HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head." DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”
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Living in Wisdom, part 3: Is God being Cruel If He Laughs At Your Calamity?
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Proverbs 1:7 prepares us for what the writer was inspired to teach. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7). This is the key verse for the entire book and it is here at the beginning that we must consent that what God has to teach us is complete and sufficient (either that, or He does not know what He is talking about, in which case it would be God’s will verses man’s will—and believe me when I say the struggle is not great for Him). We’ve already seen in 1:8-19 what God has to say to those who cast off instruction (“they lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives,” 1:18).
Wisdom can be difficult to describe and so that our feeble minds can grasp the concept, here we meet wisdom as a person. Proverbs 1:20 is the first time we meet Lady Wisdom, but this will not be the last time, as the imagery carries over in subsequent chapters. “Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square; at the head of the noisy street she cries out; at the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings,” (Proverbs 1:20-21). Now, why would wisdom be causing such a ruckus? What is all this shouting about? Look down into verse 33, “But he who listens to me shall live securely, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil.” Wisdom knows something about unwise men she is desperate for someone to listen, so they will no longer be threatened by evil. Wisdom has seen what men do: “For their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:16). Listening to wisdom will be at peace and will rest securely as with a good friend. Evil brings no rest, no peace, no security, and certainly no friends. In the realm of evil, it is "every man for himself."
What is wisdom crying out, uttering? “How long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22) As a parent, you realize that you can only tell a child only so many times about the dangers they face. “Don’t do that because you will hurt yourself.” Then they get older and your warning becomes, "I told you to stop, or you will get hurt!" Then the teenage years hit and all you can say is, “That’s really going to hurt.” There's not much more I can say other than, "how long are you going to keep this up?"
Look at verse 32, where wisdom asks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love simplicity? . . . for the waywardness of the simple shall kill them, and the complacency of fools shall destroy them.” She is shouting, “stop running to evil and run to me!” I remember when our granddaughter discovered she could run (and she hasn’t stopped, either). We took her outside to let her explore the yard and she took off like a wind-up toy . . . right for the street! Have you ever noticed how fast toddlers can run—and if they don’t run fast, then why is it so hard for adults to catch them? Can you imagine the scene? Yelling and running and screaming and chasing—and of course she thought it was funny, so she is laughing and running right down the driveway (don’t worry, we caught her—but you have the imagery here). This is wisdom shouting after people running pell mell directly into danger, "Stop, or you will be destroyed!"
The direct connection between the fear of the Lord and gaining wisdom is seen in verse 23, "If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you." There are two beautiful truths here. First, God's Word is amazing in the ways it teaches (shows us what we should be doing) and reproves or rebukes (shows us where we fail); but, it does not leave us stranded there. God's Word also instructs (shows us what we should be doing) and trains in righteousness (gives us a game plan to do what we should be doing). Second, God gives us His Holy Spirit in order for us to BE what we could not or would not be and to DO what we could not or would not do. If you will allow God to do His work of wisdom in you, He gives His Word that He will help us learn about life and living in ways that we did not know before. Not everyone will accept God's counsel and will hate what God is doing because it wrecks their own plans for their own lives (verse 30).
Watch what happens here in the next set of verses. The principles are amazing:
God calls out, offering help and He is refused (v. 24);
How? His counsel is neglected and His reproof is unwanted (v. 25);
What will happen? God will laugh and mock at the stormy disaster of your life (v. 26-27);
How? You will call for help and God will refuse (v. 28);
Why? Knowledge and fear of the Lord are unwanted (v. 29);
Is God being cruel if He laughs? Let us first ask if a man being cruel to himself when he rejects help being offered? What kind of laughter is it? It is not the laughter of pleasure in watching somone suffer; rather, it is the laughter of a father who has nothing left to say other than, "that's really going to hurt." It's the kind of laugh you give a hobo who declines your offer to buy him something to eat when he asks you for some change. It's as ridiculous as 2:20 - 2:35 in the video below:
And you KNOW there are people like that!
If a man chooses his own way instead of God’s way, a man will eat of his own fruit and be filled with those things with which he saturates himself (Proverbs 1:31).
Fearing God and being motivated by love for Him is living in wisdom, which is the way of life. Should a person chose love for himself over love for God, a person destroys himself.
"He who listens to me shall live securely, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil.” (Proverbs 1:33)
July 2004 I went to Kenya, Africa to speak in two Pastor’s Conferences on the subject of Man, Sin and Salvation. At the end of each day I left just over an hour for questions (half the time were questions touching the subject of my lectures, and the other half for “open questions”; that is, people could ask anything). For the next few weeks, I will be sharing the questions that were asked of me, and my answers—and believe me when I say these people really know how to think! Question from Kenya #1: “Men and women who saw God in the Bible: Why did they not all die?” [“ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! ’” (Exodus 33:20) was the basis of the student’s question]. Answer: First, consider those who did see God—how did they respond when they saw Him? They were instantly aware of their sinfulness, and God’s holiness and righteousness (to name a few. And notice also that each responded in an attitude of worship, bowing down): Abraham built altars, wors
“My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, Wherewith whole shoals of martyrs once did burn, Besides their other flames? Doth poetry Wear Venus' livery? only serve her turn? Why are not sonnets made of thee? and lays Upon thine altar burnt? Cannot thy love Heighten a spirit to sound out thy praise As well as any she? Cannot thy Dove Outstrip their Cupid easily in flight? Or, since thy ways are deep, and still the fame, Will not a verse run smooth that bears thy name! Why doth that fire, which by thy power and might Each breast does feel, no braver fuel choose Than that, which one day, worms may chance refuse. Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry Oceans of ink; for, as the Deluge did Cover the earth, so doth thy Majesty: Each cloud distills thy praise, and doth forbid Poets to turn it to another use. Roses and lilies speak thee; and to make A pair of cheeks of them, is thy abuse Why should I women's eyes for crystal take? Such poor invention burns in their low mind Wh
John Locke published his Treatise on Civil Government in 1689, a work influential to the development of our Declaration of Independence. The focus of this reading is, “An Essay Concerning the True Original Extent and End of Civil Government.” Locke announces that consent to live by the constitutional laws of government is rooted in the fact that all men are created equal. No one is born one over or better than another, but we actually owe one another, our greatest debt being love for others before ourselves. In the so-called “state of nature”, anyone choosing to break the smallest of laws declares himself to be above all law and others; therefore, the lawbreaker deserves judgment, even punishment, by those who keep the law. “The state of war” is “the right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction.” Slavery, says Locke, is a state of war; however, if one party consents to be obedient to another with limited power, then there is government. Of all governmental powers, suprem