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February 12 Lesson
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What is the secret to the attainment of wisdom?
___Proverbs 1:7; 2:1-22
___1:7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
___2:1My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
___9Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path. 10For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
___12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
___16It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, 17who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 18For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
___20Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 22but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
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___By Matt Cook
___The book of Proverbs is concerned with one central issue throughout its pages--wisdom.
___Some of the wisdom in Proverbs seems somewhat generic: "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly" (Proverbs 14:29).
___Some of the wisdom is a bit confusing: "The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions" (Proverbs 12:27).
___And some of the wisdom is, shall we say, humorously stated: "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion" (Proverbs 11:22).
___Despite these varying kinds of wisdom, however, Proverbs does consistently pursue one dominant question: "How does a person attain wisdom?" The first two chapters of Proverbs give important answers to that question.___
___Wisdom and fear
___The first and most important answer to the question, "How does one attain wisdom?" is straightforward, "Fear the Lord."
___Fear and spirituality don't keep company very often in our current religious landscape. To a nation of consumers, the church often seeks ways to make itself desirable and attractive. What will happen, however, when a generation of believers comes to church expecting to find something pleasant and instead they come face to face with the God of Abraham? Remember Abraham--longtime member of AARP, Geritol in his medicine cabinet, a man hurtling towards the century mark--that Abraham? At the ripe old age of 99, Abraham and his wife, Sarah (a mere child at only 89), find out they are pregnant right after God showed up and told them it was about to happen. Does that make those of you who consider yourselves old a bit nervous?
___And what about Jacob, Abraham's grandson? Jacob encounters God on the way to meet his brother, Esau. They engage in what must have the world's original wrestlemania, and Jacob walks away with a new name and a permanent limp.
___God appears to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, and Saul is struck blind. God appears to Moses in a burning shrub, and he has to take on the most powerful ruler in the world, the Pharaoh of Egypt.
___Then there's the case of Uzzah in the book of 2 Samuel. King David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem accompanied by 30,000 helpers. One of those helpers was Uzzah. At one point in the journey, one of the oxen pulling the ark stumbled and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark to steady it, and God struck him dead. Dead!
___What do we do with a passage of Scripture like this? Are we really supposed to be afraid of God? The answer depends upon how fear is defined.
___In the days of King David, the supreme symbol of God's presence was the Ark of the Covenant. The passages in the Old Testament concerning the ark give an impression of danger and risk. An opposing army once captured the ark, and before long all of the men in the army began to develop tumors. The enemy promptly sent it back to Israel. When the Israelites got the ark back, a few of them looked inside. They died a few days later.
___See what I mean? The ark said God is dangerous.
___For Christians, however, the supreme symbol of God's presence could never be the Ark of the Covenant, even if it still existed. That distinction belongs to the cross. Whereas the ark meant death from God to those who touched it, the cross means the death of God in Jesus Christ. The cross puts the story of Uzzah in a different light. Jesus is permanent proof that God's primary characteristic is love. Jesus taught us by his words and actions that God isn't some kind of cosmic prosecutor out to condemn us. God loves us and wants to have fellowship with us.
___In focusing on the love of God, however, it would also be a mistake for us to forget or skip over passages such as the death of Uzzah. If we skip over everything that God does that we don't like, then we are left with a God that bears a striking resemblance to ourselves, and that is idolatry. Jesus' words and actions displayed an awe of the Father that helps one understand what it truly means to fear God.
___Jesus submitted to the Father as a child. He was wholly dependent upon the Father and subject to his will even when he did not like the possible consequences. When Jesus prayed "take this cup from me' followed by "yet not what I will, but what you will," he was displaying what it means to rightly fear God.
___Jesus' life shows that fearing God isn't the presence of terror but the absence of our foolish attempts to rule our own lives. Without such fear, we begin to create God in our own image. A God that looks like us cannot lead us any further than our own good intentions, which, for me, are far short of a place called the cross.
___Wisdom and discipleship
___In chapter 2 of Proverbs, child-like awe now leads to a child's adventurous quest. This is a second answer to the question, "How does one attain wisdom?" Wisdom must continually be sought to be obtained. As children (the reader is addressed as "my son"), we are to call out, cry aloud and search for hidden treasure as valuable as silver.
___My nephew Paden is two years old, and his parents have cultivated an interesting habit in him. Like most children his age, Paden sleeps a lot. He takes naps in the afternoon and still sleeps through the night. When Paden wakes up, though, he doesn't get out of bed, not until his mother comes and gets him. He'll cry out until his mom hears him and comes and tells him it's time to get out of bed. His bed isn't that high. He could certainly get down by himself. He's only a few inches from his toys and play-things. They must be quite a temptation. He's not lazy. He loves to run and play and investigate his surroundings. He's just been taught to trust his parents about what he's supposed to do. And so he cries aloud; he calls out, and his mother comes and tells him what's next. There's a lesson in that for disciples of Jesus Christ.
___What would happen if, as followers of Christ, we constantly "cried out" for the wisdom of God? In these words from Proverbs, the reader can hear a precursor to Jesus' words to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
___It is easy to see this advice as pertaining only to the beginning of our discipleship--what we Baptists call "making a decision for Christ," "accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior" or simply "getting saved." This emphasis on "getting people saved" has been a significant contribution to the kingdom on the part of Baptists throughout our history.
___Sometimes, though, our emphasis on the first step comes at the cost of the rest of the journey. Paul urged disciples to think of salvation not just as an event but also as a process that should continually be worked out "with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). And it is in this process that wisdom can be obtained.
___In practical terms, what should such a process look like? What form would a constant process of "crying aloud" take in the lives of disciples? The answer is a fervent prayer life.
___Think about it in terms of the previous analogy. What good would it do for Paden to be awake, want to get out of bed and just sit there in silence? Nothing would happen. But by crying out, Paden gets to move. He gets to go on to the next thing, to play, to discover, to live life to the fullest. A church or an individual believer who does not constantly cry out for the voice of God is in danger of either doing nothing or doing the wrong thing. This is, perhaps, the biggest problem and opportunity facing Baptists today--developing the discipline of prayer as individuals and congregations. Obtaining wisdom will demand it.
___Wisdom and morality
___The second half of Proverbs 2 extols the practical benefits of obtaining wisdom. Individuals obtaining wisdom will live more ethical lifestyles and possess greater moral virtue. Greater "discretion" and "understanding" allow the wise to avoid the "crooked" paths of self-indulgence, perversity and deviousness. Wisdom can save individuals from infidelity and the seductive ways of sinful lifestyles. The wise see beyond such appearances to the reality of sin and its deadly consequences.
___Throughout this portion of the chapter, there is an ongoing emphasis on place. The "wicked men" and the "adulteress" mentioned are on "crooked paths" and walking "dark ways." These pathways "lead down to death." The wise, however, "walk in the ways of good men," the "straight paths" that are the "paths of life." Most importantly, those who have obtained wisdom will remain in the "land."
___Land is an important theme throughout the Old Testament. It combines the themes of security, protection, deliverance and hope that are realized in the presence of God. Being in "the land" means being in fellowship with God. The advice of Proverbs, then, is this--fear God, seek his wisdom and you will have fellowship with him.
For thought and discussion
___ Who do you know who is really wise? What does that person do that shows wisdom? If you know several people who are wise, what do they have in common?
___ What are different ways that we "call out" and "cry aloud" for wisdom? Which of these ways do you find the easiest? Which do you find the most difficult? What prevents us from calling out for wisdom?
___ What are some ways the church unintentionally undermines awe, respect or "fear" of God? What are some ways the church intentionally helps create such feelings? What's the difference between a healthy and unhealthy "fear" of God?
___ What is the relationship between wisdom and strong morals? Can you have one without the other?
___ What is the relationship between wisdom and self-discipline? Can you have one without the other?
___ Wisdom typically is seen as belonging to those of age and experience. Is the biblical understanding the same way? Why or why not?
___ Do we earn wisdom, is it acquired or both? What is the relationship between grace and our personal initiative in searching for wisdom?
The Baptist Standard
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