September 13, Proverbs 9
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” - Proverbs 9:4, 16
In this final chapter before the long list of general proverbs begins, we're presented with two alternatives. Appearing with Lady Wisdom in this scene is another woman, named Folly. They issue identical invitations to the same target audience, encouraging the invitees to come to their house and learn their ways. Let's think a few minutes about this picture of this same invitation from two very different hosts.
Both these women call out to the “simple” and “to him who lacks sense.” Don't think of these people as mentally disabled. They are, as the Christian Standard Version puts it, "inexperienced." They lack sense because they have not yet learned by experience. They're young and about to make a choice that will shape the rest of their lives.
Wisdom has made long, careful preparation for her guests. She has built a fine, sturdy house and prepared a great feast. She sends out her representatives to call these inexperienced ones to her banquet, inviting them to partake of the meat, bread and properly diluted wine she is ready to serve. They're invited to leave the way they've followed and walk in the way of insight.
Then Folly presents her invitation to the same target audience. She is loud, seductive and ignorant. She invites the same people that Wisdom addressed, calling with the same words, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here." But the nature of the fare she offers is quite different from Wisdom's carefully prepared banquet. The drink is sweet, but it is stolen. The bread has a pleasant taste, but is eaten in a sneaky, secretive way. The seduction sounds appealing, but it masks the fact that accepting Folly's offer leads to ruin and death.
The offers are dramatically different. Wisdom offers blessing and insight in words so pure and good that they pre-echo the words of Jesus himself. He invites us to partake of his flesh and blood (John 6). He taught the disciples to eat the bread of forgiveness and drink the wine of redemption, remembering him at the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26). But there’s a dark, seductive tone to Folly’s words about stolen waters and secret bread. It is a sad fact of our fallen nature that flesh finds perverse pleasure in a forbidden thing (Romans 7:7).
Between the two invitations, Solomon inserts some general principles to illustrate the difference between scoffers (who will reject Wisdom's invitation) and the wise who will grow wiser at Wisdom's house. He stressed the personal responsibility of choosing between wisdom and folly, saying, "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it" (Proverbs 9:12). It's true that our influence may bless or harm others as a consequence of our choices, but we set our own life course when we make the critical decision to follow the way of Wisdom or the path of Folly. We choose virtue, honor and life when we choose Wisdom. Those who elect to follow Folly may enjoy the indulgence of the moment, but shame and death are ahead for the "guests" at her seductive banquet table.
It's interesting that Wisdom's invitation was extended to all the inexperienced, just as Folly's. Why did anyone refuse an invitation to be blessed? Jesus told about the same situation with a different picture in the parable of the Soils in Matthew 4. The same seed fell into different kinds of soil, but the results were very different.
What should we take away from this chapter? Let's remember that the marketplace of ideas and possibilities offers choices that will both bless and curse us. Not all offers, even ones that sound just alike, are the same. We need discernment to make wise choices.
We need to realize that the choices we make today will shape our tomorrows and even our eternity. We're so grateful for the grace that offers to rescue us from our brokenness and guilt after we make the wrong choice. But it is a serious matter to set your life course.
No one can take responsibility for the decisions we make about how we live our lives. We may have been influenced, and we may influence others. But we as individuals must choose between Wisdom and Folly's invitation. Let's choose the way of blessing and life, not shame and death. It's the smart choice.
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—September 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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