Compare Proverbs 9:17 with Genesis 3:6. What similarities do you find? Scripture Passages • Proverbs 9:17: “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” • Genesis 3:6: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.” Observations on the Allure of Forbidden Things • Both verses spotlight the tempting pull of what God has prohibited. • “Stolen water” and the fruit “pleasing to the eyes” each represent something expressly off-limits, yet the boundaries heighten the attraction. • Sin portrays itself as “sweet,” “pleasant,” “good,” and “desirable,” masking its deadly end (Proverbs 14:12; Romans 6:23). Hiddenness and Secrecy • Proverbs emphasizes “bread eaten in secret,” while Genesis shows Eve acting under the serpent’s deceptive counsel, outside God’s direct presence. • Secrecy breeds sin (Isaiah 29:15), and sin then seeks further concealment (John 3:19-20). • The pattern: enticement → secrecy → act → spread. Eve “also gave some to her husband,” just as stolen delights often entice others into complicity. Deceptive Promises and Ultimate Consequences • Both texts present a false benefit: sweetness and wisdom. • Satan offers counterfeit satisfaction (John 8:44), but sin always reverses the promise—sweet turns bitter (Proverbs 20:17), “wisdom” brings shame (Genesis 3:7,10). • The immediate pleasure blinds the heart to the lasting fallout: broken fellowship, shame, death (James 1:14-15). Echoes Elsewhere in Scripture • 1 John 2:16—“the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”—mirrors Eve’s triple assessment. • Hebrews 11:25 acknowledges that sin’s pleasures are fleeting. • Psalm 19:8-11 contrasts counterfeit sweetness with God’s true sweetness: “the judgments of the LORD are true… sweeter than honey.” Takeaway for Today • Forbidden desires still whisper that stolen water is sweet. Comparing Proverbs 9:17 with Genesis 3:6 unmasks that lie. • God’s boundaries are protective, not restrictive; life and joy reside inside them (Psalm 16:11). • Lasting satisfaction flows from obedience to His Word, not from the thrill of secrecy or rebellion (John 10:10; Proverbs 3:5-6). |
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