Aug 5, 2017
In Proverbs 4 the Lord reveals to us some promises that come with wisdom. They are simple, direct, pointed promises, and each has a condition that must be met. Fulfill the condition, receive the promise. Refuse the condition, and you walk away empty handed and promise free. It’s that simple.
The Proverb begins with the father once again giving sage advice to his young children. Watch how this unfolds.
Proverbs 4:1-2 – Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding; (why) for I give you good doctrine: (therefore) do not forsake my law.
The father then reminds his children about his own upbringing and the words his father told him that he is now passing on to his own children. He says:
Proverbs 4:3-5 – When I was my father’s son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands, and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.”
Get Wisdom! Get Understanding!
The point the father is trying to impress on his beloved children is the importance of getting wisdom and understanding. In fact, you can almost feel the urgency in the father’s words: “Get wisdom! Get understanding!” (Prov. 4:5) Later, he adds, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Prov. 4:7).
Wisdom (ḥoḵmāh) is defined as “skill, experience and shrewdness; with the beginning of wisdom and the supreme wisdom being to properly fear and reverence God.”1 Understanding (biynāh) means “comprehension and discernment, which is accompanied by righteous actions and it carries a strong moral and religious connotation.”2 So when the father says “in all your getting, get understanding” (Prov. 4:7), he is imploring his children to add righteous actions to their reverence and fear of God. It’s not a theological point to be debated. It’s not a mere mental exercise. It’s living in real time a life that corresponds to a reverence of God. Like Jesus later said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Great question. How would you answer Him?
The First Promise
Then comes the most exciting part of these few verses. Wisdom is now personified as a woman and each of these promises about wisdom (her) is connected with a condition that must first be met. There are three do’s and one don’t. Let’s look at the don’t first.
Proverbs 4:6a – (condition) Do not forsake her (wisdom), and (promise) she will preserve you.
To forsake (ʿāzaḇ) someone is to “leave, neglect, or abandon” them, usually for someone or something else.3 And the idea associated with the word translated preserve (šāmar) means “to keep watch, to guard, to watch over carefully like a mother over her young child.”4
So the first promise from wisdom is that if we do not abandon wisdom or neglect the wisdom found in God’s Word, then wisdom will guard our life and watch carefully over us like a loving mother to her cherished young child. Wisdom will become our protector, our safety, and our security in troubling times of trials and temptations and persecution. She will preserve our life during the attacks of the enemy and reveal to us what is true and trustworthy. And in doing so, we will be strengthened against the schemes of our enemy who speaks to us lies disguised as truth (John 8:44).
Wisdom will also protect us from falling prey to our own ideas about things. She will help us bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5) so we won’t confuse our selfish, carnal thoughts and feelings about ourselves and others and vainly think they come from the Lord. If we hold on to wisdom and do not abandon her to our own self-centered sense of right and wrong, then she will guard us against the temptation of trying to create God in our own image by believing He thinks and feels like we do.
And nothing could be further from the truth. Why? Because He doesn’t. God doesn’t live in our box.
As the Lord says in Isaiah:
Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
I think that should settle it, don’t you?
There are three more promises granted to those who embrace the conditions associated with wisdom. We’ve only looked at the first one, the don’t.
Tomorrow we’ll continue with the three do’s.
Endnotes
- Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (p. 337). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
- Ibid., 130.
- Ibid., 819.
- Ibid., 1171.
May 31, 2017
In Exodus 30 the Lord gives Moses, in great detail, instructions about how to make the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:22-33) and the incense (Ex. 30:34-38) to be used in temple worship. And He gives specific commands about each. For the anointing oil He said:
Exodus 30:25-30 – “And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests.”
God then tells His people the importance of what He has just commanded them to do.
Exodus 30:31 – “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations.’ “
But there’s a warning. What has been deemed holy by the Lord is not to be used for personal pleasure or gain. Man is not to benefit from what is reserved for God alone. He said, “This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me (not to you) throughout your generations” (Ex. 30:31).
The Lord knew then, as He knows now, how easily we can turn worship into something we like and forget about the One it’s designed to honor. We play the worship music we enjoy, preach the sermons that make us feel good, and anoint anything we feel like anointing. Our times together to worship the Lord often digress into something that makes us feel better about who we are and not about Who we belong to.
Listen to the warning God gives about making a profit from what belongs only to Him.
Exodus 30:32-33 – “It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.”
You are not to pour My oil out on whom you desire nor make some for yourself using the recipe I have given you. This is for Me and Me alone. “It is holy, and it shall be holy to you” (Ex. 30:32).
God gave the same command and warnings about the incense. After detailing the specific combination of spices He desired, God then tells His children exactly where to place the incense and why.
Exodus 30:36 – “And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.”
This incense is to be placed where God has chosen to meet with His people— a most holy place. And “it shall be most holy to you.” It is not to be used in your home, sold on Amazon, or used in any other way God has not specifically prescribed. Why? Because its purpose is to prepare a place for God to meet with man— a most holy place. And not to make your car smell better.
Again, there’s a warning.
Exodus 30:37-38 – “But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the LORD. Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
You are not to make any incense for yourself for any reason. Why? Because “it shall be to you holy for the Lord.” It’s not for you, just for Him. And what happens if we choose to ignore His warnings and commands and personally profit from what belongs for Him alone? He says the person who does this “shall be cut off from his people.” They will no longer be covered under His covenant. They shall be as a foreigner, an outcast to Him.
Cut Off From His People
Take a few minutes this Sunday and watch a couple of church services online. Especially from a mega church. How much of what you see is designed to glorify and worship the Lord? And how much is planned to make the congregation feel comfortable and want to come back next Sunday?
Then go look at your own service this Sunday. How much of what is done is for the benefit of you, or for the adoration of the Lord? Is the “special music” for your enjoyment, or for His? And speaking of music, do you even know what kind of music the Lord enjoys? Is it traditional? Contemporary? Psalms only? With or without instruments? Does He enjoy loud guitars and a light show? Or is that just for us?
And the message? Does it lift up Him and His glory and attributes? Or is it more about you and your problems and how the Lord can “get you through to the other side?” Are you encouraged to verbally proclaim the beauty and majesty of the Lord or to turn to your neighbor and say, “You look good today?”
What kind of worship truly worships the Lord? What type of service would He design if we ever took the time to ask Him?
These are some questions I hope you’ll think about before you head out next Sunday for church. Because it’s supposed to be all about Him, and not about us.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
Oct 4, 2016
What if God was bigger than the box in which we try to place Him? Wouldn’t that be incredible? You and I both know that He is bigger than anything we can imagine. But nevertheless, we have a tendency to always try to place Him in a box that allows us to understand Him on our terms.
Think of the boxes in which we try to place Him. We have our experience box that rejects God moving in any way other than what we have experienced in the past. This box makes our experience with Him as the defining element of His character and the full expression of His will. God can never be bigger than He has been in our past. He becomes one-dimensional, myopic, and is not allowed to do anything that makes us feel uncomfortable or stretches and expands our faith.
We have our denominational box that limits God to the tenets of our theology, our sacred creeds, or our agreed upon statements of faith. But this box assumes we know all there is to know about the Unknowable One, the One who defies human description. This box cannot be true. For how can the created know all there is to know about the Creator, no matter how infested the created is with pride and arrogance and self-exaltation?
Then we have our spiritual maturity box. This box states that the way God is dealing with us right now, at this present moment, at our current level of maturity, is how He deals with everyone. Why? Because we can’t accept the fact there may be others who are more mature than we are in the things of the Lord. That would make us feel uncomfortable. Or, worse yet, convicted. And there are other boxes we conjure with different labels. We have our faith box, our feelings box, and the like. But God cannot be contained by the constraints of our fear or insecurity.
God is beyond all that. He’s incredible. He’s beyond comprehension. He cannot be understood or described by mere human words. It is foolishness to assume we can know the Almighty and all His ways. Why? Because He says about Himself in Isaiah,
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Often we find ourselves hamstrung and impotent in our spiritual lives, when compared with Scripture, because of the limitations we place on our God by the box we try to force Him into.
The Early Church
We see God do incredible things in the book of Acts— unparalleled things compared to what we see Him doing in the church today. Because that fact alone makes us feel so uncomfortable, we go to great lengths to try to convince ourselves that His moving like He did was for them alone, at that time in history, but not for us today. Why? Why would we assume that? Then we go through great theological gymnastics to somehow try to prove that the “abundant ” life Jesus promised (John 10:10), as revealed to us in the book of Acts, was only for them, and not for us. They got to experience true intimacy with the Lord, and we are left standing alone, jilted at the altar.
But what if all that changed?
What if we got the opportunity to be able to see God for who He really is? What if we began to understand the Holy Spirit as being more than just an attribute of God, or a characteristic of God, or just some innate power coming from God that we ask for when we need it? What if our eyes were opened and we began to see and experience the Holy Spirit as Jesus revealed Him? What if we truly believed, and rested on that belief, that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth that will “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:27)? What if we took Jesus at His word when we said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (the Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7)?
How would that change your life? And how would it change your experience with His church?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself of late. In all my years of ministry, I’ve had the nagging feeling that I’m missing something, that I am somehow coming up short. I’ve felt there’s more to this life in Christ than what I was taught in Seminary or that I have experienced in all my years in church.
Have you ever felt the same?
Do you see how the church is portrayed in the book of Acts and then wonder what happened between then and now? I do. And it drives me to hunger for more of Him.
What if we had the confidence, as the Scripture states, to go “boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16)? Not just mental assent to the truth of this verse, but to know this truth deep down where our hurts and fears reside. What if this promise became a living reality in our lives?
What if we really believed that God loves us, no matter what, and listens to our prayers? Would that change your prayer life? It would mine. Would you seek Him first in your frustrations and disappointments, or would you continue to try to manipulate people and circumstances to your own advantage?
What if we truly believed what it says in Romans about each of us? God tells us “the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16-17). Do you feel like a child of God? Do you think of yourself as a child of God? And more than that, do you live like an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ? But that’s who God says we are, no matter how strange and foreign it may seem.
Back to Acts
Together, we’re going to take the book of Acts and try to understand it through new eyes. Not our 21st century eyes of doubt, cynicism and failure, but through the eyes of the Spirit and in childlike, trusting faith. We want to see the Lord for what He says, and what He does, and believe His words are true for us today. We want to understand the book of Acts as not some ancient story about how the church was, and can never be again, but for how things should be. How things could be. And hopefully, how they are.
We want permission to be able to dream again.
So join with me as we strive to uncover the truth about who Christ is and how the Holy Spirit works in our life by looking at an in-depth study of the church in the book of Acts.
It should be quite a ride. I hope you’ll join with me.
Dec 22, 2015
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.
Proverbs 1:5-6
We are now ready to close out the preamble to the Proverbs, and Solomon does that in a surprising way. Proverbs 1:5 tells us one of the primary purposes of this book, and of wisdom itself, is to allow to us “hear and increase learning (or, to receive teaching, insight, instruction)” and to “attain (or, get, buy, possess, no matter the costs) wise counsel (or, wise guidance, direction, or good advice).”
But we already know that. What we don’t know is why?
Why do we need wise counsel? What’s the purpose, the pay-off, for us in real time? What’s out there that is so important we’re supposed to learn, to understand, to have insight into? What about the last part of this passage? What about the “riddles and dark sayings”? Because it seems the “wise man” and the “man of understanding” will “hear and increase learning” and “attain wise counsel” for only one reason: “to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Prov. 1:6).
And what does that mean?
The Climax of the Definition of Wisdom
Remember, a truly wise man is not one who has already attained wisdom, but one who’s keenly aware that he hasn’t, and is desperately striving forward to be more like Christ, or to “press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). He’s one who’s not satisfied with the spiritual status quo and is not content with his Bible College Diploma signifying he has learned all there is to know about Christ and His Word. No, the wise man longs to dig deeper, to pray harder, to speak louder, to shine brighter, and to love more intensely than he thought humanly possible.
And to this “wise man”, to the “man of understanding”, comes one of the greatest blessings of all. He, by virtue of the wisdom given him by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, will learn to “understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Prov. 1:6). To him, the doors of the deeper truths of the things of God are opened and he is graciously invited to come and dine.
We know the meaning of proverb, but what’s an “enigma”? And what’s all this about the “words of the wise and their riddles”?
An enigma (mĕliytsah) is translated as “a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand.” Admittedly, it’s a difficult word to translate in this Proverb. It can also mean “a riddle” or “a symbol or parable” or “a discourse requiring an interpretation” or simply as “a figurative and involved discourse” and is closely related to the phrase “riddles” or “dark sayings.” Therefore, when rendered together, it means something obscure in meaning, or some truth that is difficult to uncover and understand.
How do we know this? By looking at the meaning of “riddles” or “dark sayings.” The word translated here is hiydah and means “difficult questions, perplexing sayings, a statement with a double meaning, or dark and obscure utterances.” They seem to be speaking about truths that are not laying on the surface for everyone to see. They’re more hidden, like buried treasure, that only the diligent, or wise, will know to dig for and value when found.
And according to the Proverbs, this is the climax, the zenith, the pinnacle of wisdom. It doesn’t get any better than being able to understand the mysterious, puzzling, profoundly deep things of God that change us forever. After all, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” says the Lord (Isa. 55:4). And maybe, just maybe, we can catch a fleeting glimpse of just how high His thoughts are. What an incredible blessing! Tell me what compares to having the “mind of Christ”? (1 Cor. 2:16).
Ears to Hear
Jesus hinted of this when He used the cryptic phrase, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” before speaking profound truth to only those who were able to receive it— and not to everyone. These words were not FPC, or “For Public Consumption.” They were only for those who understood the implications of what the Lord was saying. We would call those the wise, those who could understand His parables, His stories with their hidden meaning, and the mysterious, deep, dark sayings of the Lord.
Let’s look at a few of these.
When talking about John the Baptist, Jesus said he was the greatest man who ever lived and the last of the Old Testament prophets (Matt. 11:11-13). And then He threw the crowd a curve. He said, “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matt. 11:14). Note the if in His statement. Not everyone was willing to receive John as coming in the spirit of Elijah. Why? Because according to Malachi in the last two verses of the Old Testament, Elijah was to come as the forerunner of the Messiah, the Christ (Mal. 4:5-6). But John was the forerunner of Jesus. So if they received what Jesus said about John, they would have to conclude that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel.
But not everyone was willing to do that. Therefore, the truth He uttered was not for everyone, but only for a few. For the chosen, the elect, the ones with believing hearts. Hence Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him (not everyone else) hear” (Matt. 11:15).
And again, when Jesus preached arguably His most powerful and far reaching parable about the sower and the seeds, He ended it by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). Why? Because this parable deals with true salvation and the deception of non-saving faith. It paints a vivid picture of those who are holding on to traditions or the teachings of men and are enamored with Christ for a short while, compared to what true salvation looks like. And it always involves fruit, and not mere profession (Matt. 7:15-20). It’s an utterly profound teaching that not everyone would receive, let alone understand. It’s for the few, the chosen, the elect, the ones “who have ears to hear.”
We see these cryptic, mysterious, dark sayings of Jesus when He spoke about life in the Kingdom (Matt. 13:9). He also used these words after confronting the Pharisees regarding their religious and spiritual hypocrisy (Mark 7:16). And when He told His disciples the true costs of discipleship: “So, likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33), He ended that teaching with the same puzzling words, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Luke 14:35). But puzzling to whom? Obviously not those who have ears to hear. No, it’s the others, the masses, the everyone else.
And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus ends each of His seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 the same way: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). If there was ever a book of the Bible full of enigmas, riddles, and dark sayings, it would be the Revelation. Wouldn’t you agree?
Back to the Dark Sayings
Which brings us back to the Proverbs.
We have been given, as a great and precious gift, the privilege of being able to understand and comprehend the deeper things of God, the sometimes confusing, puzzling, and mysterious aspects of His being. He has granted us, as mere mortals, insights into the Eternal. And these great insights, the things “many prophets and righteous men desired to see, and did not see” (Matt. 13:17) have been given to each of us by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who is the Sovereign One Himself. With wisdom, the very wisdom of God, we can now “understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Prov. 1:6).
All we have to do is use what is now ours. As Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with the problems longer.” In other words, I do the work. I put in the time. I stay focused and committed until I find the answer. And the same can be said regarding wisdom and the child of God.
Just as long as we use what is now ours to use.
Do Not Forsake Your Inheritance
One of the most tragic stories in all of Scripture is the account of Esau trading his blessed inheritance for a bowl of stew— for one meager can of Dinty Moore stew (Gen. 25:33-34). How could he do such a thing? Same way we do. How could he have been so short-sighted, foolish, and just plain stupid? Same way we are. And we do it all the time.
Solomon has told us one of the blessings of wisdom, of knowing the Lord in an intimate, personal way, is that by virtue of God’s wisdom imparted to us, we become wise. That only makes sense. And one of the blessings of being a wise man is to be able to understand and discern the wondrous and mysterious things in the Word of God that reveal God Himself to us. And that’s our inheritance, to have the indescribable privilege of calling Him “Abba, Father” and of Him seeing us as His children, His sons, as part of His family (Rom. 8:15). But there’s more. Our blessed inheritance means we are also heirs— “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17).
What compares with that? And what would you trade for your inheritance?
If you say ” absolutely nothing”! Great. But our lives and our affections often tell a different story. For we do what we want to do and serve who we want to serve. Jesus put it this way, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). And if we treasure our life in the here-and-now and what this fallen world thinks of us or promises to give us, then our hearts have drifted far from the inheritance that’s ours and the Kingdom which is our home. Wisdom no longer is our desire and the “dark sayings” of the Lord remain dark, hidden, and concealed by a veil of our own apathy. How sad. How utterly sad and heartbreaking.
We have a promise and an inheritance. So beware lest you fall into the same trap as Esau and forfeit everything for eternity because we wanted something that tastes good right now.
The spiritual life with Christ is a marathon, not a sprint. Be committed for the long haul and strive, with all you are, to be a wise man that understands what others call “riddles, an enigma, and dark sayings.”
And be this kind of man, even if you stand alone.
Final Question
The promise sounds appealing, wonderful in fact. But where do we begin? What’s the first step? It’s one thing to talk about the blessings of wisdom and then dangle them out in front of us like a carrot before a horse. But it’s quite another to provide us with a roadmap, a guide book of some sort, maybe an instruction manual to point us in the right direction. Otherwise, you leave us hanging, frustrated by seeing the goal and having no clue how to get there.
But there’s good news. For the Proverbs state the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” and then contrasts that with “but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). We just need to figure out exactly what the “fear of the Lord” means and we should be on our way.
After all, as Julie Andrews sang in the Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”
And for us, that beginning is the “fear of the Lord.”
Getting Serious
1. When was the last time God spoke to you and revealed something He had previously kept hidden from you?
2. Do you know why He kept that part of Himself from you? Was it Him? Or was the reason something in you?
3. Do you believe it’s actually possible to have the kind of relationship with the Father that He would be pleased to share His heart with you? Does your faith stretch that far? Or, do you think that is just an unobtainable goal?
4. If you answered, yes, to the last question, what do you plan to do about it? Are you willing to put in the time and effort to have that kind of relationship with the Lord? Do you know how to begin? Do you know, right now, of anyone who God does share His heart with?
5. On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate God’s wisdom in your life right now and in your decision making process? What was it yesterday? Are you growing in the wisdom of God? And, if not, why?
Next Step Challenge
Take your Bible and look up every time the Lord spoke the words, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” and write them down. Then, spend some time reading them in context and see what the Lord is trying to say when He spoke those words.
Do you understand His message and the implications of what He is teaching? Do His words have any impact in your life right now? Is there something He is trying to say to you when you read His words?
Do you have ears to hear? And, if so, do you hear what He is saying to you right now?
Dec 7, 2015
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.
Proverbs 1:5-6
As we learned from our last study together, Solomon has some pointed words to say to the simple and to the impetuous young men. Remember?
To give prudence to the simple (and to give) to the young man knowledge and discretion (Prov. 1:4).
But he also has much to say to those who lived on the other end of the continuum: the wise, the learned, the men of understanding who seek wise, Godly counsel. You see, Proverbs is a book given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16) and is for all of us: the young, the old, the dedicated as well as the apathetic, the hot, the cold, and the lukewarm (Rev. 3:15-17), the theologically trained and the ones who only know one thing, “that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25). It’s for everyone. And regardless of our sinful, broken past or our life of privilege and opulence, the wisdom of God revealed in the Proverbs calls each of us, no matter who we are, wherever we are, into a deeper relationship with Him.
And in the closing two verses of the preamble to this grand gift to us, Solomon lets the pendulum swing hard to the other side and turns his attention to the opposite of the simple and naive. He now addresses the wise and astute, the ones who should know better, who do know better, and shows us how to understand the book we are now reading.
Let’s take a look at what Solomon had to say to those who live on the other side of the spiritual track.
The Wisdom of the Wise
In Proverbs 1:5-6 we read:
A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.
As you can see, Solomon is addressing two categories of people in this passage: a wise man and a man of understanding. But who are these people and what about their character draws us to them?
The term wise man is used to describe “one who is skilled or experienced.” The Proverbs expand this definition by showing a wise man is one “who continues to learn and is teachable (Prov. 9:9, 13:1), is one who heeds and accepts a rebuke (Prov. 9:8, 15:31), and one who speaks properly (Prov. 14:3, 15:2, 16:23).”1 But there’s much more. For Solomon continually contrasts the life of the wise man with the not-so-wise man to show us the inevitable results of the choices we make. For example:
Proverbs 3:35 – The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools.
Proverbs 10:8 – The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fall.
Proverbs 10:14 – Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
Remember, a wise man is only wise because he has received the wisdom from God that makes him wise. His wisdom does not come from within himself, or from some university degree, or his apparent success in this world. Scripture tells us that all the wisdom this world can offer is “foolishness (or, moronic, folly, absurdity) before God” and will soon fade away (1 Cor. 3:19). It means nothing. Zilch.
Proverbs 1:5 begins by telling us the “wise man will hear (or, listen, be attentive, understand, obey) and, as a result of hearing, increase (or, to do again, to add, to continue) learning (or, receive teaching, insight, instruction).” The wise man thirsts for more, wants more, craves more. He will not be satisfied with trifle tidbits of information designed to placate his curiosity. He’s inquisitive, with an insatiable appetite for more than what he’s already received. “If there’s more to Christ than I know right now, I want it! And I won’t be satisfied with anything less.”
The wise man, the one filled with the wisdom of God, with Christ Himself (1 Cor. 1:30), will hear, listen, understand, and then obey what he receives from the Lord. He will be loyal and trustworthy, faithful with the small, what he now has, knowing Christ will soon reward him with greater truths (Luke 16:10). And the more he sees of Jesus, the more he understands about Jesus, the more he lives in the unbroken presence of Jesus, the more he wants Jesus. Nothing else matters. Nothing else can satisfy.
This wise man will hear from the Lord and then increase or continue in what he has learned. He wants to know more, to experience more, to understand more. He will study the Scriptures to “present himself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). He will diligently memorize Scripture in order to “hide God’s word in his heart, that he might not sin against God” (Psalm 119:11) and he will work hard to grow in the wisdom God has provided him (Prov. 9:9).
A Man of Understanding
A “man of understanding” (biyn), on the other hand, is a man of “comprehension and discernment, one who exhibits righteous actions with a strong moral and religious connotation.” He’s a man who strives after the things of God and who can discern the difference between, not only the “good and the bad”— but also the “good and the best.”
And it says “a man of understanding will attain wise counsel” (Prov. 1:5). The word attain means to “get, buy, possess” at all costs and is reminiscent of the Kingdom parables spoken by our Lord. Remember? A man finds a treasure hidden in a field and joyfully goes and sells all he has to purchase the field (Matt. 13:44). Why? To attain the treasure, no matter the costs. Again, a merchant seeking beautiful pearls finds what he’s looking for and sells all he has to buy the pearl, the object of his search and obviously the passion of his life (Matt. 13:45-46). Why? Because he would not let anything keep him for attaining the pearl, even if it costs him all he has. And so it is with the “man of understanding” when it comes to getting wise counsel.
The phrase “wise counsel” means wise “guidance, direction, or good advice” and the importance of that virtue is taught many places throughout the Proverbs. For example:
Proverbs 11:14 – Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.
Proverbs 13:10 – By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.
Proverbs 20:18 – Plans are established by counsel; by wise counsel wage war.
Proverbs 24:6 – For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.
As you can see, a “man of understanding” seeks the wise counsel in order to learn from others who have also received the wisdom of God. Why? Because they lead to collective wisdom, for no one man can know everything there is to know about all things. After all, “he who walks with wise men will be wise” (Prov. 13:20) and “a wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength” (Prov. 24:5). Need we say more?
Riddles and Dark Sayings
But what about the last part of this passage? What about the “riddles and dark sayings”? It seems the “wise man” and the “man of understanding” will “hear and increase learning” and “attain wise counsel” for only one reason: “to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Prov. 1:6).
“But what’s an enigma and the words of the wise and their riddles”? you ask. Great question. And one we will look into next time.
Until then, enjoy some wise sayings from our own culture.
“Two minds are better than one.”
“Many hands make light work.”
Or, how about this one: “When spider webs unite they can tie up a lion.”
Adveho quis may.
Come what may.
Getting Serious
1. How would you describe your quiet time with the Lord?
2. Do you have a special place where you meet daily with the Lord? Does He meet you there? And, if so, what is your time with Him like?
3. Do you have a group of fellow believers who speak wisdom into your life? If so, how did you meet them? How has your intimacy and trust with them grown over time?
4. If you don’t have those in your life who can offer you wise counsel, why? And, are you a person who is in a position to offer wise counsel to others? If so, how did that relationship come about? If not, why?
5. On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate God’s wisdom in your life right now and in your decision making process? What was it yesterday? Are you growing in the wisdom of God? And, if not, why?
Next Step Challenge
Take a sheet of paper and write down 5 people you know to be wise and ones you would trust to receive counsel from. What about their lives leads you to trust them? What character traits do they possess that you admire the most? What single thing in their life speaks loudest about their relationship with Christ?
Do you have the same character traits in your life that you admire in theirs? If not, what are you prepared to do about that? Are you willing to humble yourself before the Lord and ask Him to change you into the person He wants you to be, no matter the costs? Have you asked Him for His wisdom, for His Son, and have you received Him on His terms?
Finally, make a list of 5 people you would never go to for wise advice. List the reasons why. Then compare the two lists and see which one most describes your own character traits.
Is the news good or bad? And what are you prepared to do about it?
1. Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (p. 336). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
Nov 30, 2015
To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Proverbs 1:2-4
As we discussed yesterday, in digging deep into the preamble of Proverbs 1, we came across a few intriguing verbs: know, perceive, receive, and give and also the nouns associated with those verbs: wisdom, instruction, understanding, justice, judgment, equity, knowledge and discretion.
In Proverbs 1:2-4 we again find:
To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity
To give prudence to the simple (and to give) to the young man knowledge and discretion.
As a reminder, notice again the natural progression of action. To know, then to perceive something, then to choose to personally receive and embrace what we now know and perceive, and finally to share, to give what we have now received to someone else.
We’ve already looked at the first three verbs. Now let’s spend some time trying to see and understand what the Lord expects us to do with what we’ve now received from Him, in Christ, by grace.
And the answer to that question is found in one simple word: give.
But a few questions remain. What are we to give to others? And who are the others we are to give something to?
To Give
So what are we to do with what we have received from Him? We are to give it away, we are to give our very lives to others. This is the meaning of: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39).
Question: But what are we to actually give to others?
Answer: What we have received from Him: grace, love, understanding, hope, and wisdom.
Question: And who are we to share and give His wisdom to?
Answer: Everyone. But specially the “simple” and the “young man.”
Look again at Proverbs 1:4: To give prudence to (who) the simple, to the (who) young man knowledge and discretion.
Four words stand out in this verse: prudence, simple, knowledge and discretion. We are to give prudence, or shrewdness, cautiousness to the simple. In fact, prudence can also be translated as common sense, care, or good judgment. The word simple means naive, foolish, gullible, inexperienced, or simpleminded— pretty much the opposite of prudence. It describes someone not firing on all cylinders, or someone who doesn’t have it all together, or someone lacking wisdom and common sense.
The Proverbs speak much about the simpleminded person. For example:
Proverbs 1:22 – “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?” For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.
Proverbs 7:7 – And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding.
Proverbs 8:5 – O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Proverbs 14:15 – The simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps.
Proverbs 14:18 – The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
Proverbs 22:3 – A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.
Therefore, we are to give, or place before, the simple, the naive, the gullible, those lacking common sense, good judgment and discipline, prudence. We are to give to those lacking wisdom the very wisdom from God that we possess in order to help them make good, God-honoring choices with their lives and not be led astray into sin and its consequences. And we can only do that by opening our mouth and speaking truth to those who may, or may not, appreciate what we’re about to say. But that doesn’t matter, does it? All we should be concerned with is our obedience to give what we know and perceive and have received, by grace, from Him.
Again, note the progression: First, we know God’s truth by experience and acceptance. Next, we perceive by our senses the impact of this profound truth concerning God’s wisdom. Our eyes are now opened to the truth in a new and unmistakable way. Then, we must make it personal by choosing to receive what we know and now see into our lives. This demands obedience, an all-or-nothing commitment to what we know to be true. And finally, we are to be willingly spent on others, as Oswald Chambers would say, “like broken bread and poured out wine.” We are to give to others what we have received by grace, especially the most vulnerable of all people, the “simple” and the “young men.”
The Young Men
Why did Solomon single out the “young men”? Because they tend to be the most zealous, the strongest, the easiest swayed, and the people who need the most guidance. When we use the phrase, “He went off half-cocked” we are not usually referring to an older man or any woman or a child. It’s the young man, the punk, the headstrong, the “better get out of my way” man. It’s “zeal without knowledge” on steroids. “Don’t try to confuse me with the truth, I’ve already made up my mind.” Remember?
Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, and he sins who (zeal) hastens with his feet (Proverbs 19:2).
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God (Romans 10:2-3).
So what are we to give these excited, passionate, yet sometimes misguided young men? The Proverbs say knowledge and discretion. Or, understanding, insight, wisdom and a purpose or a plan in which to apply what they now understand. It’s the antidote of going off half-cocked, or saying, “I’ve just got to do something, even if it’s wrong!” It’s the opposite of “calling your own shots” or “doing what seems best in your own eyes” (Jud. 21:25). Having “knowledge and discretion” is being able to think clearly, without being overwhelmed by strong, confusing emotions, and then following the truth and the facts to a course of action that is “true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy” (Phil. 4:8). It’s being “in Christ” and living in the wisdom of God.
It’s also the one thing that can save our younger generation today: wisdom, an understanding of life and the things of God, and a purpose or plan in Him, God ordained, that gives life meaning. After all, Proverbs 7:7 says, “And (I) saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of (what) understanding.” Yes, understanding. And it’s up to us to give to these He loves what we’ve already received in Him, by His grace.
Would you join with me in this?
The Four Verbs
Having wisdom, having the “mind of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:16), and having Christ Himself, who “became for us the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:30) involves responsibility. It’s not for us to hoard or keep selfishly, miserly to ourselves. We are not independent contractors, free agents or lone wolves. Remember, we are the “light of the world” and a “city that is set on a hill.” So “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16). We are, like our Lord, to live for others and not ourselves.
The Proverbs reveal to us the process of receiving the wisdom of God and then show us how to give it lovingly to others. We first know, then perceive inwardly, then choose to receive on His terms, and finally determine to give, no matter how uncomfortable that might make us feel. And in doing so, we imitate the life of Christ to others (Eph. 5:1) and bring the Father glory.
Which is the main point, isn’t it? Bringing God glory. It’s what Jesus lived for and it should be our passion, the driving, pulsating purpose of our existence. Will you join with me in this lifelong endeavor of receiving wisdom from God and then gladly, joyously giving it all away? Will you spend your life, like our Lord, serving others?
Adveho quis may.
Come what may.
Getting Serious
1. How would you describe your ministry to others?
2. How would you describe your ministry to others that are not family members or friends or members of your own church?
3. Is there a difference between your answer to Question 1 and Question 2? And, if so, why?
4. Do you believe the Lord has given you His wisdom? And again, if so, why? Did He bless you with His wisdom for you to be wise only to yourself or those you love? Or, could there be something more He has in mind?
5. On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate God’s wisdom in your life right now and in your decision making process? What was it yesterday? Are you growing in the wisdom of God? And, if not, why?
Next Step Challenge
Take your Bible and look up the following verses, in order to read them in context, and see what you can learn about your responsibilities to others as a Christian. Do any of these apply to you?
Mark 16:15 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Does this mean you?
Psalm 96:3 – “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” Again, does this verse apply to you?
Are you to declare His glory and wonders among the people?
Revelation 14:6-8 – “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth— to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'”
If God proclaims His Word by angels in the future, how will He use you today to do the same?
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