Summary: Wisdom and folly both invite all the simple-minded persons to their respective houses. Jesus Christ invites sinners to come to house of wisdom, repent and follow the ways of the righteous. The Devil invites sinners to enter the house of sin, enjoy the pleasures of sin, join the company of the spiritual dead, leading them to hell.
Invitations of Wisdom and Folly (NIV).
Wisdom's Feast (RSV).
The Way of Wisdom (NKJV).
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up[a] its seven pillars.
2 2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
4 4 "Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
5 5 "Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of insight.” (NIV).
4 4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who is without sense she says,
5 5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 6 Leave simpleness,[b] and live,
and walk in the way of insight.” (RSV)
4 4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
5 5 “Come, eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 6 Forsake foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding. (NKJV)
The house of Wisdom has seven pillars. Seven is a sign/mark for completeness and perfection. So the house of Wisdom is entirely strong.
Wisdom organises a feast/party, and sends out her servants to proclaim the invitation. The invited guests are the "simple" people who lacks understanding. The simple and ordinary people are invited to eat/dine and wine with Wisdom, with God. The simple and ordinary are invited to abandon foolish ways, and take the way of understanding/insight.
Christ has been offered as sacrifice for all people. Meat (Christ's body) and wine (Christ's blood) was served at the feast. All sinners are invited to come to God, and live righteously in line with God's commands and teachings.
To be an effective follower, we must shun the unrighteous ways (forsake foolishness, leave simpleness). And walk in the way of insight/understanding.
General Maxims (RSV).
7 7 He who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
8 8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 9 Give instruction[c] to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. (RSV)
7 7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
8 8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you.
9 9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. (NIV)
It could be rather pointless and ineffective to reproof, rebuke and correct the foolish and unwise people. A mocker/scoffer will hate to be corrected and rebuked.
On the contrary, the wise people have the positive attitude. Wise people will appreciate being rebuked. The wise and righteous will become wiser and more knowledgeable when instructed and taught. Teaching the wise and righteous is fruitful.
We must use appropriate approach when inviting the "simple and foolish" people. Invite with courtesy and open mind. Do not criticise. Do not directly rebuke. Or else the reaction will be negative.
For instance, do not say, "You sinners. Come, and be saved." The invited persons will think, "I am not in danger, not in captivity. Why do I need to be saved?" Or the invited person will think, "Who are you to judge me? What sins/wrongs have I done? Don't you also have committed wrongs/sins?" The invited person will feel offended.
Wise people are always humble, always willing to learn more knowledge, to have greater understanding and insight, to be even wiser. Hence, reproof and rebuke of the wise is often welcome by the wise people. Wise people want incremental and continual improvement. Wise people love knowledge, instruction and teachings.
10 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
11 11 For by me your days will be multiplied,
and years will be added to your life.
12 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it. (RSV)
10 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 11 For through wisdom[b]your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. (NIV)
I interpret "the fear of the Lord" as "loving and honouring the Lord our God" because "Love God" with our heart, mind and soul is our greatest commandment. Fearing the Lord can be mean many things: honour God, be afraid of God, respect God, putting God first. I personally feel "honouring God" will be my one phrase interpretation. Because when we honour God, we definitely will put God as our high if not Top priority, we will respect God, we will obey God.
Remind me of the book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey. One of the seven principles is "First Things First." As believers, we sometimes need to pause and think: Are we practising "First Things First" in our daily lives? Are we putting our eternal destiny as our top or high priority? Are we putting God first in our livers? Do we remember God everyday or do we remember God on Sundays? Do we thank God for everything or do we thank God when we get a salary increment?
Folly's Invitation and Promise (RSV).
The Way of Folly (NKJV).
13 13 A foolish woman is noisy;
she is wanton[d] and knows no shame.[e]
14 14 She sits at the door of her house,
she takes a seat on the high places of the town,
15 15 calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way, (RSV)
13 13 Folly is an unruly woman;
she is simple and knows nothing. (NIV)
13 13 A foolish woman is clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing. (NKJV)
Folly, the opposite of wisdom, is illustrated as a foolish, unruly, noisy woman. In those times, a lady or decent woman was one who was quiet and soft-spoken. So an unruly and noisy woman is hence portrayed as the opposite of a ladylike woman, a foolish woman.
Folly is simple, and contains nothing (no knowledge, no laws, no commands, no teachings, no ethics). Folly is the easy path, just like the path of wickedness, the path of evil, the path of the bad. On the contrary, Wisdom is the difficult and challenging path, which is the path of righteousness and just. Wisdom comes packaged with understanding, insight and knowledge. Wisdom is enhanced by commands/laws, instructions and teachings.
Just like Wisdom is proclaimed, propagated and publicized widely to everyone in the world, similarly folly is also propagated and publicized to everyone in the world. Jesus Christ invites all sinners to go to Him, repent, and follow His ways of righteousness. The Devil also invites all sinners to follow the foolish ways, simple and easy-going ways, which eventually lead to self destruction and spiritual death.
16 16 "Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
17 17 Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious!”
18 18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. (NIV)
16 16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 17 “Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of hell.[a] (NKJV)
16 16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
And to him who is without sense she says,
17 17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 18 But he does not know that the dead[f] are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. (RSV)
The Devil loves to invite simple-minded people especially those without understanding/common sense, to turn in and enter his house, to go over to his side. The Devil entice people with greed and bad doings. Examples could be greed of money and riches, gambling, betting, lottery, stealing, robbing, coveting other man's wife, and the various forms of greed. Adultery, fornication, extra marital affairs, unethical use of other people's money, bribery are some of the "bread eaten in secret." The Devil tempts in very crafty and subtle manner, just like the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
"Bread eaten in secret is pleasant." There are many thieves who stole, but did not get caught, or did not get convicted and sent to jail. Robbers robbed and gain money and wealth of others, yet they did not get caught, and were not punished. Adulterers who slept with other men's wives continued their illicit affairs without being punished nor chastised. The Devil tells the sinners, "Look, you sin, and you gain. You have nothing to lose. You don't get punished. You sow evil, but your harvest is still plenty." Punishment awaits those evildoers at the gate of hell.
The simple-minded people who follow the ways of folly, the ways of the Devil, are walking among the spiritual dead, and eventually will end up in hell.
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014.
Michael Yeap.
NIV: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%209&version=NIV
RSV: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%209&version=RSV
NKJV: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%209&version=NKJV
Commentaries:
1) http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.9.1-Prov.9.12
2) http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.9.13-Prov.9.18
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