Call Wisdom Your Sister

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Sunday - 9:15 AM Sunday School, 10:30 AM Worship Service

by: Denise Robinson

11/06/2020

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Today's verses are written from a father to a son about what he sees when he looks out the window, particularly when it comes to relationships between the sexes. The young men appear to act without thought or sense, while the women act intentionally and seductively. Can these verses be discarded by us as outdated? Are they the product of thinking that blames the woman and casts the man as a victim? Or is there more to the story? First, read the words; then we'll return to the message.


"My child, keep my words .. keep my commandments and live .. bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, that they may keep you from the loose woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the simple ones, I observed among the youths, a young man without sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house .. at the time of night and darkness. Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home .. at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and she says to him: “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you! I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen; I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning .. For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He .. will not come home until full moon.” With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter .. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life. And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. For many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims. Her house is the way .. going down to the chambers of death."  (Prov. 7)

In thinking about these verses, it might be helpful to remember that wisdom, in Proverbs, is a woman who speaks in a woman's voice. Wisdom walks in the streets, calls out to those who would listen, begs for attention. Now, at night, comes another type of woman who has made herself attractive, who also begs for attention, and who tempts with "foreign" enticements (Egyptian linens, perfumes, etc.). The older person (parent) who is counseling his children warns of the dangers of going down a path that seems easy and attractive - but is the opposite of what wisdom (knowledge, insight, understanding) has to offer. One way will lead to death; the other to life. What is the advice being given? Keep my (God's) commandments and live; write them on our hearts; stay close to wisdom and insight; don't listen to those who would call us away from God.

Meditation suggestion: Solomon uses a male-female example to make his point. What other example might you use instead? Advertising? Social media? Television shows? The voices of friends or perhaps even family? What steps can you take to minimize the impact of those voices so that you hear the voice of Wisdom more clearly?
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Today's verses are written from a father to a son about what he sees when he looks out the window, particularly when it comes to relationships between the sexes. The young men appear to act without thought or sense, while the women act intentionally and seductively. Can these verses be discarded by us as outdated? Are they the product of thinking that blames the woman and casts the man as a victim? Or is there more to the story? First, read the words; then we'll return to the message.


"My child, keep my words .. keep my commandments and live .. bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, that they may keep you from the loose woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the simple ones, I observed among the youths, a young man without sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house .. at the time of night and darkness. Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home .. at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and she says to him: “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you! I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen; I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning .. For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He .. will not come home until full moon.” With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter .. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life. And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. For many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims. Her house is the way .. going down to the chambers of death."  (Prov. 7)

In thinking about these verses, it might be helpful to remember that wisdom, in Proverbs, is a woman who speaks in a woman's voice. Wisdom walks in the streets, calls out to those who would listen, begs for attention. Now, at night, comes another type of woman who has made herself attractive, who also begs for attention, and who tempts with "foreign" enticements (Egyptian linens, perfumes, etc.). The older person (parent) who is counseling his children warns of the dangers of going down a path that seems easy and attractive - but is the opposite of what wisdom (knowledge, insight, understanding) has to offer. One way will lead to death; the other to life. What is the advice being given? Keep my (God's) commandments and live; write them on our hearts; stay close to wisdom and insight; don't listen to those who would call us away from God.

Meditation suggestion: Solomon uses a male-female example to make his point. What other example might you use instead? Advertising? Social media? Television shows? The voices of friends or perhaps even family? What steps can you take to minimize the impact of those voices so that you hear the voice of Wisdom more clearly?
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