Peace

Proverbs 7:14 (KJV) I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

This month I am reading the book of Proverbs from the NIV translation.  I am not a big fan of the NIV, because of it’s philosophy of translation, but like any paraphrase, it has value in giving insights into the nuances of words.  What got my attention in this chapter was this verse,

Proverbs 7:14 (NIV) “Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

Notice that the NIV calls, the “peace offering” a “fellowship offering.”  Peace offering is the most common translation, and probably will do in most cases however, the aspect of the peace offering that is brought out by the word “fellowship” is helpful to us I think.

The offering of peace is a statement of restoring relationships with God.  There is a sense in which that involves fellowship.  If we were in the New Testament and we’re talking about fellowship, we might use the word koinonia.

In the case of this young woman her offering was meaningless, because as she was claiming to have fellowship with God, she was pursuing an avenue of moral decadence.  That is not acceptable to God.  She’s living in a fantasy.

So?  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can live in sin and because you go through some ritual or prayed a prayer somewhere in the past that God will just kind of smile in a benign way and say, “How cute.”  Don’t forget that the God of love and mercy is also a holy God who demands justice.  He does not play games.