Proverb 5:15-19

 The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about temptation and the war between folly and wisdom:

Proverbs 5:15-19 (ESV)

Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets?

Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love.

In proverbs five we have a further description between Folly and Wisdom.   Folly is crying out to fall into her inducements.   God’s response to the cries of Folly in the street is to focus on what God has already provided you, in Christ.   The word picture used in chapter five of Proverbs (and in many other passages in the book) is the using of a prostitute and/or adulterous woman to personify “folly” and to use the virtuous woman to personify “wisdom.”   So, in chapter five you have both the teaching about how a young man should stay away from a tempting female, but you also have the instruction on how to avoid any folly in life.   In the case of the first (how to avoid a tempting woman) Solomon would know much about.  He was married to several women and had many concubines (women for sexual pleasure and so the man could produce more offspring).  In the above words he writes that the way to avoid the adulterous woman is to focus and take great pleasure in the woman you life of your youth (presumably his first wife).    It is somewhat hard to wrap your brain around this as even though Solomon writes this, he obviously did not practice what he preached.   

However, the real take-a-way of this passage is to understand that he is really talking about folly vs wisdom.  His point is that sin (folly) can tempt us and the antidote for that is to fall back in love with the beauty and advantages of wisdom.   Christ is, of course, wisdom (1 Corinthians 2).   His point is that when folly gives us her temptations, we can turn and see the wonders and glory of Christ.   Let’s not get sucked into folly’s traps.   Christ offers amazing glories.   Note:

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jesus Christ is the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.