Instead of going to the busy places of the city, Wisdom Once again, Wisdom promises to give us long life
Proverbs here of any preliminary invitation. The maidens are simply saying, "Come right now!"
One of the lessons of this paragraph is that the power and splendor of God, seen all around us in creation, are evidence of what God's wisdom can do. The same God who worked in the "old creation" also wants to work in our lives in the "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10; 4:24; Col. 3:10). The Lord Jesus Christ, who holds the universe together and causes it to fulfill His will, can hold our lives together and accomplish His purposes for His glory.
Note that they are inviting one class of people: the simple (Prov. 9:4). Wisdom's first call was to the simple, the scorners, and the fools (1:22). The scorners laughed at her, so in her second call she invited only the simple and the fools (8:5). But the fools didn't want God's wisdom, so in this third call she invites only the simple ones to come to her feast. It's a dangerous thing to reject God's invitation; you never know when it may be your last one (Luke 14:24).
When we belong to Jesus Christ and walk in His wisdom, all of creation works for us; if we rebel against His wisdom and will, things start to work against us, as Jonah discovered when he tried to run away from the Lord.
Of course, when the simple people accept the invitation, it means leaving the old crowd, and the fools and scoffers will try to talk them into staying (Prov. 9:6–8). Sinners don't want to be rebuked and reproved, but wise people will accept and benefit from both. Fools, scoffers, and the simple like to have their own way and be told they're doing fine, but wise men and women want the truth. Teach wise people and they'll accept the truth and become wiser; try to teach fools and they'll reject the truth and become even greater fools.
"You must make a decision!" (vv. 32–36). Having declared God's truth, Wisdom now calls for a decision, as all faithful heralds must do. How people respond to God's message is a matter of life or death (vv. 35–36), and it's impossible to be neutral. Wisdom calls for a sincere, life-changing decision that involves turning from sin (repentance) and turning to Christ (faith). If the decision is real, it will result in a commitment to the Lord that leads to meeting with Him daily, like a servant at the master's door.
Celebration (vv. 10–12). When you respond to Wisdom's invitation and attend the feast, what will you receive? For one thing, you'll have a greater respect for the Lord and a deeper knowledge of the Holy One (v. 10). The better you know God, the keener will be your knowledge and discernment when it comes to the decisions of life.
Those who reject God's truth sin against their own souls. Those who hate God's truth are heading for eternal death (Rev. 20:11–15).
3. Wisdom's Call to Life (9:1–18) Instead of going to the busy places of the city, Wisdom now remains at home and serves as hostess of a grand feast.
Once again, Wisdom promises to give us long life (v. 11) and to fill our days and years with rich experiences of God's grace. God wants to add years to our life and life to our years, and He will do it if we obey His wisdom. Verse 12 reminds us that the Lord wants to build godly character into our lives, and we can't borrow character from others or give our character to them. This is an individual matter that involves individual decisions. Belonging to a fine family, attending a faithful church, or studying in an excellent school can't guarantee the building of our character. Character is built on decisions, and bad decisions will create bad character.
Preparation (vv. 1–2). In the previous chapter, we saw Wisdom at work in creation, but here we see her having built a spacious house ("seven pillars") where she prepares a sumptuous banquet. The Jewish people didn't use their flocks and herds for food, so opportunities to eat roast beef or lamb were infrequent and welcomed. The table would be spread with delectable foods as well as wine to drink. "Mingled" (mixed) wine could mean diluted with water (usually three parts water) or mixed with spices. However, the presence of wine on the table must not be interpreted as a divine endorsement of alcoholic beverages. Wine was a normal part of a Jewish meal, but nowhere does the Bible approve of drunkenness (see 20:1; 23:29–35; 31:4–7). More on this topic in a later chapter.
Condemnation (vv. 13–18). The chapter closes with a quick glimpse of the prostitute (Folly) as she calls to the same simple ones and invites them to her house. But if they accept her invitation, they'll be attending a funeral and not a feast— and it will be their own funeral!
Invitation (vv. 3–9). Instead of going out herself as in the previous two "calls," Wisdom now sends her lovely maidens to the highest places of the city to invite people to the feast. It was customary in those times for a host or hostess to issue two invitations. The first one, given some days in advance, notified the guests of the day and hour of the feast; the second one, given the day of the feast, ascertained who was actually coming (see Luke 14:16–24; Matt. 22:1–14). Knowing the approximate number of the guests, the cooks could then prepare sufficient meat so that there was plenty for everybody and nothing would be wasted. We don't read
In 5:15–18, Solomon compared the joys of married love to drinking pure water from a refreshing fountain, but Folly (the adulteress) offers "stolen water" from somebody else's fountain. God ordained marriage to be a "fence" around the fountain so that nobody will pollute it. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14) has never been removed from God's law.
When it comes to possessing eternal life and living so as to please God, it's an either/or situation. Either we accept the invitation or we reject it; either we obey His wisdom or we reject it. Those who claim to be neutral
Proverbs chapters 2, 3, and 4 is on the blessings God's people enjoy when they walk on Wisdom's path. The path of Wisdom leads to life, but the way of Folly leads to death; when you walk on the path of Wisdom, you enjoy three wonderful assurances: Wisdom protects your path (ch. 2), directs your path (ch. 3), and perfects your path (ch. 4).
are rejecting His Word as much as those who turn away from it completely. "He that is not with me is against me," said Jesus (Matt. 12:30).
What will it be in your life, the feast or the funeral?
Notes 1 The father's statement, "my son," is found forty-one times in Proverbs, but the influence of the mother isn't ignored. See 1:8; 4:3; 6:20; 10:1; 15:20; 19:26; 20:20; 23:22; 23:25; 28:24; 30:11, 17; 31:1ff. 2 James 1:14 uses the images of hunting and fishing to get the same point across. The verbs "drawn away" and "enticed" carry the idea of "luring with bait," whether baiting a trap or a fishing hook. Temptation is the bait, and Satan wants us to think we can grab the bait and avoid the consequences (Gen. 3:5). Alas, it never works that way. 3 In Proverbs, three Hebrew words are translated "fool": kesyl, the dull, stupid fool; ewiyl, the corrupt fool who is morally perverted; nabal, the stubborn, brutish fool whose mind is made up and won't be convinced. For a vivid example of this third variety of fool, see 1 Samuel 25.
1. Wisdom Protects Your Path (Prov. 2) The key verse in chapter 2 is verse 8: "He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints" (nkjv). The repetition of the phrase "my son" (2:1; 3:1, 11, 21; 4:10, 20; and see 4:1, "my children") reminds us that the book of Proverbs records a loving father's wise counsel to his family. The British statesman Lord Chesterfield said, "In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody's torments in this world or the next laid to my charge." But Jewish fathers were commanded to teach their children wisdom (Deut. 6:1–9); if the children were smart, they paid attention and obeyed. Life is dangerous. It is wise to listen to the counsel of godly people who have walked the path before us.
CHAPTER THREE Proverbs 2—4 THE PATH OF WISDOM AND LIFE A
Three different "walks" are described in this chapter. Walking with God (vv. 1–9). Chapters 2—4 all begin with an admonition to listen to God's words and take them to heart (3:1–12; 4:1–9), because that's the only way we can walk with God and live skillfully. Eight imperatives in this paragraph reveal our responsibilities toward God's truth: receive (accept) God's words and hide them (store them up) in our minds and hearts; incline the ear and apply the heart; cry after knowledge and lift up the voice for understanding; seek for wisdom and search after it. If you want wisdom, you must listen to God attentively (Matt. 13:9), obey Him humbly (John 7:17), ask Him sincerely (James 1:5), and seek Him diligently (Isa. 55:6–7), the way a miner searches for silver and gold.
newspaper cartoon shows an automobile balancing precariously over the edge of a cliff, with an embarrassed husband at the wheel and his disgusted wife sitting next to him. Meekly, he says to his wife, "Honey, there's got to be a lesson here somewhere."
There's a lesson there all right, and it's this: The only way to end up at the right destination is to choose the right road. If you've ever made a wrong turn in a strange place and found yourself lost, then you know how important that lesson is.
The metaphor of life as a journey is a familiar one; it is found in the Bible as well as in classical literature. The Odyssey of Homer describes Ulysses' ten-year journey from Troy to his home in Ithaca, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is an account of Christian's journey from the City of Destruction to the heavenly city. The Bible frequently exhorts us to choose the right path, but the contemporary world thinks there are "many ways to God" and any path you sincerely follow will eventually take you there.
Obtaining spiritual wisdom isn't a once-a-week hobby, it is the daily discipline of a lifetime. But in this age of microwave ovens, fast foods, digests, and numerous "made easy" books, many people are out of the habit of daily investing time and energy in digging deep into Scripture and learning wisdom from the Lord. Thanks to television, their attention span is brief; thanks to religious entertainment that passes for worship, their spiritual appetite is feeble and spiritual knowledge isn't "pleasant to [their] soul" (Prov. 2:10). It's no wonder fewer and fewer people "take time to be holy" and more and more people fall prey to the enemies that lurk along the way.
Jesus made it clear that in this life we can take only one of two ways, and each of them leads to a different destination. Everybody has to choose either the crowded road that leads to destruction or the narrow road that leads to life (Matt. 7:13–14). There's no middle way.
If we do our part, God will keep His promise and protect us from the enemy (vv. 7–8): "He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones" (niv). "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Ps. 119:11 nkjv).
In the book of Proverbs, the words path and way (and their plurals) are found nearly one hundred times (kjv). Wisdom is not only a person to love, but Wisdom is also a path to walk, and the emphasis in