|
This is a text reader for the article below:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Wednesday 10/15/25
Thru the Bible: Proverbs 17
Message Video Player
Message Audio Player:
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:11:37 — 83.8MB)
The Glory of Children is their Father
Proverbs 17:1-28,
“(1) Better is a dry crust of bread where there is quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
(2) A servant who acts wisely will rule over an heir who behaves shamefully, and will share the inheritance along with the relatives.
(3) The crucible is for refining silver and the furnace is for gold, likewise the LORD tests hearts.”
Play “How to REFINE your soul” Video
“(4) One who acts wickedly pays attention to evil counsel; a liar listens to a malicious tongue.”
This verse is indicating one who is a “doer of evil”. The line affirms that a person of this nature will eagerly listen to evil talk, since it is in step with and springs forth out of their nature. They will pay attention to malicious talk which is a better rendering than evil counsel. A liar will lend their ear to one who possesses a destructive tongue. The word “listens” means to broaden out the ear. A good mental image of this are women who love to gather and feed on gossip. Such are less concerned with the truthfulness of a claim, than with how outrageous it is. THAT is the understanding of this verse.
I am, however, going to set before you two examples of this which, while common, are more of a surface manifestation of the passage. The truth of these words run MUCH deeper, but these offer examples which are so within reach and normal experience as to be immediately tangible to us. Naturally I want you to take the meaning further in your own meditations.
But in both the religious and political spheres this is experienced in extremes which often forsake logic and common sense. There is a devotion we tend to take in these arenas of life which we would never consider if it were decisions regarding our finances or health.
What I am suggesting is that I believe in these two areas we tend to follow a “group” mentality rather than considering the facts, independent from emotional attachment. As such, even if we do “research” the validity of our beliefs, we often only go to those we know or suspect agree with us so as to find support for our existing beliefs rather than conducting an unbiased study ourselves to see if our beliefs need refining in one direction or another.
I was reading a post from a man who was bashing this administration for the negative impact deporting illegal migrant workers was having on the cost of food. While some of his observations were true and worthy of consideration, he was not even considering the broader picture, that it is to our advantage to tighten our belts for a while to set things straight again. That the loosening of our borders was deliberate and has had far worse impacts on our economy than the simple 3% increase in food costs in the comparatively short term. But into the fray stepped conservatives defending this administration with examples which were not well researched or just plain emotional outbursts. The post quickly declined into a mud slinging contest which revealed the honest reason behind each view. It had little to do with the price of food, but was an isolated example from the whole picture which accommodated the attack of one party line against another. In the end, neither side was learning anything. No one was truly listening to “hear and consider”, but only to make sure they had a context for their retort.
Even more dangerous than this is when this happens in religious circles. People love a rallying point. Something which makes them feel emboldened in their position, and this usually spirals downward into nonsensical statements and platitudes.
Within 2 weeks of Kirk’s death, social media was being seeded with click bait for gullible conservatives and Christians. In one day I saw the EXACT same claims only with differing names attached.
- One claim was that this or that sports or hollywood celebrity was going to support Erika and see to it that her children’s college was paid for.
- Another was that various secular celebrities had shelled out thousands or millions to see to it that a copper statue of Kirk was on various college campuses.
- Another was that Erika had already taken over the podcast of her husband and that the first episode had reached a record 1 billion people live. The celebrities she was said to have hosted on that episode ranged everywhere from conservative nationalists to Hollywood celebrities like Morgan Freeman. Nevermind that the ABC network only has a maximum potential audience of 344 million or that for this to be true a full ⅛ th of the entire planet had to tune in live to the broadcast. Common sense had literally left the building and any claim uncovering it as false was attacked rather vehemently.
- Another was that revival was sweeping the planet due to Kirk’s martyrdom – to substantiate these claims videos were being posted of masses of people gathering in worship. While there were some examples of this, many were not. Upon looking up the origin of these videos, many were anywhere from 4 months to literally years ago. But they were being presented as occurring since Kirk’s death and as a result of it.
NONE of these claims made any sense and it took less than 5 minutes of thoughtful Google searches to reveal that they were fraudulent. But literally THOUSANDS of conservatives and Christians were not only making ridiculous predictions and claims due to their swallowing these lies, they were sharing them on their pages to spread misinformation. As an experiment, I decided to share data which disproved these claims and I was browbeat as a leftist, a hater and someone who needs to repent and find Jesus.
After a second appeal, in which I made it clear that I’d love for these claims of revival to be true, but that proper investigation into claims such as these should be conducted BEFORE posting them as fact was either attacked or smugly dismissed. One lady’s reply was “God is her fact checker”. I didn’t tell her so, but I thought about suggesting that she change god’s since hers was clearly wrong, but I did not want to stoop.
My point is, that this sort of defensive behavior is something ALL of us can descend into if we are not careful. We need to be lovers of the TRUTH regardless of where it leads us, because it can only lead us closer to Jesus Who IS the Truth!
“(5) Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
(6) Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
There are some translations which will put the word “parents” in place of “fathers” but this is inappropriate. The Hebrew word is אב ’āḇ (ah-v) and literally means father. While it CAN be used to represent one’s spiritual father or even the first in a series such as a great, grandfather or the originator of a profession, like Jabal who was the “father” of all nomadic farmers (Genesis 4:20). But it patently NEVER means parents collectively. The biblical Hebrew word for “parents” is the plural word horim (הוֹרִים).
This is NOT to down play the role and importance of mothers. Their role is imperative and lacking a mother will have a profound impact on the social and emotional development of a child. But the boasting, (which is a more realistic meaning for the word glory as it is used here) of a child, is overwhelmingly their father.
There is a lesson here.
Fathers play a vital role that foster emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual well-being.
Their involvement is linked to…
- better academic performance
- enhanced problem-solving skills
- increased self-esteem
- a reduced risk of behavioral problems.
Involved fathers provide a crucial sense of security and model behaviors, teaching independence and emotional resilience, and shape a child’s future relationships by providing a blueprint for how to be treated by others.
Their involvement greatly encourages intellectual curiosity in activities like reading, puzzles, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Children with involved fathers are more likely to perform well in school and achieve higher test scores.
A father’s support builds a child’s self-esteem, emotional security, and resilience.
A father’s behavior with the child and their partner teaches daughters what to expect from men and helps sons learn to treat others with respect.
Fathers often encourage risk-taking and exploration of the world, which helps build a child’s self-sufficiency.
Long-term benefits of involved fathers include a reduced risk of negative behaviors. These include a lower likelihood of substance abuse, early sexual activity or other behavioral problems. A child’s early relationship with their father can significantly influence the kind of romantic partners they seek out later in life.
But above all of these is the impact a father can have on a child spiritually.
When a father lives his faith before his children the impact is enormous on lifelong devotion to Christ. This includes church attendance, bible study, living their Christian faith in tangible and relational ways and modeling it before their own children.
The impact of mothers alone is considerably less, though certainly important.
When a child is blessed enough to live in a home which include both, the outcome is nearly certain that they will live a lifetime committed to Christ.
I have deliberately omitted percentage claims since they fluctuate from study to study, but these represent a fair overview of the facts.
“(7) Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.
(8) A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.
(9) Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
(10) A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
(11) An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
(12) Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.
(13) If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
(14) The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.”
This is SO profoundly true and it speaks to one’s spiritual maturity. If you can control what you allow your mouth to say, James says you are a spiritually mature person. If you cannot, he goes on to say, that your worship of God is lacking in sincerity.
“(15) He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
(16) Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?
(17) A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
(18) One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
(19) Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.”
Now the second phrase here I found intriguing. Other translations of the word “door” as “gate” or even “threshold”. If the statement is to be understood literally (which I very much doubt) the word “threshold” to me, seems the most honest. The Hebrew word is potach, which in Klingon is a terrible insult, but in Hebrew it means the entrance or opening of a doorway. So most literally this word would mean the width of a doorway (which might suggest being inviting, the height of a doorway (which might insinuate pretentiousness) or the height of the threshold which, as the Holman translation puts it “invites injury”.
It is almost certainly a comparative statement which is using something figurative symbolically. As such the “gate” or the “broad doorway” likely represents the mouth and so would indicate someone who is arrogantly inclined to say lofty things. They probably are braggers (e.g., 1 Samuel 2:3; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 29:23). The word destruction most commonly means affliction, ruin or destruction. I CAN mean the breaking of a dream. It can also be used to indicate the primary reason for suffering due to disobedience to God.
Since it seems to be tied to proud speech it seems as if it is saying that proud speech invites ridicule and shame due to being found out that all such bragging is just hot air.
“(20) A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
(21) He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.”
The word “sire” here was unfamiliar to me. It is a more modern employment of the word and is most often used of stallion “fathering” a colt.
The New English Translation of this it believe is more accessible and reads like this –
“Whoever brings a fool into the world does so to his grief, and the father of a fool has no joy.”
This is a more literal translation since the one who is parenting the child in this verse is non-gender specific.
“(22) A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
(23) The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.”
And that my friends is a one sentence description of how the wealthy use lobbying power to influence laws. It is in fact the achilles heel of free market commercialism. Which isn’t to say that it is not a great system, but like our forefather John Adams said regarding our constitution, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other“ Such is the case for any economy based upon commercialism.
“(24) The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
This gives the lie to the maxim “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars“
Which in itself is wildly inaccurate, but it makes it point. Aim high, so that even if you fail to reach the mark you will still go farther than you would if your aim had been conservative. The problem with this logic is that distance covered is the only real measure of success!
“(25) A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
(26) To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.”
There is a very high probability that we will have front row seats to witness the outcome of a world such as this!
“(27) Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
(28) Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”
Blessings!
Tri
