Home Destroyers, Part IIb, No. 209
HOME DESTROYERS
Part 2b
Proverbs 13:18, “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored.”
We continue talking today about the home destroyer of foolishness.
We pull it down by not preparing for the future. As you read through Proverbs 31 again you will notice that the virtuous woman did not live just for the day, but prepared her home and household for whatever lay ahead.
Proverbs 31:27 says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the read of idleness.” The words “looks well” are translated from the Hebrew word tsaphah. It has two meanings—
a) To watch. It is the same word that is used for a watchman who watches to protect the city, e.g. Ezekiel 33:7. The wise woman is a watchwoman. She guards her home and her children’s lives. She does not leave her post. She guards over what they see, hear and read. She watches over her home to keep everything in order. She does not let things get out of control.
b) To lean forward, to peer into the distance. The wise woman does not think only about today, but about the future. She has food and necessities prepared in case of emergency. She has made strategies with her family so that they know what to do in a crisis. She is ready for whatever may happen.
Proverbs 31:18 says that “her lamp goes not out by night.” No, don’t feel guilty. she is not working all night! Back in Bible days, they did not have electricity. Therefore, they kept a lamp burning, ready for any emergency. The dogs may bark at some intrusion or the baby wakes. They need to have the lamp ready to investigate or to minister to the needs of the baby or children. It could be catastrophic for a family to run out of oil for the lamp. The wise woman always made sure she had enough oil to keep the lamp burning continually.
Jesus told a story about this in Matthew 25:1-13. The wise virgins took not only their lamps but extra oil with them. The foolish didn’t think of anything but the moment, and of course they ran out of oil! And they missed the coming of the bridegroom! What did Jesus call these women? Yes, we know. Foolish!
We pull it down by being stubborn. Proverbs 1:7 says, “Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:22) The foolish woman thinks she knows it all and she does not like to be corrected. The wise woman knows that she constantly needs correction from the Lord. Even from her husband and others in order to keep learning and walking in the ways of the Lord. I don’t always like it when my husband corrects me but I know it keeps me on the right track. I want to receive correction and wisdom from others because I don’t want to stay the same. I still have so much changing and learning to do. I want to have a soft heart to hear what God tells me.
The Scriptures tell us over and over again that it is the wise who will receive instruction and correction. The word that is used continually is “hear”. Hear instruction. Hear counsel. Listen to rebuke. The word “hear” is shama in the Hebrew. It means “to hear with attention or obedience, to give undivided listening attention.” This should be our attitude toward correction and advice, rather than being reactionary. I notice that the word heart is a t added to hear. To have a heart that is soft and pliable, we have to have to hear what God wants to say to us, not only through His Word, but through others.
Much of what we do and think is conditioned by our deceived humanistic society. It is so much part of everything around us that we think it is normal. But the world’s normal does not always match the Word of God. We must continually seek God and His Word for His truth. We must constantly check to seek if we are lining up with His plan for motherhood and family life.
I have had to change and repent about so many things over the years and I know that God has still so much to teach me. We must always be open to God’s truth. Read the beautiful family Psalms (Psalm 127 and 128) every week. They keep you in line with God’s heart rather than the humanistic thinking of this world.
Sometimes we have to humble our ears to hear counsel. Proverbs 22:17 says, “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.”
We need to take notice of Proverbs 8:33, “Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” Also Proverbs 15:32, “He that refuses instruction despises his own soul: but he that hears reproof gets understanding.”
You can read more Scriptures about receiving instruction below.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
“Lord, please give me a hearing heart that is open to correction. I know that as I am open to correction, my children will be more open to correction too. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I’m a watchman in my home, I will not vacate my post! I’m open to wise correction And filled with the Holy Ghost!
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SCRIPTURES ABOUT RECEIVING INSTRUCTION:
These Scriptures will be a blessing to you but also to your children. Many of them make great memory learning Scriptures too.
Proverbs 1:5, “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.”
Proverbs 1:8, “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.”
Proverbs 4:1, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.”
Proverbs 8:33, “Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.”
Proverbs 12:15, “He that hearkens unto counsel is wise.”
Proverbs 13:1, “A wise son hears his father’s instruction: but a scorner hearth not rebuke.”
Proverbs 15:31-32, “The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise. He that refuses instruction despises his own soul: but he that hears reproof gets understanding.”
Proverbs 19:20, “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” (Proverbs 29:15)
Proverbs 22:17, “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.”
Proverbs 23:19, “Hear thou, my son, and be wise.”
Proverbs 23:22, “Hearken unto (hear) thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.”
Ecclesiastes 5:1, “Be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools.”
Ecclesiastes 7:5, “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.”
Isaiah 43:9, “Let them hear, and say, It is truth.”
Jeremiah 5:21, “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not.”
Ezekiel 40:4, “Behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee.”
Revelation 2:7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Proverbs 1:7, “Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 6 :23, “Reproofs of instruction are the way of life to keep thee from the evil woman…”
Proverbs 9:8-9, “Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser teach just man, and he will increase in learning.”
Proverbs 10:8, “The wise in heart will receive commandments.”
Proverbs 10:17, “He that refuseth reproof erreth.”
Proverbs 12:1, “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”
Proverbs 13:18, “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored.”
Proverbs 15:5, “A fool desipseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.”
Proverbs 15:10, “He that hateth reproof shall die.”
Proverbs 17:10, “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool.”
Proverbs 19:25, “Reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.”
Proverbs 21:11, “When the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.”
Proverbs 23:12, “Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.”
Jeremiah 5:3-4, “They have refused to receive correction… Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.”
Jeremiah 17:23, “But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.” (22:33; 35:13)