Proverbs 9:1-18
"The Way of Wisdom"
What is Wisdom?
Where may it be found?
How can the simple become wise?
These are the questions which the book of Proverbs seeks to answer.
The first 9 chapters discuss the Way of Wisdom contrasted with the Way of Folly,
providing a road map to understand the rest of the book.
Chapters 10-31 are an assortment of the Wisdom of various Hebrew Wise Men,
but only the one who has learned wisdom from chapters 1-9
will understand how to apply their teaching.
The key image in these first nine chapters is the contrast between two women,
Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly.
The Book of Proverbs is to be read as a book written by a father to his son,
training him in the way of wisdom.
Solomon tells his son to decide which woman he will spend his life with--
Lady Wisdom or Dame Folly.
Life is portrayed as a road,
and as the young man walks down the road of life,
he must choose between these two women,
and pledge his life to one of them.
The father introduces his son to Lady Wisdom in chapter one,
and she warns him that those who reject her advice will destroy themselves.
Then the father goes on through the next three chapters extolling the beauty of Lady Wisdom
he calls her a tree of life to those who embrace her;
and tells his son that if he loves wisdom, and embraces her,
then she will honor him and protect him.
Then in chapters 5-7 the father warns his son against Dame Folly--the prostitute--
the adulteress--the wayward wife, who is faithful to none.
She promises love and secret passion,
but, the father says in 7:27,
"Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death."
Then in chapter eight the father brings his son back to Lady Wisdom
and she unfolds before him the blessedness of life in her house--
and declares that the one who finds her finds life,
and receives favor from the LORD.
So here in chapter nine, the final contrast is being drawn.
It is time for the young man to leave his house and begin his walk down the pathway of life.
Will he join Lady Wisdom,
or Dame Folly?
Let us start by looking at Dame Folly, in verses 13-18 of chapter nine.
Notice first that her house is at the highest point of the city.
That may not mean much to us at first,
but the highest places in ancient cities were reserved for temples and shrines.
So Dame Folly is not merely an allegory for physical adultery,
but more specifically, she represents idolatry.
And idolatry in ancient times usually included adultery with temple prostitutes.
Temple prostitutes would usually sit at the door of the temple,
waiting for a worshipper to come by.
During most of the history of Israel and Judah,
the high places were occupied by heathen altars.
Only rarely were they destroyed by the godly kings,
so this image would have been very familiar to the Israelites.
So you have a picture of Dame Folly sitting above the road,
calling the simple to come and enjoy her pleasures,
and to dine with her at the pagan festival.
These "simple" are said to also "lack judgment."
This means that they are neither wise, nor foolish,
but rather that they are in a dangerous middle ground--
a middle ground which will lead them to ruin unless they find wisdom first,
because as Proverbs 14:15 says,
"a simple man will believe anything,
but a prudent man gives thought to his steps."
To put it simply, to be simple is to be a fool just waiting to happen.
Dame Folly tells them in verse 17 that
"stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious."
This is not only referring to adultery,
but again, remembering that this is also an image of idolatry,
she is calling the sons of Israel to the secret worship of false gods,
"But little do they know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of the grave."
Ultimately, Dame Folly leads to death.
Her house is a house of death,
and all who dwell there will reside in the grave forever,
because the wages of sin are death.
Beware, my friends,
because Dame Folly is alive and well in America.
Too many of us are also simple,
and lack judgment,
and we are too ready to believe anything.
Has Dame Folly won a hearing in your heart?
Are there secret sins which you delight in?
Do you indulge in idolatrous thoughts, words, or deeds?
That may take a little explaining.
An idol is anything which you expect blessing from.
God alone is the source of all true blessing.
Anytime that you or I place our hope in receiving a blessing
from something or someone else,
we are committing idolatry.
Let me be a little more specific.
If you rest your hope for happiness in your husband,
your wife,
your children,
your grandchildren,
then you have turned that person into an idol.
If you are afraid of losing your children's affection,
then you have turned them into an idol.
If you are constantly controlled by what your friends think of you,
then you have turned them into your god.
Everyone puts their hope and trust into their gods,
everyone expects their gods to bless them when they do well,
and curse them when they fail.
For a long time I really wanted to get married--
I believed that if I got married, all my problems would go away.
Now all of you know how foolish that is.
But what had I done?
I had turned marriage into my god,
and my future wife was my savior.
I was looking to a woman to save me from my problems.
What do you really want in life?
Where is your heart centered?
I don't mean where should it be--I mean where is it?
What do you find yourself thinking about in your spare time?
What do you daydream of, when you are alone?
What do you most naturally think of?
Is it oriented around the grace of God in Jesus Christ?
or is self-centered, self-promoting, and self-indulgent?
If it is the latter,
That may signal the fact that you are listening to Dame Folly,
and have not yet learned the path of wisdom.
Is there any hope for you?
Let's go back to verse one of chapter 9.
Because Lady Wisdom has built a house as well,
and she sends out her maids and calls from the highest point in the city--
for she too is in a temple,
and she too is inviting the simple to a feast.
But this temple is God's temple.
And this feast is God's feast.
This is not stolen water,
or food eaten in secret,
this is the food and drink of Wisdom herself.
If you eat and drink with her,
and leave your simple ways,
then spend your life with her at your side,
walking in the way of understanding.
For this is the way of life.
But Lady Wisdom will have nothing to do with a mocker,
neither will she welcome a wicked man--as she says in verse 7.
Rather,
she will rebuke the wise when they falter,
"rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
"instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
"teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning."
Listen, my friends, to Lady Wisdom.
For she points you to the way of life in verses 10-12:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"
If you fear what others think of you,
you shall prove yourself a fool.
If you fear what the Lord thinks of you,
you shall find wisdom,
for his judgment is true.
"and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
There is nothing in all the world more crucial than knowing God.
Wisdom and understanding are all rooted in him,
therefore if you don't know him,
then you are a fool.
if you do know him,
then you have access to all the wisdom in the world.
"for through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.
"If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
"if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
The wisdom that comes from God is a wisdom that brings life,
and such wisdom brings contentment in all things.
This contrast between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly, however,
ought to lead you to despair.
How many of you stop at the house of Wisdom every single night?
How many of you have left your simple ways,
and learned wisdom from her?
Or are you still wandering back and forth,
spending one night with Wisdom,
and the next with Folly?
That is why Jesus Christ--the Wisdom of God himself--
came as a man--born of a woman--so that he himself would walk the path of life.
And as he walked that road,
Dame Folly called to him as well.
In the temptations,
when the devil called him to the ultimate act of idolatry--
bowing the knee, and worshipping Satan himself,
it was the voice of Folly.
But Jesus Christ was the Wisdom of God,
and never did he enter the House of Fools,
but rather he turned and refreshed himself in Wisdom's house,
trusting in his Father, and being strengthened by the Spirit.
He not only knew what needed to be done,
but he knew how to do it.
And so for our Lord Jesus Christ, Proverbs 9:10-11 is true,
"the fear of Yahweh his Father, was the beginning--the foundation of his wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One was understanding."
And because he followed the Wisdom of God, his days will be many,
and though he died,
he also rose again,
and infinite years will be added to his life.
Remember that Jesus said,
"destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days."
Jesus Christ has become the true temple of God,
and so Jesus now stands at the highest place--
and the highest place is found at the right hand of the Father--
and Jesus calls out,
"Let all who are simple come in here"
"Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
"Leave your simple ways and you will live;
"walk in the way of understanding."
Jesus calls you to dwell in his house,
to heed his wisdom,
If you do this, you will live.
Where can you find this spiritual food?
Jesus Christ has spread his table for us in the Lord's Supper--
where he offers us himself as the only sustenance for our souls.
Jesus said in John 6 that his body was real food and his blood was real drink--
and it is that food and drink which you are offered
in the reading and preaching of the Word,
in the sacraments and in prayer.
But it is particularly in the Supper that Christ spreads his table
and invites us to his banquet,
where we proclaim his death until he comes,
and where we look forward to the great banquet in the New Creation.
And as you feed on him in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving,
know that you are feeding upon the Wisdom of God--
and remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom!
Wisdom is knowing how to live in God's world.
If you wish to be wise, you must forsake Dame Folly.
Because Dame Folly is trying to get you to worship other gods.
She is trying to steal your heart away from Jesus Christ.
You must have nothing to do with her.
Instead you must turn to the Wisdom of God himself--Jesus Christ--
and you must submit yourself to his teaching and his rebuke.
You cannot play games with Folly--
she is far too crafty and subtle.
There are two things you must do if you wish to be wise.
First, cling to Jesus Christ--the Wisdom of God.
Second, shun Dame Folly,
and stay far from her doors.
This is really the same thing which Paul teaches in Colossians 3
about putting to death whatever belonged to our old nature.
The old word for it is "mortification."
We must mortify--that is, put to death--
everything which belongs to our flesh--our ordinary, everyday desires,
but we must also put on Jesus Christ, and his righteousness.
The two go together.
You cannot simply fight against sin,
but you must also replace it with Christ.
Putting off the old must always be followed by putting on the new.
So if you are putting to death some old sinful habit,
you must replace it with something good--something pure.
[I remember a couple years ago I had a huge cavity in the back of a tooth.
I didn't do anything about it for several months--
and frequently I'd get food stuck in there,
which only made it worse.
If I had gone in immediately I could have gotten a filling,
but rather than replace the emptiness with something wholesome,
I kept procrastinating--
telling myself I couldn't afford a trip to the dentist.
Finally I went to a dentist and he looked at it and told me I needed a root canal.
If I had waited much longer, he said,
the whole tooth would have been dead and rotten.
That's the way it is with sin.
If you keep feeding it and nourishing it--
letting food get stuck in between the cracks--
then decay will set in,
and it will be much more costly to deal with it in the future.
I have shown you all summer that according to the word of God,
Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin.
Sin is no longer your master.
Jesus Christ is the Great Dentist,
who has removed our plaque,
cleaned away all our tartar,
and given us new teeth.
Therefore,
mortify the flesh,
put to death whatever belongs to your old way of life.
In other words--
stop drinking all that spiritual soda--
the carbonation is bad for your spiritual teeth!
Stay away from those tempting chocolate bars--
eat a healthy, nourishing, spiritual diet.
Feed upon Jesus Christ.
He is the only spiritual food that will bring life.
All other spiritual food brings spiritual death.]
But I also have a word of warning.
If you choose to put sin to death,
know that your old masters--the world, the flesh, and the devil,
will not be pleased.
That is why you cannot simply deal with one sin at a time.
You must deal with them all at once.
You are not simply dealing with individual sins,
individual sins are only manifestations of sin itself
--the power which used to be your master.
Sin doesn't care which particular sin you commit.
So if you do battle with greed,
your anger may flare up.
If you try to put anger to death,
slander may slip out of your lips.
Lady Folly will let you kill one sin;
And as long as she still has a hold on you,
she won't mind your squirming.
No,
you must wage war with SIN--
all of it--
all the time.
And as you put to death the deeds of the flesh,
fill them immediately with pure, holy, and righteous things.
For example,
if you have a habit of saying hurtful things to someone in your family,
first, repent and ask forgiveness from God,
second, repent and ask forgiveness from that person,
and third, replace that bad habit with a good one--
love, encourage, and honor that person whenever you can.
In this way you will have learned from Lady Wisdom,
and also you will have spurned the temptations of lady Folly.
And in all these things,
keep your heart and mind fixed upon Jesus Christ,
the Wisdom of God himself.
And if you feel helpless--
as though you were the first mate on a ship of fools--
remember James' words in James 1:2-5
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of various kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask of God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him."
Jesus Christ is the true Wisdom of God,
Whoever finds him, finds life,
and receives favor from the Lord.