What difference does it make if you’re wise or not? And what’s so important about being wise? Why does God spend so much space in his written word on encouraging us to be wise?
Well today’s passage goes some way in answering those sorts of questions. In fact what we find here is first a warning, in ch 7 then a plea in ch 8, with an explanation of what it is that makes Godly wisdom so valuable.
I was originally thinking of just looking at ch 7 but what I found as I began to prepare was that chs 7&8 go together. They’re what’s called a Janus. Janus was the Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings. He was represented with a double-faced head, looking in opposite directions. And here in chs 7&8 we see the two possible choices of lifestyle represented by two quite different women.
The setting of these first 9 chapters is a father teaching his children how to make their way in the world. He implores them: "keep my words and store up my commandments with you; 2keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye; 3bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart." The idea is like us wearing a white wrist band or a pink ribbon, or a red poppy to remind us of the causes that we care about. In this case the things to be worn metaphorically on the fingers, to be written on the heart, are God’s law. Why? Because by following the commandments you will live.
The Danger of an Uncommitted Life
Then he gives them a warning, an object lesson from what he’s observed in everyday life. You’ve probably done this sort of thing yourself, or had it done to you. You see a news report of a child who’s been hurt crossing the road and you say to your children "See how careful you need to be when you cross the road." Here, though the lesson is one for older children. He says "I was looking out the window and I saw among the simple ones a young man without sense..."
Now, when we think of someone being simple we probably think of Simple Simon: someone who’s 1 can short of a six pack; the lights are on but no-one’s home. But that’s not what this means. Here the simple person is someone who’s still undecided, still making up their mind what belief system they’re going to follow. It’s especially used to talk about the young person who’s grown up in the covenant community of Israel but hasn’t yet decided to accept all the beliefs of the community for themselves. They’re open-minded, uncommitted. And the issue for these young people is that because they’re committed to nothing they’re open to anything and are therefore easily misled.
Now can I just say at this point that this is no longer a definition that applies just to young people. In fact I’d suggest it applies to the majority of people in our world today. Because people have no external basis by which to shape their lives they’re open to anything. There are no absolutes, so they flit from one experience to the next. They make moral and ethical judgements without any sound basis other than this seems right or this is what most people think. As we’ll see later they think the increase in our knowledge of the world over the past hundred years or so makes us able to understand everything. And so the scene that the father paints here has a familiar ring to it.
He says he saw this simple young man walking along the street in the evening towards the house of an adulterous woman.
Now I think there’s a double meaning here. Certainly there’s a warning against sexual immorality. This is a woman who plays around when her husband is away. But there’s also the idea of this loose woman representing all that’s opposed to God’s law. There’s a certain lawlessness about her behaviour that epitomises the attitude of those who’d draw us away from obedience to God in lots of areas.
Suddenly a woman appears coming towards the young man as he walks her way. She’s decked out like a prostitute, dressed to kill, or at least to seduce. She’s described as wily. That is her intention is to deceive; to pretend that what they’ll take part in is an act of love, while in fact all she’s doing is indulging her own desire for sensual pleasure while her husband is away. And notice how her description is of someone who could be found anywhere as she wanders around in the dark seeking someone to seduce. It reminds me of the description of Satan, prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
She greets him as though he’s her one true love. She offers him all sorts of allurements. Luxurious accommodation; expensive perfumes; sexual indulgence. She assures him that no-one will know. She’s just offered her sacrifices, presumably to her pagan gods so it’s probably the time of the new moon, and her husband won’t be back until the full moon. So they’re safe. It’s just like the way Satan tempted Eve in the garden, appealing to her desire for food, aesthetics and a sense of independent wisdom and when she said how God had warned them they’d die if they ate the fruit, he simply said "You will not die."
You see, here we have a typical picture of the way Satan continues to seduce people in our world today. He promises them sensual pleasure, indulgent lifestyles, luxuries, all that the heart can desire, and especially this false wisdom that it doesn’t matter what you do or think. No-one will know. No-one will care. There are no absolutes. Anything goes. And, like so many people today, the young man falls for it, hook line and sinker. But then comes the crunch. Look at how he’s described: He "goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag toward the trap 23until an arrow pierces its entrails. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life." The end result of this sort of foolishness is that you’re caught out. Here’s what awaits those who refuse to commit to God’s way. They’re seduced by lies and in the end they’re destroyed by them. And we mustn’t think that because so many others have gone that way that it’ll be all right. "26For many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims." This is just another of the lies that Satan spins. Everyone is doing it so it must be OK.
The Melbourne Cup is portrayed by our media as the social event of the season, so more and more people flock to Flemington - to what? To watch the races? To indulge themselves with a little luxury? To get drunk? Or is it just to be part of the in crowd? Personally I can’t understand why they do it? Except that they’ve been sold a lie. That this is a must do of the social calendar. That everyone who’s anyone will be there. That a little flutter on the horses will be fun. Never mind that the only real winners are the bookies and the racing club.
The Beginning of the End
But notice the Father’s admonition in v 25: "Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths." You see the fall of the young man starts when he first makes his way towards the loose woman’s house. He wanders into her ways. Because he has no clear direction to his life he ends up putting himself in a place where temptation can strike so easily. If he’d decided beforehand to keep the commandments that his parents had taught him he wouldn’t have been so susceptible to the woman’s temptations. So too, we need to be careful where we go, what we read, what we watch. We need to decide beforehand the limits that we put on our behaviour so when temptation is put before us we know the answer we’ll give.
A Call to Live Wisely
Well, the scene then shifts to wisdom, again represented by a woman. But this woman doesn’t slink around the streets in the dark. She calls out openly for everyone to hear. "On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out." She stands at the crossroads where decisions must be made and at the place where people come to enter the city. Her desire is to have people make life changing decisions before they enter into the places of commerce, into the places of interaction with others, before they meet the temptations that the city inevitably will offer. You see wisdom doesn’t remove us from the city, from the world. It simply prepares us for what we’ll meet there.
And the difference between her call and that of the worldly woman is that her lips speak what’s right and true. She hates wickedness. Her words are straight and right. Her wisdom is worth more than fine gold and silver and jewels. Her wisdom is useful in the civil settings of government and commerce and it brings material success for her followers.
Wisdom in Civil Order
Look at vs 14-16: "14I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength. 15By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; 16by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly." These collections of proverbs were originally meant, in fact, for teaching young princes how to govern well. But equally they’re useful to people at all levels of social life to guide the decisions they make for themselves and for those they lead. But notice this isn’t just good advice we’re talking about, the wisdom that God gives carries with it an inbuilt power to do what it’s meant to do. See there in v14. Not only does wisdom have good advice and insight, but it also has the strength to carry out its plans. Choosing to follow God’s wisdom means choosing to follow God and that means having God’s power to aid us on our way. Here we get a glimpse of what becomes clearer in the New Testament. Wisdom here encapsulates the person of God. Those who take up this wisdom become connected with God and are given his understanding and power. When we get to the New Testament of course we find that the way God does that is through the work of his Holy Spirit as he fills those who come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Material Glory
But not only does wisdom help us in civil life, it also promises material glory. "Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity. 19My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver."
The promise of God to those who live faithfully under his rule is that they’ll enjoy material prosperity as a sign of his favour. That was what the land of Israel was meant to provide, except that Israel failed to follow God in faithfulness. In its place God has now established the church as the place where his blessing can be found. The blessing may not always be in actual wealth and luxury, but blessing there will be. Listen to what Jesus told his disciples in Mark 10: "29Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions -- and in the age to come eternal life." The wealth we’ll enjoy in this age includes the wealth of a loving caring community gathered around us. In the age to come it’ll be life in the presence of God.
Only God has the Wisdom We Need
Finally, notice why only God’s wisdom can lead us into all truth.
Actually I was reading the Age on Friday and there was a series of quotes from Donald Rumsfeld and I thought this one summed up, in his peculiarly garbled fashion, why worldly wisdom will never suffice. He once said: "There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know." If you can work out what he was saying, it’s actually an amazing admission from the Secretary of State of the most powerful nation in the history of the world. There are some things we know we don’t know but there are other things we won’t even be able to imagine.
So why is God’s wisdom better than worldly wisdom. Look at v22: "22The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. 23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth-- 26when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. 27When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep."
You see, true wisdom, a true understanding of the world, depends on comprehensive knowledge of everything. You can’t have complete wisdom unless you know everything that’s happened, everything that exists. Who can know that much. We may have an incredible amount of knowledge available to us at the click of a mouse, but only God knows everything. Only God’s wisdom was present when God began the work of creation, when God put into motion his plans for the world. But because she was there from the beginning her knowledge is complete. Whether or not you subscribe to the notion of intelligent design, the fact is that wisdom was there from the beginning, working, as she says, like a master worker. So she knows how the world works, how people work, what makes us tick, what will motivate us, what will drain us, what will make us laugh, or cry, or rejoice.
And that’s why she can say "32now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways ... 34Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 35For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD."
But for those who ignore Godly wisdom and instead follow after the ways of the world the message is this: "36but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death."
Why choose to seek God’s wisdom? Because it’ll help us live successful lives. Because it’ll bring us happiness. Because it’ll bring us life. And because to ignore it will in the end lead to death. 1 Cor 1:24 describes Christ as "the power of God and the wisdom of God." And what did Jesus say to his disciples in the upper room? He said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
Seek God’s wisdom. Seek Jesus Christ’s presence in your life and you will live.
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