“That they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words.” Proverbs 7:5
Proverbs 7:1-4 is filled with actions concerning the Word of God that we are commanded to put into practice with all diligence. We are to keep them, treasure them, stay focused on them, bind them to us, write them on our heart, and be so familiar with them that they are like our immediate family. We are promised in verse five that all of this will keep us from the immoral woman.
As we said last week, the immoral woman in the immediate context is referring to sexual temptation. The kind of commitment to the Word of God described in these verses is key to having victory over sexual temptation. However, the immoral woman can also be understood to apply more broadly to temptation to sin in general. There are many tools in the evil toolbox of the kingdom of darkness to seduce us into sin. One of the most powerful is flattery.
A great example of flattery is in one of Aesop’s fables, The Fox and The Crow. The crow has a piece of cheese in her mouth that the hungry fox wants. So, he begins to praise her beauty hoping she’ll open her beak to respond and drop the cheese. The crow is suspicious at first, but the fox continues to praise her over and over until he says that if she sang, he would hail her as the queen of all birds, something she secretly desired. Of course she succumbs. She opens her beak to sing, the cheese falls out, and the fox humiliates her as he walks away with the cheese.
At first consideration, perhaps we might think we are impervious to this kind of flattery. We wouldn’t be as vain as the crow. But this is a lie that proves the point. If we think we are impervious to this sin it is likely our pride has been inflamed by our own flattering thoughts. “I’m too mature or intelligent to be tricked like that.” I’m sure flattery can be more or less skillfully wielded, but the truth is that we are children of Adam. We are absolutely prone to getting sucked into flattery.
Satan is the master of flattery, and we can see his skill and mankind’s weakness right in the first chapters of the Bible. In Genesis 3:1-6 the serpent begins to get Eve to question the integrity of God. Like the crow she doesn’t fall right away but stays to listen. The serpent continues to press the issue and in verse 5 tells her she will be like God, the ultimate flattery. Eve then looks at the fruit God forbid them to eat and pridefully trusts her own judgment over God’s. Satan has been using this same flattering message in slightly varying forms to lead mankind astray ever since.
We are prone to flattery because of our fallen nature. Jesus was the only man not to fall to the flattery of Satan. In the desert, Satan told Jesus He was powerful so why not change these rocks into bread; He was beloved by God who wouldn’t let Him die if He jumped of the Temple roof; and finally, that he would make Jesus King of the whole world. Jesus quoted the Word of God each time and Satan had to flee. Unless we want to be like the crow and give in to the seductive flattery of the fox, we need to be diligent to follow Jesus’ example and put into practice the first four verses of Proverbs 7 today. Keep God’s word, treasure God’s word, stay focused on God’s word, bind God’s word to us, write God’s word on our heart, and be so familiar with God’s word that His words are like our immediate family.
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn