9Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.
10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
13The woman of folly is boisterous,
She is naive and knows nothing.
14She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
15Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
16“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
17“Stolen water is sweet;
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
As we continue, let me be frank. I despise wisdom. Better said, my carnal flesh hates wisdom. It (my flesh) is diametrically opposed to the things of God and the fear and love of the Lord. And thus as such, we have a problem. In verse 9 “Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.” This is to say the righteous man (or woman) in the eyes of the Lord will receive instruction and be wiser. What is not said is how they would receive this instruction. In my opinion. it can potentially be from anywhere but for true admiration and understanding of the Lord, it must stem from His Word! Therefore, if you are to receive the instruction given, your wisdom will increase therefore equipping you to do more, see more, be more effective in Him!
Next, as follows in many walks of life, “10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Apply that to any number of situations, vocations, callings, employs, extracurricular activities, or even vacations! Fear Him in the King that He is but love Him for the kind and approachable friend He can be! That I believe is perhaps something that I have missed too often. I see Jesus high and lifted up on His throne, all too often though removed from the approachable position as a friend. I sing “what a friend we have in Jesus” from afar because if I really believed that, I would crawl up in His lap and rest. And I mean this in no effeminate manner. But just simply to rest. To gain true understanding (from Him) and rest.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.
How to understand this? Honestly there are days I no longer want to live on this earth. I’ve had enough, I’ve seen enough, I’ve done enough, I’ve bled enough, I’ve taken enough. Or so I thought. Then I look to the cross and see that He bled and died for ALL that I have ever done and all that the world has done. So, to see that my days will be multiplied seems to be an opportunity the Lord provides to use you and I further as a blessing to others potentially. Not that we are or necessarily will be. Rather it is yet another offer of mercy and grace by the Father to extend His forgiveness to all who will call on Jesus’s name!
As a warning “12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.” I have taken this multiple ways, but I believe the correlation in Galatians 6:4-5 is best “But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.” You’re boasting, your gloating, your good ideas, and your follies and failures you will be responsible for. The good news is that despite my failures and yours, we can have that debt paid in the light of Christ’s forgiveness and grace. Not that humanity’s debt is paid automatically but for those who surrender to the greatness and grace of Jesus, their debt is paid in full!
13 The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing.
Remember this woman of folly mentioned before? Now we are formally introduced. She is כְּ֭סִילוּת (stupid), הֹֽמִיָּ֑ה (boisterous-loud, growls), naive (to be spacious, wide or open (פָתָה) perhaps better said for today “open-minded” when it comes to the existence of many paths to heaven. Further she “knows nothing.” Now do we have any points of similarity with this personification of open-mindedness and today’s culture? Too often you hear the phrase when passed away loved ones come up in conversation, “well at least he/she is in a better place.” To make that true assessment, the person must have trusted in the Savior Jesus Christ or else they are going to be burning in torment for not trusting in the only Savior. This is why it is no laughing manner and there is no life wasted for all humans should hear the salvation story of Jesus Christ!
14 She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city,
She (Ms. Folly) sits at the doorway of her house but the high places of the city. Ms. Folly is sitting at the doorway to conduct her business of impropriety. She is allowed to construct her place of business in the city because man (as in man and woman) are drawn to sin. Further, it is in the high places because in part we all are drawn to our pagan sinful desires. In borrowing from a more recent cinema experience, Kylo Ren from Star Wars states “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. It’s the only way to become who you were meant to be.” I’ll spare you the spoilers, but at least in that scene his reasoning was sound. If you are bound by your past, understand you live in the present and can be destined for an eternity of joy with Jesus. However, this is only if you have placed your trust and hope only in Jesus! Forsake the high places of the city and cling to Jesus!
15 Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight:
It may seem an odd place to stop mid-thought, but this passage resounded with me this morning. The target of the woman of folly is not only those who seek her. It is those also who pass by her and are attempting successfully to make their paths straight! Do you know who this might be? You and I if you have trusted in Jesus! Those the woman of folly is targeting is those who in their daily walk are being conformed to His image (cf. Romans 12). It is exactly those who are attempting to seek the higher things, the narrow way, the smaller door. That is who the woman of folly is crying out to.
Friend, if you are on this path and finding it difficult to scale the heights, hold on to Him! This photo below it just before my wife and I peaked out over the Blue Ridge valley below from Sharp Top.
Blessings as you go!
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