It’s interesting how often in the Scriptures we find ourselves addressed as though we were walking along and had come to a fork in the road. Here we have to make a decision. Do we go right or do we go left? And so often the decision is a life changing one. Joshua in Joshua 24 tells the people they need to decide which of the local gods they’re going to serve, but as for him and his household, they will serve the LORD. Jesus says, in Matt 7:13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14[But] the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Paul in 1 Cor 3:10-13 warns: "Each builder must choose with care how to build on [my foundation]. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- 13the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done."
There are some decisions we make in life that change the course of our life from that day forward. We’ve all made them I’m sure. What university will I go to? What subjects will I study? What degree will I go for? What work will I take up. What sort of career am I looking for? Will I work hard? Will I do anything the boss tells me to? Who will I marry if that possibility arises? Where will I live? Will I move interstate to that new job? The list is endless isn’t it? Some major, major decisions, other’s perhaps less important, less life-changing.
But it’s interesting that so many of those decisions could have gone differently and we would still have enjoyed a fruitful life. No-one could point to them and say, you really blew it with that one didn’t you? I have two friend who both completed their PhDs in Nuclear Physics around the same time. One went on to work for one of the major nuclear energy organisations, lobbying for the use of nuclear energy, while the other decided to become a high school physics teacher. Now some might suggest my second friend was wasting his ability becoming a teacher. But was he? None of his students would think so, I’m sure. No, this was a life changing decision for him, but it was no more right or wrong than my other friend’s decision to continue in the field of nuclear energy.
A Life-determining Decision
But here in Proverbs 9 we come to one of those decision points where the decision we make will undergird everything we do and think from then on, every decision we make. Here we come to a fork in the road where we have a totally life changing decision to make. As in the rest of Proverbs 1-9 the decision is personified in the persons of two women, standing at each branch of the fork in the road offering a banquet to those who turn their way.
At one branch stands wisdom, with her house set up to welcome all who come to enjoy her godly hospitality. At the other sits the foolish woman, seeking to entice any who are without sense to come and taste her forbidden fruit, to come and drink of her stolen water. Her plea is the lie that if you get away with something illicit, the pleasure is multiplied. But behind the lie is a deadly and fearful truth. Here we find a situation that mimics our own time. The foolish woman’s lie is still being told.
But before we move on to the two women, the two choices, I want you to notice that there are three types of people referred to in the passage. First there are those who are wise. Look at the end of v8 and the start of v12. The wise are those who listen to wisdom’s teaching and make the most of it. They become wiser still. They understand that learning from wisdom doesn’t make you less important, it actually builds you up to be more so.
The second type is the scoffer - vs 7&8. This is the person who thinks they know everything. Try to correct this sort of person and they’ll only abuse you. Rebuke them and they’ll hate you. Why? Because they think that your rebuke, your life lesson is a put down. They think they know so much that no-one else could possibly know more. They’ve built up an image of how great they are and when they find themselves being shown up they hate it. They’ve lost face. And you’re the one who did it to them. But notice the end of v12. Such people have no-one to blame but themselves when things go wrong, when the foolish decisions they’ve made come back to bite them.
The third type are those who are simple. These are the ones, as I said a couple of weeks ago, who haven’t yet made up their mind. They’re not simple like simple Simon. There’s nothing wrong with their intellect. It’s just that they’re still trying to decide which way to go. In fact it’s often those of high intellect who want people to remain open-minded, not to be decided in their worldview. To these the wise woman cries out, "turn in here, enjoy the feast that’s been prepared for you. Take advantage of what’s on offer so you’ll live, so you’ll have the insight to live wisely. She urges them, in other words, to make a faith commitment to wisdom, to become teachable, to leave their companions in foolish behaviour and learn from her.
The first woman is introduced as wisdom. She’s just finished her work of building her house and now she invites those who pass by to enter in and enjoy the fruits of her labour. Notice that her house is a substantial one. It’s built on seven pillars. Seven is the perfect number, the number of completion. It’s a house that can stand the test of time and that can house all who come into it.
Not only has she built her house, she’s also prepared a feast for all who’ll come. She’s slaughtered the animals, prepared the wine, she’s set the table for a banquet. She’s sent out invitations to everyone in the town, to all who will come. There’s an echo there of the parable that Jesus told, isn’t there, of the king who held a wedding feast for his subjects but they were too busy buying cows and enjoying their own marriages to come to his banquet. So he sends his messengers into the streets and lanes to invite all who will join him in celebrating his son’s wedding.
There’s also an echo here of the wise wife in ch 31. There we find a woman who has taken on all the lessons of woman wisdom and has indeed built her house on the foundation of wisdom and is now enjoying the benefit of it.
The woman calls out from the highest places "5Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed." But notice that this is really a metaphor for what is really intended: "6Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." The invitation is to come and enjoy the good things that God has to offer. It’s a call to decide to side with wisdom. The time has come to lay aside immaturity and to take up life with God.
By contrast the foolish woman appears, in v12, as loud and ignorant. She makes a lot of noise but it’s, in the words of Macbeth, just sound and fury, signifying nothing.
What’s more she’s lazy. She hasn’t built her house. She hasn’t prepared a feast. Her allure is to the undisciplined, to those who are without moral standards. She doesn’t need to prepare anything. She just needs to titillate, to entice people by the excitement of her shady activities. I’m reminded of the movie ’Borat’ that started this week. People are flocking to it, not because it has particular merit in its social comment, but because of its low level humour, humour that derives from racism and religious bigotry. The film purports to critique American culture but you wonder whether in the end all it does is to desensitise us to the sort of racism, religious bigotry and misogyny that it’s supposedly aiming at. In any case it’s a good example of how the foolish woman is able to draw people to herself despite the slovenly way she behaves. She just sits by her door and waits for unsuspecting people to walk by. She takes her place on a seat at the high places of the town. She’s one of those who have social standing, notice. There’s nothing about her that’s looked down on by the world she lives in. After all, she’s just a fun loving girl isn’t she? What’s more, her behaviour, her lack of moral standards, makes the rest feel better about the way they live. You know, the man who visits a prostitute so often justifies it on the grounds that she was happy for him to use her services. Forget the fact that he’s made her an object of his gratification. She didn’t have to do it. So she must enjoy it. Or so he claims.
If you’ve seen any of the ads for the Sexpo that’s on in Melbourne at the moment you may have noticed the catch phrase: "If it’s adult it’s at Sexpo." As though the mature way to act, the mature thing to believe is that anything and everything goes. There are no limits when it comes to your physical pleasure, to your sexual gratification. And I guess the corollary to that is that if you lead a moral life, if you follow Christian values, if you enjoy things that aren’t at Sexpo, you must be immature and what’s more your life must be pretty boring.
Notice how she entices them: with the age-old lie: "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." Not only hasn’t she prepared a meal for her guests, what she’ll offer them is stolen from someone else. This may be a reference back to ch7, to the adulterous wife, who’s offering the young man what really belongs to her husband alone. But again, this is something that’s still being said isn’t it? "If it’s wrong it’s more fun." "Half the fun is getting away with it!" But what’s she really offering? Compare her offering to that in v3. Her stolen water is really just a counterfeit of the carefully decanted wine that wisdom is offering. It might sound exciting, but it has no depth, no body, no substance. It certainly isn’t the sort of thing you offer at a banquet.
And what about the bread she’s offering. Can you picture the contrast here? Bread eaten in secret, because you don’t want to get caught. It might seem exciting that you can get away with it. Maybe no-one will find out. But compare that to the banquet in the house of wisdom. Think back to your best ever Christmas dinner, with all your friends and family gathered around. Or if that isn’t a good picture for you, think about some celebration dinner you’ve been to, where there’s been great food and drink, lots of good friends to celebrate with, all the joyful camaraderie of a room full of like minds. That’s the sort of meal wisdom is offering. Not this sterile meal of bread and water hidden away from view in case someone finds you out.
And notice the end result of the decision that’s made: "9Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning. 10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 11For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life." For those who choose wisdom’s hospitality there is growing wisdom, there’s growth in learning, there’s insight. There’s long life. By contrast for those who accept the foolish woman’s invitation and enter her house there’s a surprise awaiting: "18But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol." Stolen water may be sweet but it’s also poisonous. The end for those who follow the foolish woman, the woman who sprouts the wisdom of the world, for them the end is death.
Finally I want you to look back to the end of ch8. Look at v34: "Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors." The wise person, the one who will be happy in life, is the one who waits at the door of wisdom until she opens up to invite them in to her feast. Wisdom doesn’t just fall at our feet. The truly wise person goes looking for it. We’ll think about this some more next week. If you want to be wise, ask for it. Go looking for it in the places that God says it’ll be found.
So what is this feast that wisdom has so carefully prepared? Well I’d suggest it’s at least the chapters that follow, chs10-31. Here we find a feast of wisdom, wise sayings that, when understood and applied, will lead to a fulfilled life in this world and in the end to eternal life with God in heaven. Let me just give you a taste and maybe you might like to go home this week and read some more.
Ch10 begins by reinforcing what’s just been said: "A wise child makes a glad father, but a foolish child is a mother’s grief." No parent wants to see their child making poor decisions in life.
2Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. ...
4A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5A child who gathers in summer is prudent, but a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.
7The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
8The wise of heart will heed commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out.
10Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, but the one who rebukes boldly makes peace.
11The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
It’s a gold mine just waiting there for us to delve into it.
9:9 says "Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning." Which path will you take? The path to wisdom and life or the path to folly and death?
How will you find the path to wisdom? "10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." And what will be the result? "11by [wisdom] your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life."
For more sermons from this source go to http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sttheos
