Pr. 17: More Proverbs for Living

Proverbs 17:10 "A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool."

Once again, unity with little is of more importance than a lavish banquet and strife. (v. 1)

Wisdom will rule. (v. 2)

God tests our hearts like we test gold in a fire, or silver in a crucible. And you say, "What's a crucible?" And I say, "It's an Arthur Miller play about the Salem witch trials. But it's also a container that can be heated to extreme levels to burn away impurities." In this case, silver. God wants us to rid ourselves of impurities. Of the extraneous. Anything that doesn't contribute to our strength in his service. (v. 3)

Don't make fun of poor people, come on. (v. 5) You show contempt for God who made them. Why he would make them poor, if that is the case, is beyond me.

Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool? A fool has no business being arrogant. (v. 7)

Someone offends you? Drop it. That's right. Forget about it. How important can something be to separate you from your close friend? (v. 9, 14)

I love verse 10. It only takes one rebuke for a man of discernment, and that's more than enough. For a fool, you can beat it into his head 100 times and he won't get it. Classic.

A friend loves at all times. There it is, Proverbs 17:17. A brother is born for adversity, though. We have people to lean on to help us get through the tough times that will come.

Ne. 5: Nehemiah Aids the Poor

Nehemiah 5:13 "I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!""

There were rich people in the land. Rich people who apparently made a lot of money during the exile, or had returned earlier and established businesses. These rich people were predatory lenders who were exacting usury, which mean interest. The poor in Israel were slaves to the rich. This is not the way things were intended to be, with the rich getting richer, and the destitute mortgaging their land and even their children to square up their payments.

So Nehemiah calls a meeting and basically rips these people a new one. So vehement were Nehemiah's admonishings that the wealthy fellows were moved to give it back, and additionally, not charge any more. Nehemiah held them to this with an oath.

He demonstrates God's feelings about rich folk exacting usury on poor folk by standing up, shaking out the folds of his robe, and declaring that God would shake out of his house those who didn't keep that oath. It wasn't enough for Nehemiah to just say these things without being an example. He lived it out. He didn't eat the luxury food appointed to him as governor. He didn't wall himself off in the safety of some remote tent while the wall was being built. He got right in there, got his hands dirty, and lived it.

God's ways for dealing with the poor are pretty evident here. They shouldn't be taken advantage of in any way. These poor were trying, they weren't lazy good-fer-nothings. But they were still being enslaved for lack of power. God would throw people out of his house if they didn't stop being mean to the poor.