The Unteachables and the Teachable Text: Proverbs 9:7-12
Introduction: Two Invitations, Two Destinies
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical, but it is not a mere collection of disconnected self-help tips for a slightly more prosperous life. It is a book about ultimate reality. It presents us with two competing worldviews, two ways of life, personified by two women: Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly. Both are calling out, both are issuing invitations, both are setting a table. And you are required to RSVP to one of them. There is no neutral ground, no demilitarized zone. You are either feasting at Wisdom's table or you are being devoured at Folly's.
In the first part of this chapter, Wisdom builds her house, prepares her feast, and sends out her maidens to invite the simple to come in and live. In the last part of the chapter, Folly sits lazily at her door, calling out to the same simpletons, offering stolen water and secret bread. Our text this morning sits right in the middle of these two invitations, and it serves as a diagnostic tool. It tells us how to distinguish between the guests of Wisdom and the victims of Folly. The test is simple: how do you respond to correction? How do you react when someone tells you that you are wrong?
Our entire culture is a monument to the scoffer. We are told to "follow our hearts," to "speak our truth," and to reject all external standards. We have defined deviancy down and have defined criticism up, calling it hatred, bigotry, or violence. To tell a modern man he is wrong is to commit the highest sin. But the Scriptures teach us that a refusal to receive correction is not a sign of strength or autonomy; it is the hallmark of a fool rushing headlong toward his own destruction. This passage is therefore a spiritual blood test. It reveals the condition of your heart by showing how you respond to the ministry of loving reproof.
The central issue is teachability. Are you a learning creature, or do you have a brass forehead? The answer to that question determines your destiny. And as we will see, the ultimate foundation of all teachability is a right relationship with the God who made you and who defines all reality.
The Text
He who disciplines a scoffer receives disgrace for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man receives injury for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Make a righteous man know it and he will increase his learning. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will become many, And years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
(Proverbs 9:7-12 LSB)
The Futility of Correcting a Scoffer (v. 7-8a)
We begin with a stark warning about wasted effort and predictable backlash.
"He who disciplines a scoffer receives disgrace for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man receives injury for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you..." (Proverbs 9:7-8a)
This is intensely practical spiritual triage. There are some people for whom correction is not only useless but actively counterproductive. The Lord Jesus gives the same essential command in the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces" (Matthew 7:6). The "pearl" is the precious truth of loving, biblical correction. The "swine" is the scoffer.
Who is the scoffer? The scoffer is not just someone who is ignorant or who has made a mistake. The scoffer is characterized by a hardened, cynical, arrogant contempt for wisdom and correction. He doesn't just disagree with you; he despises the very idea that he could be wrong. His mind is made up, his heart is case-hardened, and his primary mode of discourse is mockery. When you approach him with a gentle reproof, he doesn't hear a word of it. He only sees an opportunity to attack. You offer him a pearl, and he sees it as a projectile to be thrown back at your head. You will get disgrace and injury for your trouble.
Notice the result: "lest he hate you." The scoffer's reaction is not intellectual; it is personal and emotional. He cannot separate your critique from his identity. To challenge his actions is to challenge his very being, and he will resent you for it with a deep and bitter hatred. This is because his entire worldview is built on the sandy foundation of his own autonomous ego. When you point out a crack in the foundation, he doesn't thank you for the warning. He accuses you of vandalism and tries to have you arrested.
This is not a command to be unkind or unloving. It is a command to be wise. There are times when the most loving thing you can do for a scoffer is to leave him to the consequences of his own folly. Continuing to engage gives him more ammunition and can even enable his sin by giving him a righteous man to persecute. There is a time to speak, and there is a time to shake the dust from your feet.
The Fruitfulness of Correcting the Wise (v. 8b-9)
In sharp contrast to the scoffer, the wise man has a completely different reaction to being corrected.
"...Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Make a righteous man know it and he will increase his learning." (Proverbs 9:8b-9)
This is the litmus test. The wise man does not love being wrong, but he loves being made right. He values the truth more than he values his ego. When you come to him with a legitimate correction, he doesn't see an attack; he sees a gift. You have given him an opportunity to grow, to sharpen his understanding, to align his life more closely with reality. And for that, he will love you.
This is why a healthy church, a healthy marriage, or a healthy friendship must be a culture of loving, biblical correction. We are not to be thin-skinned and easily offended. We are to be thick-skinned and tender-hearted. We are to invite reproof. As David says, "Let a righteous man strike me, it is a kindness; let him rebuke me, it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it" (Psalm 141:5). The wise man understands that uncorrected sin is a cancer. The friend who tells him he has a spot of cancer on his back is a true friend, and the one who says nothing out of a false sense of "niceness" is a friend to the cancer, not to the man.
And notice the result: the wise man gets wiser. The righteous man increases in learning. Wisdom is not a static possession; it is a dynamic process of growth. And that growth is fertilized by humility and watered by correction. The wise man is always a student. He knows he has not arrived. The scoffer thinks he is the professor emeritus of everything. This is why the wise get wiser and the fools get more foolish. One is on an upward spiral of learning and love; the other is in a downward spiral of arrogance and hatred.
The Foundation of All Wisdom (v. 10)
So what is the fundamental difference between the scoffer and the wise man? What is the root cause of their opposing reactions? Verse 10 gives us the bedrock answer.
"The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)
This is the central axiom of the entire book of Proverbs, and indeed, of the entire Bible. The starting point for all true wisdom is not a clever technique or a high IQ. The starting point is a right posture before the living God. The "fear of Yahweh" is not a cowering, servile terror. It is a soul-shattering awe, a profound reverence, a joyful submission to the Creator of all things. It is the creaturely recognition that God is God and we are not.
The man who fears God understands that reality is not centered on him. He knows that there is an objective standard of truth, goodness, and beauty that exists outside of his own head, and that standard is the character and Word of God. Because he fears God, he is teachable. He is open to correction because he knows he is not the ultimate authority. He is willing to have his errors pointed out because his goal is to conform to God's reality, not to force reality to conform to his preferences.
The scoffer, on the other hand, does not fear God. Therefore, he fears man, or more accurately, he has made himself his own god. He is the center of his own universe. His feelings are his ultimate authority. His desires are his law. When you correct him, you are not just questioning his opinion; you are committing blasphemy against the god of self. This is why he reacts with such hatred. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which means the rejection of the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all folly.
The Stakes: Life and Personal Responsibility (v. 11-12)
The passage concludes by laying out the ultimate consequences of these two paths and emphasizing our individual accountability.
"For by me your days will become many, And years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it." (Proverbs 9:11-12)
Wisdom is speaking here, and she promises life. This is not a crude prosperity gospel guarantee that every wise man will live to be a hundred. It is a statement of covenant reality. The path of wisdom, which is the path of fearing God and obeying His commands, is the path of life. It leads to flourishing, stability, and blessing. The path of the scoffer is the path of rebellion against the grain of the universe, and it leads to friction, chaos, and ultimately, death. "All who hate me," Wisdom says at the end of this chapter, "love death" (Proverbs 8:36).
And then the final, sobering reminder of personal responsibility. "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it." You cannot live on borrowed wisdom. Your parents' faith cannot save you. Your pastor's knowledge cannot be imputed to you. You must choose. You must eat the meal for yourself. The benefits of wisdom are profoundly personal. It is your soul that will be saved, your life that will flourish.
Likewise, the consequences of scoffing are inescapable and individual. You cannot outsource the penalty for your rebellion. On the day of judgment, you will not be able to blame your culture, your circumstances, or your feelings. "You alone will bear it." This is a terrifying thought for the man who has spent his life mocking God's wisdom. He will bear the full weight of his folly, a weight that will crush him for eternity.
The Gospel for Scoffers and the Wise
This passage draws a sharp line in the sand. On one side are the wise, who love correction and fear God. On the other are the scoffers, who hate correction and worship themselves. And if we are honest, we must admit that we have all spent time on the wrong side of that line. By nature, we are all scoffers. Our default setting is pride. We are born curved in on ourselves, believing we are the center of the universe. We have all bristled at correction, hated the light, and loved our own darkness.
So what hope is there for a race of scoffers? The hope is found in the one who was perfectly wise and yet willingly bore the injury and disgrace that was due to us scoffers. Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the wisdom of God. He lived in perfect fear of the Lord. And yet, on the cross, He was treated as the ultimate scoffer. He received the disgrace that we deserved. He bore the injury that was our due. He who was infinitely wise was made to be folly for us, so that in Him we might become the wisdom of God.
When God's grace breaks into a scoffer's heart, the first thing it does is shatter his pride. It gives him a new heart, a heart that fears God. It makes him teachable for the first time. The gospel turns swine into sons. It takes those who hate reproof and transforms them into those who love the ones who bring it.
And for those of us who are already wise in Christ, the gospel is our daily bread. It reminds us that we have no standing in ourselves. We are wise only because of a wisdom given to us as a sheer gift. This keeps us humble and teachable. It makes us eager for correction, because we know that every loving rebuke is a tool in the hands of our Father to chip away the remaining folly and make us more like our wise and wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. It is in His name that we can approach the throne of grace, and it is for His sake that we can say to a brother, "Strike me, it is a kindness."