Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Wisdom Invites All to Her Banquet Proverbs 9:1-6

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Proverbs 9:1–6

[1] Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn her seven pillars.

[2] She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

[3] She has sent out her young women to call

from the highest places in the town,

[4] “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

To him who lacks sense she says,

[5] “Come, eat of my bread

and drink of the wine I have mixed.

[6] Leave your simple ways, and live,

and walk in the way of insight.” (ESV)

Wisdom Invites All to Her Banquet

First, a few words about referring to Divine Wisdom as "her." As we have mentioned throughout our study of Proverbs, Wisdom ultimately is a characteristic given to those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and Christ Himself is the embodiment of Wisdom. Do not let the current "trend" of pronoun nonsense bog you down. Words in many languages have gender, including Hebrew. In Hebrew, "wisdom" is feminine. It's that simple, don't try to read anything else into it. In German, "book" is feminine, "das Buch." It doesn't mean books are girls or that Wisdom is a woman. It's a language thing, not a people thing. Enough about that.

This is the third and final poem about Wisdom in this first section of the book of Proverbs. It begins with a description of the banquet Wisdom prepares. She starts by building a house with seven pillars. Recall that Wisdom's joy is the human race (Proverbs 8:31). Wisdom's house refers to the world inhabited by humans. Seven is the number of divine perfection, that which only God has done/can do/will do. Wisdom inhabits the entire world. While the world is now consumed by foolishness (8:1-5), it was not always thus. Wisdom designed the world (8:22-31), and she seeks to rescue the human race from its foolishness.

Next, Wisdom prepares the meal and sets her table. Then she sends her servants as her messengers to call all people to her banquet (v.3-4). This call is the Gospel invitation to a banquet rich in holy nourishment (Isaiah 25:6-9), provided free of charge by grace through faith. Compare this to Jesus' parable of the wedding feast, where the master of the banquet makes everything ready and sends out his messengers into all corners to call all sorts of people to the feast so that the dining hall is filled (Matthew 22:1-10).

This call is especially for those who are “simple” and “lack sense” (v.4). It is an invitation to put such ways behind them and imbibe the “way of insight” (v.6). This is true of all human beings whose natural inclination is toward sin and not Divine Wisdom (Psalm 51:7; Romans 3:9-20). She calls them to the banquet anyway. When they arrive and feast at her table, they receive spiritual food and drink, which leads to growth in understanding and a putting aside of simple and unenlightened things. Their simple ways are exchanged for the way that leads to life, the road to understanding. The road to Wisdom is the same as eating the feast of the "bread of life" (John 6:32-59). This is Jesus Christ's offering of His flesh and blood for the life of the world (John 6:52-56). This is justification (which means being declared righteous for the sake of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus) through faith in Christ alone, which we come to understand and believe through the power of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom's banquet nourishes and strengthens us in this true faith as we travel the road to understanding until we receive eternal life.