This is part 7 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The Bible contains a treasure trove of wisdom literature that can help you navigate the ups and downs of life. Today you'll learn how to read and understand the books of Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs and Song of Songs teach us how to handle ourselves when the world is working the way it should while Job and Ecclesiastes address how to think and live when chaos strikes. Taken together these four books offer a full-orbed perspective on practical wisdom that you can incorporate into your life. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MZCAxSSNzU —— Links —— See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here —— Notes —— Proverbs “[Proverbs] should not be read as promises but as guidelines, as principles for living. They show the way life works best 80 to 95 percent of the time. The Bible is clear throughout Scripture: if you live a life oriented to God, you will tend to have a good life.”[1] Proverbs 14:7: Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not find words of knowledge. The Fool Mouth of a fool brings ruin near (10:14) Utters slander (10:18) Doing wrong for fun (10:23) Broadcasts folly (12:23) No restraint, careless (14:16) Despises parent's instruction (15:5) Does not receive a rebuke (17:10) Has plenty of personal opinions (18:2) Perverse speech (19:1) Quick to quarrel (20:3) Devours wealth (21:20) Despises wise words (23:9) Vents anger (29:11) Hasty in speech (29:20) The Wise Honoring your parents (1:8-9; 10:1) Handling money well, avoiding debt (3:9-10; 22:7 Discernment between right and wrong (3:21; 10:9; 28:5) Understanding (3:13; 4:7; 18:2) Fidelity in marriage (5:15-19; 6:32-35) Hard work instead of laziness (6:6-11; 15:19) Fearing the LORD (9:10; 24:21; 31:30) Teachability, humility (9:9; 11:2) Controlling what you say (10:19; 21:23) Righteousness, honesty, morality (11:3; 12:22; 29:6) Generosity (11:25; 19:17; 22:9) Choosing good friends (12:26; 13:20) Disciplining children (13:24; 22:15) Patience, slow to anger (14:29; 15:18) Self-control (16:32; 25:28; 29:11) Song of Songs This collection of romantic poems is a commentary on Proverbs 5:18-19 The focus of the book is a woman who pursues and fantasizers about romantic love. Her speech begins the book (1:5-6), ends the book, and utters the key truth of the book (8:6-7). Far from relegating women to a passive role, Song of Songs affirms a woman’s desires and her pursuit of them. She does not ignore that her body has yearnings, nor is she ashamed of them. Our heroine knows who she is; she’s in touch with her sexuality. She goes after him, attempting to woo him with her charms. Over and again, the two get separated, and one searches for the other until they find each other, panting with desire. Then, the section abruptly ends, and the two find themselves apart again, ready to repeat the cycle. “This poem should be read in light of Genesis 1 and 2. Following the command to “be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen 1:28), God plants a garden (2:8) in which he placed the man and woman he created in his own image. The narrative concludes with the words: “A man will … be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (2:24-25, emphasis added). The p
This is part 7 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.
The Bible contains a treasure trove of wisdom literature that can help you navigate the ups and downs of life. Today you'll learn how to read and understand the books of Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs and Song of Songs teach us how to handle ourselves when the world is working the way it should while Job and Ecclesiastes address how to think and live when chaos strikes. Taken together these four books offer a full-orbed perspective on practical wisdom that you can incorporate into your life.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MZCAxSSNzU
—— Links ——
—— Notes ——
Proverbs
The Fool
The Wise
Song of Songs
Job
Ecclesiastes
Review
[1] George H. Guthrie, Read the Bible for Life (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2011), 141.
[2] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible Book by Book (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2002), 163.