English-speaking students worldwide learn the nine parts of speech to understand how words relate, improve writing skills, and effectively communicate ideas in a sentence. These word classes include adjectives, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, determiners, prepositions, interjections, and verbs. Students also learn various figures of speech, such as alliteration, apostrophe, simile, and metaphors used to describe things figuratively. The Bible contains such figures of speech where the writers taught many valuable lessons and instructions. Jesus, for example, often taught in parables to help people understand various spiritual lessons and the love God has for His children.
The word proverbs in Hebrew is marshal, which means to be like. Thus, one who reads the book of Proverbs will find comparisons, or what is called in English literature personifications (to attach a human characteristic to something nonhuman) concerning wisdom and foolishness. To expound a little further, Proverbs are short statements detailing a simple truth concerning a human condition. These proverbs guide what one should and should not do regarding matters of God and life. The book of Proverbs was written to give guidance to those with the hearts for learning, knowledge, and words of caution for the young and gullible, and additional wisdom for the spiritually mature and wise regarding the fear of the Lord. In so doing, the writers of Proverbs introduce the reader to the personification or figurative language of two distinct women –Lady Wisdom and Madame Folly.
Madame Folly
Madame Folly makes her initial appearance in Proverbs 5 but is also spoken of in chapters 6, 7, and 9. In Proverbs 5, she is introduced as an adulterous woman with sweet lips who lacks moral principles. She is a good orator and easily grabs the attention of those in her view. Initially, Madame Folly is charming but eventually displays her true colors, consisting of resentfulness, debauchery, and hurtful words when she does not get her way. Many married couples started out being happy and in love with the thought that they would have a fairytale ending to their romance. As the years passed, they found themselves resentful of each other, not communicating, fighting over finances, weaponizing the kids, and having nothing but feelings of anger and bitterness. This led many couples to the divorce court, with Madame Folly acting as both their instigator and accuser, thus being less of a positive mediator.
Madame Folly aims to entice people through her art of seduction. She lures them through skillful dialogue to tap into their intellect, for she knows that once she gets them to interact with her, she can arouse their curiosity about the mysterious things they think she has to offer. It is important for people to be mindful that the traits of Madame Folly can embody that of either a male or female, for folly is a spirit and not an actual woman. Satan, who is the father of Madame Folly, used the spirit of folly as part of his trickery with Eve in the Garden of Eden. He began with a crafty conversation to get her engaged, and before she knew it, she had become entangled in his web of lies and deceit. The Bible says: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ ” (Genesis 3:1).
Madame Folly is not attentive to the future or eternity. Her only concerns are for the here and now. She knows that those who follow her will encounter certain death, but in her narcissism, she does not care for others. She only aims to please herself and get the spoils of war for which she feels entitled. The Bible says: “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.” (Proverbs 5:3-4).
In Proverbs 6, Madame Folly is known to be immoral and captivates her suitors with her seductive eyes. Yet, the one who succumbs to her seduction will find oneself reduced to nothing, for she aims to get at the heart of their very soul. Many people are being seduced by Madame Folly because they are chasing after the things of the world. She makes them think that there is no God, and even if there is, He is too busy to pay attention to their individual actions. She promises them the world and makes its attractions hard to resist. Many have tried to resist her but have fallen into her web as vulnerable prey.
Madame Folly in Proverbs 7 causes a man to be led astray once again with her words of seduction. Little does the man know that spending time with her will mean him meeting his demise, for she cares nothing about the consequences he will face. She loves the challenge of taking him down by making the pasture look greener than it actually is. Madame Folly knows the things that will bait her prey for she has become a master at her craft and uses the greed of money, desire for attention, lust for material possessions, scents to relieve the stresses of life and the promise of artificial love. The victim of her seduction thinks that he will never be found out for her husband has gone on a trip, but she knows that his sins will eventually find him out, for her father of lies has taught her wellShe aims to steal his anointing, bury him in sin, disgrace his family, and ruin his reputation. Madame Folly has been the downfall of many of God’s anointed pastors. She seduced them through sex, pornography, pride, greed, hypocrisy and false teachings. They started out as holy vessels, but just as King Saul, Madame Folly entered the heart, and the Spirit of God left.
The Bible says that a fool says that there is no God (Psalm 14:1), which is the mindset of Madame Folly and those who follow her. Foolishness is living as if there is no God and not prioritizing Him in one’s decisions which Madame Folly manages to get her suitors to do. It is living as one’s wicked heart desires instead of submitting the fleshly nature to Him. Foolishness is turning away from God by committing idolatry as an adulterer turns away from their spouse. Yes, Madame Folly is a fool and operates in foolishness, leading many to their destruction with more to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment