Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
So in this sixth Proverbs, there are actually several different topics. So it’s very difficult to cover this as a whole or to find an underlying theme. The underlying message is one of wisdom and knowledge and discretion, but that goes without saying; hence the title Proverbs. So it may be somewhat futile to speak again of wisdom in general. The aim is to get through the Proverbs, so a verse by verse is not desirable. We’ll have to take one topic or passage and expound on that. And Proverbs 6 is really jammed pack! The ant? The sluggard? The seven abominations? Fire in the bosom? Hot coals on the feet? Adultery? Jealousy? We can’t do them all at one time.
One that travelleth…
You know I have read this so fast in times past, I always understood that poverty shall come as one that travaileth. So I always got this picture of poverty coming swiftly and painfully. But it helps to slow down and read carefully. It’s not travaileth; it’s travelleth; one that is travelling. The writer is comparing the coming of poverty to the steps of a traveler. Alot of commentaries speak of how this is likened to how someone on a journey speeds to his destination as they approach it; in which case travaileth actually does make some sense, I guess. But I really don’t see where they get that from. I think the warning is quite the opposite. It’s not suddenly, it’s little by little.
You say Do you have bible for that? Sure. The previous verse. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. It’s little by little that poverty comes. It’s step by step. You get there one step at a time. This reminds me of the Israelites at the edge of the promised land; where they were turned back to wander in the wilderness for forty years. They didn’t just suddenly disobey God. They didn’t just all of a sudden decide to not go God’s way. The bible says (Numbers 14:22,23) Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers… It was ten times, not once. It was little by little.
(Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Some sow one seed at a time. Some broadcast. But everything that is reaped was sown at some point. An empty pocket book is tough, but the poverty of the soul is far worst. (Matthew 16:26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? A sinner is far from God because he’s walked far from God one step at a time; little by little; step by step.
An armed man…
Want is a noun. It is the lack of something desired; something needed. So it speaks to us not just of a lack. That would be simply poverty, I suppose. But it also speaks to us of desire, defeat, and the destitute; not just the need, but the needy; not the the deficiency, but the deficient. Want is a condition; a felt and suffered malady. And an armed man is strong and unstoppable. Once again, this speaks not of speed. But this speaks to us of strength and power. A great motivator can want be. It can compel a man to steal, to murder, to sell oneself. Want, as an armed man, can consume and overrun you.
Now, that expression armed man throughout the bible is used to describe a shielded man. So we’re talking about something that is not easily moved; not easily thwarted. So the warning is that when want comes, you won’t be able to stop it. I can handle it. I can handle it. No you can’t handle it. Now obviously this sounds like advice in a physical sense. But you have to reconcile all this with the words of Jesus (Matthew 6:25) Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Jesus’ advice is not for the physical, but for the spiritual. For he instead says (Matthew 6:33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God.
So I find it more appropriate to find spiritual application. In other words, don’t be lazy about spiritual things. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep… talks to us about spiritual matters. It’s the little things that will take you away from God. They take you away one step at a time. And then one day you’ll find yourself without; in want, lacking what you now see is most desirable, but you’ll be powerless against it. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.