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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