PRICELESS COMMANDS – Proverbs 3:21-35 – 8-18-24

Depending how you mark them, we have in our text today, the 5th extended “My son” oracle of Proverbs. The parallels between the book of Proverbs and the 10 commandments (Ex 20:1-17) abound and this passage is no exception. Like the Law of Moses, Solomon's instructions here contain 8 prohibition statements. The corrigible son is exhorted in the 5th oracle with as many “do not” commands as there are “Thou shalt not..” statements in the decalogue. Additionally parallel, the 1st 3 “do nots” of Solomon are more vertically oriented, while the remaining 5 are explicitly with reference to human relationships. Solomon's lesson contains these elements organized in 3 distinct sections which establish our outline for today's message