Inseparable
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew. Proverbs 3:19-20 NASB
Wisdom/ understanding/ knowledge – How do you know the truth? Not what do you know that is true, but rather how do you know it is true? How do you know that 2 + 2 = 4 or that the Crab Nebula is 6500 light years from earth or that Herod the Great built Caesarea by the Sea? You may be tempted to say that you have researched these facts or that mathematics is an axiomatic system. What you are expressing is an epistemology that deals almost exclusively with the human side of knowing. In the Greek world, Man reasons his way into control of the world. But biblical Hebrew takes a very different approach.
Proverbs 3:19-20 is translated in the LXX with the key words sophia, phronesis, and aesthesis. Theses are the Greek concepts of wisdom, understanding and insight (judgment). In the Greek world, these three concepts can be expressed both theoretically and practically. They are moral virtues and epistemological axioms. But in Hebrew these ideas “cannot be separated conceptually in the OT, or systematically integrated into a doctrine of virtues, even though the Gr. Reader or translator might be inclined to do this under philosophical influence.”[1] According to Bertram, in Hebrew thought all of these elements constitute an indivisible unity that is both practical religious action and an expression of the character of God and the design of the universe. “God gave man a share in the wisdom of the divine creator.”[2]
Ah, it’s so elegantly academic. But what does it mean? It means that knowing without a foundation in the Creator isn’t really knowing at all. It is human arrogance. It is a misuse of the loan of wisdom, understanding and knowledge. From a Hebrew perspective, all knowledge begins and ends with God and anyone who claims to know anything without acknowledging the essential requirement of the divine gift of knowing is an utter fool! It means that the end of all knowledge is the love of God and the beginning of all knowledge is the desire to be loved by God. It means that there is no such thing as academic freedom devoid of divine obligation. If we want to know, we must begin with reverence for God who makes it possible for us to know anything at all.
Ah, even this is too academic. Let’s get very practical. Prayer is the basis of knowledge. A man without prayer is a man without understanding, without wisdom, without insight. It doesn’t matter how many degrees or Nobel prizes such a man has. The basis for it all is conversation with the Creator. Any other approach is havelim (you can look that one up).
Topical Index: wisdom, sophia, understanding, phronesis, knowledge, aesthesis, Proverbs 3:19-20
Shhh!
Be still. And know.
And listen. Really listen.
It’s Him!
His voice is heard in our hearts.
And He hears our hearts, too.
He, too, is a listener!
Together, we pray.
Blessed Assurance
~and as he prayed, the heavens were opened. ~ (Luke 3.21)
Prayer, for the Christian, is not optional, – it is a necessity. I must quickly confess, that as a young man- I could “put away” some scripture, I did have a hunger within to hide God’s word in my heart and enjoyed doing so. These were the seeds that were planted long ago, – that have taken root and have born fruit- “Thy word have I hid in my heart..”
But, here is the confession:- my prayer life was lacking. The request of the talmudim (the disciples), “Teach us to pray,” was not mine “personally”- it belonged more to “them” than it did to me. Yes, “those” disciples, the ones who lived “long ago and far away..” Perhaps I was thinking.. “that was then,- this is now.”
Until I made a discovery.. or.. was it really “me?” No, not at all. “This is the LORD’s doings and it is marvelous in our eyes..” It all began (as it does in so many lives) with a crisis. A crisis followed by a process.
But before we get personal (so, -what’s your story?) let’s get Biblical. The people, -God’s people, the children of Israel, have a problem. Next, – they “cry out” to God- or go whining and complaining to Moses- “we don’t have any _______.” Food, shelter, water, (money?) etc.. In the a desert situation (has God deserted us?) it gets pretty desperate- pretty quick.. “Moses, Moses!”- We don’t have any _____ Moses intercedes/ God provides. Follow the story.. Crisis # 1- God provides. Crisis #2- God provides. Crisis #3- God provides.. Ohhh… but crisis #4 or is it #5?- I forget.. – you see, I’m such a slow learner- and forgetful person, it takes me a awhile- but not to worry- how about one more trip “around the mountain?.. – or “one more night with the frogs?”
A wise man (somewhere) once said..- “they way we know our future is by remembering the past.” Things tend to run according to a pattern.. F’rinstance, 1,2,3,4… and then comes ???? And the answer is? Good for you, -you can do it too! Way to go, little Johnny! The answer is 5, – congratulations!
Now let’s try this again, -shall we? (Count them with me kids..)
Crisis #1- God delivers
Crisis #2- God delivers
Crisis #3- God delivers
Crisis #4- God delivers
Ohhh, but when Crisis #5 comes around… ohhh,ohhh- Moses! – MOSES!- whatever shall we do? God has abandoned us- we had it (“so good?”) in Egypt! I gotta wonder if Moses was balding from pulling his hair out!- What slow learners we (all?) are.. But! (yes but!)
We (eventually?- hopefully?) do learn, for “we the people” are also talmudim/learners/students/disciples.
Life 101- “Some Assembly Required”
If.. (no, more like “since”- for we are learning from the day we are born- even more-so from the day we are twice-born) who (he inquired) is our Teacher? and what (he inquired) is our TextBook and (he inquired) will there be a quiz or a test? Uhh.. Yes?
Yes, we have a Teacher and yes, we have a textbook and yes, -life is for learning! We (all) are the students/learners/disciples/talmudim.
My physician and the Greater Physician have both said, (if, I would only listen to them!)- “If you DO what I say, -I can help you.” I must “read and follow label directions!” It is imperative that I listen to learn. Learning is impossible with listening! Selah. (the pause that refreshes..).
What does our Teacher say? ~ Listen. Listen to ME!!! ~ Listen to ME, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the Rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.. Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody.…~ And these are but a few of the words of life He speaks.
What are the instructions of the Master-Teacher? ~ You will seek me and find ME, when you seek ME with all your heart ~ (Jeremiah 29.13)
“When the student is ready, the Teacher will show up.” – And what readily readies the student?- It takes a crisis. Why?
Why are we such easily distracted sheeple? Why does sin so easily entangle us? What, (he inquired) would it take to get our “undivided attention” and what would it take to “fix our focus?” – It takes a crisis. It is a crisis, followed by a process.. God is not “random” in anything He says or does, but all things serve His purposes. What is His purposed will? His fixed focus? To conform ( a word of heat and pressure) to conform us (all) to the image of the Son. Is it hot in here? Feeling the heat? Good news. God, (the Master Chef!)- knows how hot,- and how long.. His timing is (always) perfect!
~ the fining pot is for silver- and the furnace for gold.. ~ (Proverbs 17.3) Again..- is it hot in here?
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I AM thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, – I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
“Ah, it’s so elegantly academic…” caused me to laugh out loud. Thank you.
You are a gifted teacher, Skip. A scholar I can understand interpreting those I can’t.
Much of what Heschel and Bowman are saying would be lost to me otherwise.
Many thanks 🙂
So cool to find this today.
I’m taking World Religions this semester. From a humanistic perspective. The instructor is adamant that there is no god and we will proceed w/that knowledge. Adam was a myth. Paul a misogynist.
On one hand, it’s a total struggle for me to keep my mouth shut. There are a number of women who believe that in their submission they have added nobility and sanctification. They know this because they read it as so.
One person refuses to avail himself to the readily available loan of wisdom, preferring to build his thesis on air, the women refuse to avail themselves to what is rightfully theirs.
so odd, to me.
But wisdom
havelim…”vanity of vanities”?
Thank you, Skip, for nullifying (again!) that ugly little divorce thing I can do when I ‘let’ ‘knowledge’ begin with me! When I attempt to separate my head from His, my plug gets pulled out of the Wall. There is NO knowledge, understanding or wisdom that does not begin, stay in, and culminate with HIM. If I want some of His coolness to rub off on (well, merely reflect off of) me, then I have to go hang out with Him. And stay.
Thank you, Carl, for singing to me that grand old hymn! It is going with me today!
It is now an accepted, scientifically confirmed fact that our bodies and minds were designed to be run on love. All of our systems respond to it, and operate on it. Anything else wreaks havoc.
We are ALL looking for love. Desperately searching for it in all places and in all ways, because without it, we will go crazy and die. Literally. Back in the 1200’s, someone correct me, it was, I think, King Frederick, who, in his arrogance of “knowledge so called” decided to run an experiment on how humans learned language. So he took a bunch of hapless babes and put them under expert care, but no one could TALK to them, or communicate in any way. He never did get to figure anything out about language, though. Because they all died.
When I want to ‘know’ something, I want CONNECTION. I want a surge of POWER. But that feeling of connectedness in me IS the feeling that I am ‘in’ love. That love is passing through me. There is no love without a Lover. Are there temporary substitutes for love? Can we be fooled into thinking (feeling) that we are loving or being loved? Absolutely! This is why sin abounds! Because we got fooled into thinking something else was love! Well, if you think about it, would you ‘buy’ something if it came up and told you flat out that it was hate? OH, how I love Thy precepts! They tell me HOW to tell the difference. The ultimate buyer’s guide to life!