THE WISE LISTEN AND FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE
Proverbs 1:1-33
“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?”
Matthew 13:10-12 is a very interesting account where the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” Jesus replied saying, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” There is a positive cycle and a negative cycle; there is no in-between.
The “you” are the wise, those that listen, those who understand the value of what they are taught, those who treasure what God wants to teach. What they learn will give them the capacity and hunger to learn even more and Jesus says, “they will have an abundance”; there is no limit.
“Them” are the simple, the foolish, those who do not appreciate what God teaches, those who mock the things that God recommends, those who would not take the time to pay heed to his warnings and reproach. Solomon in Proverbs 1 tells us, “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.” Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
The key to life, wisdom, surely must come from God the Creator of life. This is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. (Fear, of course, does not mean being frightened of or scared of as if God is evil and harsh, but rather understanding and acknowledging who he is in the whole scheme of life.) If instead we choose to learn from those around us who have limited experience and limited resources, who tell us with simple logic that the easiest and quickest way to get rich is to rob and steal from others (for example) and we agree with their irresistible logic, and deny the wisdom that God teaches, then who can set us on the right path?
And so Solomon portrays Wisdom as calling out on the streets, “Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?”
The only way back is to repent and trust (again) the wisdom of God. God is patient and generous. Those who repent he will embrace. “Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.” But those who disregard him will learn the truth only when it is too late. “They will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.”
“But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”