Lady Wisdom vs Madame Folly of Proverb 9

In Today's Proverb, there are two female figures, Lady Wisdom and Madame Folly. You can accept the lesson as one that compares a wise woman of virtue as mentioned in Proverb 31 versus an immoral woman of folly who tears down her home with her actions, as in Proverb 14. Or as I will share with you today, it's a lesson of good versus evil. The right way to live versus the wrong way to live your life. Either way, it's very common for God to teach us different lessons from the same passage throughout the Scriptures. Today, my commentary will be on the contrast between the woman of wisdom, or the good, (Proverb 9:4-6) versus the woman of folly, the evil. (Proverb 9:16-18).

"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 9:4-6

"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. Proverb 9:16-18

Here we see, “Lady Wisdom”, serving as the personification of God’s voice inviting us in to learn lessons from Him on how to be a righteous person. Compared to “Madame Folly”, who is mimicking the voice of God, as she lures us in with anything that might replace God in our life. All throughout our walk in the world, Satan will attempt to lure us into sin by disguising himself as an angel of light. This is what we see him doing in verse 16, as he uses the exact same words God used in verse 4. This is important to understand, because the essence of foolishness is living a life that is apart from God. Check out the contrast;

1.) WISDOM builds her house, but FOLLY just sits there, lazy.
2.) WISDOM offers us meat and wine, but FOLLY offers us bread and water.
3.) WISDOM speaks honestly, but FOLLY makes deceptive offers.
4.) WISDOM offers life/wisdom, but FOLLY deceptively offers life while concealing the death within her doors.

In the ancient near East, to invite someone over for a meal was to invite them into a close personal relationship. Here, both wisdom and folly are inviting us into a relationship. Who will we enter into a relationship with? The choice seems obvious, but in reality we find ourselves going back and forth from having meals a meal with Lady Wisdom and then a meal with Madame Folly. We treat our walk with Christ in the world like a smorgasbord. We will take a little bit of grace as we praise God, then grab a side of hostility for the idiot who disrupting our day.

Martin Luther King said that Christians suffer from a form of Schizophrenia. One moment we will be driving down the road praising God, as we loudly sing along to a song on the radio. The very next block, the same mouth that was praising God, will be cussing out a driver who cut out in front of us. Satan is trying his best to lure us away from God, and while we have moments of righteousness, we usually have a lot more moments of foolishness and self righteousness.

God knows the struggles we go through, He knows Satan is crouching at our door as he waits for us to struggle so he can pounce on us. This is why God has offered us His Wisdom to help guide and nudge us on our long road to the Celestial City. Like Christian, in “Pilgrims Progress”, there are many obstacles that Folly puts in our way to lure us into her kitchen. The pleasures of this world are at our fingertips, and even if we are strong enough to stay away from them, there are the pitfalls in life that Folly uses to bring us into despair. There's the “Hill of Difficulty”, the “Valley of the Shadow of Death”, and the “Road of Betrayal”. All of which we will need the Wisdom of God to help us arrive to our final destination.

So don't allow the traps of this world to cause you to lose the race. Trust in God's Wisdom, and lean on Him for support. Also, remember that in the times when Satan sends Folly your way, you have the full armor of God to protect you.

The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the "shoes" of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit Ephesians 6:10-18

Remember that Jesus Christ of the Proverbs is Wisdom. He calls on you to forsake your evil way and to follow Him. Will you persist in seeking only momentary pleasure, or will you choose the way of righteousness and peace which leads to eternal salvation? The Disciple Thomas asked Jesus, “How can we know the way?” Jesus responded;

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

I pray that those who have ears will hear the voice of the Lord and call upon His name for salvation and eternal life. May the good Lord bless you all, Amen.

Proverb 9 (NKJV)
The Way of Wisdom

Wisdom's Invitation
01 Wisdom has built her house,
00 She has hewn out her seven pillars;
02 She has slaughtered her meat,
00 She has mixed her wine,
00 She has also furnished her table.
03 She has sent out her maidens,
00 She cries out from the highest places of the city,
04 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!"
00 As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
05 "Come, eat of my bread
00 And drink of the wine I have mixed.
06 Forsake foolishness and live,
00 And go in the way of understanding.

07 "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
00 And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
08 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
00 Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
09 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
00 Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
00 And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied,
00 And years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
00 And if you scoff, you will bear it alone."

The Way of Folly
13 A foolish woman is clamorous;
00 She is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house,
00 On a seat by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by,
00 Who go straight on their way:
16 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here";
00 And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 "Stolen water is sweet,
00 And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
00 That her guests are in the depths of hell.

The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.

Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly. .

One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings. .

We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of putting leaders full wisdom in power, we instead chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us. .

Of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel wrote Proverb 31. Now many believe Lemuel was in fact King Solomon and Lemuel was just a nick name his Mother, Bathsheba gave him. We are told that Solomon write over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24. Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject..

Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one two proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.