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Wisdom And Folly


          Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.“Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment. “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.  Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.” 
          The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 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 in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave. (Proverbs 9:1-18) 

          From Solomon's perspective, both Wisdom and Folly are women who live at the highest point of the city. Both offer the same invitation: "Let all who are simple come in here."  Both even offer a sample of their wares. From there, the descriptions could not be more different. Wisdom built her house. She even hewed out is seven pillars. She has prepared meat, mixed wine and set the table. She sent out her maids; she has servants. She is industrious. The previous chapter (Proverbs 8) is Wisdom's resume and vision statement. On the other hand, Folly is described as being loud, undisciplined, without knowledge and sitting. She has a house, but the only clues we have about where the house came from or who built it is her statement that "stolen water is sweet."
         Can we fail to see the similarities with the culture today, in which we are told that it is right to take from the fortunate. Some think that because the government takes it from the fortunate and gives it to the unfortunate, that it is not stealing. No one really knows where it comes from, the unfortunate simply receive it. What they receive, however, is not something they have earned. Not something to which they truly have a right. It might be sweet. It might be delicious, but it is not the way wisdom or of wisdom. The disintegration of our society proves the folly of this approach.

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