Proverbs 7:10-20

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. ¹¹(She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home; ¹²now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) ¹³She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: ¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering at home. ¹⁵So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! ¹⁶I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. ¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. ¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! ¹⁹My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. ²⁰He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.”

Quick Solution

If you have struggled about your health, you want an immediate solution. And who don’t like the quickest solution of a problem anyway? Quick solution had been capitalized to attract possible victims. A great number of online videos are deceptive. Oblivious subscribers unmindfully follow online influencers. It’s late when they realize that there’s nothing special of the quick solution being offered.

Online deceivers do not say it outright that they mislead victims, do they?

The conversation between God and mankind: It stated in Genesis 3:11-13, ¹¹Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ¹²The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Deception was accessory when Adam and Eve fall into sin. Deception is also utilized anytime, anywhere. The followers of darkness use deception to attract, mislead, and ensnare their victims, if possible, even the elect believers.

Do you believe that we can overcome deception of the darkness? Do you believe that Christ saved us even from deception? How do you practically apply what it prophesied in Isaiah 53:6? ⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The Hebrew term for “iniquity” is “Avon” which can be properly translated also as fault, guilt, mischief, punishment, sin, perversity, moral evil. It had evolved from the Hebrew term “Avah” which in English it means figuratively or literally, to crook, perverse, turn wickedly, to commit iniquity or do wrong or trouble. Doing what is wrong includes deception, mislead, trick, fraud, cheat, dishonesty.

Many people are deceived by outward appearance, how people dress up.

1.  Dress

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. ¹¹(She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home; ¹²now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) ¹³She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: ¹⁴“Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

How do prostitutes with crafty intention dress up? How do they dress up to deceive careless victims into immorality? Anyone who has no understanding of what is acceptable to the Lord can be deceived. Why is it so trivial and not very valuable for victims to sacrifice their moral principles for short period of fantasy?

Let’s read how the first human beings fall into deception in Genesis 3:1-6: ¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The woman saw the forbidden fruit was good, pleasing to the eye and also desirable. How prostitutes dress up is good and pleasing to the eye and desirable. Similar deception is utilized in immorality and bad vices. Anything pleasing to see can deceive senseless victims to think that it’s good, desirable, like food or drinks.

2.  Drink

¹⁵So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! ¹⁶I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. ¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. ¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! ¹⁹My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. ²⁰He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.”

Seduction of prostitutes is not exclusive to women. There were men who served as prostitutes. The Lord sent the great flood in the time of Noah because of immorality. Immorality was rampant when the Lord sent angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Prostitution exhibits the absence of fidelity and integrity.

The temptation of momentary fantasy had been a deceptive scheme to sell products in the market. Victims are seduced into temporary fantasy. It illustrates very clearly how believer can be attracted and deceived by temporal satisfaction.

It’s foolishness to disregard the contentment that God offers in his heaven. Why? It is by faith in God that we believe and aspire for contentment forever.

Faith is proven personally when we obey the instruction of the Lord, and also, when we hope for the rewards he had prepared for faithful servants.

Faithful Servant

Christ illustrated faithful service to the Lord. There was a rich man. Before he went on a long journey, he entrusted to his servants five, two and one bag of gold according to their ability. The servants who were given more bags of gold invested and doubled what were entrusted to them. The servant who received one bag of gold hid it in the ground. Years passed by, their master returned home.

The master said to his servants who invested his gold in Matthew 25:23-25, ²³‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ²⁴“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

The servant who didn’t invest the gold that was entrusted to him illustrates no understanding of the end times. The faithful servants who invested the bags of gold entrusted to them illustrate wisdom and understanding of the love, care and faithfulness of the Lord. Believers trust that the Lord will reward faithfulness.

Anyone can be attracted by temporal fantasy in this world but with godly understanding and wisdom, we believe and hope that God rewards faithfulness.

It declares in Revelation 20:6? ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Why should we aspire to reign with Christ in the millennium? It is blessed and holy? What does that imply? To reign with Christ in the millennium, is to be set apart for extreme happiness. That is the glorious experience of reigning with Christ. Extreme happiness is even understatement, not enough description.

By faith, we strongly hope that we will reign with Christ in the millennium. And for a thousand years, the Lord will assign responsibilities appropriated to the manner we may have invested anything that God had entrusted to us while we practice our faith in him. What kind of reward should mediocre service expects?

God is just. Excellent service will be rewarded excellently, for sure.

Beware of crafty intentions. Mediocre service shows mediocre faith in God.

Excellent obedience to the Lord practically exhibits faith in his faithfulness, love and grace. Pray for stronger faith and godly wisdom.

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