Proverbs 9:1-18
Invitations of Wisdom and Folly
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
5 “Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of insight.”
7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you.
9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
13 Folly is an unruly woman;
she is simple and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house,
on a seat at the highest point of the city,
15 calling out to those who pass by,
who go straight on their way,
16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there,
that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.
Solomon writes much about wisdom in the Book of Proverbs...Wisdom is important in our lives...Solomon refers to wisdom in the female sense, and calls wisdom her...Wisdom has built her house...She has prepared her food and mixed her wine...Come, eat my food and drink my wine...Leave your simple ways and you will live, if you walk in the way of understanding...Finding God and wisdom assists us in getting us our daily food and our drink...Meat and drink, may also mean the Word of God...We need it in our daily lives...We need both our daily bread, and the Word of God...
Solomon teaches us to seek wisdom and knowledge...He tells us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD, and the knowledge of the Holy One is the key to understanding...Seeking the LORD and reading Scripture are important part of obtaining wisdom and knowledge...Wisdom and knowledge are disciplined...
When we do not seek wisdom and live in folly our we can have problems...Solomon also uses the female sense to refer to folly...The woman Folly is loud...She (folly) sits at the door of her house...Folly calls for all who will listen...Folly is undisciplined and without knowledge...Those who listen to folly lack judgment...Folly is like the evil one...It can be easy to follow if we are not on watch and on guard...The evil one wants us to focus on our desires and pleasures...When we remain focused on the pleasures, desires, sensual things, and the material things of this world we may drift from a needed and necessary discipline...When we keep the company of folly and those who continue in folly, we lose our way...
Jesus is the Word...He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1)...Jesus is full of knowledge and wisdom...We eat our meat and meals in remembrance of His body...We drink our wine and drink and are to remember the blood of His body, that poured out and saves us from our sins...There is no true wisdom until we find the Word...He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)...There is no knowledge until we find this Truth...And after we have found Him, our Master, He tells us man cannot live on bread alone...For us to grow in His wisdom, we need God's word...We live on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)...We need the Word...