Questions & Answers with Dr. Bob Burrelli
Is Proverbs 3:1-2 teaching that the secret to a long and peaceful life is simple obedience to God? What’s the catch?
What is it teaching us? The key to understanding this Scripture passage, and any other, is its context. Proverbs is a compilation of truths written from a father’s perspective for the purpose of raising a godly generation. And as one who has lived long enough to testify to the reliability of God’s truth, the father implores his son to take to heart God’s commands. “Such devotion,” he explains, “will reap desirable consequences”, which the sage describes in terms that any ancient Semitic peoples would understand: “long life” and “prosperity” (see also 4:10). Ancient Near Easterners, including the Hebrews, equated longevity and prosperity with divine blessing (as demonstrated in Job’s friends, who thought Job’s calamity was the result of sin in his life). They believed that it was better to be alive than in the grave, live long than die in the prime of life, and have lots of children than be barren.
With that in mind, we admit that Proverbs 3:1-2 has a literal meaning for all children: obey the godly instruction of your parents and enjoy a life that would otherwise end prematurely. Godly, parental instruction generally prevents hardship and even death. It is like a road sign that warns, “Danger, Road Closed”, “One Way”, “Enter Here”, or a warning label on a medicine bottle that prevents abusing even a good thing to unhealthy limits. He who ignores this instruction is likely to get sick or even die. Children, then, ignore godly, parental instruction to their own peril. They must find worth in listening to those who have lived long enough to make mistakes, taste success, and experience first hand the reliability of God’s truth. Unless the Lord intervenes, this literal meaning is reasonable and logical.
But there is also a spiritual meaning with a broader application, too: take to heart the commands of your heavenly Father and enjoy His blessing. As we pointed out, longevity and prosperity were equated with God’s blessing. Eventually, they lost their literalness and became figurative for God’s blessing. This spiritual instruction applies to anyone of any age. It means that contentment, joy, and peace are found not in circumstances but in knowing, at any given moment, that God is pleased with our obedience. The peace that surpasses understanding (Phil 4:7, 9) is ours even in the midst of harsh treatment and death threats.
The Old Testament saints did believe this. While they equated longevity and prosperity with God’s blessing, they also believed that faithfulness to God would reap persecution and possibly death (Jeremiah!) and they accepted that. There was no shame in suffering and death if both were for the sake of their great God. These two thoughts run parallel in the Psalms. The psalmist can, on the one hand, plead with God to preserve his life, because “in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (Psalm 6:5), but then boldly proclaim, on the other hand, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). In sum, Proverbs 3:1-2 teaches us that the best possible option in any situation is to please the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9). In the words of the psalmist, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11).
Dr. Burrelli is a regular contributor to the Songtime Newsletter and also on the Songtime Bible Book-a-Month Series, recently teaching the epistles of Jude, 2 & 3 John, as well as Paul's letter to Titus. Get your copy any of these when you contact Songtime today!