Proverbs 3:7-10.
3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
In our previous study we looked at GodŐs commandment that we trust in Him with all our heart. This is not something optional in our walk with God; God expects this of us. Even if there were no reward for doing this, we would still be obligated to do it, for God requires it of us. But God, in His lovingkindness, rewards us for doing what is mandatory.
Many of us have developed wrong attitudes and wrong ideas about the promises we find in GodŐs Word. We look at them like items on a grocery store shelf, and pick and choose the ones we want. Then we look at the conditions attached to them, carry out those conditions, and wait for God to deliver the groceries.
But selective obedience doesnŐt get you very far with God. He expects and demands across the board obedience and allegiance from His people, not because they expect a reward for this or that act of obedience, but because they understand who He is, and respond to Him accordingly.
A better approach is to find out from His Word what it is that God has instructed you to do, and to do it faithfully. When you do this, you will find yourself the recipient of those benefits God has ordained for those who do His will.
In our previous study we looked at what amounts to God's call to a commitment to absolute obedience to and trust in Him.
Proverbs 3:5 -6.
3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
We must be careful to remember that these verses were not written to born again Christians, and to interpret them first and foremost in light of to whom they were written. When we confessed Christ as Lord, we received God's spirit, and have become His sons.
Romans 8:14-18.
8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
As sons of God, we have been given access to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1-2.
5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Through Christ we have received not only access to God, but a standing invitation into His very presence.
Hebrews 4:16.
4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We have a standing invitation into the very throne room of God. But this kind of access to God was strictly forbidden under the Law.
Hebrews 9:6-8.
9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
God has given us the incredible privilege, forbidden to all but the high priest under the Law, of entering into the holy of holies, into the very presence of God. Uzziah, one of the great kings of Judah, was stricken with leprosy for the rest of his life for trying to do far less than we have been invited to do here. Even being king over God's people did not buy you that kind of access to God. But Jesus Christ, who always did his Father's will, and who died in our place as full payment for our sins, has purchased that kind of access for us with his blood.
Proverbs 3:6 tells us that "He will direct thy paths." We must understand that this was not originally a reference to God talking directly to the individual. Instead, God's written Word, which reveals His will, and which the individual had committed himself to follow, would make that man's path straight.
Psalms 119:105.
119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Even though we today have God's spirit, and can hear from God directly, His primary means of directing us will still be His written Word. So long as we walk in its light, it will keep us on the straight path.
Proverbs 3:7 continues on the same theme of putting your full trust in God.
Proverbs 3:7.
3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Here again we are given a choice: we can be wise in our own eyes, or we can fear the Lord and depart from evil. We cannot do both at the same time.
When Satan invited mankind to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he did so with the promise that we would be like gods, knowing good and evil. In part this refers to an experiential knowledge of both good and evil. It also suggests, though, taking into one's own hands the authority to decide for one's self what is good and what is evil. A person who has done this can, at best, do what is good in his own eyes. That is a far cry from doing what is good in God's eyes. Our standards are far lower. We have a much poorer understanding of the short and long term consequences of sin.
Walking the way God wants us to walk requires understanding that we are not equipped on our own to distinguish between good and evil, and that, on our own, we never will be. Once we do that, we must accept God's judgments concerning good and evil, and refrain from that which He has declared evil, even if it seems perfectly harmless -- or even beneficial -- to us.
Proverbs 3:8.
3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Verse 8 should strike us as strange in the context, because there appears to be no direct connection between the promise and the result. Is a healthy navel really one of your top concerns? And do you really think that godly living will take the place of a bone marrow transplant?
The verse makes more sense when we consider that "health to thy navel" and "marrow to thy bones" may be two different ways of referring to and emphasizing the same thing: physical wholeness throughout the whole body. Seen in this light, this passage seems to promise physical wholeness to those who fear God.
Is this a reasonable interpretation? Even though that idea might seem strange to us, we should consider that:
Physical healing, then, is part of God's revelation of Himself to His people.
Jesus, in his ministry, linked together forgiveness of sins and physical wholeness.
Matthew 9:2-7.
9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
9:5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
9:7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
After Christ's resurrection and the founding of the Church, Peter declared that both were paid for by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:24.
2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
It is important that we remember that Proverbs 3:8 is neither a promise of perfect health, nor a guarantee of healing, any more than having your sins forgiven by Christ guarantees that you will be free from sickness or, if you do happen to become sick, healed. Like so many other passages in Proverbs, this is not a promise, but a principle. In this case, what is revealed is a relationship that exists between two seemingly unrelated things that, up to now, we may not have known about.
An example from farming may help you to understand the difference. If you plant seeds, there is a definite cause and effect relationship between the planting of the seeds and the harvesting of the crops. However, there is no guarantee that any one seed will grow, or that any particular seed that grows will grow to maturity, or that any particular plant will bear fruit. There are other factors that play a part in the growth of the crop: rainfall, temperature, weeds, preparation of the soil, and so forth. But while there is no guarantee that any one seed will grow to maturity and produce fruit, there is a definite relationship between planting seed and harvesting crops. If you plant, you should expect to harvest. If you plant more, you should expect to harvest more. But if you plant seed and a drought wipes out your crops, God has not broken any promise to you with respect to planting and harvesting. Instead, another factor has interfered in the cause and effect relationship between planting and harvesting.
So long as we understand that this is what we are dealing with, a very real relationship, but not a promise, it is safe to say that walking in accordance with God's will is conducive to good health. There is a very definite cause and effect relationship here, but not a guarantee.
Proverbs 3:9-10.
3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
The same qualification we just gave applies here also. This is a principle, not a promise or a contract. You do not force God to give you increase by giving of your firstfruits. However, if you honor God by your giving, God will tend to honor you by giving you increase. Other things enter into the picture; for instance, living like the devil but giving of your firstfruits is not likely to get you very far with God! But the general principle is still true: When you honor God by your giving, you should expect to see material increase in due time.
It is also important that we recognize that this passage was written to people who were living under the Law, and must be interpreted in that light. The term "firstfruits" has been misappropriated by some in the Church and used as a religious slang term meaning, "giving to the church first, before any other obligations are met or expenses paid"; but that is not at all the biblical meaning of the word. The offering of the firstfruits was a very specific offering required by God of those in Israel who raised crops and were subject to the Law.
Leviticus 23:10-14.
23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
23:12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
23:13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
No instruction corresponding to this has been given to the Church. Any attempt to put the church under a requirement to give of the "firstfruits of your income" is a commandment or doctrine of men, not the Word of God, and should be dealt with accordingly.
God's standard for giving in the Church is expressed quite clearly in II Corinthians 9:6-8.
9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Under the Law, giving was a legal requirement; under grace, giving is a freewill act of love. God blesses giving today, and certainly love for God and His people will encourage one to give, but it is quite wrong to say that He requires it. It is worse yet to throw in an added requirement, unknown even under the Law, that the first of one's income must go to "God's work," even before one's rent is paid or one's children fed.
There is also no mention of the tithe in this verse. Some confuse the giving of the firstfruits with the giving of the tithe, but as we saw in Leviticus, the firstfruits offering is something very different. There has been much wrong teaching in the Church about the tithe, due in part to our lack of understanding about what the tithe was under the Law. But this verse is not about the tithe, but about the offering of the firstfruits.
But the passage in II Corinthians 9 makes it clear that the principle described here is still in effect, although the firstfruits provision is not. Each person is free to give as he or she sees fit. God will reward each one in accordance with their giving. The sparing giver will be rewarded sparingly. The bountiful giver will be rewarded bountifully.
The more we understand the principles revealed in God's Word, the more we can tailor our lives so that they please God, and so that we ourselves do not hinder His work or blessing in our lives.