Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: In college, my friends and I, we used to play a game. I don't know if this is a common game. I thought we made it up. But someone else may have also made it up. We called it supper swap. We called it supper swap. Has anyone ever done such a thing? No. Supper swap is something we would do occasionally, anywhere from 5 to 15. However many of us were willing to play that day, we would each go out and buy supper.
You would try to spend as close to $10 as possible.
Now, at the time, that was a hefty meal. That might not get you so much now, but it was a hefty meal at the time. $10, you'd return to someone's house. Usually it'd be me and my roommate's house at a certain time. And then we would each draw names.
If I draw Gabriel's name, I get the supper that he bought. And that's your dinner. It's a simple game, really. It's kind of just. You don't know what you're going to eat, so someone else picks it for you. Sometimes you would get a little food. Maybe it's disappointing and mediocre. Maybe you get the KFC in Stillwater, which is not good. Or maybe you get Brahms, and you get a bag of burgers. Actually, you'd get two bags of burgers. That's 10 burgers.
I got that one time. So you could go anywhere from a little food to a feast, anywhere in between.
Well, tonight, wisdom and folly. We're in Proverbs 9. They are beckoning to the hearer, to the reader, and they're offering famine or feast, they're offering them both. But this is not a random draw. You don't draw a name and randomly become wise or become foolish.
No, this is a path that you must choose.
You must choose the path of wisdom, which is the path of Christ. You must choose the feast that wisdom is offering.
So we now turn to Proverbs 9. And if you haven't yet, now's a good time to flip there.
This is the last chapter, this introductory portion of Proverbs we're about to read from here on out, from chapter 10, basically through 30 or through 29, and then a little bit, 30 and 31. We get a lot of seemingly isolated, pithy little statements of wisdom.
And by now we know, or I hope we know, that choosing wisdom and avoiding foolishness is far and away the obvious choice.
This is what the teacher, the sage, the parent is trying to impart to his son in this book, is to choose wisdom. And it seems obvious as we read it now, but here we are, we're having this final plea from Wisdom and Folly, both in the same poem, which is the first time they're both speaking within the same poem. Now, you might have a subtitle thrown in the middle of this chapter, but that doesn't really do it justice. This is all one unit that goes together.
And so this structure to the poem is also very interesting. So I feel like I need to explain a little bit so we know what we're about to encounter before we read it. I want to do it justice. So we're going to read the whole chapter. It's 18 verses, so it's one of the shorter chapters. We're going to read the whole thing, but when we work through it, we're not going to go in order. We're going to kind of jump around.
You see that? Verses 1 through 6, they form another antithesis with verses 13 through 18. Do you guys remember we had an antithesis two weeks ago in Proverbs 8?
So we see another one now. I don't know how much you guys pay attention in your, what would it be, English or literature classes, but an antithesis is really just comparing or contrasting two mirror opposites. And so that's what we have. They're portraying opposite realities, opposite universes, and they end in completely opposite locations. They end in life and death, wisdom and folly. They're compared in this way.
And then we actually have this sort of confusing paragraph in the middle. Verses 7 through 12. When we read it, you might notice it stands out a little bit. It doesn't seem quite to fit. And more liberal theologians like to believe that this was inserted later. So someone, just an editor, just put this in because they wanted to. I don't think that's true. And in fact, I think it fits with the context. And the fact that it's in the middle of these two opposing signs of wisdom and folly makes us see this as something that's emphasized. It is made prominent by being placed in the middle. So we're actually going to end with verses 7 through 12 when we work through it. So that's kind of the structure and the layout. The main idea, which I have a lot of on your sheet, the main idea of Proverbs 9 is this.
Since the call of wisdom leads to life and not death, the wise and the simple ought to listen to her voice rather than the voice of folly.
I'll say it again.
Since the call of wisdom leads to life and not death, the wise and the simple ought to listen to her voice rather than the voice of Folly.
Let's read Proverbs 9.
Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town. Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. To him who lacks sense, she says, come, eat my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and live and walk in the way of insight.
Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse. And he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you scoff, you alone will bear it. The woman Folly is loud. She is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house. She takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way. Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. And to him who lacks sense, she says, 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 Sheol.
So the first point this evening is dealing with verses 1 through 3 and 13 through 15. So you can look down at your Bibles 1 through 3, 13 through 15. And this first point is this. Wisdom walks, Folly talks.
Folly just talks the talk, whereas Wisdom walks the walk. You may know this saying, I hope so. Look at what these two are doing, and let's contrast them. Wisdom, she built her house. She made those pillars, which implies that her house was a large and grand house.
She prepared a meal. She made wine. She set the table.
This contrasts sharply with Folly, who's just described as being loud.
She's not working, she's loud. She's seductive. She doesn't know anything. She doesn't build or prepare. She sits around her door or in the city calling out.
She is sluggardly. That means she is lazy, while Wisdom is diligent.
And this is a consistent theme between Wisdom and Folly throughout the book. Proverbs 10:4 says, A slack hand causes poverty but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Likewise, Proverbs 31, verses 15 and 17 says, she rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
Wisdom is diligent to work and prepare, but folly merely talks and makes promises, empty promises that she cannot keep when there is work to be done.
And here we can see that wisdom is an image of Christ. Wisdom is an image of the one who works.
You must be diligent to follow and obey what is written in this book. But the beautiful and freeing truth about this book is this. Jesus said, I glorified you, Father, on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. John 17:4 and when he was about to die on the cross, he uttered the words that we all know, it is finished, referring to this accomplished work, this John 1930 the work was finished.
He accomplished the work. He obeyed these proverbs on the behalf of sinners.
Jesus had come not to abolish the proverbs or the law, but to fulfill them, Matthew 5:17 and he finished the work.
This is why Paul can write about him in Romans 5. So Romans 5:12, 17, 19.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous.
Christ's obedience, his active obedience, his doing of the work, makes salvation possible. In the first place, he frees us from the chains of having to live up to the standard that is often set in Proverbs.
Jesus keeping the law, doing the work that we so desperately needed and yet fail to do, is the only way that we can be saved from the penalty we so surely deserve.
And so, as the voice of your conscience calls, as the voice of temptation calls, mimicking the voices of wisdom and folly, each vying for your allegiance, recall who has done the work.
Recall Christ in those situations, whose promises will you trust? The vain empty promises of temptation or folly, or the sure and steady and true and eternal promises of the one who did the work and fulfilled it all.
When you make decisions on conscience and temptation, consider where you stand.
Let me explain. It's not very clear. One of my closest friends in the whole world, while we were in college, he was saved by God. He did not grow up a Christian, but he was saved in college. This friend, while we were friends first, he also kind of looked to me in a way as a mentor spiritually.
In fact, we really only had a couple other Christian friends in our fraternity.
He wanted to kill sin. He wanted to live a godly life.
But he was in particular still tempted to many sins, as we can probably all relate for him. Specifically, he was tempted to drink and get drunk.
I remember him confessing to me one time that he had gotten drunk the night before and I asked him, where were you and who was there?
And when he answered that question, he knew the implication. Those guys had no interest in helping him. In fact, they were the voice of folly. They were the voice of temptation.
So are you with godly friends that will help you flee temptation, even just one? Or do you find yourself in these situations with a bad crowd or alone, which can also be dangerous?
And so consider your community, who you are with, if you have faithful friends alongside you.
This is one way that we can respond to these warring voices of wisdom and falling.
Now look at verses 4 and 5 and 16 and 17. 4, 5, 16, 17. This is point number two.
Wisdom calls with integrity.
Folly calls with dishonesty.
Notice that wisdom says to the simple people walking by, she said she offers what she has prepared.
We know she's made food and wine and set a table.
Her works were done to bless others.
Contrast that with folly, who promises what she cannot actually give. Again, these are empty promises. It is a promise that must be fulfilled by someone else's work. That's why she offers stolen water rather than fresh made wine. She offers a secret bread, which might remind us of Genesis 3. If you've been coming to our worship services on Sunday mornings, you might remember this. The serpent made empty promises to Eve, deceiving her to eat the forbidden fruit. See, the serpent was sneaky and dishonest and led even Adam to destruction.
The serpent told lies and made empty vain promises that he knew wouldn't be fulfilled. At least not the way that Eve was perceiving them to be fulfilled. Folly operates in the exact same way. Satan's strategy has not changed, is the exact same.
But why is it that stolen water is so sweet and attractive to us?
Well, because in our sin, in our sin nature, we are Basically all kleptomaniacs.
But why would you steal? Why do you intentionally relegate yourself to being nothing more than a raccoon dumpster diving for trash, when Isaiah 55:1 2 promises this come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food.
You need no money to buy what wisdom is offering, what Christ offers because the work has been done. You don't need money, you don't need works. Your works, frankly, can't afford the feast anyway.
You have no money, but don't scavenge for trash.
Partake of the free feast offered in Christ. It is totally free.
Now look to verses 16 or, sorry, verse 6 and 18.
So these are the last verses of this antithesis.
This is point number three. Wisdom is life, folly, death. Wisdom is life, folly is death.
These two verses provide the oh, do you have a question.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: About the wording?
In verse 6 it says, Leave your simple ways. In verse 4 it says, Whoever is simple, let him come here. And in verse 16 it also says, whoever is simple, let him turn in here.
It. It feels like it's saying that simpleness is foolish. But in Psalm 116, verse 6, it says, the Lord preserves the simple. Why does it say that?
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Well, the simple are the states of all people. It is not an inherently wicked thing to be the simple. See, the wisdom and folly are both calling to the same people. These are people that are responding. Now, we are simple, right? Christ is the wisdom of God. The wisest man is foolisher than the foolishness of God. Paul says in First Corinthians. And so in some contexts he preserves and saves the simple. And in fact, that's what wisdom is trying to do, too. She's calling to wisdom, or calling to the simple that they may be preserved, they may be saved by Christ, so that I think those go work well in harmony. Does that make sense?
[00:18:51] Speaker B: Yes.
Are you reading an ESB Bible?
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: In verse 13. This is just one last question on the simpleness. It says, the woman of Pauli is loud, she is seductive, and I have a like number one on this that says, or full of simpleness.
So that was kind of what turned my mind.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So in the Hebrew words used, there are the same root.
However, just because it's the same root doesn't mean it is the exact same translation. The gloss of that particular word can work differently in different contexts. And so it's been translated that in other translations.
Now let's get back to thank you for asking these questions. Let's get back to where we were.
Verse 6 and verse 18 work as the climactic end of this antithesis.
Choosing to feast with wisdom ends with life. And choosing to scavenge with folly ends with death.
Sheol, which is referenced in verse 18, is known as the place of the dead. And so, in no uncertain terms, the destiny of folly and all who choose to dumpster dive with her is death. But that is not the end of it all. It is not the end of their existence. This death is lasting.
What Sheol was was temporary for now. But Christ will come again, and when he does, the living and the dead will be judged. May have heard that said, the living and the dead. And so those in Sheol who are found not clothed in wisdom or in Christ's righteousness are thrown into eternal death, where the stolen water will not be sweet and the secrets of bread will never satisfy, not even for a moment.
But notice the contrast.
Wisdom's offer ends with life.
It ends with life. Think of that. How does that work?
In what sense can life be considered the end of something?
When we were conceived now you don't remember this when you were conceived. Do you imagine that people were celebrating the end of something?
No, they're celebrating the beginning of your life. They're celebrating the beginning of something.
But the end of choosing wisdom is really a beginning of life. Eternal is the beginning of something new that lasts. And if you believe this is true, then the way in which you live should be affected by the end. Everyone's life, our ultimate end, eternity, should flavor how we live. The decisions we make, the thoughts we think, the way we speak, the things we do. Everything should be flavored by the end of it all. And ultimately we must remember this, because the way of wisdom, the way of Christ, leads to life.
Now let's look at this Middle paragraph, verses 7 through 12.
This is point number four. The marks of wisdom and folly.
The marks of wisdom and folly. But we'll read through these verses again just to refresh our minds.
Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse. And he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you scoff, you alone will bear it.
The focus now turns away from the student or the Son that we've heard so much about, from the Father, from the teacher to the student. It is now to the teachers, to the wise sages.
So the subject or the person being spoken to kind of changes here, which is maybe why people are confused. And these teachers are told, basically, don't waste your time with scoffers.
Don't waste your time. They should instead correct and reprove those who have at least some measure of humility and wisdom. And on one level, this makes perfect sense, right? The humble wise will receive and listen to correction, so your words won't be wasted, but the foolish scoffer won't. They won't listen. There's basically no use.
But I think from a Christian worldview, sometimes we might struggle with this idea. Should we not have compassion on the scoffer?
Should we not share the love of Christ with the scoffer?
What do you think?
Here's a verse that might help us a little bit. Jesus said, do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Matthew 7:6.
Now, not all people are scoffers. I think we can understand this by noting, first, not all people are scoffers. Second, not all unbelievers are scoffers.
I believe that the scoffer in Proverbs 9 that we're reading about now is roughly the same group as the dogs and the pigs that Jesus references in Matthew 7.
They are those people who are especially hostile and vitriolic toward the Gospel. They are those people with whom you probably can't have a coherent gospel conversation with.
Of course, we must remember it's not our job to judge who is the wise and the scoffer beforehand. I can't walk by someone on the street and be like, that guy's probably a scoffer. I ought not share the gospel with him. That's not for us to do. First, share the gospel. This is not killing ministry. It is helping us with ministry. Share the gospel. Be as patient as possible. Be compassionate. But at some point it might become evident that someone is a scoffer. Now, if you don't think such a person exists, I can Tell you some stories. I think they do exist from times on the streets, from times in college.
Their hearts are full of bitter hatred toward God. This is just the simple fact. Some people's consciences have eroded to a point of no return. They hate God, they hate the Bible and the church, and nothing you can do in particular can pierce their heart.
They must have a miracle.
Only a miracle would changed their disposition.
Do you have another question?
Is it quick?
[00:26:47] Speaker B: Yes, very quick. Okay, but Jesus says that he didn't come for the healed. He came for the sick because the healed under his doctor. So shouldn't we not just give up?
[00:27:04] Speaker A: I don't think I'm saying to give up. However, I think the context of those are quite different.
When he's saying the healed, he's really referencing people that are actually not healed. He's referencing the people that are self righteous. Well, if you are self righteous, what? My gospel is not for you anyway because you are trying to earn righteousness yourself, which of course we know is a perilous and useless endeavor that can never be attained. And that's who he's referencing when he says the healthy don't need a doctor. That's why I've come to be with the sick, the sinners. He was being criticized for spending time with sinners. We're not giving up on the scoffer. To be clear, what we do is pray.
But if you are wasting your time talking to someone who is a scoffer, then you are not preaching the gospel to the open hearts and instead pray and wait for God to open that heart. That heart might be opened down the road to someone else.
And so we're not giving up, but we are taking what the Lord gives us in due time.
So I think that is how we should handle it.
Now, if you find yourself tonight realizing or knowing that you have not put your trust in Christ, then I think all this should be good news for you. Because if you are wondering this and if you want to seek the Lord, then you are not a scoffer. You don't have to worry about this being something like, oh, what if I don't want to be a scoffer, but I am. That's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen.
If you earnestly seek the Lord with a genuine heart of repentance, then Christ will reveal himself to you.
So fear the Lord and seek the knowledge of God. And that, verses 10 and 11 should seem pretty familiar to us. If you look down, look, the fear of the Lord is The beginning of wisdom. This should remind us of the thesis of this book. Remember, I called the thesis Proverbs 1:7. Proverbs 1:7. This is from the very first lesson, so this is early in the semester. This verse says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. You must trust in the Lord with a holy reverence for him, meaning that you view God as highly as he deserves to be viewed.
He must be supreme in your life. He must be above it all. Your top priority. You should consider how to please and obey God before you do anything. So before you dive headfirst into a sport, into band or hobbies or friendships or other things that will keep you busy, you should consider how you can prioritize God in that that is something so overlooked, you should ask yourself, does it honor God if I have to miss church consistently for something? Does it honor God to ignore reading the Bible for the sake of doing homework or for reading or for playing video games?
What should it look like for you to honor God as the top priority in your life? There is where he is sidelined. For your own selfish gain.
Be wise, students.
For if you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you scoff, you alone will bear it. Now, that last verse in this section, verse 12, is interesting because it seems so individualistic, whereas so much of the Bible is corporate.
So much of the Bible is addressed to people, nations, communities, clans, churches, groups of people. But this one puts the responsibility on you.
It puts it on you and you alone.
Galatians 6, 7, 9.
Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows that will he also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.
But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
And let us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season we will reap. We do not give up.
You will reap what you sow.
Now, this should be actually very refreshing news to those of you who might feel like your family is cursed. This might be a foreign concept to you, but it is not uncommon to feel like there is a generational curse.
Your family.
There's no such thing as this. The sins of your father or your mother or your cousins or your grandparents or whoever are not tied to you. You are free of those. And if God so pleases, he can pluck you out of any sinful family community that he so pleases, he can pluck you out of families that are scoffers even.
But this means that for those of us who might be banking on our family's church attendance or church membership, or our parents, faithfulness will be sorely let down. Because your sins are on your own head.
It does not matter in the slightest how faithful your dad or your mom is. If you scoff, you alone will bear it.
You are responsible for yourself, your sins.
There is no earthly scapegoat, even if you've had it particularly difficult. But there is a scapegoat. But it is Christ alone, the One who did the work, who accomplished it, who offered his life that through faith you can live through Him.
But you are responsible. So turn and choose Christ in faith. Choose wisdom, not folly, and you will surely receive eternal life. Let's pray.
Father God, we pray this evening and ask you that for those of us who do not know you, that we would be compelled to turn and choose Christ God. We pray and ask that as we read the Proverbs, you would consistently point to areas that our life is not aligning with that of Christ God, that even through the Proverbs, if we are not following you, you would reveal to us that we are not God. Make us holier unto you through this book, Lord, help us to digest and understand your word more. As we break into our small groups, we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
