Proverbs 20 Commentary
Wine Is A Mocker
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KEY THOUGHT: Wine is a mocker, … and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. [Proverbs 20:1 NKJV]
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Proverbs 20 NKJV
Wine Is a Mocker
20 Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The [a]wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim each his own [b]goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
7 The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
11 Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made them both.
13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 “It is [c]good for nothing,” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, “I will [d]recompense evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the [e]inner depths of his heart.
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by [f]lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the [g]inner depths of the heart.
Footnotes
a. Proverbs 20:2 Lit. fear or terror, produced by the king’s wrath
b. Proverbs 20:6 Lit. mercy
c. Proverbs 20:14 Lit. evil, evil
d. Proverbs 20:22 repay
e. Proverbs 20:27 Lit. rooms of the belly
f. Proverbs 20:28 mercy
g. Proverbs 20:30 Lit. rooms of the belly
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 20 Commentary
Alcohol. Whoever is led astray by alcohol is not wise. There is a direct reference to drunkenness.
In Leviticus 10, the LORD strictly forbade priests from drinking wine. Not being wise here has nothing to do with failure to make logical conclusions. Rather, it has everything to do with a lack of God’s counsel within.
Strictly speaking, it has everything to do with a lack of the rule of God within an individual. Alcohol loosens the nuts so you can lose control or derail. It’s sabotage.
Beer and wine, and then drunkenness. But the keyword is drunkenness. Today, many other substances cause drunkenness and would naturally fall under the same category.
Innocent-looking and legal, or otherwise ugly with bad names and outlawed, all forms of drugs that cause drunkenness must be blacklisted by the wise, godly men and women.
Any sane government would put you away for cutting off a piece of the rail line, or for draining fuel from a plane just before takeoff!
The saint must be led by the Spirit of God and not by drugs!
Technology has introduced other forms of intoxication closely associated with virtual reality products. It’s a wide range of weaponry against godliness. What you can eat, what you can drink, what you can sniff, what you can hear, what you can see, or what you can feel. Virtual reality takes it a step further. They all can cause drunkenness, which the LORD strictly forbids.
Don’t let your drunkenness anger the King. We guess that is the essence of verse 2. Wisdom keeps you from conflict, probably conflict with one’s Maker.
Sluggards do not plow because of winter, so they starve. Verse 4. We can apply this verse to an all-important harvest of life. You want to plow Wisdom and harness it now for immortality. Then you cannot be sorry.
This chapter is rich in short parables. They encourage men and women to rush for Wisdom. You hear the LORD Jesus Christ speak in this chapter. It would be a perfect fit in the Gospel of Matthew.
Verse 14 talks about the irony of value. “It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer – then goes off and boasts about the purchase. It’s a reference to Wisdom that may seem to have no value, but then those who find it can laugh all the way to the bank.
Yes, wickedness in bits and pieces is nothing. It means nothing until you realize you have angered Heaven! Satan will laugh his way to the bank! Mind the business transaction.
God’s word is a rare jewel. “Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.” Yet wisdom is discoverable! Present if one cares to reach out for it.
The LORD Jesus Christ knocks at every man’s heart.
The Book of Proverbs is best read with the New Testament in mind. In these lines, the LORD Jesus Christ speaks. They are parables pointing to greater wisdom – pointing to the LORD Himself, as the completeness of all that life is about.
Importantly, they point to the future. So when they read: “An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end,” we know we are being reminded about the importance of looking beyond present pleasures. This world isn’t your home, for short.
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