The Seduction Of Mr. Simple Series

The seduction of Mr. Simple

Proverbs 7:1-27

The book of proverbs is a collection of wise words regarding morality and right versus wrong. Proverbs is largely concerned with the inevitability of God's justice and the importance of prudence. Solomon's proverbs maintain that wicked deeds will invariably lead to divine retribution and punishment during a person's earthly life.

The book of Proverbs is inspired by the Spirit and therefore it is the Word of God while the proverbs of other countries are not.

In the case of Proverbs 7 the hint is given in verse 4 where sister and relative are compared to wisdom and insight respectively. What does it mean to call wisdom your sister? It means to embrace her and make her near and dear to you (Pr 4:6-8; 8:17; Song 8:1). A close sister would never let you get near a seductive woman. She would despise the woman, and she would expose her wicked wiles and foretell the horrible consequences. You would trust a close sister, for you would know she had your best interests at heart. What does it mean to call understanding your kinswoman? It means to consider her a close confidant, dear companion, and faithful friend. It means to trust her motives and follow her advice, for she seeks your prosperity. Understanding is another word for wisdom in this context. While other men are making “sisters” of seductive women , let understanding be your close kinswoman. She will protect you from their sinful seduction.

The second hint is the final verse 27, where it says that she will lead you to death. here it is unlikely talking about disease and more about a spiritual death.

So why is the sister wisdom? Sisters provide stability in a young man’s life and can provide a goal and concrete foundation for a man knowing his worth. Sisters and other younger siblings can teach a man responsibility.

Note that this can apply just as easily to women as to men… women can be led astray just as easily and should also pay attention to wisdom and insight.

As we turn our attention to Proverbs 7 where the focus is again a warning about the dangers and destructive consequences of adultery. This passage is cast in the form of a father giving instruction to his son, urging him to embrace and cultivate wisdom in his life in order to “keep” him “from the seductive woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words” (7:5). Once again let me remind you that although the danger is portrayed as coming from a sexually promiscuous and seductive woman, we could just as easily turn the tables and describe it in terms of the philandering and immoral man. So we must all, both men and women, pay close attention.

We see from these opening verses that “wisdom” is again something eminently practical. Wisdom is what will guard the heart of the young man or woman and keep them from falling prey to the manipulative and clever tactics of the adulterer and adulteress.

In v. 2 the father exhorts his son to keep this teaching as “the apple of your eye.” The word translated “apple” refers to the “pupil” (cf. Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8). The pupil of the eye is that part upon which our sense of sight completely depends, and thus something to be guarded with the utmost care. No less than you would strive to preserve your own eye-sight, be diligent to observe and assimilate this instruction on the tactics of temptation employed by the wayward woman. As v. 4 says, be as conversant and intimate with wisdom as you are with the members of your own family.

In vs 6-23 Solomon tells his son what he has seen or witnessed. He describes himself as if he were peering out the window of his house watching the behavior of the simpleton, the fool, the young person who doesn’t have the good sense to come in out of the rain. Their lack of wisdom is precisely what will lead them into the trap set by the adulteress.

In describing this young person as “simple” and “lacking sense” Proverbs doesn’t mean someone who has a low IQ or someone who is self-determined and hardened in sin and sets out to gratify his lust. Proverbs is talking about the young man who lacks discernment. The problem is aggravated when the young man thinks himself to be a real man’s man, worldly-wise and beyond temptation

Notice in vv. 8-9 how Solomon describes both the place and the time of the temptation. As for the place, Mr. Simple stupidly wanders near her house. Perhaps he’s heard of this lady and out of curiosity he wants to see where she lives. He probably doesn’t set out with the intention of ending up in her bed. He just wants to walk by her house. Solomon is not talking about all the young men he could see through his window - no, he is talking about this one young man who "lacks judgment" - verse 7.