How to Resist Temptation (Proverbs 1:10)
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. —Proverbs 1:10
In a living room sits a father—silent, deep in thought. To his right, dreaming of a life beyond that worn and familiar room, sits his son. This son will momentarily be setting off from home for the very first time. Knowing what could lie ahead of his son, the father yearns to give one last word of wisdom before he goes.
“My son…,” he says.
Time, for the present, stands still.
A Father’s Love
Much of Proverbs is written from the perspective of a father, a good father who desires good for his son, a wise father who seeks life for his son, a generous father who longs for joy, fullness, and peace to continually teem within his son. But this father knows his voice will not be the only one his son hears.
That’s why Proverbs introduces another character in the story—one whose intentions for the son oppose that of the father’s. Throughout the book this character goes by several titles: scoffer, wicked, evil, and so on. In verse 10, he’s called the sinner. “My son, if sinners entice you.”
A Sinner’s Snare
Who is this sinner referred to in our passage? Or, rather, who are the sinners? They are the ones who will call to the son after he leaves his father’s side. Voices raised, they will promise “precious goods” and “plunder” (1:13). They will entice him saying, “throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” (1:14). They will strive to lure the son into their way of life: theft, murder, and lawlessness.
What’s to keep the son from consenting?
A Son’s Resistance
Adorned with his parent’s teaching, as with a garland or pendant that hangs around his neck, this son will have what he needs to recall better aims than goods and plunder. For he has been told of wisdom to be known, instruction to be received, prudence and knowledge to be given (1:2-4). A superior refrain already flows through his veins: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).
Even more, the son knows the sinners' end. For though they lie in wait for the blood of others, it is their own blood that will be spilled (1:18a). Even as they intend to entrap another victim, it will be their own lives that are ensnared (1:18b). Ultimately, their greed will only ever lead to their own loss. All this, the son has heard from his father. All this the son knows.
But is knowing enough?
Adam knew (Genesis 2:17). David knew (Exodus 20:14). The world knew (Romans 1:19). In each case, however, they chose sin.
Our Response
Written by the hand of Solomon, this word is ultimately one spoken to us by our heavenly Father. He is the definition of good, the epitome of wise, and He wants real, satisfying, everlasting life for us, His children. For this reason, He gives us His Word, and along with it — oh, so much more!
God gives us His church that we might sing the Word (1 Corinthians 14:26), learn the Word (1 Timothy 4:13), and even see the Word (1 Corinthians 11:26). God gives us His Spirit that we might recall (John 14:26), comprehend (1 Corinthians 2:12), and desire to obey His Word (Ezekiel 36:27). Most ultimately, God gives us His Son who perfectly obeyed His word (Rom. 5:19). Who took upon Himself the punishment we deserve for forsaking His Word (Colossians 2:14). Who died and rose again so that we who formerly consented to sinners might now be forgiven and freed to consent only to Him (1 Peter 1:3).
Proverbs reminds us of not one, but two realities: our former life of disregarding this Word, and our present life of learning to follow it. In light of all this, Christian, hear the Father's Word: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.”
For Reflection
In our passage, sinners entice with the promise of “precious goods” and “plunder” (1:13). What might such goods and plunder look like today?
How does the father/son relationship shape your reading of this verse when you put yourself in place of the son and God in the place of the father?
As parents, how should the father’s plea to his son inform our pleas to our own children?
Michael Schumann is an adjunct instructor in Biblical and Theological Studies. Currently he is pursuing his PhD in New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife and their three children.
