Proverbs 24:1 Be not thou envious against evil men, Neither desire to be with them."

Sure a young person may be drawn to wickedness, but why would you want to be near anyone who is set on doing evil things. Sin looks at time like it pays, but it doesn't for there is a price to pay in time.

Proverbs 24:2 "For their heart studieth destruction, And their lips talk of mischief,"

The mind of an evil person is continually focused up destruction and wickedness, and that is all they can talk about. Wickedness is the way they make their living, and that is what is in the front of their minds.

Proverbs 24:3 "Through wisdom is an house builded; And by understanding it is established:"

This is saying that you have to use your head to build anything, a house or a family. You have to use common sense and think it though before you start on anything. You use the wisdom to know what to get and the financing to be able to finish the project. You need both wisdom and understanding to complete the job.

Proverbs 24:4 "And by knowledge shall the chamber be filled With all precious and pleasant riches."

It is by knowledge and wisdom that gives a person the ability to obtain the finances to complete the job. When the job is done right, it will give you a comfort and a good way of life. It doesn't matter how big it is, or elaborate, but it is what you can afford. Remember what we discussed in the prior chapter two? A poor man is not to envy the rich, nor is the rich man to look down his nose at the poor. The two must learn to live together. 

Proverbs 24:5 "A wise man is strong; Yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength."

A wise man has wisdom and counsel how to avoid the problem areas of life. His strength come with his increase in knowledge, which allows him to use his common sense. He avoids those trouble areas that he has observed other fall into. He pays attention to what is going on around him, and that adds to his strength. God blesses this wise man, for all wisdom comes from the Lord.

Proverbs 24:6 "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: And in multitude of counsellors there is safety."

Pay special attention here to what kind of counsel it is talking about..."wise counsel", counsel as directed by God. When you are about to face troubling times, wise counsel can steer you around those things. So if you have a multitude of wise counselors, they will give a double witness to what you should do, and there should be no conflict. The safety comes by thinking of all sides to the matter, and overlooking nothing.

Proverbs 24:7 "Wisdom is too high for a fool. He openeth not his mouth in the gate."

As long as a person remains a fool, he will never understand wisdom. Then when it is time for deliberation and judgment, he never gets ready to do it, because he simply cannot prepare for it. The fool simply does not consider Father's ways, for his mind is set on the ways of the world.

Proverbs 24:8 "He that deviseth to do evil Shall be called a mischievous person."

The person that sits around and constantly thinks of doing evil, and he is a "genius at plotting". Today we call these plotters, "con artists", slick Willies, and they can seem quite successful in their wicked ways. However, in time it will catch up with them.

Proverbs 24:9 "The thought of foolishness is sin: And the scorner is an abomination to men."

To take part in foolishness is sin: And the scoffer is an abomination to men. The scoffer mocks God in front of people. These people are an abomination to men because those men that listen to these scoffers will end up in the same pit that he does. God will see that both the scoffer and those that listen to him will be brought down.

Proverbs 24:10 "If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small."

This is saying that you have very little strength, if you faint when just a little adversity comes your way. This means that you are looking to yourself for your strength, rather than focusing on God. So the thing that keeps you strong at the approach of adversity, is your knowledge and wisdom from God's Word. God shows you how to handle things from His Word.

Proverbs 24:11 "If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, And those that are ready to be slain;"

So what God is talking about here is that time when a criminal was brought to justice, and about to be hung to death, and you are in the audience and hold your peace, when you have the evidence to show and set this innocent man free. And this is what you are to do.

Proverbs 24:12 "If thou sayest, "Behold, we knew it not;" Doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works?"

If you withhold that information, as do not reveal it; the Father can read your mind and see the intent of your heart. If you keep your peace and do not help free that man as an honest witness you will be held accountable for the death of that innocent soul. It is an intentional premeditative act of taking an innocent life on your part. Get it? You will not escape answering for that act before the judgment seat of God. You can count on it, and you will pay for that silence that you allowed to happen.

Proverbs 24:13 "My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; And the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:"

When you eat honey, it is so good to your taste buds, for taste is what we are talking about here. This relates to verse 14.

Proverbs 24:14 "So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: When thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward And thy expectation shall not be cut off."

Just as that honey from the honeycomb is to your taste, that is exactly like knowledge and wisdom is to your soul. God's Word is sweet to your soul when you study to gain the wisdom and knowledge from His Word. So Solomon is telling us that as you eat honey, that is a reminder to what wisdom will be to your soul. Your soul is eternal when you are with God, and so wisdom will be healthy for your eternal soul.

Proverbs 24:15 "Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Spoil not his resting place:"

This is a warning to those wicked ones that would premeditate to do wrong to a righteous person, for He is telling that wicked one that he will not get away with his actions. God also teaches His own how to protect their resting places, and we should be prepared to protect our families against those that seek to do wickedness.

Proverbs 24:16 "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: But the wicked shall fall into mischief."

A just man that can figure out the events of life can fall, or fail seven times, but he has the wisdom to rise out of those problems. However the wicked person will fall to calamity and not have the wisdom to rise out of it.

Proverbs 24:17 "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, And let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:"

This connects to the next verse.

Proverbs 24:18 "Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him."

So what this is saying is that when you see someone fall into hard times because of the things that they are doing, don't take any pleasure in that. Remember Father loves and wants that soul as much as he wants yours. Though that enemy displeased you, there is nothing to say that Father is displeased with either of you. Our rejoicing is that their method of doing what they were doing failed, and that they will not be able to carry out their actions and evil against you or your family. When anyone falls; because they are one of God's children, let God deal with them.

Proverbs 24:19 "Fret not thyself because of evil men, Neither be thou envious at the wicked:"

Don't allow envy to enter into your mind when you see an evil man gaining more wealth of position than you. Don't think about it, especially when their gains are by evil doing, conning some old man, or selling drugs on the street or any thing that you can think of. The may get ahead for a while, but in the long run they will be accountable for it, and lose it. Spiritually their soul will be in torment, and without repentance, face hell fire.

Proverbs 24:20 "For there shall be no reward to the evil man; The candle of the wicked shall be put out."

The candle is what gives the light, and God is going to put out the candle light of the wicked soul. There will be a hard price to pay for their actions, and that price is hell.

Proverbs 24:21 "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: And meddle not with them that are given to change."

This is saying that we are not to hang around people that find pleasure in either religious or governmental rebellion. Stay away from them, for they will draw you into their activity. Obey the laws of the land, and the instructions of our Father from His Word. In time those troublemakers will fall.

Proverbs 24:22 "For there calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?"

Both those that are rebellious against God or against government are going down. A trouble maker will cause problems no matter what what turns him on.

Proverbs 24:23 "These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment."

We are discussing Personal Conduct with the prior verse and these words [things] are discussed under the footnotes of verse 25:1, whereby the men of Hezekiah were employed to edit and put together the books of the Old Testament. So this verse was directed to these especially hired scribes. At the end of each of the books these scribes were to attach the three Hebrew letters letters Cheth, Zayin, and Koph, the initials of king Hezekiah. However by the time the books were nearly completed, the scribes lost the reason for putting these three letters in, so in the Hebrew text the meaning would be taken as "be strong", and would later be put in the manuscripts as a word of encouragement to the reader.

The reason it is not good to have respect of persons in judgment, is that a judge must be completely neutral, with respect to any person that appears before him. If it is not, it would be like just a farce, if the judge varies from the facts presented.

Proverbs 24:24 "He that saith unto the wicked, "Thou are righteous;" Him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:"

There is nothing that stinks so bad and as a corrupt judge and his court. Rigged courts are out there and they go against every principle of our nation and any nation with a court system. Father is no respecter of persons, and each of this type will stand in the court of heaven and reap the reward for their wicked actions. When we see wrong done anywhere, even by the Kenites, call attention to it.

Proverbs 24:25 "But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, And a good blessing shall come upon them."

Anybody that knows to do right and doesn't do it is in trouble, for if you know the truth and reveal it to others God will bless you for doing it. What we do as a member of the body of Christ we do together. This does not tell us to run out individually to put down everything that seems to be wrong in the community, but do it collectively.

Proverbs 24:26 "Every man shall kiss his lips That giveth a right answer."

The kiss on the lips [later the cheek] was to address a good friend. And to a person that speaks up and gives the right answer when it is asked for, treat him or her as a friend.

Proverbs 24:27 "Prepare thy work without, And make it fit for thyself in the field; And afterwards build thine house."

If you are a farmer, the profits for your income comes from your field. If you are planning to build a house, what takes place out in the field with your crops determines when what kind of house you can afford. You wait for the harvest, bring in the crops and sell the crops, then you by the lumber and build the house. The Dutch used to build their barns first, and then use the barns to build their house. The point here is that you take care of business before personal matters, or there will not be a business to take care of. In short, just good old common sense.

Proverbs 24:28 "Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; And deceive not with thy lips."

This applies to when you are forced to be a witness against a neighbor. We are not to bring out things that are not asked for and necessary to the case. If you are a witness, make sure there is a cause before you become a witness, know the cause and use only fact directed to that cause. Rightly divide the Word of God.

Proverbs 24:29 "Say not, "I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work."

This goes back to the golden rule, for you treat your neighbor as you would have him treat you. The purpose for your witnessing was not to get even for something that he has done to you, but to seek justice for a specific cause: Not to get even for everything he did to you over the past fifteen years. Treat the man according to his conduct, as he treats you, that's the way you treat him.

Proverbs 24:30 "I went by the field of the slothful, And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;"

This verse is talking about God's understanding. This man is lazy and what we might call a fool. This is not talking about a handicapped person, but just a fool that doesn't care.

Proverbs 24:31 "And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, And nettles had covered the face thereof, And the stone wall thereof was broken down."

This is presenting this man's soul in the same condition that his personal desire and property is left in: shambles, completely torn apart. As this person gets lazier and more detached from reality, that is the same condition his soul is in, like that patch of weeds out where the corn should be growing.

Proverbs 24:32 "Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction."

As I looked upon this lazy person and the condition of his place, it woke me up. I learned from what I have just seen. You don't need to be in the country, out in the corn field to see this, just drive around and see the condition of their houses and yards, and you can tell a lot of a person by the condition of their property. It they are trashing their place, the neighborhood, that also is the condition of their soul. Sure there are exceptions to every rule, but this sets an example.

Proverbs 24:33 "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:"

This is describing a lazy person.

Proverbs 24:24 "So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; And thy want as an armed man."

This verse is very hard to understand in it's chosen wording. This verse is pointing to the fact that if you are in that lazy mode, you may not have it yet, but it is coming to you and well on its way. Sure, you may have a bank account, plenty of food for a while in the cupboards, but just as sure as you are lazy, when those are used up, in comes the problems. Your wealth will vanish from you, just as if an armed man came in and stole everything from you. This "armed man", is like a armed man on a horse with a shield racing to meet you in battle.