On June 1, we will launch a new sermon series on the book of Proverbs. Interestingly, this book is a favorite for many believers, but few pastors seem to teach a series through it. Part of the reason for this is understandable; there are numerous stand alone Proverbs, and as you read verse-by-verse, one Proverb often seems unrelated to the next one. The choppiness of the book makes it difficult to preach and teach through.
Our approach to the series is simple. We will go verse by verse through the first 9 chapters; then we will pick five themes in Proverbs and try to gather up all the verses in the book that speak to the selected topic, and develop a sermon from these verses. This is not our usual approach, but one that’s followed by numerous Bible teachers.
Will You Live in Relationship to Wisdom or Folly?
In the first 9 chapters, wisdom is often personified as a person, and so is folly (cf., Prov 9:13-18). The question in these opening chapters is essentially: Will you live in relationship to wisdom or folly?
Chapters 10-31 deals with the various ways one needs to live wisely. In chapters 10-31, it’s almost as if a parent is teaching the children in the spirit of Deuteronomy 6, as they walk down the road, sit at home, lie down at night, and so on. That’s normally how we teach our kids, within the ebb and flow of everyday life, going from one subject to the next. But at the bottom of it is the need to live in relationship to wisdom, which (as we will see) is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, who is the wisdom of God (Col 2:3; 1 Cor 1:30). When a person lives in relationship to Jesus, they will follow Him wisely.
While Proverbs is clearly familial; it’s also royal. Solomon is the primary author of the book, and one can see how he’s instructing his sons to rule the kingdom with wisdom. According to 1 Kings 4, he wrote over 3,000 Proverbs. But neither Solomon nor his sons ruled with perfect wisdom, but One greater than Solomon did (Matt 12:42). As we read the Proverbs we see echoes of the Garden of Eden – about how the world works best ideally – and we also hear the whispers of a better King to come to this fallen world, who will rule will save, shepherd, and rule with perfect justice, and will establish Kingdom that fully lives out the wisdom we read about in Proverbs.
Thus we should not see Proverbs as a book of moral lessons alone. As we read the exhortations, we should take them with gravity because this is God’s Word – but we shouldn’t stop with the exhortations and say, “Now go try harder to do this better.” We should move from the Proverb to Jesus. We should see how Jesus Christ lived out God’s ways perfectly, died on the cross for those who lived foolishly, and now by His power, enables us to live wisely in this life. And when we fail, and we know we will, we know God won’t crush us because He already crushed Christ in our place. Our failures should lead us to repentance, and the hope of another day to live out the wisdom of God.
This book is not Dear Abby; it’s not pop psychology; it’s not fortune cookies; it’s not prosperity theology; it’s about the Gospel – like the rest of the Bible. And because of this, we will see the glory of God’s wisdom, the failure of humankind, and our need for the promised Royal Son. We should expect this book, then, to change us from the inside out. And the fruit of such transformation should show itself in the ordinary, practical dealings of our lives, such as with our spending habits, our sexuality, our marriages, our parenting, and countless other practical subjects.
The Batting Order
In addition to studying a variety of topics in the book, we will also have a variety of preachers this summer. We’re excited about this, and hope you will be too. We hope that our folks are more excited about the Book, and the Hero of the Book, than with the one opening it on Sundays. Here’s the batting order this summer:
Chapter/Theme Date Preacher
1. Proverbs 1 June 1 Tony Merida
2. Proverbs 2 June 8 Duce Branch
3. Proverbs 3 June 15 Nate Akin
4. Proverbs 4 June 22 Drew Raynor
5. Proverbs 5 June 29 Matt Sigmon
6. Proverbs 6 July 6 Nate Akin
7. Proverbs 7 July 13 Tony Merida
8. Proverbs 8 July 20 Tony Merida
9. Proverbs 9 July 27 Nate Akin
10. Theme 1 Aug 3 Tony Merida
11. Theme 2 Aug 10 Tony Merida
12. Theme 3 Aug 17 Tony Merida
13. Theme 4 Aug 24 Duce Branch
14. Theme 5 Aug 31 Tony Merida
Personal Study
Soon Jonathan Akin’s Ebook on Proverbs will be out and we will point you to that outstanding resource.
The elders also strongly recommend that you read Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage, which is available for $5 at IDC. Because Proverbs speaks so frequently about marriage, friendship, parenting, sexuality, communication, and more – we think this book would be a wonderful self-study, or a possible resource to mingle in to your growth group discussions.
Finally, the best place to start with your personal study is by reading through the book! You might consider reading all the way through it every day, or reading a portion everyday. Familiarize yourself with its contents, and pray for God to use this study for your own good, and for the good of our church that needs to live in relationship to wisdom, not folly.