WWUTT 1594 The Harlot and the Wine (Proverbs 23:26-35)

Sexual immorality and drunkenness. What do these two things have in common? Well they are passions of the flesh.

You will never be fully satisfied by them and they lead to your destruction. So turn to Christ and live when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the word

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we feature New Testament study an Old Testament book on Thursday and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky. We come back to our study in the book of Proverbs.

Since it's Thursday we're doing our Old Testament study here. I have yet to finish up chapter 23 so we'll do that today.

I'll begin reading in verse 26 we'll go through verse 35 and if I have plenty of time there at the end

I'll just keep going we'll go into chapter 24. Now typically I read from my small handy -dandy

New Testament Psalms and Proverbs. That was the first edition of the Legacy Standard Bible that was handed out.

It was supposed to be distributed at ShepCon in 2021 but then of course ShepCon got canceled so I had mine mailed to me.

I think if you were going to attend you paid for it they just sent you a I can't remember how

I came about my copy but I know it was gifted to me by somebody else. Well I don't have that little

New Testament with me so I'm pulling out the big guns. For the first time

I've got my full LSB Old Testament and New Testament open right here before me.

It takes up more desk space that's why I like the little handy one but I don't have that small one with me today so this is my full edition of the

Legacy Standard Bible. I love the translation guys thank you so much for putting this together. You can find out more information about the

Legacy Standard when you go to steadfastbibles .com Once again

I'm reading here from Proverbs 23 verses 26 to 35. This is the

Word of the Lord. Give your heart to me my son and let your eyes delight in my ways for a harlot is a deep pit and a foreign woman is a narrow well.

Surely she lies in wait as a robber and adds to the treacherous among men.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine.

Those who go to search out mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it glistens red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

At the end like a serpent it bites and like a viper it stings. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will speak perverse things and you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

They struck me but I did not become ill. They beat me but I did not know it.

When shall I awake? I will seek yet another. So we've got two things that are talked about here in just these what ten verses or something that we've looked at.

What was the first thing we considered? Verses 26 to 28. This is the warning to a son about or against rather going the way of a harlot, going with a prostitute, going with a foreign woman.

In other words somebody worships false gods. This is a warning that we have seen over and over again over the course of Proverbs.

Entire chapters have been dedicated from a father to his son warning him not to go after the adulterous woman and here we have a call to attention in that again and here in chapter 23 where we've seen many parenting themes right if you go back to what it was that we considered last week looking at verses 9 through 25 much advice from a father to his son to please his father and his mother consider once again verses 24 and 25 the father of the righteous will greatly rejoice and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him let your father and your mother be glad and let her rejoice who gave birth to you all that labor all that pain that she gave even submitting her own body to the bringing of this life into the world let her be able to rejoice in those birth pains do not bring her emotional pain but walk in wisdom be kind love the

Lord your God fear him and him only and the favor of Yahweh will be upon you as we've seen elsewhere in Proverbs chapter 23 the one who walks in wisdom makes his parents glad and so we've seen that here in this advice this wisdom that has been handed down from a father to his son he continues to exhort his son in verse 26 saying give your heart to me my son let your eyes delight in my ways so may a son's heart be inclined to his father's wisdom he follows the advice the counsel that he is given by experience and by that wisdom that has been granted to him from God remember we've got

Solomon that is writing the vast majority of the book of Proverbs and Solomon's wisdom came not from himself it came from God so we are reading the wisdom of God this father who says give your heart to me give your heart incline your heart to the words of the

Lord let your eyes delight in my ways if you love the wisdom of your father then you will delight in it and you will walk in it right if you hate though the wisdom of your parents you will not walk in those ways you will walk in foolishness you will walk in darkness we have the brightness of the eyes that's described here in verse 26 let your eyes delight in these ways that I set before you verse 27 and here's the warning for a harlot is a deep pit an easy woman a woman who is a whore a woman who sells sex now this may not necessarily be in reference to a prostitute somebody who is giving sex for profit it could be not necessarily that she is giving her body as you know some sort of financial means hey pay me a little bit of money you can do whatever with me that you want it could be that she is giving herself to receive something of her own maybe to entice you so that she may gain a man that she can bribe someone that she can manipulate maybe this is a woman who feels incomplete and so she's got a man to make her feel complete she has no desire whatsoever for that man she just wants her own fleshly appetites to be satisfied for a little while whatever it is she's selling herself to be able to gain something and this is referred to as a harlot it may not be a prostitute selling her body for money it may be that she just wants to gain something from a sexual escapade a foreign woman is a narrow well the father goes on to say so a harlot a deep pit a foreign woman is a narrow well which is why we're not just limited to a prostitute here since we have this reference to a foreign woman

I'll come back to this here in just a moment surely she lies in wait as a robber she will only take from you she will never give to you the things that you think that you will get from this encounter and she adds to the treacherous among men remember that when we were reading these warnings about the adulteress earlier in Proverbs that her husband will want that man's blood and there is no way to appease his wrath he will come after the man who he has found out has been sleeping with his wife and so this woman that goes about playing men and giving her body to them she adds to the treacherous among men this doesn't bring peace it continues to bring calamity among men so this woman described in multiple different ways here in this particular section and what do these sections have in common

I'm jumping ahead here we haven't quite gotten to the wine section right a person who loves drunkenness versus 29 to 35 in both of these sections we're talking about fleshly appetites so you have sex and you have drunkenness and in both of these occasions to the person thinks that they're gaining something from this that I'm receiving something from this

I'm committing my body to something and thinking that I am satisfying some kind of urge or that I'm I'm finding fulfillment in some way

I've got emptiness and I know that this will satisfy me sex and drunkenness and neither one satisfies in both of these sections the person is left feeling empty and thinks that they have to get more in order to get that fix in order to get that high they're constantly coming after it and never gaining anything what the woman adds is treachery she doesn't actually satisfy that appetite that the man has it's just it's just adding to the conflict that he's already warring against in his own soul which is why the father says to the sun give your heart to me don't go after these other things let your eyes delight in my ways you'll be saved from death for the harlot is a deep pit you go after the easy woman the woman who is offering your body the one who's enticing you with smooth words as we saw her talked about in you know proverbs 5 6 & 7 she she tries to flatter you with her tongue she leads you says hey let us have our fill of our love until morning okay she whispers sweet nothings to you but that's ultimately what it comes down to it's nothing she's a deep pit you will go to your destruction the

Bible does not pull punches on what happens to the sexually immoral and the adulterous it is plainly stated over and over again in the

Old Testament and in the new the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God so what happens to that person that goes after sexual immorality they go to hell that's what

Paul says in 1st Corinthians 6 that stated in Galatians 5 in Hebrews 13 for that the marriage bed is to be held in honor among all that it is not to be defiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous sex is meant for marriage between a husband and a wife anything else outside of that context is immorality my friends even porn even watching sex scenes in movies and being satisfied with that or not being repulsed by it at all that's a problem as well like when you just tolerate the sexual immorality and it becomes entertainment to you don't be entertained by those sins for which

Christ died turn from them don't be walking in them anymore if we are in Christ Jesus we're not in this sinful wicked behavior these appetites of our flesh but we are filled with the

Spirit of God so go after those things that are pleasing unto the Lord even pornography will kill and destroy a man and a man may think that it's not a big deal and women by the way growing number of women there are many women out there now that are finding pleasure in watching porn also as some of you may have seen this but there was a pop star in the news who had talked about how she grew up watching porn this is astonishing but she said this is how she learned what sex was and how to have sex and it was very very unhealthy for her and and ripped apart her soul and she was talking about this on a radio program the host of that program has a long history of pornography on his show in his movies the stuff that he does it's it's disgusting and it was incredibly hypocritical to have read about this particular story anyway not going to continue to dwell upon that but but this woman this young woman young girl a very popular pop star was saying that she grew up watching pornography and just how much it messed her up how much it warped and manipulated her thinking and it's much worse than that my friends it's not just that you know

I want to protect you from warped thinking I don't want you to go to hell and if you have this nonchalant kind of shrugging attitude about porn which has gripped our culture and is just absolutely everywhere if you don't think that it's a big deal and you can watch it and it's safe in your own home you know

I'm not cheating on anybody I'm not actually using another human body in this transaction is just you know

I'm watching some things on a screen stuff that would be there anyway whether I'm watching it or not if that's your attitude about it then maybe

God is already given your mind over to your sexual depravity and you can't stop that's a really scary place to be are you now among those that are talked about in Romans chapter 1 that God has given them over to a depraved mind and you can't help it anymore it's all

I think about it's all I want to do I want to watch it I don't even think it's a bad thing so what if I get pleasure from it this could be the thing that God has given you that's gonna lead to your destruction in 2nd

Thessalonians chapter 2 talking about giving them a delusion so that they may believe what is false and have pleasure in unrighteousness and therefore come to destruction is that what

God has done in your heart and in your mind or if you feel convicted by what I'm saying here then you must cry out to God repent turn from this cold turkey don't even do it anymore never open your computer up to those things again or turning on those movies on the streaming service that you use don't watch it don't set it before your eyes don't even put yourself in a position to be tempted by this stuff disconnect from it entirely if you have to get rid of your smartphone if that's what it's gonna take get off social media so that you don't have these videos and images and all this other kind of thing flashing before you you may not be aware that you are going to your own destruction repent of this stuff and God will give you a new mind and a new heart

I can't even tell you the number of times I've talked about this before in the past and somebody has said to me it's impossible

I cannot do what you are saying that I'm supposed to be able to do I can't quit this cold turkey and I don't think that God expects me to quit this cold turkey

I can't stop my thoughts my eyes my hands from going there and stuff like that oh yes you can you can stop right now and you know you can you just don't want to and I'm not trying to give you some sort of law that you are unable to keep if you've got the

Holy Spirit of God in you you should be able to hear what I am saying and turn from it and don't walk in it anymore first John 3 9 says everyone who has been born of God does not sin because his seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God we're talking here about living in sin you cannot live in sin anymore if you have the

Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you turn from it the Spirit has given you the power to do that you have the power to resist these things and turn your mind to Christ rather than on the passions of your flesh now that doesn't mean that your mind will immediately be healed you may still have that Rolodex of images in your mind that's the constantly flipping through you're not looking at it on a computer or on a screen anymore but it's still there embedded in your mind yeah some of that stuff is gonna take a little while that's sanctification as you continue to grow in holiness and godliness and fix yourself upon Christ you will your mind will be healed of those things though it may not be right away but your ability to stop looking at that stuff now begins right now

I mean it's now don't look at it again stop stop going toward the stuff that the

Bible says will destroy a person if they will not repent the harlot is a deep pit a foreign woman a narrow well

I said I was gonna explain that and I haven't gotten to that yet so a foreign woman there's all kinds of warnings in the

Old Testament especially about going toward foreign women why well because foreign women worship false gods and so to go after this foreign woman who is being likened to a prostitute a harlot an easy woman these false gods are often connected with sexual immorality the idolatry is also immorality and so don't let your heart go after a foreign woman you know you think of the the

Israelites in Numbers chapter 25 they went after the daughters of Moab and they worshiped the

Bales because they played the harlot with the daughters of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter 7

God's warnings about not giving your sons to the daughters of the

Hittites the Girgashites the Amorites the Canaanites the Perizzites the Hivites and the Jebusites why because they worship false gods you give your sons to those daughters and then they're gonna go after their false gods it will be to your own destruction in 2nd

Corinthians chapter 6 do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness or what harmony has

Christ with Belial or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever so don't go toward a foreign woman she will lead you to foreign gods false gods idols surely she lies and wait is a robber and adds to the treacherous among men now just got a few minutes left here and we get to the drunkenness section of verses 29 through 35 but I've already talked about this a little bit again we're talking about a passion of the flesh that won't ever be satisfied you always have to have more of it in order to think that you are receiving the or having your thirst quench a metaphorically and literally you feel like you have to have more alcohol in order to receive what it is that you think this is filling you up with verse 29 who has woe who is sorrow who is contentions who is complaining who has wounds without cause is the person who is devoted to wine they linger long over wine those who go to search out mixed wine a person might drown their sorrows in wine right that's what's being talked about here in verse 29 who has redness of eyes even as the the other question that's asked here they might drown their sorrows in alcohol but it actually comes to multiply the sorrows it doesn't actually solve your problems it causes more problems just as the harlot doesn't doesn't satisfy that craving of the flesh it creates more cravings to the flesh more problems and will be a destruction of your flesh so will alcohol verse 31 do not look on the wine when it glistens red when it sparkles in the cup when it goes down smoothly at the end like a serpent it bites we have

Satan constantly being equated to a serpent in the Bible right it's this is something demonic

Paul even puts the contrast in Ephesians chapter 5 where he says do not be filled with wine that leads to debauchery but instead be filled with the

Holy Spirit don't fill yourself with those things that are temporary and lead to sin but be filled with that which is eternal and leads to righteousness that's who we should be so once again just like with the with the porn problem that I was addressing before don't fixate your mind of those things of the flesh but fixate yourself on Christ some of those things some of those foreign or or or past sins rather those are going to be difficult to get rid of to change the mind renew the mind toward things of Christ rather than things of the flesh but the more that you fixate yourself on Christ the more that you will think with the mind of Christ and not with the mind of a man so it is with wine as well don't fixate your your your mind your body your flesh on those things that are temporary but be filled with those things that are eternal the

Holy Spirit of God at the end like a serpent it bites the wine like the the alcohol like a viper it stings your eyes will see strange things right things that aren't really there a person hallucinating your heart will speak perverse things you'll say things you don't even have control over your mouth there's a t -shirt that I've seen please forgive me for that thing that I said when

I was drunk and there are people that will say oh they didn't really mean it you know they were drunk so it didn't you know actually there was an exposure of the heart that happened there the same heart of the person who is sober is that heart that they have when they are drunk your heart will speak perverse things your heart has been polluted and corrupted by this alcoholic drink you've given yourself over to and you no longer have control over your faculties it just leads to more and more debauchery verse 34 you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea what will happen to a person who lies down in the heart of the sea they'll drown they will die or like one who lies down on the top of a mast the mast yeah right you know a mast on a ship on a sailboat what happens to a person that lays down on a mast they teeter back and forth back and forth that's a drunken person who can't walk a straight line and will they be able to stay up there on that mast no as it teeters back and forth they'll fall off into the sea and once again drown there's the the picture that we're being given there in verse 34 verse 35 they struck me but I did not become ill in other words the the drunken man gets hit but it's like he doesn't even know he's been struck they beat me but I did not know it when shall

I awake a person who drinks so much that they drink themselves to unconsciousness can't even rouse themselves can't even bring themselves back to awareness and when they do come to their senses when they do start to sober up what's that last statement we have there at verse 35

I will seek yet another the thirst is never quenched it's never satisfied you know in Revelation chapter 17 we read about a great prostitute with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk a prostitute with whom they get drunk we have the harlot and drunkenness even there in symbolizing the passions of the flesh the temptations of this world that seem pleasurable for a time but they never satisfy and lead to your destruction by contrast you have

Jesus say this at the end of the book of Revelation Revelation chapter 22 verse 17 the spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come let the one who desires take the water of life without price turn from your sin to the

Lord Jesus Christ and live amen for more about our ministry visit us online at www .t