(24) “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, (25) because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, (26) I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, (27) when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. (28) Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, 29 because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, (30) they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.” (31) Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.
In this second part of Lady Wisdom’s appeal, the warning for not heeding her appeal is given. When Lady Wisdom first appealed to the simple, they rejected her completely. She called, but they refused her. She stretched out her hands to rescue them, but they had no regard for this merciful act. She offered them wise counsel so they would change the direction they were heading, but they disdained her words. They would have none of her rebuke. Instead of choosing the path of wisdom, they have chosen the path of the fool (1:7).
What happens now is a direct result of the path they have chosen. The accumulation of unwise decisions now brings calamity, terror, destruction, distress, and anguish. Do not miss the great principle of this passage: they are reaping what they have sown. The disaster is a direct result of their rejection of wisdom as shown by verse 31: “Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.”
When the disaster hits, the fool realizes he has no idea what to do to solve his problems. But it is too late. Now he wants wisdom, but he will not get it. Wisdom must be gained day by day, built upon over time. Wisdom now laughs at the fool. He calls out to gain wisdom, but wisdom does not answer.
Why doesn’t wisdom answer? Verse 7 states “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The fool did not choose the fear of the Lord then, nor does he choose it now. He wants a wise answer to his problems, but he wants it without the Lord. It can’t happen. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Rejecting the Lord means rejecting wisdom, for there is no wisdom apart from the Lord. By not choosing to fear the Lord, the fool is despising Lady Wisdom’s rebuke, which was to repent from neglecting the Word of God. There is no hope for gaining wisdom if God and His word are rejected. The rejecter must then “eat the fruit of their own way” without help from God, whom he has rejected, or from wisdom, whom he has also rejected by rejecting God.
(The painting is “The Sower” by Jean Francois Millet – 1850)
--------------------
Related Scriptures: Isaiah 3:10-11; Jeremiah 2:19; Galatians 6:7-8
--------------------
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” – Galatians 6:7-8
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment