Word & the Wild

This is Word and the Wild. It's a one year Bible adventure with friends. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide. Together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community where we read the Bible for ourselves, but not by ourselves. And here we are, gang. In week 22, about to cross the 150 day reading mark this week.

If you've been hanging with us that whole time and kudos to you, that is worth celebrating and it is still giving goodness week after week, for example, this week. We're going to get you set up to soak up some ancient wisdom. We're gonna talk about how to crack a proverb, gain the skills to live the good life of friendship with God.

That's what's ahead for us this week. So hello and welcome in once again, just rolling through this journey together. It's not a recap. Where we feed you bite-sized bits of the Bible. No, no, no. This is a freewheeling walk where we watch the story of the Bible unfold. Like the epic movie that it is. So subscribe here on your favorite podcast platform and share with a friend.

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That's wordandthewild.com. And now guys, let's dive in to the wild world of the Proverbs.

What is success? What is a good life? I mean, these are the kinds of questions that Solomon's Proverbs look to help us wrestle with. And these are big questions. I mean, you might expect these kind of topics to inspire a man with Solomon's encyclopedic knowledge and next level insight to just construct these detailed, long-winded lectures.

But Solomon, as we're about to see this week, does the exact opposite. In Proverbs, Solomon tackles these big questions with Zippy little zingers, man. Never more than a few lines each. Each packed with insights that have crossed cultures across the centuries. Short and sweet, timeless, timely, sometimes charming, always challenging.

That's the genius of a well-crafted proverb. And that's what we face in our reading this week. In our conversation, we get to see Solomon at his witty, profound and, and focused best. And there are so many little treasures of ancient wisdom packed inside every day. As we browse through them, it, it kind of reminds me, I'm gonna stick with me now.

It kind of reminds me of these trips to the thrift store I would take with my grandma growing up. You know, the thrift store. You open the door to that, that place it's got, it's gotta smell. It's, it's distinctive. Right. And especially when you're a kid, right? I remember looking around at first at all the nondescript, just rows of clutter.

Nothing at all stands out to you. But, you know, when you slow down and you start to kinda rummage around. You almost always end up finding something interesting, worth looking at, and, and sometimes even something useful. Some kind of a little treasure that you, you can't live without. You gotta take it home, right?

And you have to approach a thrift store with a certain kind of eye you gotta be looking for, for what you need. On one hand, but then you also have to have an eye for something, you know, artful, interesting, unusual. And that's, that's part of the thrill of the hunt. And, and, and when you find that thing, right, I mean that little treasure, oh, it's a great feeling, right?

Proverbs is kind of like that. It's just row after row of ideas, tips, insights. As you, you pick your way through. At first it looks like just a bunch of kitchy coffee mugs and outta date avocado, green colored kitchen appliances. But as you, you sift your way through, you finally find that gem. There's a, there's a beautiful little nugget of timely on target wisdom that you just cannot live without. Right?

And because life never stops throwing problems and puzzles our way, Proverbs always stays relevant and hits fresh. I if, if we take time to browse, proverbs just seems to always have what we need right there on the shelf, in stock, right there behind the kitschy mugs, right?

What is it that we need? If we, we go to Proverbs time and time again looking for that thing we need, what's the thing we need? Well, in a single word, the answer to that question is wisdom.

We need wisdom. And when we think of wisdom, we tend to think of intelligence, you know? Smarts, intellectual horsepower.

But when the Bible talks about wisdom, it means something else. It means skillful living. That's what wisdom means. Wisdom is skillful living. A wise person hones their craft in the art and science of life. A wise person gains perspective and insight to maintain healthy relationships with God, with the people around them and with themselves as we all do this daily dance around, over through, underneath all the nonstop puzzles and pitfalls that life does throw our way.

We need wisdom. It takes skill to live and to live well. Right? And, and this, this idea of, of needing wisdom to live, it's, it's, it's not new from Solomon and his proverbs and not by a long shot. See it, it's one of the, the, the big

themes of our whole Bible adventure so far -- the idea that life is full of decisions and our choices matter. And that, that a good life involves using our power to choose, to walk the path in life that results in friendship with God. That results in the good life.

Now, we caught glimpses of what it means to walk this path in, in, in this, in the ideal setting of the Garden of Eden. Remember that?

Going all the way back to the beginning of our story and the power of choices, right? Adam and Eve Choices. And, and, and then we watched the same theme kind of develop as we walked walked through Genesis and saw these flawed and faithful few people... Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. All try to explore that path: what does it mean to walk the path of life with God?

And then for Moses and the Exodus, we saw God's passionate heart to rescue and clear that path for his people to follow. And then through Moses and the law that God gave him, we saw the boundaries of that path with God set in terms of obedience.

Disobedience and contractual obligations between the creator God and his chosen people. Right. And, and then, and then, then there. Then came Joshua. And, and entering into the promised Land, Joshua, the judges, all the way down through even King Saul. It showed us that this path of of, of walking with God is a bumpy one, isn't it?

And, and we saw it time and again from people like Gideon and Deborah and Samson. We saw how personal, small decisions can, can end up scaling in big ways that can pull entire families and even whole groups of people toward that path of friendship with God -- or to pull them away from it.

And then we got to David.

David highlights that the determining factor in friendship with God is a heart that loves and longs for what God himself loves and longs for. We learned that that love draws us back to this path like a magnet when that love, when our love is calibrated toward God as its object of attraction.

And then that brings us now to Solomon.

Solomon and his wisdom writings give us something we haven't seen before in this conversation of, of wanting to live that good life. That life that is, is, is of alive and vibrant and full of friendship with God. That, that good path. We know that path is there, but again, Solomon gives us something we haven't really seen much of yet, at least in this much detail.

Solomon simply gives us the how. How, if I love God and I want to walk his path... how do I go about it? We've been convinced. Yes, that's the life I want. But, but how do I do it? How, how do I deal with the day to day? Those puzzles and problems and questions of life? I mean, the real stuff, you know, marriage, parenting, relationships, sex, lust, greed, booze, pesky neighbors.

Sketchy friends. Work. You know, the in-laws. How do you, how do you deal with the real, the real stuff? And that's where Proverbs takes us. Proverbs gets just down and dirty with the how to develop a mindset that keeps us walking that healthy, fruitful path of friendship with God -- solving the problems, seeing the pitfalls, and allowing the dangers and threats to our wellbeing that come our way every day, just propel us closer down that path with craft, and with insight. With skill.

In other words, with with wisdom. Wisdom for the way. Real life. Real questions. That's Proverbs.

Proverbs is worth digging around into, and Proverbs is a little bit coy. I mean, on the surface it's simple, but these, these proverbs, you start to read it. And you, you can feel like it's, it's a little bit intimidating. And it's, it's kind of meant to be something you have to kind of pull apart. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta wrestle with a little bit.

So, so if you, if you find yourself asking, you know, where do I start? How do I decipher the meaning? Unlock the treasure that's hidden inside these proverbs. Well, let's talk about it a little bit. Let's talk about how to crack a proverb, okay? And I'm gonna walk you through some approaches here. How to crack a proverb.

Now here's for me, all right? First thing I like to do when I'm browsing the thrift store shelves, alright? Looking for a proverb I can't live without. I wanna take one home with me. The first thing I do is to, to pray. There's a verse in the New Testament book of James. We're gonna get there later this year.

But for now, listen to this verse. It says, "if you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you, and he will not rebuke you for asking." That's James chapter one, verse five. So I take that to heart. I ask God for wisdom. I'm sitting here in front of a, a, a book, a chapter, a page filled with wisdom.

I need something from it, right? So, so I, I ask God to help me. I ask him for the for, for insight so I can get something from these proverbs. Okay? That's the first thing.

Next, I spend another few minutes. I'm just trying to, to, to be still before I jump in and, and, and just allow the things I'm worried about to come to the surface of my mind.

All right. Is it a, is it a financial thing that's got me worried? Is it a relationship thing that's on my mind? Is it a pull toward, you know, a relapse into an unhealthy pattern? Whatever it is. I mean, right. The possibilities are endless. Their their personal, personal, they are timely. That's what Proverbs is for.

It is just immediate insight and help. So so I go to God, I ask for wisdom, and then I let the things I'm worried about kind of surface to the top of my mind. It goes against instinct at first because you think you want, you don't, you want to read maybe and, and push those thoughts away, but instead welcome them in to the table, not to let them have the final say but to let you know what the conversation is about today. Okay.

And then. Then I start to browse the shelves of the, you know, Proverbs thrift store. And I'm, I'm looking for that diamond in the rough as I read. I'm looking for, you know, it's that hidden gem. It's an unexpected insight that sparks my interest.

Maybe makes me sit back and smile, shake my head, or sit up and take notice of the warning that it projects. And, and then, and then. And then when I, when I have it, something pops, I, I, I, I grab it, I savor it, I reflect on it, and I, I work to kind of crack it open. Okay.

And, and here's where you know, a little bit of strategy can help us out to, to, to crack a proverb.

Okay? You have to keep in mind how a proverb is built.

Now, we've talked about Psalms recently, a couple weeks back. Remember? One, one of the keys for understanding a psalm is to remember the genre, right? A psalm is a poem. It's a special kind of poem, right? It's a song. Yeah. And, and knowing that helps, helps you start to get what the writer of the poem is saying.

It's a song, it's song lyrics, and that gets you into it. And that, that sets your approach for a Psalm. Right?

Okay. Proverbs have some things in common with Psalms. Oh, no, no, no, no. Proverbs aren't songs. Right. Don't, don't. I mean, you can sing 'em if you want, but do that in your car where nobody can hear.

I'm just kidding. But the, they aren't, they aren't songs, but they are poems. Proverbs are poems and they're, they're, they're structured they're a structured poem. And, and that, that they have a certain structure to them that, that kind of sets how they are crafted and created. Okay. Let me explain.

A proverb is divided into lines when you look at it in your Bible, all right?

You will see kind of like a psalm, right? Where the, the, the, the lines of text don't fill each line completely. They're set off like, like poetry. Because they are poems, okay?

And, and, and poems are divided into lines. And Proverbs are too. Proverbs are divided into lines that come in pairs. Okay, stick with me, now. This pair of lines is called a distitch. That's a pair of lines that make up a proverb. Okay. In a proverb, the relationship between those pair of lines tells the story, the relationship between the distich, okay? That's the key to cracking the proverb and getting the nugget inside. Most of Solomon's proverbs are a single distich, just a two line pair.

Once in a while you'll see one that's a, a few pairs of lines kind of fused together. That's okay. That happens sometimes, and it's the same approach to understanding it that we're going through here.

But remember, proverbs are lines that come in pairs. Okay? So when you pick a proverb off that thrift store shelf, ask yourself this question:

what's the relationship between the two lines? Okay. And we're gonna walk through a few of these possible relationships. In fact, there, there's several, but I'm gonna give you five that are like the, the, by far, most likely ones, you're gonna see. Five kinds of pairs that you're gonna see in a proverb, because a proverb is a pair of lines.

All right, let me, let me, let me talk you through it. It's gonna make sense. Don't get scared. It's gonna sound a little technical. It's just, it's just a way to help crack the proverb open and get at the meaning.

For example, here's the first pair of of lines you might see in a proverb. They're called synonymous.

Okay. It's synonymous lines, and that means the second line in the proverb restates the first line for some clarity and emphasis. Once again, the second line restates the first line for clarity and emphasis. For example, let me give you a proverb. I'm gonna pull out Proverbs 11:25 Okay. It says, the generous will prosper.

Those who refresh, others will themselves be refreshed. Okay, so you take those two lines together. And together they, they give you your meaning. They're synonymous. They, the, the, the, the second line restates the first. Right off the bat, we're gonna see here that, that how you remembering how these, these proverbs come in pairs is just gonna help you steer clear of missing the meaning.

Take again. Listen to this proverb one more time. The generous will prosper. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Now what if you just ripped the first half of that proverb out of there and, and made it into, you know, a nice, a nice poster you hang in your house: "the generous will prosper."

Boom. Well, you might get the idea that the generous will prosper is some kind of a promise from God that if you give to people, then God will make sure he gives back to you. Kind of a, a karma type of thing. Oh, but that's not the meaning at all because we remember that the lines of this proverb go together as a pair.

We understand that being generous isn't just about money, and that prospering is so much bigger than profiting in a financial way. Because these two lines stack they help give the meaning so to prosper here. Is, is, is is parallel to enjoying the feeling of a cool drink of water on a hot day being refreshed.

All right? And if you have a cup of water to share, you share it because sometimes you're the one who needs a swig from the cold water in the canteen. That's the idea of this, this verse. It's not about karma, it's actually about kindness. The generous will prosper. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed, be kind.

Right. And kindness will refresh you. Yeah. And that and that. That's, that's all. Because we just kept our wits about us and remembered that this proverb was a synonymous proverb.

Okay, here's another proverb pair. This one is antithetical. It's an antithetical pair, meaning the second line contrasts the first line to bring clarity and emphasis instead of synonymous, which means they restate each other.

The two lines antithetical, the second line contrasts the first line. For example, here's another one. Proverbs chapter 10, verse one says, A wise child brings joy to a father. A foolish child brings grief to a mother. Now, do only fathers feel joy when they have a wise child? Do fathers not care at all if they have a foolish child?

Of course not. Don't be so literal guys. It's a proverb. The second line contrasts the first line to show us that the opposite of a wise child is a foolish one. And wisdom in a child brings her parents joy, brings his parents joy. All right, because they're antithetical lines easy. Okay, here's another one.

Another kind of proverb pair is synthetic pair. Synthetic. We think about the word synthesis, meaning getting meaning from blending two together. Well, in this case, in a synthetic distich, that's the technical term. A, you're learning so much today. Synthetic pear. Both lines in a proverb share a common theme or a core idea that ties them together.

Okay, let me give you an example from a proverb. Proverbs chapter 10. We're there. Let's skip down a few more verses. Let's go to verse 18. Proverbs 10: 18 says, whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool. First line, whoever conceals hatred with lying lips, second line and spreads slander is a fool.

Okay, synthetic. These, they have a core idea that ties them together. Here in this case, both of these lines are about words. They're about hurtful words. They're about untrue words. And, and the proverb is, is teaching that to engage in such behavior it's the mark of a fool: someone who is unskilled at life.

You don't wanna be a fool, you wanna be wise. So you don't want to conceal hatred with lying lips and spread slander, right? That's, that's the theme that ties the two lines together. Alright, real quick, two more for you. Here's, here's the next one.

Sometimes you're gonna see a pair a a, a pair of lines and a proverb that are integral. Integral. That means both lines build on each other to form one complete thought. They integrate, the lines fit together like the pieces of a puzzle to make one big idea. Here's an example. Proverbs chapter 11, verse 31. It says, "if the righteous are rewarded here on Earth, well what will happen to wicked sinners?"

At the topic of this proverb is the outcome of an individual's life choices. It's a two line question where both lines link together to make you think. Now think about it in this case, it's if someone who lives a life of friendship with God enjoys the benefits of that kind of life, how do you think God will handle his enemies?

Apparently our choices matter to God. That's the idea behind this integral pair. The writer of this proverb serves up a deep existential question in a little more than a dozen words. I mean, that's the magic of a proverb.

Alright, and then one more possible pairing. Okay. This is a comparison pairing. A comparison, distich, this is where the first line is compared to the second line. This one's easy. A lot of times you see the word like. In this proverb, for example, here's one from Proverbs 2313, "like a snow cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him." You see the word like in there?

Lots of proverbs use this type of pairing. Very common. These are similes, metaphors, and some of these can get just wildly memorable and really entertaining. So, hey, just pick one up off the shelf, turn it over and over in your mind, smile, enjoy, and ponder. You know that that's, that's how you crack a proverb.

Start by finding a proverb that catches your eye. Look at the pair of lines in this special kind of poem it's that we call a proverb. And then ask yourself, what's the relationship between these two lines? It could be. Synonymous the second line, restates the first line. It could be antithetical. The second line contrasts the first line.

It could be synthetic. Both lines share a common theme or a core idea that ties them together. It could be integral. Both lines build on each other to form a complete thought, or it could be comparison where one line is like the other line. All right, now that seems like a lot, but before you know it, that proverb that once was just, you know, looking like another thrift store shelf tchotchke.

It's gonna shine with a beauty that you can't help but bring home with you. And that's what a proverb is really for.

Now these proverbs can be quite entertaining and they're meant to be fun in some ways, have some fun with them, but they do have a, a purpose behind them. That's that, that's much more than just helping you pass the time and put a smile on your face.

And you can see from all these ideas on how to break down a proverb, how to crack that proverb and look at its structure, that a proverb is really built in a way that's, it's meant to be pondered and, and processed.

And, and this is where my, my thrift store metaphor breaks down a little bit. You know, see, 'cause proverbs aren't they're not just curiosities. They, they really are a, a, a training and a teaching on how to live life with skill. Not, not to get your way or to make it big, but to keep your feet on the path that maintains the friendship with God required to thrive and survive.

And, and for these proverbs Solomon sees them as a, a matter really of, of life and death. And you're gonna see some seriousness behind some of the quirkiness of these proverbs. See taken as a whole, proverbs describes two kinds of people in life. Some are wise people and others are foolish people.

That's how Proverbs sees life. And then it, it tells us what a, a, a wise person is like. How a wise person approaches life. In Proverbs, we see that a wise person welcomes correction and feedback. We see that a wise person gives thought to their actions, not just living on instinct and impulse. In Proverbs, we see that a wise person seeks outside perspectives, looks at multiple viewpoints to help give them depth and nuance in their understanding.

And in Proverbs, we see that a wise person often lets tension, teach them that holding, contrasting ideas in mind, like a pair of lines from a proverb where one line is antithetical to the other. Most of all we, we see that a, a wise person lives life with the creator God as their ultimate authority.

When we are living skillfully what God says is our foundation, what God values is our framework and where God leads is our direction. Well, a foolish person, on the other hand? While a foolish person walks the other path. Their basic instincts are their foundation. They chase what they want, they go where the next impulse takes them. And it may be that they're having the time of their lives all the way up to the point where they aren't.

And they have no idea that their party barge lifestyle is drifting ever closer toward heartache and disaster.

As you would expect, Solomon is able to take all these big ideas, deep questions, and, and sum up the benefits of his writings in just a few simple words.

Right at the start of his collection of Proverbs.

It's right there. The very first verses of the book of Proverbs, it goes like this. Solomon says, their purpose is to teach wisdom and discipline to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right and just and fair. That's Proverbs chapter one, verses two through three.

To become a person who is able to skillfully navigate the problems and puzzles of life is a journey. So how do we start?

Well, Solomon's simple recommendation for a starting point forms the introduction to the book of Proverbs itself. He simply says, fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. That's Proverbs one, seven.

Only a fool would turn up their noses at the opportunity to learn how to walk the path of friendship with God. With the desire to walk with God and value that relationship above all others, as your starting point, the path to the good life is open before you, and that's the magic of a proverb.

Well, I'm grateful for this opportunity to be with you today if you are enjoying this word and the wild adventure. If you love it, hey, why not share it with somebody you know and make sure you have subscribed to this podcast all You Word and the Wild Plus community members. Once again, big special thanks to you for your financial support of this nonprofit endeavor.

Man, you guys are just the best. I'll be seeing you in the wild, our private online community space this week. And hey, while you're in there, be on the lookout for a handy breakdown of how to crack a proverb. As some bonus content there in the wild this week. A Word and the Wild is a LineHouse community.

It's part of the Line House Community Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible. Because friendship and God's word change lives and change cities Word and the wild is presented by the LumaVoz. Podcast Network.

Big thanks, LumaVoz. And with that, my friend, we're out. I'm Owen, your host and your guide. Until next time, my friend, I will see you out there on the trail, in the word and the wild. Have a great week.