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Notes on Proverbs
There are many verses throughout the Bible that assume a degree of technology and technique: that is, the existence of tools and the processes for their manufacture and use. Common examples include [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=iron iron], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=bronze bronze], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=gold gold], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=silver silver], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=refine refine], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=metal metal], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=tool tool], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=instrument instrument], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=wheel wheel], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cook cook], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=wine wine], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=craft craft], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=build build], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cloth cloth], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=city city], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=shield shield], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=arrow arrow], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=sword sword], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=weapon weapon] [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=spear spear], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=chariot chariot], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=boat boat], [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=ship ship]. Each of these imply that people created technologies to augment their abilities, to control the environment, to improve their lives, to communicate, etc.
There are also many places where the Bible uses some type of technology as a metaphor for something more spiritual. Examples include:
* Winnowing out the wicked ([[Proverbs 20:23]]
* Job says his days go past as fast as a weaver's shuttle ([[Job 7:6]])
* God is a shield around us ([[Psalm 3:3]] and many other places)
* God's word is a lamp ([[Psalm 119:105]])
The following table collates more significant references to technology:
| [[Leviticus 19:35]] - [[Leviticus 19:36]]
| Do not use dishonest measuring instruments or standards.
| Also [[Deuteronomy 25:13]] - [[Deuteronomy 25:16]], [[Proverbs 11:1]], [[Proverbs 20:10]], [[Proverbs 20:23]].
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| [[Leviticus 25:1]] - [[Leviticus 25:7]]
| Praise God with trumpet, lyre, dancing, strings, flute and cymbals. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
| We should use not only musical instruments, but everything we create – houses, church halls, shopping centres, cars, boats, space shuttles, pencils, iPhones and kitchen sinks – to praise the Lord.
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| [[Proverbs 3:9]] - [[Proverbs 3:10]]
| "Honor the Lord ... then your barns will be filled ... and your vats will brim over ..."
| Maybe it's not too much of a stretch to infer that if we honor God, then our technology will succeed.
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| [[Proverbs 17:3]]
| "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."
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| [[Proverbs 18:19]] - [[Proverbs 18:11]]
| "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall."
| We might imagine that our money makes us impregnable like a well-built castle, but in the end security only comes from trusting God.
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| [[Proverbs 20:26]]
| "A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them."
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| [[Proverbs 25:5]] - [[Proverbs 25:6]]
| Removing the dross from silver compared to establishing a righteous kingdom.
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| [[Proverbs 27:21]]
| "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives."
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| [[Proverbs 27:22]]
| "Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him."
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{{returnto}} [[Christianity]] -> [[Christianity and technology]] -> [[Technology in the Bible]]
