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[0:00] A good man is to be chosen better than great witches, and favor is better than sober folk.

[0:17] The rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

[0:30] The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is rich and the power of the might. Thorns and snares are in the way of the Lord. Whoever guards his children will come from them. Train up a child in the way he should go.

[0:43] Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the robber of his fury will fail.

[0:55] Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, but he shares his bread with the poor. Drive out a scopper, and strife will be left, and quarreling and abuse will cease.

[1:07] And he who loves purity of heart, and who speech is gracious, will have a king as his friend. The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor.

[1:18] The slugger says, there's a lion outside. I shall be killed in the streets. The mouth of forbidden woman, he will fall into the grave. The tongue of the king will fall into the grave.

[1:29] The tongue of the king will increase his own wealth, or gifts to which you will only come to power.

[1:41] The tongue of the king will be blessed. The tongue of the king will be blessed.

[1:54] The tongue of the king will be blessed. The tongue of the king will be blessed.

[2:05] The tongue of the king will be blessed.

[2:35] The tongue of the king will be blessed. The tongue of the king will be blessed. The tongue of the king will be blessed. When you sit down to eat with the ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to an appetite.

[2:52] Do not desire his delicacies, for they are receptive food. Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes lie on it, it is gone, for suddenly its prop's wind is flying like an eagle to let him.

[3:07] Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy. Do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly captivating. Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not worthy.

[3:19] You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, for the Redeemer is strong, and he will plead their cause against you.

[3:36] Do not wear your heart to instruction, and your ear to words of knowledge, not with cold discipline from a child. If you strike him with a lie, he will not die. If you strike him with a lie, he will save his child from a sheep.

[3:49] This is God's holy and authoritative word. Take another look at chapter 22, verses 17 to 21, which begins the new section that I mentioned that's attributed generally to the wise.

[4:03] And this prologue consists of two verses with four quaid lines bracketing the center line, verse 19, which is the central aim of these 30 saints.

[4:14] And the central aim is this, that your trust may be in the Lord, I have made the truth known to you today, even to you. As we've been seeing throughout the book of Proverbs, the central aim of God's wisdom given to us in this book is not just to pragmatically help us navigate a complex world, or just to make us, give us some street savvy to live, but rather its goal is to bring us personally to trust in the Lord, the Yahweh, the Jehovah, which is the personal name of Israel and our God.

[4:50] The goal of Proverbs is to humble us, to fill us with faith in God, so that every aspect of our lives is characterized by that fear of God, submission to Him, living in His presence and for His glory.

[5:05] And this requires the meaning of God's word, and that's what the exhortations in verse 17 and 18 are about. It mentions four different wise parts in escalating fashion.

[5:17] First, it says, incline your ear, hear the word of wise. And second, it says, apply your heart to my knowledge. And third, it says, it will be pleasant if you keep them within you.

[5:28] That's literally inside your belly. And people in the ancient Near Eastern world often spoke metaphorically of the belly being the receptacle of the heart. And then fourth, finally, it says, if all of them are already on your lips.

[5:42] So the wisdom of God that we are listening to now is supposed to enter through the ear, and it's supposed to be preserved in the heart and the belly, and it's finally supposed to find its place on our lips as we share it with others.

[5:57] This depicts the progress of God's word in our lives. We must hear it with our ears, believe it in our hearts, and speak it with our lips. And I want to ask you, where are you in this progression?

[6:10] You have heard the words of God, but have you believed it with your heart? And do you then live it and share it with your lips? The progress of God's wisdom in our lives is not complete until all three steps have taken place.

[6:24] And this is the message that verse 19 exhorts us to listen to today. There's a sense of urgency. Today, even to us, this word is given. And the main point of this passage is this, that we should acknowledge God's worship and practice discipline in our dealings with money and in our rearing of children.

[6:46] Those are my two main points. First, discipline with regard to money. Second, discipline of children in love. And please keep your Bibles open and follow along with me throughout the sermon because I'm going to be jumping around quite a bit.

[7:01] First, let's talk about discipline with regard to money. Chapter 22, verse 1 begins, A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. And favor is better than silver or gold.

[7:13] The word rich occurs five times here in verses 1 to 16 of chapter 22. It's indicating that it's one of the main themes. And a good name refers to a good reputation.

[7:24] Being viewed with favor from others. And that's being in favor with God, before God and men. Here it says, Then great riches, silver or gold.

[7:36] And according to Proverbs, a good name is not won simply by being good with people, having good social skills, or through good branding. But a good name is won through God-given wisdom, through prudence, through righteous living.

[7:52] And this comparison teaches us that a good name and great riches are not necessarily conjoined. Verses 3 to 4 qualify this by reminding us, So the word suffer literally means to be fined, to be charged a monetary penalty.

[8:22] And so it's continuing the same theme of money. It's generally true, because it reflects God's creational order, that the wise and the righteous before God are rewarded with sin.

[8:35] It's generally true. And the foolish and the wicked are punished. However, it is not universally true. Because we live in an upside-down world full of sinful, rebellious people.

[8:47] So sometimes justice is deferred until God's final judgment day. And for that reason, there is a such thing as the righteous poor and the wicked rich.

[8:58] And this verse is telling us that when we're faced with the choice between righteousness and riches, we should always choose righteousness. Sometimes in our world, the rich are automatically given honor and favor by virtue of their wealth.

[9:13] While the poor are treated with dishonor and disfavor. But verse 2 gives us a better basis for relating to the rich and the poor. It says, The rich and the poor meet together.

[9:24] The Lord is the maker. The rich and poor are often sold due to circumstances outside of their control. So being wealthy is not necessarily a sign of virtue, but it can be.

[9:36] And being poor is not necessarily a sign of vice, but it can be. So it is better to treat the rich and the poor justly on the basis of their common origin. The Lord has made them both.

[9:50] And that truth in and of itself supports sufficient dignity to every human being. But in this teaching about choosing a good name and favor over great riches, Proverbs does not fail to note the advantages that the rich have over the poor.

[10:07] Verse 7 is very realistic. The rich rules over the poor. And the borrower is the slave of the lender. To be in someone's debt is tantamount to being enslaved by that person.

[10:21] You are no longer a free person. You are bound to fulfill your obligations to the creditor. This can be true quite literally.

[10:32] For example, in 2 Kings 4, verse 1, The creditor comes to take the widow's two children to be his slaves. So there's a helpful warning here for those who, through undisciplined spending, enter into debt.

[10:47] The materialistic and consumeristic society that we live in trains us to live above our means. This is why so many sellers offer financing for products that people can't buy outright.

[11:03] The media pitch a vision for the good life with ever increasing standards of living that many people's incomes cannot keep up with.

[11:16] Which creates debt pressure. Christians are to resist this pressure. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6, verse 68, But godliness with contentment is great gain.

[11:27] We brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. And clothing with these we will be content. We should be content. We should be content and refuse to live beyond our means.

[11:40] But though verse 7 warns against becoming poor debtors, there's an even stronger warning here against the rich creditors. It says in verses 8-9, Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

[11:57] Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. These two verses contrast the hard work of evil of the worst with the hard work of the righteous.

[12:09] Like a diligent farmer, the righteous work hard in order to share the fruit of their labor, their bread, with others. But the wicked rich are busy sowing injustice.

[12:21] This is likely a reference to usury mentioned in verse 7. Exodus 22-25 says, If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a money lender to him, and have interest from him.

[12:34] The Israelites were prohibited from exploiting the poor among them. And since those who seek to borrow money are usually the neediest people, charging interest on loans was viewed as an unjust exploitation of others' plight.

[12:50] It was a way that the rich enriched themselves further at the expense of others, at the expense of the poor. They took advantage of the poor's plight, and filled many loans with interests, hoping to reap a huge profit with usually.

[13:10] But verse 7 warns against that. It says, In the end, they will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. The word rod can also mean scepter, and it's likely a continuation of the ruling imagery in verse 7.

[13:24] The rich lenders exploit the poor and seek to lord it over them, ruling them with the rod of their fury, driving them like a slave driver. But ultimately, the rod of fury will fail, because God's virtual justice will see to them.

[13:40] In contrast, whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. This truth is echoed in chapter 22, verse 16. Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth or gives to the rich will only come to poverty.

[13:58] Those who enrich themselves at the expense of others will be ruined, but those who share with the needy, their own expense will be blessed. Those who give to the rich, presumably, to come to poverty with them, the poor who can do them no favor, will only come to poverty.

[14:24] Because the poor, it says in Congress 1917, lend to the Lord for the care. The third sayings of the wise, I'm skipping ahead a little bit here, also begins with the teaching on being disciplined with money and how to deal with the poor and rich in the world.

[14:43] It says in chapter 22, verses 22 to 23, Do not rob the poor because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who robbed them.

[14:55] The city gate was the center for legal, economic, and political proceedings in the ancient Near East. It has in view, those with power will take advantage of the poor and the afflicted, simply because they can't.

[15:09] Because they know that the poor are powerless and lack the resources to do anything about it. But verse 23 warns, The Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who robbed them. When man pervert justice, God will make it right.

[15:22] And verses 24 to 25 continue, Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

[15:33] This proverb seems unrelated to the theme of money at first, but the comparison with Proverbs 19, 19 is illuminating. It says, A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

[15:47] The word penalty, once again, is the same word that means fine, a financial penalty. A wrathful person will get himself into financial trouble again and again due to his control, and you will have to bail him out again and again and again, and so the wise person does not befriend such a person, lest he entangle himself in a snare.

[16:09] Moreover, sinful anger, this verse tells us, is infectious. There is a risk that by befriending such a person, you will learn his ways and get entangled in the snare yourself.

[16:22] Verses 26 to 27 continue the warning about unwise entanglement in others' financial affairs. Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from underneath?

[16:37] This is talking about the repeated warning that Proverbs has about becoming a surety, a guarantor of someone else's debt, someone else's loan. Even though at the time you cosign someone else's loan, you may have enough money to account for everything.

[16:53] Your financial situation might change in the near future. We do not know that. We do not know what the future holds for us. And if your situation changes and the debtor defaults on his payments and it falls on you to assume all of his debt, at that moment you may not have the means to pay it, and you may have the very bed that you sleep on.

[17:15] And after this, starting in verse 28 of chapter 22 and going to chapter 23, verse 11, these verses form a chiasm, and they're structured symmetrically so that each section of the first half has a matching parallel element in the second half.

[17:37] And then there's an element in the middle that stands alone, which is the point that the author is trying to emphasize. So let's go through this together. The first matching element is verse 28. Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.

[17:51] And that's matched by chapter 23, verses 10 to 11. Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fathers, for their Redeemer is strong, and He will plead their cause against you.

[18:03] The ancient landmark refers to the boundaries in the promised land of Israel that they first received from Joshua when they cast lots and the land was distributed according to God's will for each tribe.

[18:16] the 12 tribes of Israel. And these were God-ordained boundaries and therefore considered inviolable. And they were marked by stone pillars directly between properties.

[18:27] And these land allotments were important not only for financial reasons, but also for theological, spiritual reasons. Because a family's occupant tent signified their inclusion among the people of God, the chosen people, the people, the redeemed people of God.

[18:45] However, some people transgressed these boundaries by moving the ancient landmarks. And the most frequent victims of these crimes were the widows and the fatherless, who were the most vulnerable members of society, due to the lack of male heads of families who can represent them and defend them, and due to the lack of financial resources that men usually provided.

[19:09] But these crown jewels who moved the landmarks were wrong to conclude that the fatherless have no redeemer. The word redeemer is the same word that is sometimes translated kinsman redeemer.

[19:24] It literally means family protector. A kinsman redeemer was the nearest relative of a needy person who was responsible for defending the needy person's rights.

[19:38] When his relative became poor and was forced to sell his ancestral land or forced to sell himself as a slave, his kinsman redeemer was expected to pay and redeem him and his land.

[19:50] When his relative was murdered, it was the kinsman redeemer who was expected to avenge him. But the fatherless often did not have anyone come to plead their cause.

[20:02] So wicked men took advantage of him. They moved their ancient landmarks, daring them to do something about it, thinking that no kinsman redeemer will come to their end.

[20:15] Such a stirring and moving verse where it says, the Lord himself comes to the aid of the most vulnerable members of society. Their redeemer is not non-existent.

[20:28] Their redeemer is strong. He will plead their cause. Those who exploit the poor and the powerless will have to answer to God the redeemer, the Lord of lords and king of kings, and this should send a chill down the spine of anyone who plots to exploit the poor.

[20:47] And this should lift up the head of anyone who feels downtrodden and oppressed and feeling like no one advocates for them. And this is why the way the New Testament describes Jesus as our redeemer, the kinsman redeemer, is so deeply moving.

[21:07] Hebrews 9.15 says that he redeems us from our transgressions through his death. We were the ones who could not repay our debt.

[21:18] We were weighed down, forced into slavery. No one could come to our rescue. We were the fatherless, the orphans, but our redeemer was strong.

[21:32] Jesus, our kinsman redeemer, comes to our rescue. He frees us from the grips of the enemy, the oppressors, the spiritual forces of evil.

[21:43] He redeems us by paying for it with his own life on the cross. And because of him, we have freedom. Because of him, we have eternal life.

[21:53] That's what this points to. And then, chapter 22, verse 29, which is matched by chapter 23, verse 9, both speak of sitting before a specific audience.

[22:08] 22.29 says, Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before a steward man. The implicit admonition is that we should seek to grow in our competence, in our skillfulness, in whatever line of work that we're in, so that we might stand before kings, rather than before obscure men, so that our skills might be put to better use.

[22:30] But there's also an audience we should avoid, and that's what chapter 23, verse 9 says, the matching verse. Do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of your words. There are foals who are incapable of appreciating God's wisdom, and it's a futile exercise to speak sense into him.

[22:50] And so the wise person should always assess his audience with spiritual eyes, and speak where his words can have impact. And then, 23.1-3 is matched by 23.6-8, both address the context of dining.

[23:06] Verses 1-3 speak of eating with the ruler, verses 68 speak of eating the bread of man with stingy. And both verse 3 and verse 6 exhort us, do not desire his delicacies.

[23:17] It says in verses 1-3, when you sit down to eat with the ruler of his before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite, do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

[23:29] This is a warning against gluttony, being given to appetite. Genesis 27 repeatedly mentions that Isaac loved delicious food.

[23:41] It's mentioned at least six times. And this is noted as a character flaw. Because like Esau, his favorite son, who sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew, is a good thing.

[23:55] It's mentioned that the lack of self-control in the consumption of food and drink is a vice, as scripture condemns.

[24:09] It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the food you eat and the stuff you drink, but gluttony is sinful. And we should be watchful of this, especially in the context of eating with the ruler. The opportunity to dine with the ruler can significantly alter one's career for good or ill.

[24:25] And in such context, one must be careful not to indulge too much in the delicacies. It says, for they are deceptive food. Though the ruler sets out an impressive array of the kinds of food you could never dream of eating on your own, he is not really inviting you to stuff your face.

[24:44] If you do, he will take note of your lack of self-restraint and treat you with contempt. It's better to put a knife to your throat if you are given to epithet.

[24:58] That's a hyperbolic expression, much like Jesus' command in Matthew 5, if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw away. Jesus isn't commanding self-mutilation, rather he's commanding us to remove the source of lust, to deal with sin in a drastic and decisive way.

[25:13] Likewise, the command to put your knife to your throat means to put a decisive end to your gluttonous appetite. It's like the English idiom, bite your tongue. It doesn't mean you should literally bite your tongue, but it means you should make a desperate effort to keep yourself from saying something you shouldn't say.

[25:30] This is wise counsel whenever we're dining with our superiors, maybe with our bosses at work. The fact that the boss is picking up the check doesn't mean you should order the most expensive meal with bottles of wine to do it.

[25:45] When you're being wined and dined, that's an occasion for self-restraint rather than self-indulgence. Verses 1 to 3 are matched by verses 6 to 8, which address another similar context.

[25:58] Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy. Do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. Eat and drink, he says to you. But his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten.

[26:10] Waste your pleasant work. What's in view here is a stingy man who is doing you a reluctant favor. You have somehow extracted a meal invitation from this stingy man.

[26:21] And as Proverbs says, a stingy man hastens after wealth. This man is trying to get rich, doesn't like to share, and he's probably already somewhat well-to-do because he's able to serve you delicacies.

[26:33] However, once again, this is not the time to indulge yourself but to restrain yourself. Because the stingy man is inwardly calculating. He encourages you to eat and drink to your heart's content of how much you're eating, of how much you're drinking, how much it's costing him.

[26:54] It is foolish to indulge in his delicacies because you will end up vomiting up what you've not eaten. You'll end up wasting your pleasantries and compliments. This is applicable to a number of contexts.

[27:06] When someone is reluctantly helping you, when someone is reluctantly doing you a favor, don't think of it as an opportunity to exploit. You're better off refusing such reluctant favors because it will backfire in the end and you'll have to pay.

[27:22] At the center of this chiasm is verses 45, which stand alone and do not have a matching parallel verse. And this is the point that the author is trying to emphasize. He says, Do not toil to acquire wealth.

[27:35] Be discerning enough to exist. When your eyes lie on it, it is gone. For suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward him. This is a general expectation of mourning against greed.

[27:50] Loving wealth. There's a wordplay in verse 5, the Hebrew word that is translated light, light on, is the same word that's translated as fly in that same verse. So when your eyes fly toward wealth, it is gone for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven.

[28:08] Don't let your eyes wander to wealth. Glance at wealth because like a bird, it's there one moment but gone in the next. It's elusive. It's ephemeral.

[28:19] It is foolish to toil to acquire wealth. And those who are discerning enough desist from wealth. When wealth is the incidental byproduct of a faithful life before God, when it's a reward of honest hard work and selfless generosity, Proverbs views wealth as a blessing.

[28:41] However, when wealth becomes an end in and of itself, when the gift is prioritized above the giver, wealth becomes an idol that tyrannizes our lives.

[28:53] And we fall into all kinds of temptations that they are not so smart because they are all included on the gift of wealth.

[29:05] The gift has Till Tune and Hero have every God taught us to transform in they're the two africa's purposes. Cultivating virtue is an uphill find. It's an arduous road.

[29:16] It requires instruction and discipline. And this is why chapters 22 and 23 are both interspersed with several child-bearing saints. The responsibility falls on the parents to impart these truths and instill these values So that they grow up, their children grow up to be men and women Who choose a good name and favor before God and men over great riches Look with me, 5-6 It says, thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked Whoever guards his soul will keep far from them Train up a child in the way he should go Even when he is old, he will not depart from it Verse 6 translated more literally Is this Dedicate a child according to the mouth of his way Even when he is old, he will not depart from it That's what it literally says The phrase, the way he should go, is actually not in the Bible That's a translator's attempt to make sense of an obscure phrase

[30:20] The mouth of his way Which occurs only here in the entire Bible The word train up, which is translated most frequently as dedicated scripture Refers to that initial stage of consequent and setting apart something At the beginning of its example, dedicating the temple of God in Ezra chapter 6 And since that word dedicate has a positive meaning And it's an imperative to dedicate this The translators assumed that the mouth of his way is a good way that the child should be trained to go in But I think the translators missed the irony of this verse There's sarcasm here in the same way there was in Proverbs chapter 19 verse 27 Cease to hear instruction, my son That's a command Cease to hear instruction, my son And you will stray from the words of knowledge It's irony, Solomon doesn't actually want you to stop listening to instruction He wants you to do the exact opposite And I think that's why Even when he is old, he will not depart from it

[31:31] The word mouth also means opening And it's sometimes used to refer to the mouth or opening of a well Mouth or opening of a gorge in Jeremiah 48, 28 The mouth of a river in Isaiah 19, 7 It's the initial opening of something toward a wider world And so then the phrase mouth of his way Likely refers to a child's inherent tendencies The way they tend to behave and grow if left to their own devices In the end, the meaning doesn't end up being that different But we know from chapter 22 verse 15 That the child, because he is a sinner Naturally tends toward folly It says in verse 15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child But the rod of discipline drives it far from him So then the command in verse 6 is ironic Dedicate a child according to the foolish inclinations The folly of his own way Even when he is old, he will not depart from it

[32:33] This verse is emphasizing the importance of parental discipline Like a vine that grows in every which direction Apart from the training hands of the vine dresser The child gets more and more established foolish ways Apart from the course correction offered by his parents And I think this interpretation is confirmed By the parallel use of the word way in verse 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked Whoever guards his soul will keep far from them It is the parent's duty to guard the soul of their children From the way of the wicked By not affirming or condoning them In their natural sinful tendencies Of course the parents are not solely responsible For the way a child turns out Children and human beings are moral agents And they have responsibilities And there are many other factors that influence them But parents play a significant role In the development of their children And therefore they bear a sizable responsibility

[33:35] And verses 10 to 14 tell us about the various ways That our children might turn off Verses 10 to 11 speak of a scoffer who is quarrelsome and abusive Who should be expelled from the kingdom In contrast to those who are pure of heart and gracious of speech Who have a king for his friend Verse 12 speaks of the traitor Verse 13 of the sluggard Who says It's a really humorous description of the sluggard The sluggard hates to work so much That he comes up with all kinds of fantastical excuses To refuse to go out to the street to work Lions Lions were common in the wild In the ancient Near East They were never found in the streets of a fortified city But sluggard says There is no possible way that I could do that work It would be the death of me Don't force me out to the streets There's a lion I cannot do that work Another way they could turn out wrong

[34:38] Their children is that They will walk headlong into the mouth of a forbidden woman Which is a deep pit And after these examples of foolish sinners Verse 15 exhorts us Folly is bound within the heart of a child But the rod of discipline drives it far from him I've seen a really cute baby onesie lately That says on the front I'm no angel And then in fine print under it says My mommy just thinks I am That's a great reminder The notion that children are born innocent and pure Is a myth That is According to the word of God Folly is what is bound up in the heart of a child It's part of his very constitution And so he needs the rod of discipline To drive folly far from him Some parents are filled with horror At the prospect of messing up their children When in reality They're born messed up

[35:40] With an inborn need for the mercies of God The word rod was in chapter 22 verse 8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity And the rod of his fury will fail If you don't want your child to grow up to be an adult That sows injustice And reaps calamity If you don't want your child to become An adult that oppresses other people With the rod of his fury You must discipline him With the rod The scripture is very consistent in this regard Proverbs 13 24 also says Whoever spares the rod hates his son But he who loves him is diligent to discipline him This truth is reiterated again in chapter 23 verses 12 to 14 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge Do not withhold discipline from a child If you strike him with the rod He will not die If you strike him with the rod He will save his soul from shield Now contrast that

[36:41] With Proverbs 19 18 Which says Discipline your son for there is hope Do not set your heart on putting him to death If you don't discipline your children He says you're extinguishing their hope You are in fact setting your heart To put them to death Discipline does not lead to ruin and death It's the lack of discipline That leads to ruin and death And since the phrase He will not die Is parallel to You will save his soul from shield The primary meaning of verse 13 Is not that the child will survive the spanking He's not saying Oh he will not die if he's spanking That's not what he's saying On account of the discipline You shouldn't be getting anywhere close To that level of severity When you're spanking a child That's not what that means Rather it means that If you discipline him He will not die on account of his sins He will save his soul from shield 17th century New England Pastor Cotton Mather

[37:41] Imagined that undisciplined children Would accuse their parents This way on judgment day Quote All this that we here suffer Is through you You should have taught us The things of God And did not You should have taught us And you did not You were the means of our original corruption And guiltiness And yet you never showed us Any competent care That might be delivered from it Woe unto us That we had such carnal And careless parents There is some room For interpretation here Regarding what exactly The law should look like But as we saw in Colbert's chapter 20 verse 30 There does seem to be a connection Between outward Formal punishment And inward cleansing And it always seems to have Some kind of instrument Of discipline in view Or rod As opposed to the parents On hand Perhaps so that there is A degree of separation Between the instrument of pain

[38:42] And the parent This is an unpopular teaching Nowadays Because most recent research Published by child psychologists Suggests that there is a correlation Between spanking by parents And various negative Behavioral, emotional, cognitive And physical outcomes The problem With most of this research Is that they lump Measured Loving And Punishment Including blatant abuse And problematic methods Like pinching and biting Are even taken into account And another major drawback Of most of these publications Is that they are cross-sectional Rather than longitudinal Meaning that they try to Determine the effects Of spanking By using data From a single point in time Which makes the determination Of cause and effect Very difficult If not impossible Are they getting spanked Because of their Negative behavioral issues Or is spanking Causing The negative

[39:42] Determine that If you are looking at One point in time There have been few attempts To correct for these Methodological drawbacks And one of them Is an article entitled The Case Against Corporal Punishment of Children By Elizabeth Gershoff And Susan Bitensky Published in the journal Psychology, Public Policy And Law This is a meta-analysis Of all the various studies Published about this topic And it's the most Frequently cited paper On this topic But even This case Which supposedly Corrects for the Methodological flaws Of the other researchers Fails to make Crucial distinctions One The frequency Of the spankings Does it happen Three times a day Or once a year Doesn't take it into account Two The reasons Why the parents Spanked Are they getting spanked For hitting another child Or for benign childishness Does not take that Into account Three The age of the children

[40:42] At the time of spanking Are they being spanked As an infant Too late As a teenager Too late Does not take that Into account Number four Where exactly Are they spanking the children Are they slapping them On their well-padded bum Or slapping them In the face In a humiliating fashion Does not take it Into account Number five The general abusiveness Of the parents Are the parents Verbally abusive As they are spanking Do they spank In an uncontrolled rage Or is it measured Is it loving The research Does not take Any of these things Into account These common Sensible factors And yet It has the audacity To challenge The wisdom Of God's word Born out by millennia Of parenting experience There is a difference Between child abuse And spanking There is a reason Why we have A special term For it It is called Spanking And the bible's Teaching about

[41:42] Disciplining children Offers no defense For parents Who abuse Their children There is something That every single One of these verses About parental discipline Has in common The motivation For spanking Is not emotional To release Pense Nor is it To show your child Who is boss Or merely To restrain Behaviors That you personally Don't like The consistent Motivation given In every single One of these verses Is always Love for the child Whoever spares The rod Hates his son But he who loves Him Is diligent To discipline him If you strike him With the rod You will save His soul From shield The goal of spanking Is to save The child's soul And if that's What motivates you You're not going To do it If you're motivated By love You're not going To spank your child In sinful anger It's when parents

[42:45] Spank their children In anger That they learn Aggressive Violent Violent behavior As a way of Expressing their Frustrations They don't become Aggressive When you administer Discipline In a loving Measured way I still vividly Remember the time When I was spanked By my father When I was in Grade school I had done Something that was Utilily defiant And disrespectful Toward my mom And as my father Was spanking me He was not doing So in red Faced rage With his veins Bulging from his neck No he was Suppressing tears There was a loving Reluctance And I understood In a moment That my father Was disciplining me Because he loved me Because he cared For my well being Because he was so Committed To my future In short We are to

[43:45] Discipline our children The manner That our heavenly father Disciplines us He says in Hebrews Chapter 12 Verse 5 Have you forgotten The exhortation That addresses you As sons My son Do not regard Lightly the discipline Of the Lord Nor be weary When reproved by him For the Lord Disciplines the one He loves And chastises Every son Whom he receives We have had Earthly fathers Who disciplined us And we respected them Shall we not Much more Be subject To the father Of spirits And live For they disciplined us For a short time As it seemed best To them But he disciplines us For our good That we may share His holiness For the moment All discipline Seems painful Rather than pleasant But later It yields The peaceful Fruit of righteousness To those who have Been trained by it Our heavenly father Disciplines us Out of love For our good

[44:47] And the book Of lamentations In its entirety The five chapters Is about God disciplining His children And lamenting that Mourning that It's lamenting The capture of Jerusalem The destruction of Jerusalem In 587 B.C.

[45:05] By the Babylonians And the destruction And death that followed And the whole book Is structured Chastically As I mentioned before Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 All each have 22 verses But the middle chapter Chapter 3 Has 66 verses Three times the number And the very center Of that chapter Is the theological High point Of that book And it says this About God For he does not Afflict from his heart Or grieve the children Of men All the afflictions That Israel went through All the sufferings That you endure All the painful Discipline You receive From God Our father Yes It does come from His sovereign hand But it does not Come from His heart Appropriate to say That there is a certain Reluctance On God's part To discipline us He takes no pleasure

[46:08]  In inflicting Pain But he does it For our good He does it Because he loves Us And that's the way We have to discipline Our own children He should pain us To discipline our children But we nevertheless Must do it Out of love For their good Take a moment To reflect on this In silence Consider what the Lord Is bringing to your attention In your life What he is revealing More about himself And about ourself In the reading In Christian God's name Not the world In response Isaiah El