What is the meaning of Proverbs 7:18? Come The very first word is an invitation. It is the adulteress calling the young man to step toward her, away from wisdom and safety (Proverbs 7:6–7). Throughout Proverbs the father warns, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent” (Proverbs 1:10). • “Come” frames sin as something attractive, urgent, seemingly harmless. • Scripture consistently counters such calls. Paul echoes, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). • Yielding to that first step often determines the entire direction of the heart (James 1:14–15). let us take our fill of love Here “love” is misdefined. The adulteress masks lust with the vocabulary of covenant intimacy. Compare: • God’s design for marital love—exclusive and lifelong (Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 5:18–19). • Illicit love is counterfeit; it steals what belongs only to marriage (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5). • “Let us take” signals self-gratification, not self-giving. Genuine love “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). The father’s warning is clear: any “fill” outside God’s boundary leaves the soul emptier than before (Proverbs 9:17–18). till morning Sin claims to be temporary fun—a single night. Yet: • Darkness often shelters hidden deeds (John 3:19–20). • The promise “till morning” ignores consequences that last far beyond dawn—broken trust, guilt, even death (Proverbs 7:22–23). • Persistent indulgence hardens the conscience (Ephesians 4:19). The phrase shows how temptation frames sin as limited when it intends lifelong bondage (Proverbs 5:11–14). Let us delight Delight is not wrong; where we seek it matters. Scripture commands us to “rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18), yet warns that “the fleeting pleasures of sin” are deceptive (Hebrews 11:25). • God offers true delight in obedience (Psalm 37:4). • Satan counteroffers momentary thrills that drain joy (Proverbs 14:12–13). • The adulteress claims shared delight, but her real intent is self-centered (Proverbs 7:21). in loving caresses! The language grows more explicit, appealing to senses: touch, taste, smell (Proverbs 7:17). • Physical affection is a gift within marriage (Song of Songs 1:2), yet destructive outside it (1 Corinthians 6:18). • Joseph fled rather than accept such caresses from Potiphar’s wife, asking, “How could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). • What seems tender ends in brutality: “Her house is the way to Sheol” (Proverbs 7:27). summary Proverbs 7:18 records the adulteress’s sales pitch. Each phrase layers enticement: a friendly invitation, a promise of satisfying love, a supposedly limited time frame, the lure of delight, and sensual touch. God’s Word unmasks every layer: real love is covenantal, real satisfaction is in holiness, and sin’s “night” leads to lifelong regret. Wisdom heeds the Father’s call, not the seductress’s whisper, choosing the path that honors God and protects the heart. |
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