Series in Proverbs - Lady Wisdom’s Obverse, Dame Folly

               

Lady Wisdom’s Obverse, Dame Folly

Proverbs 9:13-18

Last week Lady Wisdom had the invitations out, to all who would seek God’s way and His wisdom. This week I’m going to pass v. 7-12 until next week and teach Dame Folly’s beckoning compared to Lady Wisdom’s invitation. 

A friend and I at the end of High school, decided to go to a professional Wrestling Match at a place called the Cow Palace. Neither of us had ever been to such an event. Well the people who attended this event were rough, brash, vulgar, boisterous, and unruly. The leader of the brashness was a woman called Ringside Rosie. She yelled, spit, cursed at those in the ring and those outside. She was audacious, and very imprudent. And she led the large group of retirees in chants of mayhem to their delight. It is here we realized what simpletons we were.  This would have been my choice for Dame Folly, the impertinent antagonizer of the rink. 

Solomon definitely had seen such women in the description he gives to those he is warning and admonishing. So let’s read the first portion of the text.“Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, ‘Let all who are simple come to my house!’”

In the literal sense, maybe Solomon saw such women at the athletic games of the ancient world, but definitely in the streets of pagan cities where shrine prostitution was the norm in the pagan religious practices; and at the Ashtoreth poles that Ancient Israelites had placed at the high place throughout Israel and Judah.

First, her title or name lends to the acknowledgment of her moral rationale: foolishness, stupidity, vulgarity, and the immoral words can continue to flow, for she was given to immorality and that of the worst kind, prostitution and demonic idol worship. Not to degrade her as a creation by God in her mother’s womb, but she was possessed to be an antagonist of Almighty God’s Wisdom. She was controlled by unclean forces and drew others of the same moral mentality and ilk. Folly’s home was positioned at the highest point of the city, lending to the connection to the pagan shrines and rituals of the high places.

Second, it is interesting that her aim was to derail those that were walking the straight path or the moral way. Folly’s home and porch were situated to obtain the clearest view of the pathway of the righteous as well as those who were simple and ignorant. From there, She called out, clamoring in atrocious words to draw anyone away to her debased harlotry.

Now from the spiritual symbolism, folly is the hallmark of the simple and ignorant, the dull and obtuse. Solomon's comparison of mindsets and moral aptitudes between God and the world are clearly seen in his admonitions to his children. And there is a clear division between wisdom and folly. 

Application - I am fairly certain I was not the only simpleton as a teenager, and today the chasm between Godly wisdom and the foolhardiness of the wisdom of the world is still apparent. It was easy to see the teachings of Solomon to his children to stay far away from the clamoring of folly and its devious and nefarious end. 

Today, we see Folly has positioned herself on the highest points of the entertainment big screens, little screens, and the internet. She has a clear view into many of the places of education, labor, and industry. She also is heard in the halls of law and justice, or could one say the halls of lawlessness and injustice.

Folly has positioned herself on the worldwide stage as well in institutions previously mentioned.

So as a grand parent, parent, or guardian, we must admonish our children and many adults as well to the clarion call of Folly’s mindset and immoral and simple aptitude. God’s Word and His Wisdom is clear of the immorality that is blatant and perpetrated as the unabashed rights of the foolish and evil. Isaiah said it clearly, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20 KJV)

Last, Solomon lays it out to even the bases of readers and to those accustomed to Folly’s ways. Let’s read the final portion of the text. “To those who have no sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.”

Solomon in his later years understood the vices and the allure of intoxicating women and the sins that they draw you into. In the book of Ecclesiastes, he said that he held nothing back. “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure…” (Eccl. 2:10a NLT) Solomon had 700 foreign wives who in his latter years led him astray, (1 Kings 11) they allured him into idolatry and all that it implies. He turned his heart away from God and the straight path, to follow the clamorous voice of Dame Folly, and her way led to death, not life with God. 

Solomon used the proverb, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” to describe the fallacious claims of Folly. “Who will know! It will be fun! Come on live a little on the wild side! A thief is only sorry if he or she gets caught.” and “The benefits of something obtained while living the wild life, “O How sweet”. 

And as Solomon pinned, the end is death, an eternal death vacant from the presence of God, “But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.”

Those who went to her house were running into the realm of the dead, void of light and life. For those who took pleasure in her stolen water and ate of the forbidden fruit were excommunicated, cut off from God according to God. “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.” “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.” (Lev. 20; Deut. 22:20-21 NASB)

Application - Again, the folly of the world is spread like leaven in the dough. A little bit and the whole thing is consumed. But the world is controlled by the enemy of God, and he has blinded the world, desensitized the morals to vices, Folly is his girl on the street, in the market place, on the airways, and in entertainment worldwide. She found her highplace and aired her wares to the simple, the ignorant, and those desensitized to God’s wisdom. Folly’s slogan and motto haven’t changed, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” 

I remember someone using the illustration of two cups of water and one of them had poison in it. But you couldn’t tell it from just looking, you had to listen to the one who was warning you, for ignorance would kill you. It is the same for those who like “La Vida Loca” (the crazy life), they move through Folly’s door and partake of her poisonous fare, unaware that they are trapped in the snare of death, and those who frequent her house are eternally dead to the ways of God and wisdom’s call.

So I beseech you with Solomon’s admonishment, don’t go near Folly’s house, in fact do not look to the right or to the left, but keep your feet on God’s straight pathway to wisdom and eternal life. “Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Prov. 4:27 NLT)

As always, I want to conclude by presenting the gospel in the form of the basic principles of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ. For Jesus, God the Son, came into this world to save all who believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you; he is the light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and has given him all authority in heaven and on earth. He will answer you if you truly believe. If you haven't yet asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

First, A: Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a just God, and a change of heart takes place: we change our minds, and God changes our hearts and regenerates us inside and out. Romans 3:10: As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners, so we must be born spiritually to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.) Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death; in other words, our sin means we have been sentenced to death; we have the death penalty hanging over our heads; that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, lest anyone should boast. Secondly,

B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised him from the dead. This is trusting with all your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is righteous, and with the mouth confession is made and is saved. Third,

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every person who sees lThose who have lived since Adam will kneel andthey confessed with hismouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: “As I live,” says the Lord, “every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess to God.” Don’t wait, do it now. Romans 10:13 - For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “O God, I am a sinner. I repent of my sin. I want to turn away from it. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son; I believe that he died on the cross for my sins, that he was buried, and that you raised him from the dead. I have decided to put my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting in his shed blood alone as sufficient to save my soul and take me to heaven. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen.”

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please visithttp://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In Your Service Mike Davis

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