Feast with Wisdom

June 28, 2020 Background Scripture: Proverbs 9 Lesson Passage: Proverbs 9:1 – 6, 8 – 10, 13 – 18 The questions one should ask about a proverb are: What should I learn from this? What timeless message is the author conveying in this proverb? And, how do I apply the message or lesson of this proverb in my life? What good are “wise sayings” if one does not extract the wisdom from them and make it profitable for one’s life? Today we examine Proverbs 9. Proverbs 9 continues with the personification of wisdom and brings alongside it the personification of foolishness. Wisdom and Foolishness are presented in contrast with each other as two hosts. Both hosts invite people into their homes for a feast. Just imagine, as a recipient of this proverb, you have been sent these two invitations. Each invitation is for a feast that the host has prepared for you. Each host is expecting an RSVP from you. How do you decide which invitation to accept? The answer is simple, however, getting to the details needed to make the decision is rather complex. There are several questions that you might need answered prior to responding to those invitations. Do you know anything about either feast? What do you know about the hosts of the feasts? Will there be other guests at either feast—and do you know any of them? What about the quality of the food? I have attended banquets where some of these questions did not have favorable answers. Sadly, I have attended those same banquets on numerous occasions. I have also declined invitations to banquets because I couldn’t ascertain answers to those questions in a timely manner, and I didn’t want to take a chance. Proverbs 9 teaches me something different. There is a relevant question that I have not asked in the past about banquets or feasts, “What kinds of preparations are made in anticipation of receiving guests?” The answer to this question is more important than the answers to the previous questions. To be sure, if the host goes out of the way to ensure all details are taken care of for the feast, then that would encompass the previous concerns. A great host knows that proper planning and preparation will produce successful outcomes. This is the only criteria that we need to apply to this proverb. The difference between the two invitations in Proverbs 9 can be seen in the preparations that are made for guests and the outcome of having indulged each. Wisdom makes elaborate preparations and then sends out invitations. The invitations are addressed to the simple and to those who lack understanding. The “main course” of the feast appears to be, “How one should respond to scoffers, the wicked, the wise, and the just.” There is nothing positive to be gained from correcting or rebuking a scoffer or the wicked. However, rebuking and teaching the wise and the just will yield even greater results than previously delivered by each. The appetizer is “Fear God.” Contrast to this the preparation of the foolish. The foolish sits in her doorway reinforcing the error of the simple and those who lack understanding. Eternal damnation awaits all who turn in to the foolish and accept her invitation. The only preparations are to allow the wayward to continue on their course to destruction. Both invitations are extended, and to be sure, people will accept both. Foolishness leads to destruction. But, for all who wish to increase their understanding and longevity of days, accept the invitation to feast with Wisdom. Robert C. Hudson June 17, 2020

Receive Wisdom’s Gifts

June 21, 2020 Background Scripture: Job 1:42; Proverbs 8 Lesson Passage: Proverbs 8:8 – 14, 17 –21 I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t appreciate receiving a gift. Receiving a gift can make you feel special. Gifts are wonderful because we don’t do anything to earn them—if we earned them, they would be wages rather than gifts. Even small tokens are received as signs of appreciation. Gifts can come in an endless variety. We are going to look at some of those in this lesson. Today’s lesson continues with the personification of wisdom; that is to say, wisdom is presented as a person. This proverb extols the excellence of wisdom. In our lesson, wisdom is spoken of as going to all the places where people frequently traffic. Wisdom is depicted as standing on the hilltop, or at the gate of the city, or at the door leading into a public place. Wisdom is there seeking for the wise and rebuking the foolish. For what purpose does wisdom seek the wise? It is because the wise loves wisdom. And wisdom reciprocates that love. Noblemen and magistrates are counseled by wisdom that they may reign and judge righteously throughout the earth. Also, wisdom wants to share her gifts with mankind freely. The gifts that wisdom offers are indeed precious because everything that wisdom has to offer is righteous. Therefore, people are admonished to receive the gifts that wisdom offers. Unfortunately, people often delight in money, jewelry, and many other worldly gifts. However, the true treasures, which are the righteous gifts of wisdom, are more precious than the finest jewels (diamonds and rubies) or expensive metals (gold, silver, etc.) in the world. When one receives wisdom, then one has access to true treasures. If one seeks wisdom first, then wisdom will give the wealth of the land as an inheritance. Rather than chasing after worldly goods, seek wisdom and worldly gain will ensue. Ironically, if one seeks the wealth of the land first, then they will obtain neither wisdom nor long-term wealth. Wisdom knows this all too well because wisdom is ageless. Wisdom has always been with God from eternity past. Wisdom delighted in the presence of God before the physical world was created. Yes, before the world was created, wisdom was with God. In fact, wisdom shares the details of the creation of the entire physical world as an eyewitness to those marvelous works of God. After the creation of the physical world, then wisdom delighted in God’s creation—especially mankind. Wisdom calls the offspring of men her children. Wisdom shares with mankind the knowledge of God—of which wisdom is the embodiment. The knowledge of God can be found in the wisdom that God gives. Put another way, to know God’s knowledge is to know God! The writer of this proverb presents wisdom as the living and active Word of God crying out to mankind. Think about it. Jesus is the manifestation of God’s knowledge (Word). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of God’s wisdom. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Receive wisdom’s gifts. Robert C. Hudson June 8, 2020

Value Wisdom

June 14, 2020 Background Scripture: Genesis 39, Proverbs 2 Lesson Passage: Proverbs 2:1 – 11 I believe Jesus had this passage from Proverbs in mind when he taught a crowd from the side of a mountain, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, whatever people treasure, invariably, will define their character at that point in their life. We sometimes speak of “taking something to heart”, which is to say, we accept it as absolute truth! Whatever we accept as truth, we allow it to inform our decisions and our actions. We treasure the truth and we use it for directions in our lives. So then, what are treasures? A treasure is anything that we place a high value on—and I emphasize “high value”. If we think something has no value, then we don’t tend to think of it as a treasure. Our lesson today centers on wisdom as a true treasure. There is no assumption in the proverb that the reader already knows that wisdom should be valued as a treasure. Therefore, the proverb admonishes the reader (or hearer for that matter) to both receive and seek out wisdom as a treasure. The extent to which men go to find hidden treasures shows how much they value it. Yet, wisdom that is freely received should be valued as highly as the wisdom that is sought as a hidden treasure. Wisdom should be received or sought with the expectation that it is knowledge, discernment, and understanding. It is when the three are all embraced as one that we apply wisdom to our lives. God has wisdom in store for those who are in right standing with Him. God protects, guides, and keeps the upright in all situations of life. I believe God delights in the upright living as a reflection of Himself in the physical world. The wisdom of God within the upright is a moral compass that is used to navigate through the circumstances of this life and bring forth fruit as evidence of its presence. Those who are upright are not conformed to the world around them, but rather, they transform those around them through their character. That is the importance of Genesis 39 as background scripture for this proverb. In that chapter, Joseph is presented in two different situations. In the beginning of the chapter he is a slave in the home of an Egyptian officer and at the end of the chapter he is a prisoner in Egypt. Joseph’s situation went from bad to worse in that one chapter. However, Joseph demonstrated that he had the wisdom of God within him. Joseph remained consistent in his character in both situations and God was with him and blessed him and those around him. Those around Joseph realized that they were blessed by his presence. When the Egyptian officer’s wife attempted to take advantage of Joseph, he fled the scene. This was a demonstration of the wisdom he had in him. Joseph had a sincere loyalty and trust in God. Even in bad situations, he depended on God to take care of him. No doubt, this wisdom came from the knowledge of God that was imparted to him by his God-fearing father, Israel. If Israel taught his son, Joseph, to fear God, then by doing so, he also taught him wisdom. Even in bad situations, Joseph valued wisdom. If we follow Joseph’s example, then we will value wisdom as a treasure. And where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. Robert C. Hudson June 8, 2020

Listen to God’s Wisdom

June 7, 2020 Background Scripture: Proverbs 1 Lesson Passage: Proverbs 1:1 – 4, 7, 8, 10, 20 – 22, 32, 33 The lessons this month come from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is one of the five books of the bible collectively known as the wisdom literature of the bible. Some of it is the wisdom of man and some of it is the wisdom of God. All of it can be instructive. The essence of wisdom literature is that the thoughts conveyed are independent of culture and time. Some of this writing originated during the age of the biblical patriarchs—that's over four thousand years ago! Yet, the truths conveyed are just as relevant today as they were then. The culture of that time and place would be totally incompatible with the culture of this country today. Yet, the truths conveyed are just as relevant for us today as they were for them then. The book of Proverbs opens with the declaration that wisdom begins when one knows and has a reverent fear of God. This is not to suggest something superficial, such as, thinking of God as some abstract being or ideal philosophical concept. To truly be knowledgeable of the person of God will lead one to have an awe-inspiring fear of Him. It further leads to a healthy respect for the pure holiness and perfection of His being. To know Him as our personal creator and the sustainer of life should inspire a sense of wonder in all. Therefore, God reveals Himself to us in a myriad of ways. There are so many revelations in nature to suggest that the physical world is a product of intelligent design. Nature has a perfect balance when it is not disturbed by man’s manipulations. Nothing is missing; God thought of everything from the beginning. Mankind was lovingly and deliberately fashioned by God and added into His creation as a keeper in the garden. There was a perfect balance between mankind and the rest of God’s creation. Throughout recorded time, fathers and mothers have passed on to their children the wisdom of being in balance with God and His creation; that is to say, we should be in balance with the Spirit of God and with the natural world. God made mankind intelligent so that we could grow in wisdom. As a result of mankind’s internal makeup, we have an intellectual thirst. This causes intelligent people to seek knowledge and delight in learning. Wisdom allows mankind to seek to be closer to God and to appreciate the created world around them. Foolish people seek to manipulate and control the physical creation for their own selfish benefit. Intelligent people recognize that wisdom has a permanence that cannot be taken away from them. On the other hand, we can only become stewards of that which is material. Foolish people are more concerned about material gain and not acquiring knowledge which could lead to wisdom. Greed for material gain will destroy a person’s life. Intelligent people seek God and His wisdom first. The foolish live as though God does not exist, or He is indifferent to the plight of mankind. Therefore, they set their priorities based on faulty thinking and fruitless pursuits. Wisdom cries out and asks the foolish, how long will they persist in their foolishness? Those who continue to reject the call of wisdom will perish in their rejection of God. Those who seek God and His wisdom will find and receive the gift of both. Evil will not paralyze them with fear. But they shall spend this life rejoicing in God and eternity in the safety of His presence. Listen to God’s wisdom and live. Robert C. Hudson May 28, 2020