Proverbs 9 TWO WOMEN Chapter nine of the book of Proverbs is the conclusion of the first section of the book which has to do with a father instructing his son to seek wisdom. Wisdom is personified as a woman which was planned by the Holy Spirit to better deal with some of the sensitive issues addressed. The life principles given to young people in these chapters are certainly applicable to people of every age, but the focus is on the time of life when people make personal choices which will affect them for their whole life.
There are two contrasting subjects which are seen in the appeal of a good woman called Wisdom, and a wicked woman called Folly or Foolish. The appeal of the good woman is in the first six verses. The next six verses are the response of a wise man, and the last six verses, the response of a fool. The contrasts are obvious between wisdom and foolishness. Wisdom appeals to the mind; folly to the senses. Wisdom lasts; foolishness gives in to temporary pleasures. Wisdom is open to the public; folly is private and underhanded. Wisdom leads to life lived as it should be; folly leads to death and hell.
Wisdom is presented as a wealthy woman who has a great house to which she invites all to come into. This house has seven pillars which speak of perfection and strength so it will not fall, and all who enter will be safe. She has a wonderful meal prepared and it is spread out on the table with all that is needed to satisfy a hungry soul for any and all who will partake of that meal. The invitation goes out, and is delivered personally by those who serve wisdom. The invitation is publicly offered so that “whosoever will may come,” is the same at the house of wisdom as it was in the feast the Lord spoke the parable about when He was here. God has prepared enough for every man, woman and child in the world at the Gospel feast. Preachers and servants are all over the world calling out to the people to come.
Wisdom calls to people who know their limitations and their need. Wisdom directs her call to them, wanting the simple, gullible people who need help to find that the Lord is the One who can give it. He is true Wisdom. When people don’t know, and know they don’t know, wisdom is there for them. When people don’t know, and don’t know they don’t know, they are in danger. When people don’t know and know they don’t know, and don’t want to know, they are lost souls. The same scenario as was at the wedding feast in the parable the Lord taught, is here. The door is open. The feast is prepared. People are invited to come, and they all can come if they choose to. Attendance is not forced on anyone, but the decision to attend is a personal one. If they would stop going in the way of fools, and would choose to go in the way of wisdom, they would understand what life is all about, and be willing to follow the life principles taught in the word of God.
But a problem arises when a teacher seeks to correct the fool. Even though the teacher is a wise man who knows from experience what is right and tries to help simple person understand, the foolish young man turns on the teacher and mocks him. He scoffs at the morality he teaches. He refuses the instruction that would help him. He even insults and hates the wise man. A wicked man will mock truth, especially if it is from the Bible in which the divine standards of God are unchanging. Righteous living is not popular and those who speak against people of integrity, honor and virtue use “smart remarks” against those who want wisdom. “Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth,” they say, “So you mind your own business and I will mind mine.”
How do you handle criticism? A wise person will listen to the one who rebukes and corrects them. They learn from that criticism and choose to walk in the way wisdom points. Wisdom begins with God. To know God is eternal life. Then we learn from God who gives insight as to how we are to live guided by the principles of living that come from the One who created life in the first place. To know God is to have a respectful and reverential relationship with Him. The more we know Him; the better life gets.
When one rebukes a scoffer of the Lord, His laws and His word, the scoffer will hate him or her. A wise person will respond in just the opposite way. That person will love the one who cared enough to correct him. Not only will he appreciate being corrected, he will learn from the correction and will take what has been said and apply it more and more to the decisions and actions he makes. The result will be that he or she will increase in knowledge and will see ways to use that wisdom on their own initiative. The truth of verse ten is a similar repetition of chapter one and verse seven. The response to the teacher who corrects and instructs, is first to trust Christ as personal Savior. Not only is it wise, it is reasonable, because from this beginning, “the fear of the Lord” comes the on-going blessing of wisdom, the increase of spiritual knowledge and the understanding spiritual maturity brings.
Such a positive response to divine instruction will draw you closer to the Lord, will separate you from sin that will bring death earlier in life because of an ungodly lifestyle. Long life comes best when there is purity, holiness and wise decisions – all of which find their source in “the fear of the Lord.” If one is wise, they will choose wisdom and greatly benefit from wisdom all their life. If one mocks the way God intends us to conduct ourselves in life, there will be lasting consequences from which there is no escape.
The last six verses are the response of a fool to a noisy wicked woman. Wickedness is like being intoxicated. Once it starts, we want more, and sinful behavior becomes more exciting and hypnotic to fools. The banquet of wisdom is healthy, wholesome and life sustaining. The table of the wicked woman, folly, is stolen food, deceptive, forbidden and dangerous to those who eat of it. Foolishness or folly seeks out the same people that wisdom calls to. The foolish woman does the same things wisdom does. She doesn’t know any more than the simple fools she is trying to seduce. She is a loud-mouth, pushy and ignorant, but insistent in her deliberate deception.
The deceiving woman makes herself obvious in the public, desiring to attract attention. She begins first at her own door, and then goes to high public places where she will be seen and heard. Those who pass by doing their business, know who she is and keep on going. They are not turned aside by her wiles. But the simpleton, young fools who are idle and are like her, may be taken in and deceived by her attractiveness. She uses the same tactics as wisdom but for a very different reason. Lies and deception often use the same techniques as those that messengers of God use to present the truth.
Seduction and the lust of the eyes were used by the devil to tempt Eve and cause Adam to sin against God. It brought death then and it still does. It appeals to the sinful nature of human beings to try to get something for nothing, or to try out something that is forbidden. Getting away with something illegal and forbidden attracts the perverse fallen nature of man. But there are fatal consequences when one falls into the trap of promised passion, sexual indulgence and the excitement of doing what one knows is wrong. They try it anyway in spite of the warnings of wisdom. Deliberately going into sin is much easier to get into than out of. The consequences ruin a good, honorable life, and if not repented of and forsaken, will end in hell.