Proverbs 7:21-27

 Proverbs 7:21-27 (BSB) 21 With her great persuasion she entices him;

with her flattering lips she lures him.
22 He follows her on impulse,
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer bounding into a trap,
23 until an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare—
not knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me,
and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths.
26 For she has brought many down to death;
her slain are many in number.
27 Her house is the road to Sheol,
descending to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 7:21-27 (NLT) 21 So she seduced him with her pretty speech
and enticed him with her flattery.
22 He followed her at once,
like an ox going to the slaughter.
He was like a stag caught in a trap,
23 awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.
He was like a bird flying into a snare,
little knowing it would cost him his life.
24 So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
25 Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
26 For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
27 Her house is the road to the grave.
Her bedroom is the den of death.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
persuasion - לִקְחָ֑הּ (leqach, liq·ḥāh) - Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew 3948: Something received, instruction, inveiglement

she entices him - הִ֭טַּתּוּ (natah, hiṭ·ṭat·tū) - Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 5186: To stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend

she lures him - תַּדִּיחֶֽנּוּ׃ (nadach, tad·dî·ḥen·nū) - Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew 5080: To impel, thrust, banish
Brown-Driver-Briggs English Hebrew Lexicon adds compel, force

with her flattering - בְּחֵ֥לֶק (cheleq, bə·ḥê·leq) - Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's Hebrew 2506: Portion, tract, territory
Brown-Driver-Briggs English Hebrew Lexicon adds chosen smoothness, seductiveness of speech

lips - שְׂ֝פָתֶ֗יהָ (saphah, p̄ā·ṯe·hā) - Noun - fdc | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew 8193: The lip, language, a margin

Despite her dress, her kiss, her hug, her wanton invitation and her assurance that her husband was gone there evidently was still some hesitation on his part. So she continues to persuade with her speech. She kept going until she found an open door. She would try this argument, then this encouragement and then more seductive flattery to turn his head. She was out to get him but, unfortunately for him, he was out to get caught. Her wheedling, cajoling, flattering, persuasive words found an ear that was ready to listen and be persuaded. Like an irrational animal, he walks right into the trap. She leads him inside her house like an ox to the slaughter. The animal has no idea where it's being led and doesn't fight it, he just follows. And the leader takes him right to his own demise. So this woman leads this foolish young man right to his own destruction. He doesn't fight it, he just follows along.

"...the infatuated youth does not consider that his life is at stake, that he is bringing upon himself, by his vicious rashness, temporal and spiritual ruin" - Pulpit Commentary

"For she hath cast down many wounded,.... Wounded in their name, character, and reputation; in their bodies by diseases; and in their souls by guilt, shame, and horror, through a compliance with her sinful lusts: these she "cast down" from the honours they were possessed of, from the health they enjoyed, and from the peace and tranquillity of mind they formerly felt within them." - Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Let's look back at the verses from Chapter 7 and see how the seduction worked:

• The young man was senseless, simple, naive, mindless.
• The young man was out at night, walking near her house, possibly looking for her or waiting for her.
• The woman came out dressed like a prostitute. She got his attention visually first.
• She had a cunning, sly heart with intent to do mischief.
• She was loud, verbally defiant, mouthy, using vulgar language to see if that worked.
• She doesn't stay at home, she's always on the move, lurking and looking for a party.
• She grabbed him and kissed him.
• She tried the "innocent" ploy by pretended to be godly. She began by saying she had made her peace offerings and had meat left over that had to be eaten. Wouldn't he come in and share the meat with her in a party?
• She flattered him by saying she had been looking just for him.
• She indicates it was fate that she looked for him and there he was.
• "Come up to my room" because my bed is decked with fine Egyptian linen and perfumed.
• She propositions him to have sex.
• She assures him her husband is gone and will be gone for days so there won't be any consequences to their sin.
• She continued to seduce him with persuasive words, flattering lips, and smooth talk. Enticing, inveigling and cajoling.

And the stupid young man fell for it. Before we leave this, let me add again that this goes for women who are enticed by men. Men will try tricks to get women to sleep with them too. So it goes both ways. Girls, don't be fooled by the guys who try all these same tricks.

How could the stupid young man avoid this trap?

• He should have made his mind up to follow godly advice to start with. You have your mind made up that you won't fall for it. Set your mind on doing what is right.
• He had no business being out and about at night. There is no real excuse for walking and loitering (or cruising in a car), at night, in places where you have no reason to be.
• He had no business being in her neighborhood looking for her or waiting for her.
• If it had been a truly accidental meeting, then he should have turned around and walked off.
• He should have thrust her away from him when she grabbed him and tried to kiss him.
• He should have said, "NO! And NO means NO!" and walked away.
• He should have closed his ears to her entreaties and arguments; turned off his cell phone, blocked her on Facebook, don't accept her Friend request, block her texts, completely ignore her.
• He should have gone straight home where he was safe.
• He should have given her no room in his mind to continue her wheedling. I.e. don't even think about what she had to say or what she threatened. Turn her off in your mind and put your mind on other things. Guys and girls will try to get in your head and you can still hear them as they try to persuade you and even threaten you. You know what is right so don't let them in your head and don't listen. That is satan talking. They may call you names. They may threaten to make a laughingstock of you to your friends. They may mock you. They may use all kinds of arguments and persuasions. But you are in control of what you listen to in your own head. You don't have to listen to satan's arguments. If you did the right thing, God will take care of you no matter what they threaten to do or what they actually do. It will turn back on them and they will see their own destruction rather than your destruction.

What are the consequences?

• Trapped
• Walking like an idiot to your own destruction.
• The pangs of a guilty conscience: "He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart".
• As a Christian, sin (by your own choice) causes a degree of separation between you and God. It can be forgiven through Jesus Christ and you can have your relationship back with God. But with that degree of separation comes a degree of hardness of heart and deafness to the calls of God. Repentance becomes repugnant to us. The harder our heart, the more deaf we are to the call of God to repent and be cleansed and in right relationship with Him.
• Ruin
• Death

David was chosen by God as a young man, to be the next King of Israel. He was a shepherd boy tending his father's flock when he was selected by God. The Prophet Samuel came to his home upon God's prompting. Samuel met each of David's older brothers (he was the youngest) but God didn't choose any of them. So Samuel sent for the baby brother and when he came, Samuel knew God had chosen David. David was a poet who wrote many of the Psalms. He was the one who God used to killed the giant, Goliath. He spent time with King Saul at his palace and became best friends with Saul's son, Jonathon. But then King Saul went mad and, in jealousy, went after David to kill him. David was a mighty warrior and eventually he did become king after Saul. God said David was "a man after My own Heart". But David fell into grievous sin on account of Bathsheba. Sex tempted this man of God and he fell for the trap. He was first caught visually when he saw Bathsheba bathing naked on her rooftop close to the palace where David could see her. I don't know if this was deliberate on her part or if she was innocently taking a bath. Once the king called for you to be brought to him, you didn't refuse on pain of death. Anyway, he called for her and she came and they had an adulteress relationship in which she got pregnant. Her husband was away fighting for King David. David had to have him killed, adding murder to his sin of adultery. In the end, David had deceived, committed adultery, and murdered Bathsheba's faithful husband. David's heart had become so hardened by his sin and separation from his God, that he didn't hear God's attempts to call him to repentance. Finally God used the Prophet Nathan to speak directly to David about his sin and David finally gave in and fell on his face in repentance. All his hardness crumbled and he begged God's forgiveness. God did forgive him and re-established relationship with David but the consequences were still felt because the baby died. David had to submit to God's discipline. His relationship with God was restored but David had to deal with a lot of family problems for the rest of his life.

How can God use the death of David's innocent baby for good? First, don't forget that God creates all life. He created that child and He breathed in it His life. God knew perfectly well what He was doing in allowing that baby to be conceived. God knows perfectly well how to best take care of that baby too. There is no innocent life that God loses. David and Bathsheba's baby went straight to Paradise and they would see their child again. So you don't have to feel sorry for the innocent child. He, or she, is safe in God's arms for eternity. That child never had to walk this earth and deal with all that we have to deal with. It never experienced heartache, sorrow, sin, devastation, war, death, sickness, loss. Second, God obviously was wise enough to know what it would take to get David back on the right path. He had to experience some pretty devastating stuff because of his sin. But God was right, it brought David back into right relationship. God is the Master Potter. He knows just what kind of pressure each of us needs, just the right touch, just the right hardness or softness to bring about the good in the clay pot He is working with. So we can trust God knows what He's doing and knows how to use everything we encounter to our good if we let Him.

For another example, read about the ruin of Samson because of Delilah in Judges 13-16.

To finish this chapter, let me remind you that these verses are not only about sexual sin but the adulterous woman is like satan with any sin. Satan hopes to keep you from ever finding Jesus as your Savior, being forgiven and born again. He will use all the seducing tricks to tempt you to sin and keep you away from your only Savior, Jesus Christ. He knows your weaknesses and he will push and push if you let him. His aim is to ruin and destroy you. Even if you are a Christian, he will try to entice you into sin bondage (you are free through Jesus Christ but many times we choose to sin and we get into bondage to it). He hopes you never repent, never seek God and never realize you can be free. He wants to ruin you and destroy your relationship with God. But Jesus is always standing there waiting for you to reach towards Him. He will wash you, cleanse you, set you free again and again and again. Don't let satan keep you in bondage and destruction. You don't have to be. You may have consequences, but you don't have to be enslaved. And God can turn those consequences into good for you. You don't have to live separated from your God. He loves you, He wants you, He has provided the way for you, just reach out and accept it.

• Go back and read through the verses and list, in your own words, the ways she seduced him. What were her tricks?
• Her tricks would have been ineffective if he had: ____________________________________________________________.
• Be sure to read about King David and Bathsheba (1 Samuel 16-2 Samuel) and Samson and Delilah (Judges 13-16). They are worth studying.
• 1 Corinthians 6:18 "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body". Expound on this with your own thoughts.
• What are some ways that satan tempts you? What button is he pushing to get you to fall into sin? What weakness is he exploiting in you? What tricks and words is he using to get to you?
• Have you fallen into sin because satan used someone to push all your buttons? Maybe it was someone's words that pushed you over the edge. Maybe it was visual temptations (pictures, videos, girls walking by in short skirts or guys flexing their muscles at the gym, etc) that pushed you over the edge. Maybe it was threats and fears that finally got you. How did satan appeal to your inner lusts and desires? Why did you fall for it?
• You cannot save yourself. You cannot clean up your act and behave better and it be acceptable to God. That would be just trying to save yourself, be your own savior. There is nothing we can do to cleanse our own sins. We are lost in them. God knew that and it's why He sent His Son to save us. Jesus Christ can cleanse us from sin. Jesus Christ can rescue us from our sins. But we have to repent and ask Him to do it. Have you done that?
• Repentance means to change our minds about sin. To see it for what it really is and how lost we are to it. It's to turn to Jesus knowing that He is the only way to salvation and forgiveness. If we realize how lost we are and reach out to Him, He is faithful to rescue us.
• Meditate on this scripture: 1 John 1:8-9 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Maybe you have some consequences from sins you chose to chase. If you are forgiven and in right relationship now with God (see above), can you trust God to use all things to your good? Even the hard things, the consequences of your sin?
• Meditate on this scripture: Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

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