Proverbs 1:10-14

Warning Against Enticement

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; 12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, [a] and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse" (New International Version)

In these verses and some of those that follow, a father is warning his child (son is used as a generic term) not to let “sinners” (those that don’t follow God or His teachings) entice you... (draw you away from what is right). We should look at these verses as God, our father, talking to us. If we take His warnings to heart, we will be gaining wisdom..

How do these “sinners” entice? Verse 11 says that they want to form a group/gang that plans evil, then hide and ambush “harmless” people who pass by. They “talk each other up” just as so many people in the gangs of today do, saying things about how “great” they are that they can “swallow them alive and whole…” They persuade the young (either in age or in wisdom/maturity) that by taking advantage of others, they will “get all sorts of valuable things…” They make promises to work together and then they will “share a common purse…” (they promise to share the proceeds of their evil plots.)

This is such a common scenario in today’s world and we see it on the news and in TV shows all the time. It isn’t just the “gangs” that have this type of mentality, though. So many TV shows portray many kinds of people doing the same thing. Think about some of the shows about housewives that verbally gossip and/or actively tear up people’s lives.

What about the movies that tempt (ambush) people into thinking about sex outside of God’s plan. Think about drug dealers that “waylay” harmless young or immature people into believing that drugs won’t hurt them, and that they will get something “good” (share a common purse) if they follow along (throw in your lot with us…).

There are so many ways that we are tempted, lured, or beguiled into sinning (following the lusts of the flesh). God, as our Father, warns us against giving into these temptations. He warns us not to become “friends” with people (TV, movies, etc. ) that would corrupt our morals and lure us closer to ambushes that are planned by evil people or even those “powers or principalities” that “war against our souls…” By becoming aware of the evil that lays in wait to attack us, we can avoid dangerous zones in our lives, too, as well as not joining the attackers.