Year 2, Day 300: Proverbs 9

Invitation

I’m going to go a bit off track in the beginning.  I have a topic that is related to this Proverb, but not really directly about the proverb.  As I was reading through this chapter I noticed that here it says that wisdom sends out her maidens.  However, I know in the prior chapters it was wisdom herself that called out to the world.  This idea of multiple invitations by multiple invitees got me thinking of the parables in the New Testament where there is a prior invitation given and then the master says to His servants, “go out and invite and tell the invited guests that the banquet is ready.”

You see, in ancient contexts it was common for the master of the house to send word to friends and neighbors telling them that a feast was being planned.  Then, when the feast was ready, the master would send the servants to the invited people and tell them to come.  In a sense, we do this today when we send out “Save the Date” cards for parties like anniversaries and weddings.  We tell people in advance of the party to get ready; then we invite them in when the party is actually ready.

This is what God has done in Christ.  God sent His Law and Prophets to prepare the world for salvation.  Now that salvation has come into the world through His Son, salvation is ready to be received.  God now sends His followers out into the world to tell the world that the feast is ready.  We are the ones who declare to the world that God is ready to receive us.  God has prepared a table for us.  God is waiting with open arms for us to return to His table.  Much like the maidens of wisdom who do the follow-up invitation to her banquet, we do the follow-up invitation to the world for God’s banquet.

Before I leave this topic and return more diligently to the study of this specific proverb, let me offer a warning.  You don’t want to continue to ignore invitations.  We never know which invitation may be our last.  We never know when the banquet doors will be shut.  Heed the invitation from God; heed the call from his servants.  Come to the banquet now while the time is ready.

Simple

Okay, let’s turn to the proverb.  Notice to whom wisdom calls.  Many Bible translations use the word “simple.”  This doesn’t necessarily mean dumb.  Simple is a word that has more in common with “naïve” than “dumb.”  Simple is a word to describe an attitude rather than an intellectual condition.

If we look at the proverbs as a whole, we can tell that this is true.  How many times thus far in this book have we heard about the scoffers?  How many times have we heard about the fools who mock wisdom’s call?  God and His wisdom are more concerned with one’s attitude and approach to wisdom than they are concerned with mental capacity.

That is really what the middle third of this proverb is about.  The simple and those who lack sense can come and grow at wisdom’s table.  However, the scoffer abuses those who try to help him by sneering or poking fun at their ideas.  The wicked only look to take advantage of those who would come and offer support.  The fools don’t even know enough to accept the help when it is offered!

God’s primary concern with us is our attitude.  Do we humbly come to His table acknowledging that we are naïve?  Or do we scoff at His invitation?  Perhaps we simply look to take advantage of His love and mercy?  Maybe we ignore Him, not even realizing that we don’t understand what He has offered to us?  Much of our Christian walk has to do with analyzing our attitude and preparing ourselves to respond to God in the first place.

The Wise Man And The Foolish Man

As we conclude this chapter, we hear about the wise man.  The wise man accepts correction.  The wise man is always looking for ways to gain understanding.  The wise man understands the role of God in their life.  The wise man knows that it is only through God that our days are multiplied and it is only through God’s blessing that we find true satisfaction.  Again we see that wisdom is more about attitude than intellect.

We also turn and look at folly.  I’m not going to say much here.  But I will say this.  We know folly because it is loud and boisterous all the while not actually saying anything of particular relevance.  We know folly because it promotes living in inconsistent ways (stealing and doing things in secret).  We know folly because it promotes the glorification of one’s desires rather than the humbling of oneself.

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