In Prov 1:22, Wisdom is personified as a woman. She cries out for people to listen and pleads with them to hear God’s Word. The wise are those who do so.

But three types of people do not. They are the simple, the fool, and the scorner–also referred to as a mocker.

The simple person is not stupid. He is naïve and untaught. Because he is young, he has not had the opportunity to experience life’s lessons. Due to the lack of experience, he can be influenced by others. He doesn’t realize how valuable wisdom is. We might call him gullible. He doesn’t know better. But he is open to being taught because he recognizes that he lacks wisdom and experience. If he meets a wise person, that person may be able to influence him.

The fool is closed-minded and stubborn. When wisdom is offered, he rejects it because he does not see its value in his life. He often has the attitude that he has heard it all before. He seeks instant gratification and is not willing to be taught.

The scorner takes the rejection of wisdom to another level. He actively opposes it. He mocks the one who seeks the wisdom of God’s Word. One could say that he is an enemy of wisdom and that he encourages others to join him.

Many who read the book of Proverbs conclude that those who won’t listen to Wisdom’s voice–especially the fool and the scorner–are unbelievers. Some would say that the “simple” might be a young believer who just hasn’t had the opportunity to be taught. But when he is, if he is a believer, he will respond appropriately.

Certainly, one would expect an unbeliever to be a fool when it comes to the wisdom found in God’s Word. For example, an unbeliever would likely seek the pleasures found in this world and would not see the value of living a sexually pure life.

It would also not be a surprise to find a mocker who is an unbeliever. Such a person would ridicule anybody who desires to please God with his life.

Many would acknowledge that a believer may be simple in that he does not automatically respond to instruction in a wise way. A believer can be simple when it comes to the things of God.

But what about fools and scorners? The view that these terms always refer to unbelievers springs from the false teaching that true believers always live godly lives. That is simply not true. Unfortunately, a believer can be a fool and can even become a scorner. Maybe he now denies the faith. Perhaps he still believes that Jesus is the Christ and will return, but thinks that only a fool would not take advantage of the pleasures found in this world. He would ridicule anybody who lives for the world to come.

Jesus spoke of believers who are fools. He told the disciples they would be fools if they did not listen to and act upon His words (Matt 7:26). On another occasion, He described a group of believers who were foolish because they did not prepare for His coming (Matt 25:2).

The lessons for us are clear. Every believer has eternal life and will live in the coming kingdom of Christ. But while we wait for Him, we can be either wise or foolish. If you are a young believer, you don’t yet fully understand the value of God’s Word. But you don’t have to stay simple. You can grow in wisdom and enjoy all its benefits in this life and the one to come.

As believers, we must realize that it is not only unbelievers who are foolish. If we don’t listen to the Lord, we will be fools as well.