3. In Proverbs 9:13, the writer personifies foolish choices. How does he describe Folly in verse 13?

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1 Women in the Word Proverbs: Folly September 20, Write your own definition of a fool. Think of a famous person that you would consider a fool. What role do you think their personal choices played in dubbing them a fool? 2. Read the following verses and write down what they say about fools. Proverbs 1:7 Proverbs 1:22 Proverbs 1:32 Proverbs 3:35 Proverbs 10:21 Proverbs 10:23 What do you learn about fools and the lives they choose from these verses? 3. In Proverbs 9:13, the writer personifies foolish choices. How does he describe Folly in verse 13? 4. Folly invites people to join her in Proverbs 9: How does she attract people to foolish choices in verses 14 and 15? What are some of the ways you see Folly issue invitations to people in today s culture? What type of person does Folly include in her invitation according to verse 16? What is the end result of accepting the invitation from Folly according to verse 18? 5. In Proverbs 5, Solomon instructs his son on how to avoid the serious and deadly folly of sexual immorality. What words does Solomon use in verse 1 to highlight the importance of his message?

2 Women In the Word Proverbs: Folly Sept. 20, 2012 Page 2 6. Solomon describes the temptation of an adulterous woman in Proverbs 5:3-6. What descriptive words does he use to describe her speech in verse 3? 7. Compare the words of the adulteress in Proverbs 5:3 with the words of Folly in Proverbs 9:17. What do you learn about the attractiveness of sexual immorality from these verses? Now compare Proverbs 5:5 with Proverbs 9:18. What is the cost of choosing the folly of immorality? 8. What are the key words in Solomon s advice to his son concerning immorality in Proverbs 5:7,8? 9. What are the consequences of ignoring his instructions according to Proverbs 5:9-11? Now look at the world around you and list some of the consequences you see people face today when they choose to become involved in sexual immorality. 10. Read Proverbs 6: How do these instructions for Solomon s son complement his words in Proverbs 5:1? What theme do you see repeated here? What benefit is derived from keeping the teaching and commands of parents according to Proverbs 6:23,24? What are some ways today s parents can make a difference in their child s future when it comes to immorality?

3 Women In the Word Proverbs: Folly Sept. 20, 2012 Page Proverbs 6:25 gives insight into the first step down the path of immorality. What first leads people to contemplate immorality according to verse 25? 12. Read 2 Samuel 11:2-4. How does the story of David and Bathsheba illustrate the truth of Proverbs 6:25? What does Jesus have to say about the slippery slope of looking, lusting and sexual immorality in Matthew 5:28? 13. Read Matthew 18:6,7 and consider what role women play in helping the men around them avoid the slippery slope of lust. Do you personally evaluate how you dress everyday in light of how men may look at you? Why or why not? What personal changes do we need to make as women in the church in regard to this issue? 14. In Proverbs 7, Solomon illustrates his arguments on the folly of sexual immorality with an eyewitness account. What is familiar about Proverbs 7:1-3? Read Proverbs 7:6-27. How does the adulterous woman s immoral encounter with the young man resemble Folly s invitation in Proverbs 9:14-18? 15. What insight on sexual immorality stands out to you after studying Solomon s instructions in Proverbs? What changes do you need to make to avoid or leave the path of Folly? 16. Which proverb from this week s study will you memorize? How will you incorporate it into your daily life? 17. Do you have a personal prayer request to share with your small group?

4 Women in the Word September 20, 2012 Wise Up! Successful Living from Proverbs You re Invited! You re invited by: Madame, the hostess of all who make foolish choices. 9:13-15 Who s Invited: the, the naive, the gullible and the foolish. 9:16 What You re Invited For: To take part in the deadly folly of. 9:17 Important Details of Folly s Invitation: It is issued with smooth talk and seductive images 5:3; 6:24,25 The cost of accepting is. It includes financial loss, emotional loss, loss of reputation and even death. 5:4,5,9-11; 6:27-31 How To Decline Folly s Invitation: 5:1,2; 6:20-24; 7:1-5 Be teachable. Be teachers of your own. Be vigilant. Be disciplined. Your Response to Folly s Invitation: Be prepared at all times to decline, knowing the invitation is coming. Understand that declining is your personal choice to make, not the worlds. By declining Folly s invitation for destruction you are choosing Wisdom s path to life. Key: Folly, simple, sexual immorality, high, children

5 Proverbs Folly Women in the Word September 20, 2012 Proverbs 5:15 18 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. Proverbs 10:21 But fools die for lack of judgment. Proverbs 1:32 The complacency of fools will destroy them Proverbs 3:35 The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. 1 Corinthians 6: The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, The two will become one flesh. But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. I Thessalonians 4:3 5 It is God s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. Matthew 5:27,28 You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. I Corinthians 10:23, 24 I have the right to do anything, you say but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything but not everything is constructive. No one should see their own good, but the good of others. Proverbs 22:16 Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.