- The woman wisdom cries out for us to forsake folly and live… she wants to give us life.The woman folly, has stolen all she has, and has nothing to offer us but death.The question we have to ask ourselves… if they are calling out the same words… both offering food and drink… how are we to know who is Folly and who is Wisdom?
- 1 Înţelepciunea şi-a zidit* casa şi-a tăiat cei şapte stâlpi.
- * Mat 16:18; Efes 2:20-22; 1 Pet 2:5;
- 2 Şi-a junghiat* vitele, şi-a amestecat** vinul, şi-a pus masa.
- * Mat 22:3; ** Prov 9:5; Prov 23:30;
- 3 Şi-a trimis* slujnicele şi** strigă de pe† vârful înălţimilor cetăţii:
- * Rom 10:15; ** Prov 8:1; Prov 8:2; † Prov 9:14;
- 4 „Cine* este prost să vină încoace!” Celor lipsiţi de pricepere le zice:
- * Prov 9:16; Prov 6:32; Mat 11:25;
- 5 „Veniţi* de mâncaţi din pâinea mea şi beţi din vinul pe care l-am amestecat!
- * Prov 9:2; Cant 5:1; Isa 55:1; Ioan 6:27;
- 6 Lăsaţi prostia, şi veţi trăi şi umblaţi pe calea priceperii!”
- 7 Cel ce mustră pe un batjocoritor îşi trage dispreţ şi cel ce caută să îndrepte pe cel rău se alege cu ocara.
- 8 Nu* mustra pe cel batjocoritor, ca să nu te urască; mustră** pe cel înţelept, şi el te va iubi!
- * Mat 7:6; ** Ps 141:5;
- 9 Dă înţeleptului, şi se va face şi mai înţelept; învaţă pe cel neprihănit, şi* va învăţa şi mai mult!
- * Mat 13:12;
- 10 Începutul* înţelepciunii este frica de Domnul şi ştiinţa sfinţilor este priceperea.
- * Iov 28:28; Ps 111:10; Prov 1:7;
- 11 Prin* mine ţi se vor înmulţi zilele şi ţi se vor mări anii vieţii tale.
- * Prov 3:2; Prov 3:16; Prov 10:27;
- 12 Dacă* eşti înţelept, pentru tine eşti înţelept; dacă eşti batjocoritor, tu singur vei suferi.
- * Iov 35:6; Iov 35:7; Prov 16:26;
- Îndemn împotriva ademenirii nebuniei
- 13 Nebunia este o femeie* gălăgioasă, proastă şi care nu ştie nimic.
- * Prov 7:11;
- 14 Ea şade totuşi la uşa casei sale, pe un scaun, pe înălţimile* cetăţii,
- * Prov 9:3;
- 15 ca să strige la trecătorii care merg pe calea cea dreaptă:
- 16 „Cine* este prost să vină aici!” Iar celui fără minte îi zice:
- * Prov 9:4;
- 17 „Apele furate sunt dulci* şi pâinea luată pe ascuns este plăcută!”
- * Prov 20:17;
- 18 El nu ştie că acolo sunt morţii* şi că oaspeţii ei sunt în văile Locuinţei morţilor.
In Proverbs 9 we meet two women that represent two different houses, two different paths. As we read through Proverbs 9 I believe it is divided into three sections. The first section, Proverbs 9:1-6introduces us to one woman, one house, and one path. The third section, Proverbs 9:13-18 introduces us to another woman, another house, and another path. The second section, Proverbs 9:7-12, I believe represents the fork in the road between the two, and how we receive Proverbs 9:7-12 determines the path we will walk, the house we will enter, and the woman to whom we will listen.
*******
Let’s meet the first woman… her name is Wisdom.
Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;
She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks understanding she says,
“Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
“Forsake your folly and live,
And proceed in the way of understanding.”
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;
She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks understanding she says,
“Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
“Forsake your folly and live,
And proceed in the way of understanding.”
Proverbs 9:1-6
What I want you to see is that this woman wisdom has her stuff together. Notice that she has built her house. Notice that she hashewn out her seven pillars. Think with me for a moment… what is the purpose of pillars?
Pillars provide stability and strength. If we look at the ruins of ancient societies, even if the house has fallen, the pillars remain. This woman wisdom has built a strong, stable home.
Let’s keep looking.
Notice the work of this woman wisdom, she has prepared her food,she has mixed her wine, she has set her table, she has sent out her maidens. She calls out. This woman is able. This woman is strong. This woman is prepared. This woman is saying, Hey whatever you need, come and see me. Bring your tired, weary, hungry, thirsty self in here to my house and let me help you. I have everything that you need and I have the ability to teach you to have this for yourself. See here are my maidens, I provided for them, and they were fully equipped to be sent out, and to find you… I will fully equip you so that you might go and do likewise… become a maiden of mine and become a woman of wisdom. Let me teach you. Listen to me.
*******
Now let’s take a look see at our other woman… her name is Folly.
The woman of folly is boisterous,
She is naive and knows nothing.
She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
“Stolen water is sweet;
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
She is naive and knows nothing.
She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
“Stolen water is sweet;
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Proverbs 9:13-18
The first thing we learn about this woman of folly is that she is boisterous. Now this word boisterous in the original language is pretty darn interesting. In the Hebrew this word is hamah and it means,
- To murmur, growl, roar
- To murmur a soul into discouragement
- To growl like a dog
- To roar as in to keep a city in an uproar
This woman folly is not there to encourage or strengthen anyone. As a matter of fact she is what I like to call a pot-stirrer. She is here to murmur and growl and roar and to keep everyone around her in turmoil. She has no desire to calm a soul, to encourage a soul, to strengthen a soul… no… she simply desires to murmur that soul into discouragement. She has no desire to share peace and hope and stability. No, she wants us off-guard, off kilter, confused, confounded, bewildered, stressed out beyond the ability to reason for ourselves.
Notice what we learn next. This woman is naive and knows nothing. Notice that this woman sits. She sits at her doorway on a seat by the high places of the city. She sits and is calling out to those who are passing by… she sits. She is NOT building her house. She is NOT hewing out pillars. She is NOT preparing food, mixing wine, or setting a table. She has NO maidens to send out. She doesn’t even get up to go and seek… she sits like a spider waiting for those who pass her by so that she can catch them in her web of destruction.
Here is the kicker. Let’s look side by side what these two woman call out…
Both of these woman call out the same words.
“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
Proverbs 9:4,16
Yet the heart, and the purpose, behind the words are completely opposite. The woman wisdom calls out to the naive and to those who lack understanding to come into her house so that she might provide them with what she herself has prepared. She calls out to them to strengthen and encourage and feed and equip so that she might give them the tools to become someone of wisdom and stability themselves in order to seek and help others. The woman wisdom seeks those who need her. She sends out for those who are naive and lack understanding so that she might teach them and give them wisdom.
On the other hand, this woman folly, she has nothing to give. She is looking for the naive and those who lack understanding so that she can bring them into her house and take from them whatever they have for herself. She seeks the naive so that she might devour them in their naiveté.
The woman wisdom cries out for us to forsake folly and live… she wants to give us life.
The woman folly, has stolen all she has, and has nothing to offer us but death.
The question we have to ask ourselves… if they are calling out the same words… both offering food and drink… how are we to know who is Folly and who is Wisdom?
*******
Here is where Proverbs 9:7-12 comes in. The fork in the road.
He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,
Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
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