PROVERBS 9:13-18
THE INVITATION OF PLEASURE
[2 Samuel 11:1-15]
Wisdom's free and gracious invitation already has been set before us. Her invitation invites to goodness, holiness and peace. We might ask who in his or her right mind could resist? Now we have the allurement from the opposite side. The call of sin is no less earnest to destroy than wisdom is to save.
Wisdom's great rival, worldly lust, sets up business on the same busy avenue and bids the same youths who pass by. Her barbed hook is baited with the pleasures of sin and her desire is to drag her victims down the steep slope to hell with her. Only one of the foul spirits that assail and tempt men is singled out but this one represents a legion of demonic temptations in the background.
Every man moves between these rival invitations in every step of life, The text presents three aspects of temptation's allurements.
I. TEMPTATION TANTALIZES, 13-15.
II. TEMPTATION'S PLEASURES, 16-17.
III. TEMPTATION'S END, 18.
Worldly folly's portrayal as a provocative enticing woman returns in verse 13. "The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing."
"A woman of folly" is here depicted as the power of wickedness in the world carrying out the work of temptation. It's sad to see a woman as a temptress but since the fall of the world Satan has often used them as his effective agents. The temptress is first described as boisterous or full of noise or loud, overcoming resistence by her aggressiveness. She is also naive or gullible (exploitable), and "knowing nothing" or ignorant or devoid of right, not recognizing what is good. In other words she is attracting but unruly. Sensual pleasures darken the understanding so deeply that the temptress, out of a life of deceiving, becomes the victim of her own delusions (Hos. 4: 11, 2 Tim. 3: 13). Here as elsewhere, folly offers immediate gratification, where wisdom offers long-term satisfaction.
Verse 14 depicts this madam as a temptress in waiting. "She sits at the doorway of her house, on a seat by the high places of the city,"
Where wisdom stands tall and calls, folly "sits at the doorway of her house" to call. This audacious woman shamelessly sits as her own sign at the same high places of the city from where wisdom also calls (9:3). Modesty, which is the glory and mystery of her gender has left her. She is bold and brazen. Unlike Lady Wisdom who prepared for (vv. 1-2) and searched out her guests (vv. 3-6), Madam Folly merely sets our her seductive lures and waits.
Madam folly's target audiences are not those who have intentionally headed for her place but those traveling by on the way to somewhere else as we see in verse 15. "Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight:"
She calls out to those passing by but her particular interest is to those who are making their paths straight. This refers to those who might without her call pass on by but most specifically references those who are leading up-standing lives. Even the highways of God, though a path of safety (10:9) to those whose eyes and ears are attuned to Him, is beset with temptation. Satan is most angry with those who are making their paths straight.
II. TEMPTATION'S PLEASURES, 16-17.
The call of wisdom in verse 4 is echoed by madam folly in verse 16. "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here, and to him who lacks understanding [lit. heart] she says,"
Though all men are traveling, for none can stop on their journey to eternity until they reach their destination, the young are especially vulnerable. Many have been trained to go right but how many have been suddenly enticed, entangled in the net and lost! How many enticements line the path to life.
This invitation is given twice-first by wisdom (v. 4), and second by the foolish woman. To every young life, especially as it sets out, many voices and inducements speak. Wise, strong voices mingle with siren songs. The strait gate into the narrow way stands at a fork in the way along side the wide gate that leads into the broad way. The counsels of the father's lips, the tears and prayers of the mother, amid the enticements of sinners, and the persuasion of the world. Here the true Shepherd, there the hireling; here the true Bride, there the apostate Church; here that which condemns the flesh, there that which takes its side.
Life is full of choices. There is no day without them. We are perpetually being reminded of the way in which the Creator introduced lines of division into His earliest work. We hear His voice as He divides the light from the darkness, calling the one Day and the other Night. Would that we acted always as children of the Light and of the Day, choosing the one and refusing the other! Our discernment and wisdom are always being exercised, and our best life depends on the intensity and quickness with which we refuse the evil and choose the good.
Wisdom appeals to the heart, to the conscience. She says nothing at the outset of the sweetness of her service, or the pleasantness of her paths; but bases her appeal all whatsoever things are just, pure, lovely, and of good report (Phil 4:8-9). Yet she has rich rewards to those that choose her. Length of days, honor, a heart at rest, sure satisfaction, the assurance of the favor of God, a sure and certain hope of eternal blessedness. [Meyer, F.B. Great Verses Through the Bible. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI.. 1966. p. 253]
Beware of turning aside from the straight path of wisdom for as verse 17 indicates folly is persuasive with her lying pleasures. "Stolen water is sweet; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
The temptation to open sin might even be revolting. Yet are we not entitled to some illicit pleasures in life? May not some stolen waters and some secret indulgences be allowed we reason. Like David and Bathseba (2 Sam 11:1-15) should we not indulge our self? Yes, temptation is deceptive by its very nature, and none more so than those we think we can get by with un-notice. But God sees all and all will soon be proclaimed before the throne (Luke 12:1-5).
A strength of this temptation is that they are forbidden pleasures (Gen. 3: 1-6). The prohibition of it gives to such pleasures an added attraction. Restraint provokes the dormant power of sin in fallen man. Just as it does in children, who will do that which is forbidden because it is forbidden just to test the boundaries. Since this sin is contrary to the law it must be done in secret or in concealment.
The two speaker's, wisdom and folly, invitation to their banquet or feast is similar as Satan seeks to camouflage himself as right or light. There are two feasts: the feast of God & the feast of sin. We're invited to both. God invites us to find satisfaction in Him. Sin entices us with its lies to look for satisfaction in sin (like porn). All the time, we have to choose which feast we attend.
No heart can follow both these drawings or pursuits. You can not choose both wisdom and folly any more than you can choose light and darkness. Every sinner must turn his back upon either his Savior or his sin. In this life every human being is placed between these two rival invitations and every human being in this life yields to the one or to the other.
The power of sin lies in its pleasures. If stolen waters were not sweet, no one would steal them. This is part of the mystery of our being and the fearfulness of our nature even before the fall that we can be so tempted. Since the fall, our bodily appetites have become so perverted that they crave for what is poison and loathe the nutritious. Yet this desire for sin in the depths of man's soul is sweet to our taste. This appalling state should make us walk circumspectly and not as fools. Remember that it is only in the mouth that stolen water is sweet, after ingestion it turns bitter. Sin has its pleasures but they last only for a season, and often that season is short. Underneath the thin coating of pleasure lies a barbed hook that Satan will use to reel us into his net and control us.
Battling sin in our lives is not an exercise in denying pleasure. It's about fighting immediate pleasure with a greater pleasure. Sin promises so much, but it doesn't satisfy and charges a high price: broken lives, broken relationships, broken hopes broken dreams. Ultimately, the wages of sin is death. Sin deceives, then defiles, then destroys.
God though offers us a feast that satisfies, that delights our souls. He offers fulfilling fellowship for our spirits. The motivation for change and holiness is this: God's feast and fellowship are so much better! And the price tag reads, "No cost." It's His gift. So whose feast are you going to attend today? [Tim Chester. "Closing the Window"]
God's invitation to us is found in Isaiah 55:1-3. "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy" (NIV). The fellowship and feast of God is far greater and we can partake of it freely because of grace. Thank God for the gift of a greater feast than sin can provide. Then feast on His Word with His Spirit daily.
It was another of those SPIRITUAL RICHES TO RAGS stories. According to a lady, whose heart seemed to break as she told it, the young woman had grown up in the church. She had set her sights on the mission field and had gone to a Christian college, but then she began to listen to ungodly people and drifted away from God. She found the world too attractive to resist. Finally she gave in to evil influences and plunged into immorality.
What was her reaction when a Christian friend tried to counsel her about her sin? Immediate grief? Abject sorrow? No. "It's not so bad," she said. She had tasted forbidden fruit and had found that it was sweet. Had all the warnings she had heard about avoiding sin been false alarms?
Her response is not isolated. We as Christians are often tempted to listen to the tantalizing voice that says. "Stolen water is sweet." But the writer of Proverbs 9 said that those who give in to sin are in for a surprise. They do not realize that the ultimate result of immorality is always bitter. [Our Daily Bread]
We can't afford to play with fire,
Nor tempt a serpent 's bite;
We can't afford to think that sin,
Brings any true delight.
Have you been thinking that sin is "Not so bad"? Think again. And take warning. No matter how pleasant and appealing sin appears, it always ends in destruction (9:18). Sin deceives, then defiles, then destroys.
III. TEMPTATION'S END (18).
There is no denying that sin is pleasant for a season (Hebrews 11:25). But those who follow the folly of sin are headed toward destruction (Proverbs 14:12). The teacher's final comment in verse 18 is telling. "But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guest are in the depths of Sheol."
Folly's seductive call is very successful for she receives many guests. But those who take the bait of pleasure seeking do not realize that they are dead. Like a man fallen into the sea sinks and soon losses consciousness, living but locked in mysterious sleep. Unless some caring soul quickly comes to his rescue, he is dead.
These guests accept folly's invitation and enter her chamber for pleasure but they find death. This is their end, "the depths of Sheol." Satan attracts with the sparkling cup and the promise of forbidden and hidden pleasures, but once in the inner chambers the naive and careless' eyes are closed in seduction until sin strangles their soul and they becomes wandering corpses. Folly's guest list will become the spiritual obituaries.
With this strong word the wisdom speeches of chapters 1–9 abruptly close. Their points on the wonder and worth of wisdom have been well made. Any hearer who makes the wrong choice or answers the wrong call has only himself to blame. The teacher's hands are clean. [Hubbard, David ; The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 15: Proverbs. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989, S. 138]
IN CONCLUSION
There is something hypnotic and intoxicating about wickedness. One sin leads us to want more as it feeds our lust, sinful behavior seems more exciting than the Christian life. That is why many people put aside all thought of Wisdom's sumptuous banquet (9:1-5) in order to eat the stolen food of Folly. Don't be deceived - sin is dangerous. Before reaching for forbidden fruit, take along look at what happens to those who eat it.
The student who enrolls in the school of wisdom—even though the course load may be demanding and humbling, graduates a wise person. The student who enrolls in the enticing school of the foolish, graduate as a fool. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary : Vol 2. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 201]
In his epic poems, Homer talked about the island where sirens—beautiful women with beautiful voices—sang. So melodic and haunting were their voices that sailors would head toward their island only to dash their ships on the rocks and perish in the process. Determined to hear the sirens without perishing, Ulysses commissioned a ship to sail to the isle of the sirens. Approaching the island, he instructed the sailors to put wax in their ears and to tie him securely to the mast. I see that tendency in myself sometimes. I know certain things are wrong, so I bind myself with the cords of legalism, rules, and regulations to keep me from doing them. But there's a better way.
A second Greek hero wanted to sail past the island of the sirens. He was a talented musician named Orpheus. When his ship approached the island of the sirens, the sailors steered toward it. But when he took out his flute and began to play, so beautifully did he play that the sailors became so fascinated by his song that they lost interest in the song of the sirens and sailed by safely.
Who is our Orpheus? Jesus Christ. Therefore, we don't have to bind ourselves or others with rules and regulations. The fear of the Lord is to love Him, to hear His song so clearly that the siren song of sin is drowned out completely. [Ibid. Courson. P. 201]
There are two voices calling out daily to you. One leads to peace and eternal life, the other leads to captivity and deadness. Which voice arrests your ear and allures your heart? Which feast excites your appetites? Whose guest are you?
When human kind lay senseless in a sea of sin, one watchful eye pitied them, and one arm stretched out to save. The Highest came down and walked into death's dungeon, proclaim freedom and heals those who respond. Evil spirits still resist the coming of Jesus, but when we are restored to right mind we will sit at our Savior's feet and love Him for His mercy, grace and faithfulness.
