Proverbs 23:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Don’t stare into the wine ready to be taken in by its attractiveness, noting its deep red colour, and the way it sparkles, and the smooth movement of the liquid when you swirl the cup. Its texture and its constancy is just right in the eyes of a connoisseur who is an expert in that sort of thing, Don’t be so enamoured by its outward appearance, for by loving the appearance of the wine you deliberately forget the effect it will have on you. We are almost back to verse 17 – ‘Let not thine heart envy sinner.’ Sin always presents itself as attractive and asks you to overlook its destructive essence and the place it is leading you to. But the strange thing about fallen human beings is that they want to be taken in by sin. They are willing to put out of their minds the consequences of giving way to temptation, so that they can maximise the short term pleasure from partaking of the wine of whatever other sin they are playing with. Therefore they welcome the charms of the world as it lulls them to sleep, and invites them to lay down their guard.‘At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.’ They ought rather to remember where all this is going, just as James reminds us (James 1:14-15). Does a man deliberately sleep walk over the edge of a cliff or into a raging fire? We should be more concerned about our destination than our journey. Sin is part of the journey, but the destination is destruction. Who can enjoy a journey to the gallows to die as a criminal, and yet ignore the reason for his journey and admire the pretty flowers along the wayside? Only one who is detached from reality. The enjoyment of sin is a dream, a mirage. Man is made to trust in reality alone, and if he deliberately trusts for a time in something that is not real he will pay the price for his self-deception. At last sin bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder and that sting is fatal. There is no recovery from it, for the pleasure he had from it is all in the past and is no consolation to him now that reality has caught up with him.