We have noted in earlier devotions that we can interpret Proverbs 9 using two different occasions for the background of the chapter:
1) Two banquet invitations: one hosted by a woman of godly wisdom and the other by a foolish woman.
2) Another practical application could be an invitation to two schools—the University of Wisdom and the School of Folly.
We have noted Wisdom’s invitation to the University of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1-9) and have begun our study of a foolish, adulterous woman’s invitation to her Banquet or School of Folly.
Proverbs 9 consists of 18 verses; therefore we will consider only one proverb for today’s devotional thought.
Proverbs 9:13 – “A foolish [silly; sluggish; fatheaded; lacking godly wisdom and discernment] woman is clamorous [loud and raging]: she is simple [silly; easily led astray; she is narcissistic and indulges in sinful pleasures], and knoweth nothing [values nothing of lasting or eternal value].”
This parable is a portrait of an adulterous, flirtatious woman. Stripping away the glamor Hollywood has tried to bestow upon her, we see the adulterer for who she is—a foolish, cantankerous, loud and self-indulgent woman who lives for a moment of pleasure with no thought to the emptiness of her soul. Either she has desensitized her moral conscience with sin or her parents failed miserably to instruct in her moral values.
This is the world we live in—a generation that rejects God and despises good (Romans 1:21-32). They have contempt for God and take pleasure in sin. Like the rich fool, they party today and are blind to the fact they may die tonight (Luke 12:13-21).
What about you, my friend? Whose invitation have you accepted—the wise or the foolish?
Copyright 2014 – Travis D. Smith