Nap Time

(Pro 6:9-11 KJV) How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 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.

Proverbs deals with the causes of “poverty” (7389) repeatedly. Today’s popular reason for poverty is always oppression; the rich capitalist has stolen his money from the sweat and pain of the working classes. That is classic Marxist propaganda. The reason it takes hold is that it is ideological, so facts don’t matter, and there is are occasions in which it is true. Proverbs deals with oppression in a different place. Oppression happens. But that is not the cause of poverty being presented here.

We are talking about the sluggard. The sluggard faces poverty because he is lazy. See comments in verse 6. One tendency that the sluggard has is to spend too much time in bed. These verses cover sleeping in and taking naps. We are talking about a basic tendency to avoid work. Remember this is a farm culture. On a farm there are always things to do and the difference between a prosperous farm and a poverty farm can be the amount of work that goes into the property.

If oppression is the problem, by the rich and the politically powerful, that is an issue to be dealt with. If laziness is the problem, it must also be dealt with. It won’t go away by blaming other people for your poverty.