Have You Been Commissioned By The Greater Commission?

A *guardian of the *commission is a *watchman of *its soul, but to *despise the *directions of *life is *death. (MAST)

*[guardian] literally, to keep. But this is participle to the Qal stem of the verb, to have charge of. But commandments don’t have the need to be kept or to be ruled over. That’s not Solomon’s point. So what does this guardian protect if the commandments don’t need protecting? The guardian watches over how the commandment is to be understood and carried out by the organism. He is “charged” with the trust of the commandment (1Tim.6:20). He doesn’t rule over the commandment to make it do what he wills it to do for himself. No, he is “charged” by the commandment. That’s how Solomon wants us to understand this verb-participle. The guardian gives the commandment a body to live in and to control. The guardian personifies the commandment by giving it hands and feet. So, in context, this is what the fool, who had been commissioned through the marriage vow, or the labor agreement is to be, if he desires the wisdom and “trust” of the commission. Solomon’s court is the appointed “witness,” (the body of life), that is to hold the responsible parties accountable to the vow. Again, because these are proverbs, it is difficult to be dogmatic if Solomon is referring to a labor dispute that is hidden behind a literal marriage covenant, or if it is truly an “open” civil marriage (or non-marriage) dispute. Either way, the theological point is clearly made in the application of his court. Solomon can choose to hide the parties behind a proverb to keep himself from exploiting the shame of their innocence if he wants to, or he can openly expose the folly of its shame to render judgment (Prov.27:5; Mk.8:32).

*[commission] literally, the terms of the directive. A modernized culture of Judaism still practices a bar-mitzvah. This is when a teenage boy is said to be a man. It is his commission into manhood and the age of accountability. That’s the directive behind this commandment. The boy is said to be no longer be under a guardian according to the modernized thought, but that is not true of this commission. If anything, he is under more guardianship, as each of the members of the soul of this commission are now equally held to the terms of the directive. The whole body is accountable to itself, as it draws life from the commandment (Prov.6:23;Jn.12:50). This “mitzvah,” then, is like a baptism (Gal.3:23). But before baptism was the sign of the new covenant, there was the sign of Israel (Rom.2:25,29;4:11-12;15:8;1Cor.7:19). Therefore, for context, it must be understood with circumcision, the sign of the old covenant, in relationship to the “citizenship” in Israel (Gen.17:11;Ex.31:13,17). If you carried this mark, you were not accountable at age thirteen but at the very act of the circumcision itself. That’s the correct understanding of this mitzvah. Therefore, Solomon deems those who enter his court as the sons of the fool (the serpent (Jn.3:14; Matt.23:33; Prov.23:32; Ps.140:3; Gen.3:14;49:17), but calls them to repentance by pointing them to enter the courts of the Temple to become wise in their circumcision because the fool is still accountable to keep the sign of his circumcision. Doesn’t this make the Christian’s baptism all the more sweeter (Matt.28:18-20)?

*[watchman] literally, to keep watch. Again, this is the exact same verb, to keep, in the participle use of the previous word, guardian. But for translative purposes, a more fuller image of the participle of the verb is painted with a synonym. Not only does the verb carry the action of “keeping” but of “watching.” Just as a guard protects the entrance of the trust, he watches over those who go in and come out of that trust. He is the doorman to the life of the body like a shepherd is the watchman of the sheep gate. Nothing goes in or out of his gate that does not know his voice. His voice carries the terms of the directive, which is the trust of the sheep. The sheep know his voice, and they follow him because he carries the guardianship of the life of the fold. A stranger who does not operate by the terms of the directive, they will not follow (Jn.10:1-21).

*[its soul] literally, that soul, the soul of this. There is no neuter in Hebrew, so Solomon is personifying the commission and commandment of the body, (the organism), that makes up the several parts of the life his court. His court is commissioned by the Law and Covenant of God through the Priesthood (1Cor.12:12). So these parts, as a whole, are what he is referring to. These “ways” or directions are to give the organism its life being attached to its “head,” the very control center of its body (1Cor.12:13). Solomon gets his “orders” or instructions from here (Rom.12:1-8; Eph.4:7-16). As the life of the body is attached to the head (the commandment), there is true life in the body flowing out to perform the commission (Matt.28:18-20), but when a member is severed from the commandment, there is no life in the function of that part (Mk.9:43) and is therefore useless to the head (Heb.6:1-10).

*[despise] literally, to hate (it). But Solomon means to treat it (the commission) with contempt, i.e., to find the judgment of the court contemptible. To account the judge’s decision as worthless and useless to the health and well-being of the circumcised soul is to despise the circumcision itself (Mal.1:6-14). It is a rejection of the fathers who were the “signers” of the commandment of life and liberty from Egypt (Deut.30:15-20). To despise this court is to dishonor the wisdom of your father (Prov.1:7;11:12). The verb, to despise, here, is participle to the commission, the whole organism of the directive, the flesh and bones of the commandment. It is participle to the system and framework of the Law and Covenant of the nation of Israel. To despise the body of this framework is to despise your nation. Now, to clarify, this judgment is made on the assumption that the system, the flesh and bones, is made alive through the proper understanding of the commission. This system fails (and is dead) if the bones are held up without the joints and marrow of the life of the commandment (Heb.4:12-13). To hate the commission is to hate the soul, and to hate the soul is to love death (Prov.8:34-36).

*[directions] literally, the paths, or courses. This is antecedent to the commission. It is looking at the commandments of the commission from the standpoint of the parts that constitute the life of the commission more than the life of the commandment (Heb.4:12-13; Rom.7:7-12). These are the images of the several, diverse journeys that have been intersected with the commission. However, the pattern or direction of these individual images now have one and the same commission born out of one and the same commandment. None of these paths or courses of life “appear” the same in their individual parts, but have the same direction or end which have separate starting points or previous beginnings before they were intersected by the commandment. So they are the “ways” of which the Lord brought them into the commission (the good way (singular)) (Jer.6:16). There is one door but many paths that led to this door, and it is through these previous paths, (that are now sanctified through the Keeper of the soul), which are not to be despised. In other words, God is not opening up new ways or paths through this intersection, but is merely sanctifying the old paths that led them to the beginning, (the one door), (the one life (soul), in God. In one soul, there is one direction and one ultimate purpose with one absolute end (Deut.5:1;6:3-4).

*[life] literally, the same, or that one. Again, there is no neuter in Hebrew, so this, too, is antecedent to the life of the commission, the very soul of the commandment is to watch over your heart with the instruction of the Keeper of the heart (the covenant/faith) (Prov.22:5; Ps.119:2,4-5,8;141:3; Phil.4:7).

*[death] literally, to abide in death. The Hifil stem (causative) is to say that by despising or ignoring the accountability to the commission is to “cause” your own death. But if we understand it based on the purpose of the commission, which is to give life, then it is to remain or abide in the judgment (the already) of death (separation from God (Eph.2:12;4:18; Col.1:21; Heb.11:34). The imperfective “voice” speaks of God’s mercy, that while this one is dead to the life of God, the (period) on the death sentence is not secured until mercy is erased (in the absence) of the soul (2Thess.2:7). As long as the commission is in the world, the light of God’s mercy continues to shine upon the world. But to hate the light is to love the darkness, and he who loves darkness abides in death (Jn.3:17-21;8:12;9:5; Matt.5:14; 1Jn.2:9,11;3:15;4:20).