Day 115: Proverbs 5

READING: Proverbs 5

REFLECTION

This chapter is about temptation, specifically sexual temptation. But I wonder if the adulterous woman portrayed here isn’t a metaphor for other temptations as well – temptations that lead us away from wisdom, from the fear of the LORD.

C.S. Lewis points out that Satan, with cheap promises of easy satisfaction, tempts us with a perversion of what God made wonderful and good. This chapter illustrates that. The father counsels his son to stay away from the adulterous woman. She entices with promises of pleasure, of sweetness. The fruits of yielding to her are dishonor, ruin, and regret. This is true of adultery; it is also true of yielding to other sinful lusts.

Verses 15 – 20 are a wonderful metaphor for the satisfaction of sex in marriage. There’s not simply quick pleasure there, but a deep well of thirst quenching refreshment. Marital sex, though perhaps not glittery, offers real sustenance. Promiscuous sex is a glitzy container that is empty and moldy inside. And if the adulterous woman is also a metaphor for all temptations, then these verses point out the fulfillment, the lifegiving refreshment of clinging to God and His wisdom.

Proverbs 5 ends with a reminder that God sees and weighs our behavior. Frequently a person is entrapped, however, by the consequences of his own sin and his refusal to discipline himself and forsake them (vv. 22 – 23).

FURTHER STUDY (if you want!)

Paraphrase in your own words what the “adulteress” is like underneath her attractive exterior. Are there any other temptations that could be described in the same way? Are there are some temptations that are like that for you?

Notice the contrast between the fruit of the two choices in this chapter. Contrast the picture in vv. 3 – 14 with the picture in vv. 15 – 23. Where would you rather live?

PRAYER

Father God, You know what gives us true satisfaction and You have shown us the way. Help us to listen to Your Word and exercise good judgment. Help us to see through the glitz and empty promises of sins that seduce us.