Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her
seven pillars: She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; she has
also furnished her table. She has sent forth her maidens: she cries upon
the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:
as for him that wants understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread,
and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish,
and live; and go in the way of understanding (Prov. 9:1-6).
WELL-MEANT OFFER ARGUMENT:
“This is Christ, personified as
Wisdom in Proverbs 8 & 9, crying out to everyone in the streets to come and
find life by means of Him. These two chapters are not only full of
commands, but they also express desire—as reasons are heaped up at
length. Proverbs 9:4 is in the ‘jussive’ mode, which expresses desire.
It could also be translated, ‘may he turn in hither.’ Not only are the
people commanded to turn in, but Christ desires that all who hear His
voice should turn in to Him.”
(I)
Prof.
David J. Engelsma
It is the plain testimony of Scripture that God’s
predestination, or will and desire to save some only, is the source of all
salvation. Thus does God receive the glory in the salvation of the sinner—not
the sinner himself, who, on the view of the well-meant offer, distinguishes
himself from other sinners by virtue of his accepting the offered
salvation. This is the issue; it must not be forgotten.
As for Proverbs 9, it might be explained simply as
the external call of the gospel, namely, the truth that God confronts all
humans with Jesus Christ and commands or exhorts all to believe on Him.
Many are called, but few are chosen. This external call is not a
well-meant offer. Rather, by it God hardens some, whereas He draws others
by grace that He gives only to them (the elect).
I, however, explain it as expressing God’s sincere
desire for the salvation of some hearers which He then realizes by drawing them
savingly to the Wisdom. This call is not general, or universal. It
is particular. It is addressed to the “simple” and to the one who “wants
understanding.” These are those humans who, by grace, have come to know
their own spiritual destitution and foolishness. They are the same as
those addressed in the New Testament as the “weary” and “heavy laden”—spiritual
characteristics of those in whose heart God has worked true knowledge of
sin. Only those who are, in their own knowledge of themselves, “simple”
will feel the need of the heavenly Wisdom and respond to the call.
There is no well-meant offer to all in the text on
any account. (DJE, 03/01/2020)
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(II)
Herman
Hoeksema (1886-1965)
[Source: The Gospel,
Or, The Most Recent Attack Against the Truth of Sovereign Grace]
[This] passage of Scripture
[has been appealed to] to find support for [the] contention that God wills that
all men shall be saved and that the Gospel is a well-meant offer of salvation
on God’s part to all men.
What should [restrain one from
appealing to this passage is], first of all, the character and the content of
the book of Proverbs. For that character is thoroughly spiritual-ethical.
Proverbs deals throughout with spiritual-ethical values. It speaks of wisdom
and prudence, of knowledge and understanding, of righteousness and purity, of
truth and justice, of beneficence and mercy, of humility and valor, of
diligence and skill, of correction and moderation. And it presents all of these
as arising out of the deep principle of the fear of the Lord. It is not simply
an external life according to the law that Proverbs has in view; no humanistic
worldly wisdom is proclaimed in this book; but the book assumes throughout the
absolute position that there is no knowledge and understanding, no wisdom and
prudence, no righteousness and purity, etc., apart from the fear of the Lord.
This explains the fact, too,
that the book of Proverbs is so stringently antithetical. Over against wisdom,
etc., stand foolishness, lewdness, stupidity, filthiness, lying,
unrighteousness, unfaithfulness, gluttony, injustice and oppression, cruelty
which even in its mercy is still cruel; and all these are rooted in the
principle of ungodliness; they are present where the fear of the Lord is
missing. [At once] this spiritual-ethical character of the book [prevents a
person] from seeking comfort from this passage of Scripture. For all that has
to do with spiritual-ethical values runs along a very strict line, does not
allow for delusion, cannot be twisted, and also cannot be generalized. You
simply cannot hawk the wares of wisdom and of righteousness on the path of
folly and wickedness. You cannot sweetly offer to everyone the blessedness
which can only be known and tasted in the way of the fear of the Lord.
In the sphere of the
spiritual-ethical everything is inexorable. You can proclaim woe to the ungodly
if he does not forsake the way of wickedness. You can promise blessing and
salvation to all who forsake the way of wickedness and who turn to the Lord.
But you cannot distort things. And the deep cause of this lies again in this,
that God is GOD. It always comes down to this. [The advocate of common grace
and the general, well-meant offer] has a wrong conception of God. He has a God
Who loves also the wicked as such. Who is filled with pity toward him. Who in
mercy seeks his good even in the way of wickedness. And that God is no God. If [the
student of the word] would understand that this can never be, that God cannot
love the sinner qua talis even for
the smallest conceivable moment, then he would as a matter of course arrive at
that God Who in sovereign love has so known and willed His people from before
the foundation of the world that He sees in them no transgression. Then he
would always and again arrive at election. Then he would always have to
acknowledge that God loves the people whom He sees in Christ from eternity. And
that is the God of the Scriptures!
In the second place, also the
context following upon Proverbs 9:1-6 should [restrain men] from appealing to
this passage for a general, well-meant offer of grace and salvation … For in the verses which follow it becomes as
clear as can be that Wisdom simply does not approach all and does not intend to
cast her pearls before the swine, neither intends that her ‘maidens’ shall do
this. Let us read these verses in their context:
Wisdom
hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed
her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She
hath sent forth her maidens; she crieth upon the highest places of the city.
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him. Come, eat of my bread. And drink of the wine which I have
mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
Thus far runs the passage,
verses 1-6 .... But Wisdom continues and says:
He that
reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man
getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise
man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet
wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
If [one takes] the trouble to
pay attention to these latter words and to read the preceding verses in their
context, then [we] have to come to the following explanation. Wisdom does not
turn here to the scorners and to the wicked. The scorner and the wicked are the
same. A wicked man is basically always a scorner, or mocker. He mocks wisdom
and despises correction. Therefore he who rebukes and corrects the wicked gets
to himself shame. To him, therefore, Wisdom does not turn. It would be casting
pearls before the swine. He turns to the wise and he instructs the righteous.
Also the righteous, or just, and the wise man are the same. The righteous is
the wise, and he alone. For wisdom in the book of Proverbs is not an
intellectual but a thoroughly spiritual and ethical concept. Through
instruction a wise man will become still wiser and the righteous man will
increase in doctrine … If Wisdom so emphatically refuses to instruct the
scorner and the wicked man, and to cast her pearls before the swine, then it
will also be clear that she does not do this in verse 4: “Whoso is simple … let
him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.”
It is foolish to suppose that
in verse 4 Wisdom goes flatly contrary to her own admonition of verse 8. There
is then but one conclusion possible: the simple … and those wanting
understanding of verse 4 are not the scorners and wicked of verses 7 and 8, but the wise and just of verse 9. And do
not say now that this is impossible, because a wise man cannot be lacking in
understanding and a righteous man cannot be [simple]. [“Simple,” here,] refers
to those who are not yet far advanced in the knowledge of wisdom, and who
therefore are in the midst of the world easily exposed to the lusts of
temptation. This is the meaning of the original word … This is also the meaning
of the same word in Psalm 19:8, [“making wise the simple”] … But
thus there is nothing inconsistent about speaking of [‘a simple-righteous man’].
Such a one is simply a righteous man who is still inexperienced in the way of
righteousness in the midst of a world which is in darkness. Merely instruct
him, and he will increase in understanding. And it is no different with the
connection between a man who “wanteth understanding” and a “wise man.” In the
original you find for the word which is rendered in our English (or Dutch)
Bible by “wanteth understanding” … a combination of two words which mean
literally ‘lacking in heart.’ And since the heart is the seat of knowledge,
therefore the term means ‘someone lacking in knowledge.’ And if now you keep in
mind that in the book of Proverbs “the wise” is an ethical concept, denotes
someone who has the fear of the Lord in his heart and therefore wants to walk
in the way of true wisdom and righteousness, then there is nothing inconsistent
in connecting “one who wanteth understanding” and “a wise man.” You simply have
the idea, then, that there is a wise man who is lacking in knowledge and who
must be instructed by Wisdom … Wisdom, therefore, is here calling and inviting
the wise and the just who are lacking in knowledge and experience, and who
therefore will allow themselves to be instructed by Her …
Finally, there is in the first
six verses of Proverbs 9 no general offer of salvation whatsoever, even though
you should read verses 4-6 in such a way that they include all men. Then you
still have nothing other than a calling,
with a promise for those who heed the calling. “Let him turn in
hither! Come! Forsake the foolish!” That is the calling. And the promise is: “Eat,
drink, and live!” The furnished table of Wisdom is, after all, only for those
who forsake the foolish, who walk in the way of understanding, who come in response
to the calling of Wisdom. And the wicked and scorners surely do not do this. He
who rebukes the wicked only getteth a blot, and he who reproves the scorner is
hated by him. The wise and the just man hears and comes upon the calling of
Wisdom. The furnished table is for him. There is simply no escaping this. You
cannot make these things general.
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(III)
More to
come! (DV)
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