God Is Building Himself a Home
In the next two chapters, Paul moved from praise for blessing and a prayer for understanding (chapter 1) to expounding on those blessings.
The Human Plight (1-3)
Paul first described the hideous situations the Ephesians faced as they entered this world:
Addicted to idols and walking dead in their sin (1)
Controlled by the irresistible powers of their idolatry (2)
Possessing ungovernable appetites, which were dominating behavior
Because they embraced and loved their death, which means they loved their separation from God and their seeking of life by fulfilling their own lusts, they had become children of death. As children of death, they inherited death. Death is what God hates and He seeks to destroy the death that is killing His world and people. Idolatry leads to death. Idolatry is the placing of anything in the place of Yahweh. God’s wrath is against all idolatry, for all idolatry leads to death, and death destroys life.
Only those who reject Christ and embrace idols and death become, by their own desire, inheritors of the wrath to come (3).
Our New Identity (4-10)
Then Paul reminded the Ephesians that God chased them down in their repulsive circumstances with great love and rich mercy (4). Paul clearly proclaimed that their former person did not stop Christ from saving them by grace and making them alive, giving them a new identity and an undeserved place in Christ (5). He did all of this by raising them from spiritual death and seating them with Jesus in heavenly places (6). Paul further told the Ephesians that God made a showcase of His own grace, saving them not by their works or even behavior, but by their complete and fully allegiant faith (7-8). Ultimately, Paul wanted the Ephesians to know they were created in eternity and prepared in eternity to do some really good works. They were not the sum total of what they could make of themselves; they were God’s workmanship, bringing life to a sin-ridden world (9-10).
Paul was expounding on this theme of who they were and what they would accomplish, painting it against the backdrop of the present evil age, which was losing its power and grip over their lives day by day.
Our Former Separation (11-16)
While Paul addressed no church problems directly in this letter, there is a hint of one here in the next seven verses. With a flood of Gentiles entering the church all over the Roman world, and while there was the pressure of mounting persecution with Roman anti-Jewish sentiment growing in the empire, there was the potential for friction. Paul combatted all conflict by reminding the Ephesians and every other church of the importance of blessing others.
Paul reminded the Gentiles of their former alienation and separation from a covenant with God. They were once mocked by the Jews for being uncircumcised (even though Jewish circumcision meant nothing). They were separated from Christ so they were not a part of the citizenship of the new nation God was building. They did not know about the covenant God made with the Jews to save the world. They were without God and without any hope (11-12).
Through the cross of Jesus, everything changed; those far away were brought near by Jesus’ blood. Jesus paid the redemption price for the Gentiles so they could come near and be freed from their slavery to idols, sin, and death (13). Because the same price was paid for the Gentiles as the Jews, Jesus destroyed the barrier between the Jews and Gentiles.
Here is what God did: He tore down the wall (the Law) that created hostility between them. When people judge and accuse each other based on performance and law, all kinds of hatred erupts. People are always demonized for not cooperating with certain rules that develop a specific culture. God abolished the cause for that accusation system. He did so by forgiving people of their behavior and ill-performance. No more were people to be judged for their behavior. The heart would be the prize and the true issue.
God through Jesus was creating one new Person, one new Man, one new Body, making peace between all people—no more performance-based accusation and judgment based on law-keeping (14-16). Allegiance would never again be to a code but to a Person and a relationship.
The Home God Is Building (17-22)
Both those who were far away (the Gentiles) and those who were near but had lost their connection (the Jews) (17) were given equal status and relationship in Christ (18). The Gentiles were no longer strangers, no longer aliens; they were citizens of God’s Kingdom, holy and set apart to God, sons and daughters of God's family (19).
They were like every Jewish follower of Jesus. They were not built on the foundation of law-keeping but the foundation of the apostles and prophets. They were built on faith, giving their heart allegiance to Christ. Their relationship with Christ had become the measure and culture of their life (20). The Jew and Gentile were now part of the same family, joined together in Christ like a temple building joined and built in perfect alignment with the cornerstone, Jesus. They were joined together to become God’s dream people—a place where He could live and move and touch the material world with His presence (21-22).
Perceivable Proverbs (10:1-15:33)
This chapter begins the third section of Proverbs:.
Purpose of Proverbs (1:1-7)
Parental Proverbs (1:8-9:18)
Perceivable Proverbs (10:1-15:33)
I have defined this section as the “Perceivable Proverbs” because Solomon reveals life as it should or ought to turn out. The principles and views of life articulated are usually and normally true.
These next proverbs are quick and direct; they give no time to footnote qualifications, nor do they list exceptions to the rule. They are quick jabs; they mean to stun and get the attention of the reader. They will clearly state in a concise antithesis the contrast between two “perceivable” outcomes.
At first, it might appear difficult to see any arrangement of subject matter in these chapters, but consider the bookends, meaning the material at the beginning and end of each section of thought within the chapters.
Example: verse 1 contrasts a wise and foolish son, while verse 5 contrasts a lazy and diligent son; thus, what is between these two bookends is to be read and considered, thinking about diligence and laziness.
Verse 6 contrasts the blessings and abuse of the mouth, while verse 11 basically repeats the contrast. Between the bookends, we see the subject Solomon wants to be pondered in light of the blessing and abuse of our tongue.
In verse 12, hatred and love are contrasted, while in verse 18, concealing one's hatred is contrasted with speaking slander. Between these two bookends, we find the subject being considered is a heart lacking forgiveness.
Verse 19 contrasts the restrained and unrestrained tongue, while verse 32 contrasts the mouth of the righteous with the wicked.
Between verses 19 and 32 are four collections of proverbs with a single humorous proverb bridging the two sections. This is known as a “chiasmus” or a poetic form in which something is repeated in reverse order. This form of grammar is common among Hebrew writings. The rest of this chapter would look something like this:
A) Verses 19-21: The Three-Proverb Collection on the Tongue
B) Verses 22-25: The Four-Proverb Collection on Stability of Life
C) Verse 26: The Humorous Proverb on Laziness
B) Verses 27-30: The Four-Proverb Collection on Stability of Life
A) Verses 31-32: The Three-Proverb Collection on the Tongue
All of the material between verses 19 and 32 is to be considered in the light of the tongue.
The writer of the Proverbs was not just throwing subjects into a jar to be read in some kind of disjointed manner. Solomon was structuring his material to be read together, so depth of meaning and understanding could be enhanced.