The Anatomy of a Fool's Demise Text: Proverbs 7:6-23
Introduction: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of abstract platitudes for needlepoint pillows. It is a field manual for spiritual warfare, written by a king who knew the heat of battle, both on the field and in his own heart. The father speaking to his son in these chapters is equipping him for the great contest of his life, which is the contest between wisdom and folly. And these two are not abstract principles; they are personified as two women. There is Lady Wisdom, glorious and life-giving, and there is Dame Folly, the adulteress, the strange woman, whose house is the way to Hell.
In our passage today, we are given a play-by-play account of how a man is taken by the latter. This is not just a story about the dangers of sexual temptation, though it is certainly that. This is a detailed, almost clinical, anatomy of how sin works. It is a case study in covenantal unfaithfulness. The strange woman is the archetype of all worldly allurement. She is the world system, dressed up and perfumed, promising life and delivering death. She is the flesh, with its deceitful desires, promising satisfaction and delivering slavery. And she is the devil's pawn, using his ancient lines: "Did God really say?" and "You will not surely die."
We live in a culture that is saturated with the spirit of this adulteress. Our entertainment, our advertising, our education, it all whispers her same seductive message: your desires are ultimate, boundaries are for prudes, and the consequences are a myth. The young man in this story is not some extraordinary monster of vice. He is simply a young man "lacking a heart of wisdom." He is simple. He is naive. And in a world set up by the enemy, naivete is not a defense. It is a liability. It is chum in the water. We must therefore pay close attention to this account, for it is a mirror. We will see the fool's path, the predator's tactics, and the final, brutal end. And in seeing it, we are meant to flee from it, and to cling to the only wisdom that can save us.
The Text
For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, And I saw among the simple, And discerned among the sons A young man lacking a heart of wisdom, Passing through the street near her corner; And he strides along the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening of that day, In the middle of the night, and in the thick darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not dwell at home; Stepping in the streets, stepping in the squares, And near every corner she lies in wait. So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him: “The sacrifices of peace offerings are with me; Today I paid my vows. Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you. I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, then, let us drink our fill as lovers until morning; Let us delight ourselves with the pleasures of love. For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a journey far away; He took a bag of silver in his hand, On the day of the full moon he will come home.” With her abundant persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she drives him to herself. He suddenly follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool, Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, And he does not know that it will cost him his soul.
(Proverbs 7:6-23 LSB)
The Target and the Terrain (vv. 6-9)
The scene is set by a wise observer, a father figure, looking out his window. He is watching the life of the city unfold, and he sees a tragedy in the making.
"And I saw among the simple, And discerned among the sons A young man lacking a heart of wisdom, Passing through the street near her corner; And he strides along the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening of that day, In the middle of the night, and in the thick darkness." (Proverbs 7:7-9)
The victim is identified. He is "simple," "lacking a heart of wisdom." This doesn't mean he is unintelligent. It means he is morally naive. His heart, the center of his will and intellect, is not governed by the fear of the Lord. He has no internal compass, no fixed principles. He is therefore adrift, and a man adrift is prey for every predator.
Notice his actions. He is "passing through the street near her corner." He is loitering in enemy territory. He is not actively seeking out the harlot, not yet, but he is making himself available. He is window shopping for trouble. Sin rarely begins with a headlong dive; it begins with a casual stroll in the wrong direction. He is flirting with danger, thinking he can manage the risk. This is the fundamental lie of all temptation: that we can dance with the devil and not get burned.
And the timing is crucial. "In the twilight, in the evening... in the thick darkness." Sin loves the dark. The darkness provides anonymity. It provides the illusion that our actions are unseen, that they exist in a vacuum. But the God who made the darkness is not blinded by it. The father sees him from the lattice, and the heavenly Father sees him from the heavens. The darkness is no shield; it is merely the preferred habitat of fools and their destroyers.
The Predator's Profile (vv. 10-12)
Now the strange woman enters the scene, and her description is a catalog of warnings.
"And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not dwell at home; Stepping in the streets, stepping in the squares, And near every corner she lies in wait." (Proverbs 7:10-12)
First, her appearance. She is "Dressed as a harlot." Her clothing is a billboard advertising her intent. Our culture calls this self-expression. The Bible calls it a uniform. She is dressed for the hunt. Her heart is "cunning," or guarded. She is a strategist, a manipulator. This is not a spontaneous encounter; it is a planned ambush.
Second, her character. She is "boisterous and rebellious." She is loud, clamorous, and refuses to be governed. The word for rebellious here is the same word used for a stubborn, disobedient son in Deuteronomy 21. She has thrown off all authority, both God's and man's. Specifically, "Her feet do not dwell at home." This is a direct assault on the created order. The home is meant to be the center of a godly woman's domain, the place from which her influence radiates outward. But her restlessness drives her out. She cannot be content. She is a hunter, constantly prowling the streets, the squares, "every corner." She is the embodiment of discontent, a black hole of need that can never be filled.
The Predator's Tactics (vv. 13-21)
The attack itself is a masterclass in satanic manipulation. It unfolds in a series of calculated steps.
"So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him..." (Proverbs 7:13)
She begins with aggressive, physical forwardness. She "seizes him." She initiates. She breaks down his physical and emotional barriers with a sudden, shocking intimacy. The kiss is not one of affection but of conquest. Her face is "brazen," hardened, without shame. She has seared her conscience.
Next, she uses religious hypocrisy to create a veneer of respectability. "The sacrifices of peace offerings are with me; Today I paid my vows." This is truly diabolical. She is using her religious observance as a justification for her sin. It is as though she is saying, "I've checked the God-box for the day, so now I am free to do as I please." She has just come from the temple. She is using the things of God as a cloak for her rebellion, and as an enticement. She offers him not just sex, but a shared meal from a holy sacrifice. This is spiritual defilement of the highest order. It is an invitation to commune with demons.
Then comes the flattery. "Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your face earnestly, and I have found you." She presents this ambush as a divinely appointed rendezvous. She makes him feel special, chosen, desired. She strokes his ego, telling him that she was out looking just for him. The simple young man, lacking a heart of wisdom, is a sucker for this. He wants to be wanted, and she offers him a potent, albeit poisonous, imitation of it.
She then paints a picture of sensual luxury. "I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon." She appeals to his senses: sight, touch, and smell. She is offering him an escape, a fantasy world of exotic pleasure. This is the essence of all worldly temptation. It promises a paradise that it can never deliver.
Finally, she removes the fear of consequences. "For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a journey far away; He took a bag of silver in his hand, On the day of the full moon he will come home." The husband, the authority figure, the covenental head, is gone. There is no danger of being caught. This is the ancient lie of the serpent: "You will not surely die." She creates a self-contained world where their actions will have no repercussions. She gives him a rationalization, an excuse. The husband is far off, and won't be back for some time. The coast is clear.
The summary of her technique is given in verse 21: "With her abundant persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she drives him to herself." It is a torrent of words, a web of lies, and the fool is caught in it.
The Fool's Final Steps (vv. 22-23)
The result is immediate and catastrophic.
"He suddenly follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool, Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hastens to the snare, And he does not know that it will cost him his soul." (Proverbs 7:22-23)
The transition is sudden. All his hesitation vanishes. He is now on autopilot. The Scriptures use three powerful similes to describe his end. First, he is "As an ox goes to the slaughter." The ox is a powerful animal, but it is dumb. It walks placidly to the place of its own death, unaware of what is about to happen. This young man, for all his strength and vitality, is spiritually stupid. He is walking into his own destruction.
Second, he is "as one in fetters to the discipline of an ignorant fool." He is a prisoner being led to punishment. He thinks he is striding toward freedom and pleasure, but he is actually in chains, being led to the stocks. His sin has already enslaved him, long before the act is consummated.
Third, he is "As a bird hastens to the snare." The bird sees the bait but not the trap. It rushes toward what it thinks is a free meal, only to be caught and killed. This is the nature of all sin. The bait is visible; the hook is hidden. The pleasure is immediate; the payment is deferred, but it is certain.
The final line is the most chilling. "And he does not know that it will cost him his soul." The Hebrew word here is nephesh, which means his life, his very being. He thinks he is risking an evening. He is risking everything. He is making a trade, and he does not understand the exchange rate. He is trading his life, his future, his honor, and his soul for a moment of stolen pleasure. This is the definition of folly.
Conclusion: Wisdom's Invitation
This is a grim story. It is meant to be. It is a divine warning sign, posted at the entrance to a path that leads off a cliff. The adulteress in this story is more than just a promiscuous woman. She is the world system, with all its false promises. She is every ideology that promises liberation by casting off God's law. She is every temptation that promises satisfaction outside of God's design. Her house is the house of folly, and its foundations are in Hell.
But there is another woman, another house. At the beginning of this book, and at the end, we are introduced to Lady Wisdom. She also calls out in the streets. But her call is not a seductive whisper in the dark; it is a clear, public cry in the light. She does not offer stolen pleasures, but a feast of righteousness. She does not offer a temporary escape, but an eternal home.
The young man in this story lacked a heart of wisdom. How do we get one? The father tells us at the very beginning of the chapter: "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye... Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman" (Prov. 7:1-4).
The only defense against the seduction of the strange woman is a passionate love affair with God's wisdom. You must treasure the Word of God. You must bind it to your heart. You must make wisdom your sister, your closest confidante. You cannot fight this battle with mere willpower. You must fight it with a greater affection. You must be so captivated by the beauty of Christ, who is the wisdom of God, that the cheap trinkets of the harlot lose all their luster.
The young man went to the slaughter because he did not know the cost. The Gospel tells us of another man who knew the cost and went to the slaughter willingly. Jesus Christ, the ultimate wise man, went to the cross, where an arrow truly pierced his side, to pay the price for the folly of every simple man who would ever turn to Him. He took the fetters so that we could be set free. He entered the snare so that we could escape. He did this so that He could rescue us from the house of death and bring us into His Father's house, where there is true pleasure, and life forevermore.