Think about this ... “Proverbs 9 continues the contradistinction between the Wonderful Woman of Wisdom (WWW ) and the whorish woman of woe (www). In this chapter, the WWW ‘has built her house’ and ‘has hewn out her seven pillars’ (v. 1). She has ‘killed her beasts … mingled her wine … furnished her table … sent forth her maidens’ and now ‘cries upon the highest places of the city’ (vv. 2-3). In other words, the WWW has prepared a banquet for her guests. Her guests are the naive and senseless (v. 4). She invites them all to join her banquet and ‘eat [her] bread, and drink [her] wine’ (v. 5), ‘forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding’ (v. 6). On the contrary, the ‘foolish woman’ or www is boisterous, silly, and ignorant (v. 13). She sits at her door house and on the high places of the city calling passersby telling them that ‘Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant’ (vv. 15. 17). Her target guests are ignorant of her deadly schemes and that ‘her guests are in the depth of hell’ (v. 18). There are interesting similarities between the WWW and the First, both the WWW and the www prepared a banquet for their guests. Whereas the WWW invites her guests to a banquet of righteousness for life, the www induces her guests to a banquet of sin unto death. Second, both the WWW and the www extend their invitation on ‘the high places of the city’ (vv. 3, 14). Hence, both invitation are simultaneous in time and place. Therefore, the guests actually have to make a choice between them. Third, both have the same audience. They invite those who are simple and lack understanding (vv. 4, 15). They sell different products to the same people. Fourth, both depend on words to persuade their listeners to come their way (vv. 3, 15). In between the two women are the two groups of guests: the wise and the fool. The wise follow after the WWW (v. 6), detach themselves from the fool and yield to knowledge (v. 6). They accept rebuke and love those who rebuke them (v. 8), receive instruction and grow in wisdom (v. 9). They understand that to fear God is to begin to be wise, to have understanding, to increase life, and that they are the first beneficiaries of their own wisdom (vv. 10-12). Adversely, the fool yield to the www, love the fool and hate knowledge, detest rebuke and abhor those who rebuke them, hate instruction and fail to grow in wisdom. They lack the fear of God, are the primary repositories of their own foolishness (v. 12). Their fate ultimate is death (v. 18). The difference between the wise and the fool is in the choice they make to follow after either the WWW or the Unfortunately, too many even among believers today still prefer the call of the www to the plea of the WWW. From childhood, they learn how to hate rebuke and those who rebuke them. They develop the habit of resisting wisdom and prefer foolishness until it is crystallized in their psyche. They have yielded to the www so many times that now they can’t resist her call anymore. Like Eve and billions in human history, they fail to understand that no one can have a conversation with the devil and remain wise and pure—only Christ did and at the greatest cost! It is high time for all—especially those who profess to be believers—to learn how to acquaint themselves with the WWW and be safe and saved. It is high time for the fool of this world to seek and secure the wisdom from above and live. It is high time to feast at the banquet of the WWW and live eternally. Is this your sincere desire and earnest prayer? How is your relationship to the WWW and the www? Do you have the full assurance that you are wise in, for, and by the Lord? Have you consciously or unconsciously yielded to the www in the past? Let go … Let God … Allow Christ in and savor abundant life daily! Why not kneel and talk with God now?” Pr Christian E. Ekoto, Personal Morning Devotion Reflections on Proverbs 9:1-18 on August 9, 2014
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 23:51:39 +0000
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