The Way of Wisdom
9 Wisdom
has abuilt
her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 bShe
has slaughtered her meat,
cShe
has mixed her wine,
She has also 1furnished
her table.
3 She has sent
out her maidens,
She cries out from the highest places of the city,
4 “Whoever dis
simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who
lacks understanding, she says to him,
5 “Come, eeat
of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Forsake
foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding.
7 “He who
corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked
man only harms himself.
8 fDo
not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
gRebuke
a wise man, and
he will love you.
9 Give
instruction to a wise
man, and he will
be still wiser;
Teach a just man,
hand
he will increase in learning.
10 “The ifear
of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding.
11 jFor
by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12 kIf
you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if
you scoff, you will bear it
alone.”
The Way of Folly
13 lA
foolish woman is 2clamorous;
She is simple, and
knows nothing.
14 For she sits
at the door of her house,
On a seat mby
the highest places of the city,
15 To call to
those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
16 “Whoever nis
3simple,
let him turn in here”;
And as for
him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 “Stolen owater
is sweet,
And bread eaten
in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does
not know that pthe
dead are there,
That her guests
are in the depths
of 4hell.
a
[Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9, 10; Eph.
2:20–22; 1 Pet. 2:5]
e
Song 5:1; Is. 55:1; [John 6:27]
i
Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7
k
Job 35:6, 7; Prov. 16:26
The New King James
Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982,
S. Pr 9:1-18
We
have come now to the place where wisdom has opened school. The young man is
matriculated into the school of wisdom, and we are thankful for that.
Everything is prepared, and we are able to look into this school. The school
bell is about to ring.
THE COLLEGE OF
WISDOM
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her
seven pillars:
She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine;
she hath also furnished her table.
She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the
highest places of the city,
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him
that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I
have mingled [Prov. 9:1–5].
Wisdom
has builded a house. This is the College of Wisdom. Note there are seven
pillars. Those seven pillars represent to me completeness. The school offers
a complete education all the way through to the graduate course and the
Ph.D. degree.
Let’s not minimize the importance of a good education.
There are some who like to point out the Lord Jesus chose for His disciples
twelve men who were not educated men. I have had many letters, one in
particular from a man who took me to task for using the title of Doctor. He
pointed out that none of the twelve had a doctoral degree. May I say that an
earned doctoral
degree represents years of hard work, and I believe that the person who has
earned the degree is entitled to use the title. I will freely admit that one
does wonder at some things in our educational system. I know a young man who
is working on his master’s degree in history. He is told to forget about
dates and individuals, in order to get the
flavor of a particular age—the life-style and
the attitude of that period! Now I admit that that is a pretty slippery type
of education. I believe that facts are important. And I know we still have
some very fine schools, which are working on that principle.
As far as the education of the apostles is concerned,
anyone who spent three years with the Lord Jesus Christ was not uneducated.
They learned a great deal from the greatest Teacher the world has ever seen.
And, of course, the apostle Paul was well educated in the schools of his
day. No one could say that he was an ignorant man. Let’s remember that
wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He can give you a complete education.
“She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine;
she hath also furnished her table.” Now it is time to come to school and
start feasting on the courses that have been prepared.
“She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the
highest places of the city.” What a picture is given here. May I remind you
that we have the same invitation in this age. A wedding feast has been
prepared, and the invitations go out to all the invited guests saying that
all things are ready. Many of the guests decline the invitation. Then the
servants go out into the highways and byways with the invitation to the
wedding feast (Matt. 22:1–14). It is interesting that wisdom must go out
into the highways and byways to invite people to come in. And we are to go
out on the highways and byways. Our message today is: God is reconciled to
you; now you be reconciled to God. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye
reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). In our day the Word is probably going out
more than it ever has in the history of the world. The invitation is going
out to the ends of the earth to come to the school of wisdom, that is, to
come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of
understanding [Prov. 9:6].
There are those who will not hear. They are the scorners.
There is no use wasting your time with them. In practically every church you
will find a little group that will resist the Word of God. Are we to keep on
giving the Word of God to them? No. The Lord Jesus said not to cast our
pearls before swine. Now notice the next three verses. Some Bible expositors
think they do not belong here, that they have been inserted. But, my friend,
this is exactly where they do belong.
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame:
and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a
wise man, and he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet
wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning [Prov. 9:7–9].
If you give the Word of God to some people, they will
actually hate you for it. This is a pattern that has been true down through
the ages. There are people who are so shallow, empty, and ignorant that they
will not receive the Word of God at all.
In our day we hear about the man who is liberal in his
theology and how broad-minded he is. Did you know that it is the
“broad-minded” liberal who has put religion out of our schools? They call
the fundamental people bigots. I’d like to know who is the real bigot!
Frankly, I don’t mind evolution being taught in our schools if they will
permit me to teach the Bible alongside it. But the broad-minded liberals
will not allow that. Regardless of the degrees they hold, they are ignorant.
They have narrow minds when they are not willing for the Word of God to be
taught. The general rule is that the less a man knows, the more he thinks he
knows. I have never met a liberal yet who didn’t think he was a very smart
cookie. He thought that he knew and understood it all; yet he doesn’t
understand. The more a man really knows, the more he will recognize his
ignorance and his limitations. One of the truly great preachers whom I have
known—and I think he had one of the best minds of any man I have ever
met—often said, “The more I study the Bible the more I recognize how
ignorant I am of it.” My friend, you cannot study the Bible without
realizing how ignorant you are of it.
However, the scorner has no interest in learning the Word
of God. You waste your time by giving it to him.
The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of
wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding [Prov. 9:10].
Perhaps you are saying,
We’ve had this verse before. Yes, when the
little fellow was in the home, the first lesson he was given was the fear of
the Lord. “The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction”
(Prov. 1:7). Now he has entered the college of life and the college of
wisdom; he is in his freshman year of the university of understanding, and
this is his first lesson: “The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of
wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” That is where we
all start. If you haven’t started there, you haven’t started, my friend. A
man is a fool (which is what this book will say) to live without God in this
world.
In our contemporary society we are so concerned with
safety—safety on the highway, safety in the home, security for old age. We
carry insurance for all these things, and we make sure our premiums are paid
up. That is the wise thing to do. But, my brother, what about eternity? Are
you making any plans; do you have insurance for that? Oh, how foolish it is
to live this life without God! “The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.”
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years
of thy life shall be increased.
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but
if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it [Prov. 9:11–12].
If you want to be smart, then make preparation for your
soul for eternity. If you are going to be a scorner and ridicule all of
these things, well, you are coming up for judgment. This may sound crude,
but somebody ought to say it: you are on your way to hell. “If thou scornest,
thou alone shalt bear it.” If you are determined to go on in your own way,
you will be the loser.
The town atheist in a place where I preached said to me,
“You know, preacher, I don’t buy this stuff about eternal life and trusting
Jesus and all that sort of thing. It may be all right for some folk, but I
don’t care for that.” I answered, “Let’s suppose you are right and there is
no eternal life, then you and I will come out at exactly the same place. But
suppose I am right and you are wrong. Then, my friend, you are in a pretty
bad spot.” Another atheist said, “I would be content if it weren’t for the
awful fact that the Bible may be true.” Yes, it may be! And if it is, it
will be an awful fact for anyone who turns his back on God.
THE SCHOOL OF THE
FOOLISH WOMAN
A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and
knoweth nothing [Prov. 9:13].
You
see, foolishness runs a school also. There are a lot of those around today.
For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in
the high places of the city [Prov. 9:14].
She doesn’t have to go out on the highways and byways to
invite folk in; they come
to her. Thousands are going to schools like this!
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for
him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
pleasant.
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that
her guests are in the depths of hell [Prov. 9:16–18].
Oh, how many so-called wise men have turned in there and
found a tragic end! It was Lord Byron who wrote toward the end of a life of
debauchery:
My days are in the yellow leaf;
The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone!
Byron had everything this world can offer—good looks,
genius, fame, wealth, and yet he said, “the worm, the canker, and the grief
are mine alone!” That is what the school of the foolish woman did for him.
A famous movie star here in California had been married
to several of the beauties of the world during his life. The other day, as
an old man, he committed suicide, leaving this note: “I am bored with life.”
How tragic.
May I say to you, foolishness still runs a college, and
there is a long waiting list of those who clamor to enter. “But he knoweth
not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible
Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997,
c1981, S. 3:34-36
9:1 seven pillars.
The significance of 7 is to convey the
sufficiency of this house as full in size and fit for a banquet.
9:2 mixed her wine.
Cf. 23:29, 30. Wine was diluted with water as
much as 1 to 8, to reduce its power to intoxicate. It was also
mixed with spices for flavor (Song 8:20). Unmixed wine is called
strong drink (cf. 20:1; 31:6; Lev. 10:9; Is. 28:7; Luke 1:15).
9:3–5 The
call of wisdom is not secret, but public.
See note on 1:20, 21.
9:5 Come, eat … drink.
Cf. God’s banquet call (Is. 55:1–3; Luke
14:16–24; Rev. 22:17).
9:7–9 Wise
people receive reproof and rebuke with appreciation; fools do
not.
9:10 The fear of the
Lord.
See note on 1:7.
9:11 See
Introduction: Historical and Theological Themes.
9:12 Every
individual is responsible for his own conduct, so that the
choices we make affect our own lives.
9:13–18 The
feast of folly is described as offered by the foolish hostess.
Note the contrast with lady wisdom in vv. 1–6 and similarities
to the immoral woman in 7:6–23.
9:13 clamorous.
Cf. 7:11, 12.
9:17
Forbidden delights sometimes seem sweeter and more pleasant
because of their risk and danger.
9:18 hell.
See note on 1:12.
Like the adulterer, the flattering words of folly lead to death
(see 2:18, 19; 5:5; 7:21–23, 26, 27).
MacArthur, John Jr:
The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville
: Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Pr 9:1