Proverbs 9— The Invitations of Wisdom and Folly
Jesus is, "The Lamb...slain since the foundation of the world." (Rev 13:8) The atoning sacrifice of Christ was made once and for all. (Hebrews 10:12) Now bread and wine are set before us in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Whosoever will, come!
1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 She has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens, she cries out from the highest places of the city,
“Wisdom hath builded her house—i.e., in preparation for the feast to which she is about to invite her guests. It is not an unusual custom in the Old Testament to describe intimate communion with God, and the refreshment which the soul of man thereby receives, under the figure of a festival. Thus in Exodus 24:11, when the elders of Israel were admitted to the vision of the Almighty, they ‘did eat and drink.’ The same idea occurs frequently in the prophets also (as Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 65:13; Zephaniah 1:7-8); and is brought out in the New Testament with great fulness in the parables of the great supper (Luke 14) and the marriage of the king’s son (Matthew 22). Christ, the supreme Wisdom, has ‘builded His house’ by taking man’s flesh at His Incarnation, and thus rearing for Himself a ‘temple of the Holy Ghost’ (John 2:19); and also by building for Himself a ‘spiritual house’ (1Peter 2:5), ‘the house of God, which is the church of the living God’ (1Timothy 3:15)… In the previous chapter Christ’s work as Creator was described; now He is set forth as Regenerator of mankind.
She hath hewn out her seven pillars.—Suggestive of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2 Revelation 1:4), typified by the seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:37).” (Ellicott's Commentary)
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”
“Come, eat ye of my bread. Wisdom… addresses the simple and the foolish (cf. Rev 22:17). And drink of the wine which I have mingled… Bread and wine represent all needful nourishment, as flesh and wine in ver. 2. So Christ says (John 6:51), ‘I am the living Bread which came down from heaven... and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ Compare the invitation in Isaiah 55:1, ‘He, every one that thirsteth!’ etc. The Fathers see here a prophecy of the gospel feast, wherein Christ gave and gives bread and wine as symbols of his presence (Matt 26:26).” (Pulpit Commentary)
7 He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone.
13 A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their way:
16 Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; and as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell [sheol].”
The foolish woman is clamorous, simple and ignorant of the truth (verse 13) "Some by this woman understand folly itself, as opposed to wisdom; others blind reason, ignorant of divine things; others carnal sensual pleasure, which entices and draws men to that which is evil; others heresy and superstition; others the old serpent, the devil; she seems to be the same with the strange woman and harlot before described, Pro 2:16, &c. and being set in direct opposition to Wisdom, or Christ, seems to design antichrist, who is described in the book of the Revelation as the great whore; and all the characters here agree with the same.” (John Gill)
“Two churches also seek the souls of men. There is the bride of Christ, the true church, and there is the great whore and her daughters, the false churches of this world (Rev 17:1-6). False churches create an arrogant and noisy clamor, but they are simple and ignorant of truth altogether. They have turned away from sound doctrine to entertainment and fables to keep their unregenerate or carnal groupies attending (II Tim 4:3-4). Beware!” http://www.letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/commentaries/09_13.php 11
"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:12-14)
This other path is the way that seems right, but it ends in death (Prov 14:12).