She raises her voice in the open squares.
She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
To say something real quick on the topic, I am not going to spend a lot of time right now on the genders amidst advice. Why Solomon is providing this wisdom to his "son" and why wisdom is personified as "she" are not irrelevant topics, but they are not my focus right now, unless there's something gender-specific given as instruction or command (like with fathers and mothers).
The next time I pass through this scripture may be different, but that's well into the future.
Now, wisdom can be loosely connected to "common sense" in that you do not need an advanced degree in anything to start grasping what it offers and start applying it to your life. Where finite element analysis is somewhat more difficult, the multi-variable vector calculus often left to computers, and the material physics that it draws from in practical application are all a bit more esoteric in contrast, wisdom is universal in its application.
Whether you are an erudite or a dirt farmer, or even without any dirt to claim as your own, wisdom calls to you and is a worthwhile companion. There is no discrimination, no limits, no barriers to entry, and thus the scorn against those who reject wisdom is given justification.
If you are offered knowledge without any cost to you, and you still reject it, the traditional response to to leave you to the consequences and hope you learn through them. In our modern context, great effort is expended to eliminate the negative consequences of bad decisions, from the sympathy expressed over "bad luck" to the active efforts to eliminate the lesson from making a bad choice (shotgun weddings, abortions, divorces, etc), we have bought into the idea that people should only learn voluntarily, and that when people refuse to learn, we adjust the system to accommodate them instead of watching them hit the wall and, dazed and confused, reach out for help.
Much of the wisdom in the Bible does not preach infinite patience.
Even God, in both the Old and New Testaments, describes that at a certain point people are given over to their desires and they will bear the full cost of their sin and God will not remove it from them.
The next time I pass through this scripture may be different, but that's well into the future.
Now, wisdom can be loosely connected to "common sense" in that you do not need an advanced degree in anything to start grasping what it offers and start applying it to your life. Where finite element analysis is somewhat more difficult, the multi-variable vector calculus often left to computers, and the material physics that it draws from in practical application are all a bit more esoteric in contrast, wisdom is universal in its application.
Whether you are an erudite or a dirt farmer, or even without any dirt to claim as your own, wisdom calls to you and is a worthwhile companion. There is no discrimination, no limits, no barriers to entry, and thus the scorn against those who reject wisdom is given justification.
If you are offered knowledge without any cost to you, and you still reject it, the traditional response to to leave you to the consequences and hope you learn through them. In our modern context, great effort is expended to eliminate the negative consequences of bad decisions, from the sympathy expressed over "bad luck" to the active efforts to eliminate the lesson from making a bad choice (shotgun weddings, abortions, divorces, etc), we have bought into the idea that people should only learn voluntarily, and that when people refuse to learn, we adjust the system to accommodate them instead of watching them hit the wall and, dazed and confused, reach out for help.
Much of the wisdom in the Bible does not preach infinite patience.
Even God, in both the Old and New Testaments, describes that at a certain point people are given over to their desires and they will bear the full cost of their sin and God will not remove it from them.
Popular are the universal ideas that God's efforts will eventually bring all into reconciliation, that God doesn't "give up" on anyone, despite almost all the drama and excitement in the Old Testament with Israel coming from God having turned away from them, given up on a generation (or many) and only after their sins have been punished sufficiently does God return them to a place of favor and begin working with them again as they draw closer to God.
There will be no innocent people in hell, and God has already, through Jesus Christ, done all the work necessary to reconcile mankind to himself. Like wisdom, salvation is a gift, not of works or specific applications, but a universal offer, a universal opportunity, though the hardness of many people's hearts out of envy and hatred of God will not allow them to accept it.
In the same manner then that wisdom turns away from those who reject her, how she adds insult to injury, realize this is not a trait unique to wisdom, but is a reflection of the heart of God to mock and to belittle those who would not humble themselves but would instead defiantly claim that they are gods or that their gods are more powerful.
God is content to take people at their word, to not treat boastful declarations in some sort of divine sarcasm, and this gets back to why wisdom is so important, and calls out to everyone, and why the alleviation of consequence is so damaging to an individual.
The decisions you make in this life matter, whether within the context of this life in regard to wisdom, or in the context of eternity with salvation. Do not believe that your actions are not unnoticed. Do not think you've gotten away with anything. Do not believe that there will always be someone to save you from your sin.
Reconcile to God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to wisdom, and take her lessons to heart and apply them. You life matters, now live like you understand that.
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