Proverbs 8:1-4
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call out; ...
The book of Proverbs is all about the contrast between the fool and the person who chooses wisdom. “Folly” is personified mostly as an immoral woman or the adulterous. In the above portion of this chapter, “Wisdom” is personified, also, as a woman. Chapter seven through chapter nine should be read as one section. In chapter seven we see “folly” standing on the corner, attempting to entice the naive young man:
Proverbs 7:10-12
And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
Folly is at “every” corner in “every” street. Her goal is to entice us to succumb to her waywardness. But, as chapter eight opens, we see that wisdom is also at every corner, every height, every city gate, at every entrance. We can be assured that anywhere we turn, God has provided wisdom for those who search for her in faith. Wisdom is a gift of God that He provides to those who ask in faith:
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
When we are “double-minded” we ought not to expect to find God’s wisdom. Wisdom is crying out but can’t be seen by those who are walking in the flesh and have the choice of folly on their hearts. We can’t live in folly and hope to access the fruits of wisdom.
In contrast to folly, Lady Wisdom is calling out in the most obvious places, it is almost impossible to miss her. Note where and when folly cries out:
Proverbs 7:6-9
For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
Wisdom is not in the dark. At the “entrance” of the city was the most important place of the city. The city gate is the city’s commerce. Above the walls (the heights) was so all could see her. Folly attempts to tempt us in the dark, Wisdom portrays herself in the light. By faith we can have wisdom. She calls out to the children of men.
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