Theological Bites
We have ascertained that the book of Proverbs has a number of sociological uses but its major theological message is the wisdom of God. The book reminds us that we can only access that wisdom through the fear of the God who is wise. This world in the past and present has had wise men, but the book of proverbs judges their wisdom based on their fear of God. The Canon of wisdom reads;
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.
Wisdom has only one fundamental purpose and that is to ensure proper living in a chaotic world. Wisdom is not about just making the right choices in life, it is not just coming up with superb inventions but rather wisdom is why you do whatever you do. It is what inspires all that you do and how it is applied.
Wisdom dictates that the right choices we make are not just in reference to the problem we are solving but in reference to the God we worship. That is what Biblical wisdom is. It is called the theology of wisdom because it is wisdom in reference to God, not any other source. God’s wisdom should not be restricted to ecclesia but must be exercised in all sociologies to prove its integrity.
Wisdom is Divine Inspiration
The book of proverbs argues that the only good and right choices are godly choices. In other words, wisdom is having our volitional capacities and mental faculties under the influence of this all-knowing God who is the source of wisdom. This divine influence on individual talents, exposure and potential is what the experts call; Inspiration.
Wisdom is an influence on our particular talents, exposure and potential to make our existing intellectualism wise. The wisdom of God does not fill a vacuum of understanding in us but rather the wisdom of God illuminates and stretches our existing understanding beyond its comfortable horizons and conclusions (Psalms 119:130).
Wisdom as divine inspiration is when the thoughts of God higher and more advanced than our thoughts, inspire our thoughts. It is when his ways show our ways the way (Isaiah 55:8-9). Our high thinking, philosophy and skills are stupid without the illumination of divine wisdom (Jeremiah 51:17).
Apostle Paul understood the importance of wisdom inspiring our knowledge.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:17-18).
The spirit of wisdom that Paul talks about here is God’s supernatural influence on the mental faculties of particular human beings. According to Biblical Theology, however, this phenomena can only happen when a man has the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. Note that it doesn’t mean to say that one’s fear of the Lord is a means to earning wisdom; in that sense then, the fear (reverence) of the lord would be our means to attain the wisdom of God.
The text communicates that our reverence to God is the beginning of God’s wisdom working on us. We don’t fear the Lord as a means to attain wisdom but rather, it is after we have reverence for God (according to God’s judgment) that wisdom begins working on us. We don’t work our way into the wisdom of God but instead, the wisdom of God works on and in us.
The wisdom of God is not a concept that we can access through observing nature, experiences, theories and hypothetical speculations of academia but the wisdom we are talking about here is a being. A being who is interested in challenging our mental abilities, our mind and understanding. When the Prophets predicated about the Messiah, they kept the idea of wisdom connected to the fear of God. Isaiah said,
“And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.” (Isaiah 11:2).
Wisdom, therefore, cannot be a source of any other inspiration, but only God himself working on us. It is a divine inspiration and a heavenly endowment.
Divine Wisdom and the Wise Men
In studying the theology of wisdom in the Bible, we have to appreciate the fact that wisdom is morally demanding. Prudence, discretion, self-discipline, integrity, humility, sound judgment, hard work, acceptance of correction, keeping promises, generosity, and wise and honest speech; rather than foolishness, erratic behavior, pride, arrogance, ambition, dishonesty, laziness, evil behavior, and destructive speech (Proverbs 8:12-14, 12:1-28, Psalms 15) are expressions of wisdom.
However, a study of wisdom and the wise must go beyond a moral appreciation. When we say ‘Divine Wisdom’, we don’t intend purity but primarily we emphasize its objectivity in relation to primal reality. Divine Wisdom is not just morally upright but rationally coherent and consistent.
The theology of wisdom should also traverse simple word study of say like (Hebrew is Chockmah – Greek is Sophia), and particular cultural understanding of what wisdom is. Judaism perceived wisdom to be the application of one’s knowledge practically in the form of a skill (Exodus 31:1-3, Proverbs 24:3). However, we cannot conclude that wisdom is a skill.
It was because of such a limited understanding of wisdom that the Jews concluded that Solomon was the wisest man on planet earth. Whether the traditional prayer-request of wisdom in 1Kings 3:5, 9-11 by Solomon is palace praise by palace scribes or not, we should appreciate the text to be restricting the source of wisdom as God and God alone. God as the sole source of wisdom is attested to in the New Testament by James when he says,
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given him”. (James 1:5).
Note that those in search of wisdom are not referred to any other source but to God.
This conclusion was deduced from two areas of Solomon’s life:
- His Judgment (1Kings 3:16-28) and
- His administration and organization (1Kings 10-11).
All this, however, makes Solomon a very skilful king Just, as his father David was skilful in wars but not wise per the theology of wisdom. Whereas both David and Solomon worshipped the Lord, we cannot determine their wisdom based on their skills. If we did this, then we would be justified to conclude as well that a skilled footballer is wise off the field. While a skill might be a product of wisdom, it does not determine and define wisdom.
This is not to say that Solomon had no wisdom, however. We can only judge his wisdom based on an objective evaluation of key events of his life. Let us look at a few here: In his leadership, he made the yoke of citizens heavy (1Kings 12:4), in his family life He married 700 wives and had 300 concubines (1Kings 11:3). Later, in his last days, his evaluation of life was that Life is a vanity of vanities; all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2). In his religious life, he was a faith deserter (1Kings 11:4).
Now, this is the biggest contributors to the wisdom writings (Ketuvim) in the Bible. We can begin to decide whether Solomon was the wisest man or not, based not in what he morally did but based on two questions.
- The first is, was Solomon wiser than the Greek Philosophers especially the great three Plato, Socrates and Aristotle whose wisdom has shaped modern systems of thinking and operation?
- Secondly, was the wisdom of these Greek philosophers based in Proverbs 1:7 or not?
Next, I will advance this investigation through the book of Proverbs.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White (+256-793 822833)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
@Think & Become
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 