned (Prov 6:24-28)? It is impossible!

For those who have embraced the bosom of a stranger, there is hope. It requires Godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2Cor 7:10-11). David was forgiven of adultery and murder because he totally humbled himself before God and confessed his sins (cf. 2 Sam 12:13; Job 33:27-28; Psa 51:1-19). David tells us in Psa 51:17, 

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

"BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night... Such will never be uprooted (Psa 1).

Sis Valerie Mello