Lesson 2: The Two Ways (Proverbs 1:7-33) 10

Lesson 2:

The Two Ways

(Proverbs 1:7-33) Introduction Two dangers are predominant in the firstnine chapters of Proverbs: the per­versity and violence of wicked men, and thewiles of seductive women. Both of these are found in the second chapter:

To deliver you from the way of evil, From theman who speaks perverse things;

From those who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the way of darkness;

Who delight in doing evil, And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters withher words;

That leaves the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God;

For her house sinks down to death, And her tracks lead to the dead;

None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life (Prov.2:12-19).

In this message we will deal with thefirst danger--that of perverse men. In our next lesson, we will study the twowomen: Madam Folly and Dame Wisdom.

At first glance it seems incredible thata father would find it necessary to warn his son about the solicitations ofviolent men to join them in their life of crime. Several factors, however,incline me to take this danger much more seriously than I might otherwise do.Let me begin with some of the reasons why such a lifestyle would be appealingto a youth.

A Natural Inclination First, children, while sometimes sweetand innocent, have a natural inclination toward cruelty. When I finished myfirst year of seminary, we returned to our home state of Washington to spendthe summer there. The grade school principal contacted me and asked me tofinish out the year for a mature woman who had been a fine teacher for manyyears. For some reason she began to lose her control of the class. This fourthgrade class sensed her weakening and instead of coming to her rescue, set outto totally devastate her. They were successful. There was a fair measure ofcruelty in their actions. Children, as we know, can be especially cruel toother children too.

Violence is Attractive Second, violence has an attraction foryoung people, even those who have been raised in a warm and loving home. Alittle while ago I read an article on the family of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.It described the life of the Nelson family during the years the program was ontelevision, as well as the life of David and Ricky since. The thing that caughtmy eye was that Rick joined a group of “hoods.” The writer said this of Rick’snew associations: “Most of his fellow hoods, Ricky later explained, ended up injail and went into bigger things--like armed robbery.”

Violence is a Way of Life Third, violence is a way of life forAmericans. The media is saturated with violence. A recent study revealed thatviolence on television has increased 33% in the past year (1981-1982). Theincidence of violence on the American television screen is four times greaterthan that of two Canadian networks. The television heroes are men of violence. The toys our children playwith are often implements of violence or war. Perhaps even the electronic gamesmay be considered violent in nature.

All of this should bring us to anawareness of the appeal of violence in our culture. Yet this violence, accordingto the Book of Proverbs, is a part of the evil way which we are to avoid. Letus carefully consider this danger as we approach our study.

A Father’s Instruction

(1:8-19) Verses 8-19 are addressed to a son who isyoung and inexperienced and who is, as yet, relatively innocent. Wisdom speaksthrough the parents of the lad, his mother and father (v. 8). I understand theyoung man to have reached his teen years, the point at which he is facingadulthood and has to make decisions on his own. At this point in life he isinclined to look more to his peers than to his parents for guidance and direction.He will normally begin to question the values taught by his parents. The fatherurges his son not to forsake what he has been taught and to avoid the evil wayadvocated by at least some of his peers.

The intention of the father’s wordsrecorded here is preparative and preventa­tive. The child has not yet beenapproached by evil men, but that may soon come. In the words of a contemporaryproverb, “a stitch in time saves nine.” I believe it was Mark Twain who said,“It’s easier to stay out than to get out.” This father is attempting to sparehis son the heartache of choosing the wrong way by following the wrong friendsand forming unwise associations.”

A Father’s Appeal Verses 8-10 contain the appeal of thiswise father in the most general terms. Both mother and father have faithfullytaught this lad, and that instruction should not be carelessly set aside as theboy begins to experience a greater measure of independence and outsideinfluence. Positively stated, adherence to parental teaching will beautify andenhance any child (assuming, of course, that the parental instruc­tion has beengodly).

Sweet and innocent as children may oftenbe, there is natural inclination toward foolishness and rebellion in the heartof every child (cf. 22:15). Consequent­ly the parents’ words are not what achild himself is inclined to think. Parents of teenagers will probably agreewith me that parental teaching and standards of conduct are thought to be a“pain in the neck,” not an ornamental and beautifying chain about the neck (v.9).

The assumption underlying the appeal ofthe father in this chapter is that wisdom is largely conveyed to a childthrough his parents. But at this point in the life of a young man, thatassumption is often challenged. Have you ever had the distinct impression fromyour teenage child that it is you who are naive, while the child issophisticated and worldly-wise? Parents are never so backward or ill-informedas during the teen years of their children. Our children roll their eyes andmerely tolerate the ideas and ideals as an anachronism from the days followingthe Flood. The father urges his son not to allow this youthful and erroneousmentality to control his thinking.

What Evil Men Offer Verses 11-14 move from the general to thespecific. In verse 10 the child was urged to reject the enticement of thewicked. Now the father forewarns his son in a much more specific way bysupplying him with the substance of the appeal. The words “Come with us. . . ” in verses llff. are spoken by the father, but they arethe essence of the appeals which will shortly face the young lad who must copewith peer pres­sures. This wise father knows what his son will soon face andhis words are prophe­tic.

The godly parent can learn from theinstruction of this father. Our inclina­tion is to say something like this toour children, “Now, Johnny, when I was a boy . . . ” To ourchildren that is mere history, and it seems to have little relationship totheir lives. Our children cannot fathom the fact that “nothing is new under thesun.” To them, we are the product of another dispensation, and our experiencesin the past have no direct connection with them. This wise parent does notspeak of the past, but of the future. When sinners approach this son, as thefather knew they would, they will show the lad how right his father was. Manyof us who are parents have not come to appreciate the value of knowing thetemptations our children are facing and of preparing them to meet them beforethey come alone. Usually we procrastinate and face problems only after theyhave reached crisis proportions. We can learn from the wisdom of this father.

Let us look more carefully at what it isthat evil men offer our children and which they find so appealing.

(1) Group Acceptance and Identity The first enticement is that of groupacceptance and identity. In the teen years children establish their self-esteemmore in the way their peers view them than by what their parents think of them.The result is a tremendous sensitivity toward what their peers think, and astrong inclination to be accepted by their own age group. Peer pressure isnever stronger. The sinners who entice the young man, I believe, are those whomthe child wants to impress, and are probably near his age group or a littleolder. Within the group there is acceptance, significance, and security--all ofwhich the youngster craves.

Have you ever noticed that people will dothings as a part of a group that they would not consider doing as individuals?Mass demonstrations and riots are examples of how group pressure can be used topromote what is evil. That is not to say that all group involvement is bad, forgroup pressure can work for the good as well as evil. In Hebrews we read,

And let us consider how to stimulate one anotherto love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is thehabit of some, but encoura­ging one another; and all the more, as you see theday drawing near (Heb. 10:24-25).

The evil is not in group involvement, butin involvement with the wrong kind of group, with those who entice us to jointhem in doing evil.

(2) Promise of Material Gain The second enticement of sinners is thepromise of material gain:

“We shall find all kinds of precious wealth,We shall fill our houses with spoil; Throw in your lot with us, We shall allhave one purse” (1:13-14).

Prosperity is never considered evil inProverbs, unless it has been gained by sinful means (10:2; 13:11; 19:22; 28:6).Godliness and wisdom are often followed by prosper­ity (3:9-10,16). But thegain which is offered by the wicked is the result of violence. It is not bydiligence and hard work that the wicked become prosperous, but by robbery(1:11-12). Individual effort is down played, and the comfort and prosperi­ty isto be found in a communistic work ethic (1:14).

(3) Excitement and Sense of Power

The third enticement is the excitementand sense of power and exhilaration inherent in crime. Young people get tiredof being told that they are to be seen and not heard. They want to be importantand able to wield power over others. A life of crime is one quick way ofobtaining a sense of power. Looking at a teenager from the wrong side of a45-caliber revolver appears to give him great respect. A life of crime offersyoungsters a chance to experience the chills and thrills they love. The dangersinvolved only enhance the appeal. After all, why do so many young Americans(and older ones too) pursue hobbies and sports which endanger life and limb?

A Father’s Final Appeal In verses 15-19 the father makes a finalappeal, based upon the enticement he has just described. Verse 15 pleads withthe son to avoid this evil way. Verses 16-­19 give two reasons to avoid allsuch offers. In verse 16 we find the firstreason-­because the money and the excitement of this kind of life are at theexpense of others. These are violent men, who are not only hasten to shedblood, but are prone to do so. I know many of you will find this hard tobelieve, but the three months I spent teaching in a state prison convinced methat there are some who would stab you for the sheer enjoyment of watching youbleed to death. Such men must be avoided.

A Father’s Explanation Verses 17-19explain the second reason why a life of violent crime is evil--it destroys thevillain as well as the victim. While the evil man may be willing to destroyothers, he should be warned that he also destroys himself.

Indeed, it is useless to spread the net Inthe eyes of any bird; But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambushtheir own lives. So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takesaway the life of its possessors (1:17-19).

Bible students have found these versesespecially difficult to interpret. There are two explanations which are mostfrequently offered, and it is the second to which I am inclined. The first viewis that birds are smarter than most crooks. The bird, we are told, is smartenough to avoid any trap that it sees being set. Although grain is set out, thebird will not touch it, for it knows that there is a trap and that it will becaught. Criminals are not even as smart as birds because they follow a life ofcrime, unaware that they are bringing about their own destruction.

The thrust of the second explanation isthat such criminals have no more sense than birds, who, having watched the trapbeing set, allow their appetite for grain to overrule all sense of danger, totheir own destruction. Birds watch the net being spread and sprinkled withgrain. But sooner or later their eyes behold only the grain and seeking tosatisfy their appetites, they descend on the grain, destroying them­selves inthe process. So it is with those wicked men who choose to live a life ofviolent crime. They, like unreasoning animals, allow their appetites to reign.Such men are worse than birds. Men have minds and are capable of discerningdanger. Men also have parents, who have warned of such evil. Men also are lessto be pitied because they lay the trap for themselves by their violence, whilebirds are the victims of a trap not of their own making. Like Haman, who builta gallows on which to hang Mordecai, yet died on it himself (cf. Esther 7), those who choose to live by the sword, will die by it (cf. Matt.26:52).

Wisdom Speaks

(1:20-33) A noticeable change occurs when we cometo verses 20-33. In the previous verses wisdom wasspoken by a father to a young, impressionable boy. In verses 20ff. wisdom ispersonified as a woman. She is not speaking to the innocent, but to the guilty.The father urged his son to avoid the evil way; wisdom now speaks to those whohave chosen to follow the evil way. The first discourse is preventative; thesecond is prescriptive. The point is that there are both young fools and oldfools. The wisdom of Proverbs is for fools of all ages. While there is nowide-eyed optimism that many will forsake their evil ways and turn to wisdom,the offer is nevertheless made to all.

Wisdom Proclaimed Verses 20 and 21 introduce us to wisdompersonified as a woman and to the place where wisdom is proclaimed. In a nationwhere righteousness is encouraged and sin is restricted, wicked men cannotentice others to follow them as openly. But while evil men are forced to enticesecretly, wisdom calls out to all men from the public places, where the massesare found. The gates of the city (v. 21) are the place where the elders sit andjudicial matters are settled (cf. Ruth 4:lff.).

The inference of these verses is clear.We can learn a great deal by consider­ing the source of the “wisdom” which is offered. Wisdom, we know from theprevious verses, was to be found in parental counsel and instruction. Here,wisdom is to be gained from the elders of the city, from men who are recognizedfor their maturity and godliness. The evil men of verses 10-14 will hardly befound in the city gates, for such ilk lurk in the dark alleys and come out atnight. Their “wisdom” is not proc­laimed publicly, but whispered in private.

If the “son” of verses 8ff. is young andinnocent, those addressed in verses 22 and 23 are not so. Ignorance and innocenceare not their problem, but willful rejec­tion of the way of wisdom. “How long,0 naive ones,” wisdom cries, “will you love simplicity? And scoffers delightthemselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?” (v. 22). Those who aresimple love it and those who are scoffers take pleasure in it. It is not thatknowledge was unavailable, but that it was unacceptable--they hate it (v. 22).

Wisdom Corrects Wisdom’s words are appropriately those ofcorrection. “Turn to my reproof,” she admonishes (v. 23). Wisdom calls upon guilty sinners to repent. The only way for sinnersto obtain wisdom is for them to turn from their wicked ways, renounce theirfolly, and walk in the way of righteousness.

Wisdom is Not Natural Wisdom does not come naturally, but follydoes. Consequently wisdom requires a supernatural source (I Cor. 2:6-16).Wisdom therefore offers to pour forth her spirit on those who will flee fromfolly and turn to her (v. 23). The “spirit” which wisdom offers men is, Ibelieve, the Holy Spirit, who enlightens our minds and illuminates the Scriptures,resulting in an understanding of divine wisdom (cf. Eph.1:17; Col.1:9). It ismy personal conviction that Christians see too little of Christ and of the HolySpirit in the Old Testament. I find it difficult not to see this text as areference to the Holy Spirit. There is good reason for wisdom’s solemn warning.

Those who have chosen the way of follyare on a path which leads to destruction. In verses 17-19 the father urged hisson not to join the evil men because they were on a self-destructive course. Inverses 24-32 wisdom warns men who are already on a course of destruction. Thereare three dominant themes in these verses.

Wickedness is a Choice The first theme is that men are on thewicked way because they have chosen to be there:

“Because I called, and you refused; Istretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; And you neglected all mycounsel, And did not want my reproof” (vv. 24-25).

“Because they hated knowledge, And did notchoose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel, They spurned allmy reproof” (vv. 29-30).

From verse 7 we learned that thebeginning of wisdom is the moral decision to fear God and to turn from evil(cf. 3:7). Those who are here warned by wisdom are those who have willfullychosen to reject her call and to follow the way of evil.

Men do not reject wisdom for folly, theyreject wisdom as folly. Few people pursue the way of evil because they know itis foolish. They do so because, in their minds, they are smarter than the rest.

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes thanseven men who can give a discreet answer (26:16).

When I worked in the state prison, manyprisoners openly indicated that they believed I was the fool, not they. I choseto work long hours in order to make a little money. They, in a few briefminutes, could rob a bank and live high for months. The wicked men of 1:11-14are proud of their way of life. They can get rich quick, with little effort.The innocent (v. 11) are the fools from who they will quickly separate theirmoney.

Rejecting Wisdom Means Painful Consequences The second theme is that the choice toreject wisdom’s call has painful conse­quences:

“I will even laugh at your calamity; I willmock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm, And yourcalamity comes on like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come on you”(1:26-27).

One may be troubled by the fact thatwisdom seems cruel here, but wisdom warns men that calamity and disaster arethe consequence of rejecting her. Evil men suffer only what they deserve. God’sjustice requires that men not only receive what they have earned (e.g. “thewages of sin is death,” Rom. 6:23), but what they earnestly desired.

“So they shall eat of the fruit of their ownway, And be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naiveshall kill them, And the complacency of fools shall destroy them” (1:31-32).

A Point of No Return The final theme is that there is a pointof no return, after which repentance will be too late.

“Then they will call on me, but I will notanswer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me, Because theyhated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the Lord” (1:28-29).

When wisdom calls out to sinners inverses20-33, it is not an offer thancan be set aside until a more convenient time. They way of evil will eventuallylead to destruc­tion. Men cannot complacently continue to walk in the way ofevil, only to repent as the consequences become evident. It will then be toolate. Hell will be populated with men and women filled with remorse, but notwith genuine repentance. Justice demands that men face the consequences of theway they have chosen. The time for repentance is now, not later (cf. II Cor.6:2).

The final verse contrasts the fate of therighteous with those who have chosen the way of the wicked.

“But he who listens to me shall livesecurely, And shall be at ease from the dread of evil” (1:33).

Those who walk in the path of wisdom willreap the reward of sins forgiven and will not need to fear the penalty of sin.The dread of evil is only for those who practice it. Wisdom delivers men fromthe destruction which results from sin.

Conclusion Proverbs chapter 1 is like a road map inthat it outlines life in terms of only two ways--the way of wisdom and the wayof folly. Wisdom leads to peace and security, while the way of folly ends withdeath and destruction. Everyone is on one of these two paths. The way of follyis characterized by evil men who seek material gain through violence. The wayof wisdom is entered by fearing God and forsaking evil.

Because our sinful nature inclines us tothe path of folly, we must make a conscious decision to be on the path ofwisdom. To enter the way of folly, one simply chooses to follow those whoencourage him to do what comes naturally and to reject wisdom’s call. To enterthe way of wisdom one must recognize his bent toward sin, reject folly, andchoose to pursue wisdom in the fear of the Lord. All men are forced to make a decision concerning the fear of theLord, either to fear God (1:7) or to resist Him (1:29).

While an in-depth study of “the fear ofthe Lord” is worthwhile, let it suffice for now to point out that wisdom ispersonified in Proverbs. I believe that in addition to serving as a literarydevice this personification of wisdom prepares us for the incarnation of wisdomin the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the striking comparison of wisdomin Proverbs with Jesus in the Gospel of John.

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning ofHis way, Before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, From thebeginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths Iwas brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. Before themountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; While He had notyet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. When Heestablished the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face ofthe deep” (Prov. 8:22-27).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Wordwas with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Allthings came into being through Him; and apart from Him nothing came into beingthat has come into being (John 1:1-3).

For men today there are only two ways,the way of sin and death, and the way of salvation. The determining factor isour response to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He himselfclaimed to be the only way to God’s heaven when He said,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life;no one comes to the Father, but through Me”(John 14:6).

John the apostle wrote in the fifthchapter of his first epistle,

And the witness is this, that God has givenus eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (I John 5:11-12).

There is no more important decision, myfriend, than that which determines your eternal destiny. Your eternal future isdetermined by your response to the person of Jesus Christ. Like wisdom inProverbs 1, our Lord says that you are a sinner, bound for eternal destruction.He has come to the earth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross ofCalvary for your sins in order to give you a right standing with God. Will youwisely accept His offer of salvation, or foolishly reject it? The decision isyours.

There are only two wisdoms in this world,God’s wisdom and that of sinful man. To the natural man God’s wisdom appearsfoolish, for in His wisdom God provided salvation for men through the death ofHis Son:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe?Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of theworld? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not cometo know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the messagepreached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greekssearch for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block,and to Gentiles foolish­ness, but to those who are the called, both Jews andGreeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishnessof God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (I Cor.1:20-25).

Wisdom is the way to life, not just a wayof life. You cannot get to heaven by any other way than the way of wisdom, theway of our Lord Jesus Christ. I urge you to trust in Him for your eternalsalvation.

Having said this, it is important for meto stress to those who are true Christians that wisdom is a way of life and notjust a once-in-a-lifetime decision about Jesus Christ. While we must place ourfaith in Christ, we must also follow Him. Jesus called men to Himself with thecall, “Follow Me” (cf. Matt. 4:19;10:38). The decision to trust in Christ is alsothe commitment to turn from our wicked ways and to begin a whole new life byfollowing Him.

In our desire to see men and womenconverted to faith in Christ we can be tempted to water down the claims ofChrist. Those who come to Christ must be warned about the cost of discipleship,even as our Lord urged men to count the cost of following Him (Luke 9:57-62).When men come to Christ they are leaving behind their old way of life andentering into a whole new way--the way of wisdom.

Some Christians seem to think that theideal life is one in which we turn to Christ as our Savior, live as we alwayshave, and get to heaven with the best of both worlds. Let me remind you that towalk in the way of folly is to walk in the way of death and destruction. It ispossible for a Christian who has been genuinely saved to depart from the way ofwisdom and to walk in the way of evil men. David, for example, committedadultery and murder by taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah (II Sam.11). Daviddid not lose his salvation, but he did learn that whoever walks in the evil waysuffers the consequences of sin. The Corinthian saints also learned thatwillful sin could result in both sickness and death (I Cor. 5:lff.; 11:27ff.).We will never lose our salvation when we sin as Christians, but we will findthat all who choose to walk in the way of folly suffer the consequences of thatfolly. The way of wisdom is the only way to life and peace. Let us walk in it.

Marilyn Schwartz, “What Separates the Nelson Men from the Boys.” The Dallas Morning News, May 3, 1982, p.6C.

Associated Press, “Violence on TV Rises, Groups Says.” The Dallas Morning News, May 11, 1982, p. 11C. 

“Go not with them, for their intention is bad; go not with them, for if thebird flees away from the net which is spread out before it, thou wilt surely beso blind as suffer thyself to be ensnared by their gross enticements.” Franz De­litzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs ofSolomon (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerd­mans Publishing Company[phoiolithoprinted], 1968), It p. 66. 

“. . . the comparison refers not the futility of laying snares in thesight of birds (who thus see the trap and avoid it), birds who, though thesnare is laid in their . . . ” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary, C. H. Toy, & T. Clark,1959), p. 17. 

The translation of the New International without good cause, in my opinion. Ittranslates my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you but to theblindness and folly of sight, nevertheless fall into it.” the Book of Proverbs(Edinburgh: T. Version differs greatly here, but verse 23, “If you haveresponded to and made my thoughts known to you,” rendering the Hebrew word forspirit “heart” instead. This is bad enough, but they also render verse 23 asthough wisdom has already been rejected, which the Hebrew text does not indicateuntil the following verse. All in all, it seems best to reject the rendering ofthe NIV here. 

“Here [in Proverbs] the fear of the Lord amounts to religion as we understandit today. By fear of the Lord these sages called attention to religious devotionin the richest sense of the phrase. It meant, purely and simply, that whichevery human being owes the Creator. That is why the editor who wrote the mottofor the first collection of Proverbs can affirm that religious devotionconstitutes the beginning and fundamental principle of all knowledge. Without avital relation­ship with God, no one could possibly attain sufficient wisdom tomerit the adjective ‘wise.’” James L. Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981), P. 95. 

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