Month: December 2023

Problem: Does the earth abide forever or not? Psalm 104:5; Ecclesiastes 1:4 and Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:10
Continue reading →

Problem: Proverbs 26:4 states, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly,” but the very next verse states, “Answer a fool as his folly deserves.” Isn’t this a blatant contradiction?
Continue reading →

Problem: The genre of the Proverbs is wisdom literature. Thus these shouldn’t be interpreted as universal moral laws, rather they are general wisdom principles. For instance, if your mother told you, “Don’t touch the stove… You’ll get burned,” this should be interpreted as a universal principle. However, if she told you, “The early bird gets the worm,” this should be interpreted as a general principle of wisdom: getting up early has its advantages. If you woke up early on Black Friday and you didn’t get your new flat-screen television, you would never turn around and call your mother a liar for her wisdom! Wisdom principles simply shouldn’t be interpreted so strictly.
Continue reading →

Problem: The genre of the Proverbs is wisdom literature. Thus these shouldn’t be interpreted as universal moral laws, rather they are general wisdom principles. For instance, if your mother told you, “Don’t touch the stove… You’ll get burned,” this should be interpreted as a universal principle. However, if she told you, “The early bird gets the worm,” this should be interpreted as a general principle of wisdom: getting up early has its advantages. If you woke up early on Black Friday and you didn’t get your new flat-screen television, you would never turn around and call your mother a liar for her wisdom! Wisdom principles simply shouldn’t be interpreted so strictly.

Solution: Many passages in the Proverbs lead to confusion if we interpret them as laws, rather than wisdom principles. Two examples will suffice:

(Prov. 10:3) The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry.

Paul claims that the apostles (the most righteous believers at his time) were “both hungry and thirsty” (1 Cor. 4:11; cf. 2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27; Rev. 7:16). However Paul says that he found the secret to finding joy—even in the absence of food (Phil. 4:12), which is the joy of the Lord (Phil. 4:4-13). In Proverbs, God was promising to provide for the temporal blessings of his people. In the new covenant, God promises to meet our needs (Phil. 4:19; Mt. 6:33), but we realize that this involves suffering as well (Jn. 16:33).

(Prov. 16:7) When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

While this is often the case, it isn’t always. Paul’s life was pleasing to God, but he was stoned (Acts 14:19) and tortured by his enemies (2 Cor. 11:23-28). Jesus was pleasing to God (Mt. 3:17), but he was tortured and killed!

(Prov. 22:6) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

This also isn’t a promise. We often see loving Christian parents who lose their children from the faith. And yet, this is a general principle that should be observed. Surely not training our children will adversely affect them from pursuing Christ when they get older!

Conclusion
For these reasons, we should be sure to observe the genre of the Proverbs. Otherwise, we will run into major problems in our interpretation. In this case, it isn’t that the Proverbs are in error, but rather, our expectation of what they are saying is the issue. We are expecting universal moral commands, when in fact they are merely general wisdom principles, as the book itself claims in its introduction (Prov. 1:2).

Problem: Some Bible readers believe that this is a reference to Jesus for a number of reasons:
Continue reading →

Problem: The Bible tells us that God both loves people and hates people. Whether we like it or not the Scriptures teach that God hates those who love violence and love evil. God is too holy to approve of those who love what is opposite to God’s character and nature. But on the other hand, generically speaking, God loves the whole world (John 3:16). Also, he lets the sun shine on the good and the bad. He let’s the rain fall upon all people. So, in this context, he loves all (Matthew 5:43-48).
Continue reading →

Problem: Should we acquire wisdom or not? Context is vital here.  Proverbs 4:7 is stating that a person, on the human level, needs to acquire wisdom.  It is good to seek to be wise.  Solomon is teaching his son, who is a believer in God and His word, to avoid foolishness and seek wisdom. Of course, true wisdom is acquired from God’s word.
Continue reading →

Problem: Is the Lord good or bad to people? Psalm 145:9; Lamentations 3:38 and Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 18:11; Ezekiel 20:25, 26
Continue reading →

Problem: Sprinkled throughout the psalms, we read shocking prayers that are made to God from the respective psalmist. These are called the “imprecatory psalms” by theologians, because these prayers seem to invoke cursing on the enemies of Israel:
Continue reading →