Proverbs 3:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is the parable of the rebellious son. My son – Solomon as ever is characteristically concerned for all of us but concerned chiefly for the young with this tender form of expression. Now let's consider this and not confine our thinking just to the son who disobeys and requires some discipline for behaviour. Without doubt what is in mind here is not simply a younger child behaving outrageously and having to be spanked or severely reproved. What is in mind here is a son and probably a growing son, a son who is being trained. Now, in those times every family pretty well had its own smallholding or its homestead or its small farm, and every family had its distinctive trade. That is how society was organised. So you ran your farm, your smallholding and may be in that region you were the one who made tents. You had your farm and you had your speciality. Now it was the task of the father to pass that on to the son. He is not only being taught but he has to work on the farm. It falls to him if it is a large one to direct some of the servants. The father is teaching him when to plough, when to sow, when to reap, the techniques, many of which were extremely sophisticated as you can well imagine. Anybody who has even tended a small garden knows that things can get pretty sophisticated and tiresome too. The father is directing the son, teaching the tricks of the trade - everything he needs to know and do in the right order.But the son is a little lazy, a little irresponsible. He has not done certain things on his own patch in the right time and the father can see that he is failing, he is not remembering, he is not exercising himself to discipline, and there won't be a good enough yield. Now the father is getting a little older and infirm and he is going to have to pass the whole thing over and may be for some 20 or 30 years of his remaining life he won't be entirely fit to do these things himself. Is he going to starve? Are the grandchildren going to be poor? Is the farm going to fail? This is important. Why, he really needs to be in a more modern world one suspects. He needs to be in a big firm and unemployment is baying at his heels and the boss says, ‘Look, if you do that again …’, and there is a little fear involved. But, no, he is not afraid of his father, alas, and he treats him with a measure of contempt and he is unappreciative, and he is a little proud and a little headstrong. Now there is another tentmaker not so very far away and trade will slip away and the family will not have prosperity. This is not just a picture of punishment for a misdemeanour. God is not only concerned that we do wrong things. God is concerned that we positively improve and we become skilful in righteousness, we become skilful in seeking guidance, we become skilful in discerning error and difficulties and problems and we grow in grace. This is personal sanctification, righteousness, the rearing of another generation, the winning of a community, the maintaining of truth and order in the church. There is a lot to this and we are the sons and God is training us up.