Wisdom vs Folly's Invitation Proverb 9

Wisdom's Invitation She cries out from the highest places of the city, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, "Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding. Proverb 9:3b-6 Folly's Invitation On a seat by the highest places of the city, To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way: "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here"; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, "Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant." But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell. Proverb9:14b-18

Advice from Wisdom vs advice from Folly is continually compared throughout the proverbs. We’ve seen these analogies often, but one thing that stands out in this chapter, is not so much the difference, but the similarities.

Satan often imitates God to lure us in. After all, when you put out poison to kill a rodent, you do not use 100% poison, you only use enough to kill them. So you use 99% of a type of food they like, to lure them into eating. Once they eat, they get the 1% of poison that will kill them.

In chapter 9, both wisdom and folly throw themselves at those of us who are simple and those who lack sense. So each are available to all of us. Both sit in “the high places in town,” so they are equally accessible to all of us. The difference is in what they are offering and the type of life that results in following each of them.

Wisdom offers insight and multiplication of days while folly offers material things such as sweet water and bread that already is ours, but by being lured away with material goods of the world, we can be led straight to hell. I take this as another way of saying that we need to chase after insight and not just stuff, because if we are following God's precepts, the rest will follow as a reward.

I pray that those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of the lord Jesus Christ.
Amen