Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Proverbs 7:11

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 folly’s characteristics:

Proverbs 7:11

She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not remain at home;


What does folly look like?   Solomon, in chapter seven, gives us one of the best looks at folly and her seductive ways.  In this particular proverb we see an unusual characteristic of folly.    Solomon gives us three aspects that should warn us about her ways.  The first is that she is "boisterous".  Note how he says the same thing in this proverb:


 Proverbs 9:13 (ESV)

The woman Folly is loud;

she is seductive and knows nothing.   


He states she is LOUD!!  Folly can be deceptive and secretive.    However, in most cases, as here, she is loud.  She wants people to see her, hear her, and embrace her.   She will not be hidden and stuck in a closet.   However, folly is also "rebellious."   She does not tolerate or stand under law.  She wants her own way and her own laws.   She will not submit.   Lastly she has no “security.”   When the last line says she will "not remain at home" we must understand that this is Solomon's way of saying that Lady Folly has no security or place to lay her head.   She doesn't want something to hold her down, like a home.   She sees a 'home" as permanent and stable.   Folly is not stable.  Folly offers only transitive life.  It offers only temporary satisfaction.   If we hope to resist folly we must identify it when it comes around.  Folly is today's entertainment: It offers nothing stable, is full of noise and doesn't succumb to rules.  Folly is today’s political structure:  It offers nothing stable.  Folly is today’s societal whims:  They offer nothing stable.  Folly is today’s work world:  It offers nothing stable, only a hamster wheel going no where.   Folly offers but does not deliver because she is loud, rebellious and unstable.   

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