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Reading Proverbs 8:4-11 about the voice of wisdom proclaiming the truth of God, which is of more value than anything we could receive in this world. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
There is a wisdom that this world claims that it has, but it is deceptive, it is lying, it is false. The wisdom that comes from God is true and pure when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.
Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. Well, in our Thursday study, we've been in the book of Proverbs, and we come back to chapter 8, listening to the voice of wisdom. This is wisdom personified, speaking to us the truth of God.
Proverbs chapter 8, I'll start reading in verse 1. We'll go through verse 21. Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand.
Beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud. To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence. O fools, learn sense.
Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right. For my mouth will utter truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous. There is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil, pride and arrogance, and the way of evil, and perverted speech I hate. I have counsel and sound wisdom.
I have insight. I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just. By me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
I could go on, but I read all of chapter 8 last week. In the interest of time, we come back to where I left off. So this is verse 4 now, where wisdom speaks and says, To you, O men, I call. Those first three verses are not really the voice of wisdom, because it says, Does not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand,. Beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portal she cries aloud. So we explained all that last week, and now here's where wisdom speaks, and everything that we've read up through verse 21, and even to the end of the chapter, this is the voice of wisdom.
So wisdom says, the beginning of her address is this, To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. So who is wisdom directing herself to? The generations. Not just men, but also women, and not just in the generation in which this is written, about a thousand BC, but to all generations, because I cry to the men and to the sons, to the children of man.
And then says, O simple ones learn prudence, O fools learn sense. So before continuing on there, so given that wisdom is addressing the generations, wisdom is something that is cross-generational, it is therefore not just limited to the time in which these things are said.
Otherwise you could say, well, Proverbs applied to the people a thousand years ago, but they no longer apply to me today. I encounter that all the time, and a lot of my evangelism encounters, somebody telling me, well, the Bible is an old book, so I don't have to listen to what it says.
Who can really know what it even means? You'd have to study all the history from like 2 ,000 years ago to even know what anybody is talking about. No, the wisdom that God gives to us was with him in the very beginning.
It says that in Proverbs 8, 22. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. So it was there when God created the world, the wisdom of God, and it's going to be there in all eternity when we're with God rejoicing in him forever.
The wisdom of God is always present with God, and it is always with us in this world. It's cross-cultural. So no matter what generation you live in, you can take the wisdom that is given to us here in the pages of Scripture, and it applies to you now, right now.
It applies to you, it's going to apply to your son. So you learn God's word, you teach it to your children, they teach it to their children, and that's how these things get passed down. God said that to the children of Israel when he gave them the law.
You remember the things that you saw. You remember the words that were spoken to you, and you pass these things down to your children, and to their children, and to their children. And as God describes himself as a God of love, he says in Deuteronomy 7 -9,.
Generation after generation, God's love is for those who fear him. Psalm 72 -5,. This wisdom of God crosses cultures, and it crosses generations. So you have the voice of wisdom calling to the men, and the cry to the children of man, and then going on into verses 5 and 6,.
By the way, we all begin that way. All of us are simple fools. From the time that we are born, you know virtually nothing, except the few instincts that God has given to the people who have been created in his image.
You otherwise do not know anything. We are simple fools from the beginning. We must learn in order to gain knowledge, and then wisdom to know how to apply that knowledge. So simple ones learn prudence.
What is prudence? Well, prudence could just be another word for wisdom here. It could also mean that you are deliberate in how you apply that wisdom. So contrast that with the simple ones. The simple ones don't do anything.
They just think that the knowledge that they have is enough, and I can do enough with what I have. But prudence means you're going to seek that wisdom, and you're going to be discerning of people and places and things and times and stuff that's going on around you, and you're going to apply that wisdom appropriately.
That could be the application of prudence in this case. Oh, simple ones learn prudence. Oh, fools learn sense. Don't just go about being unthinking about stuff that is going on around you. Be sensible.
Have good sense. Common sense might be another word for that. Having some good street smarts. Just knowing how to live and not be taken for a fool, because the devil, who is wily and crafty in his schemes, will find ways to seize you and ensnare you.
So you must be crafty also in your wisdom. Not crafty in the dishonest sense, but crafty in an honest sense. Knowing how to live life and apply yourself and submit yourself unto the Lord's will in this world.
Not just going along, ho-humming it, everything will come as it may, da-da-da-da-da. We need to be more deliberate with our steps, with our decisions, with our future plans, things like that. That's very simply what's being stated here, even in these few phrases.
Oh, simple ones learn prudence. Oh, fools learn sense. Here, for I will speak noble things. What are noble things? Well, it's basically meaning here that the wisdom that we get from God is royal. It's royalty.
Leaders need this kind of sense. Rulers and princes will govern by the wisdom of God. So if it is good for kings, how good is it also for those who are paupers or poor? It is good for everybody. In everything that we say and do, the wisdom of God is to guide us.
How do we have this wisdom? Of course, it is reading the word of God, applying these words, and living by them. So from—or sorry, here and I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right.
Remember that the woman wisdom here is being contrasted with the adulterous woman in chapters 5, 6, and 7. And the adulterous woman, what were her lips described as? They drip with honey as from the honeycomb to entice you.
They speak things to you to appease your flesh, but what comes from her mouth is always going to be dishonest. And rather than giving you life, it's going to lead you to death. But what comes from the mouth of wisdom leads to life.
It's not lies. It's not deceptions. My mouth will utter truth. From my lips will come what is right, and my mouth will utter truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. So whenever you hear that which is wicked or that which is evil, that which God's word calls evil, when you hear that coming from the mouth of somebody, that's not wisdom.
Wisdom, the true wisdom of God, is going to be contrary to those things that the world calls wise. Remember one of the characters in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is worldly wise. So there is a kind of wisdom that the world calls wise.
But when you listen to that wisdom, it's deceptive, it's evil, it's wicked. It elevates those things that God calls wrong. When we were reading about the adulterous woman in Proverbs chapter 7, some of the characteristics of that adulterous woman our culture would actually value.
And I mention that in part because there's a section where it says that she is loud and wayward. Proverbs 7, 11. She is loud and wayward. Her feet do not stay at home. That's a feminist. That is our modern-day feminist is just like that.
Loud and boisterous, calling attention to herself, trying to force her desires on everybody else, and you have to bow to me, and her feet do not stay at home? It is an abomination for you to tell me to go make a sandwich, or that I should be at home loving my husband and raising children.
Feminists hate that kind of a thing. The sandwich quip was a joke. But anyway, feminists hate biblical womanhood. That is a horrid thing to them. So they will elevate those things that are evil. A woman that shuns being a wife or a mother and instead pursues a career, or a woman that shuns being pregnant and having children.
Instead, she'll abort her children. She will murder her own children for the sake of her own autonomy, elevating her own autonomy, worshipping at an altar of sexual immorality. She can have sexual strength, too, and all it's going to cost you is to sacrifice a child.
That's the wisdom of our culture, the worldly wise. And it's evil. It is wicked. That is not true wisdom. That is the way of death. That is lies and deception. That is totally contrary to wisdom. So it's the world calling it wisdom, but even that's a deception, because it's not wise at all.
It leads to destruction. The true wisdom, when we're talking about wisdom as God has established it, he's the one that had it with him at the beginning of his work, so he gets to define it. He gets to say this is wise, and that is not.
So true wisdom, that which was with God in the beginning, has nothing to do with what this world calls good and is actually evil. It is not the world's wisdom, it is God's. So what comes from wisdom, true wisdom, as given by God, it is noble, it speaks what is right, my mouth utters truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Those things that the world calls good is not wise. So we go on into verse 8. All the words of my mouth are righteous. And as I've asked my kids many times, what is righteous? Well, it's doing what is right.
That's right there in the word. R-I-G-H-T, righteous. Doing what God says is right. And so what comes from wisdom, the wisdom that God gives, the words of my mouth are righteous. There is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
So therefore we can conclude that everything that God says to us in his word, Genesis to Revelation, is good for us. We're going to go through some really, really difficult things in this life. But it is for our good and for his glory.
Consider Romans 8 .28. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. All things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. Consider the words of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 50 verse 20.
His brothers who sold him into slavery. And Joseph said to them, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. There are evil things that people are going to do to us in this life. But God is working all things together for good.
We may not understand how this is all working out ultimately in the end. It's difficult for us to see that. But there's a day coming in which we will stand on the other side in glory. And we will look back and see how God was working all of these things for our good.
And ultimately for his glory. We are to praise him in the midst of the storms and struggles that we go through. Hold fast to him. He is the God of endurance and encouragement. As we read earlier this week in Romans chapter 15.
He is a God of all comforts. As it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. And he will deliver us ultimately into his glory. If we hold fast to Christ, who died for our sins and rose again from the dead. We are holding fast to the one who raises the dead.
And so therefore not even the grave is going to separate us from God. It is not our final resting place. We will dwell forever with the Lord. These are the good things that God has promised to us. The wisdom of God that is revealed in his word.
All the words of his mouth are righteous. There is nothing twisted or crooked in them. All the words of wisdom are right and good. And there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. God means no harm for us.
When we fix ourselves to his word and live according to his commandments. And his instructions and his precepts. Now Jeremiah 29 .11 is a passage that is often twisted. But we can still see the character of God when that verse is used rightly.
Jeremiah 29 .11. For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. A plan to prosper and not to harm you. To give you a future and a hope. Now when we understand the context of that. God is speaking to Israel who has been sent into exile because of their sin.
And he is promising Israel that they are not going to be annihilated by the Babylonians. But he will deliver them out of their captivity. And bring them back to the land that he promised to their fathers.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But that was something that the generation he was speaking to would not see. It would be a future generation that would see that. But he is promising them you will not be annihilated in the place that I am sending you to.
I have a plan to prosper and not harm you. To give you a hope and a future. And it is through this line that God was preserving. Through the Jews who would come back to the land of Judea. It was from this people would come the Savior.
Jesus Christ. Even when you go back to Genesis. Where God had sent Joseph into Egypt. Sold into slavery by his brothers. But God sent him into Egypt. That he would be able to preserve his own brothers from the famine that would come against the land.
One of those brothers being Judah. And from the line of Judah would come the Savior. From the Jews who would return from exile. That God is speaking to in Jeremiah. From the Jews would come the Savior.
Jesus Christ. So God does have a plan to prosper and not to harm them. To give them a hope and a future. And that is all bound up in Christ. It is not talking about worldly riches and luxury. It is talking about an eternal reward that we have when we trust in God.
And we do all that he has told us to do. By faith in Christ. We will be delivered from this world. Things can get crazy. They can go from bad to worse. But we have nothing to fear if we are holding fast to Christ.
All the words that come from God are righteous. There is nothing twisted and crooked in them. He is not speaking dishonestly to us. He is not promising us one thing and giving us something else. What God has promised.
He will fulfill. He will do. A plan to prosper and not harm us. And what greater prosperity can there be? But life forever with God and glory. Amen. Going on to describe the words of wisdom here. Verse 9.
They are all straight to him who understands. And right to those who find knowledge. Yeah, the fools of this world hate the word of God. Do they not? So it's only good for him who understands what God's word says.
And as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. It is the spiritually minded man. The one who has the spirit of God that is able to discern the things of God. And these words are right to those who find the knowledge of God.
Bound up in his word. Take my instruction instead of silver and knowledge rather than choice gold. These words are better than anything the world has to offer us. For wisdom is better than jewels. And all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
All that you could desire in this world cannot compare with the wisdom of God. As it says back at the beginning of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 1 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. James 1 5 says. If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach. And it will be given him. And then he describes this wisdom later on in chapter 3 verse 17.
The wisdom from above is first pure. Again we're talking about God's wisdom. The real wisdom. Not worldly wisdom. But God's wisdom. It's first pure. Then peaceable. Gentle. Open to reason. Full of mercy and good fruits.
Impartial. And sincere. Let us pray. Heavenly Father we thank you for your wisdom that you give to us in your word. And help us to grow in knowledge of these things. Knowing how to apply that knowledge.
That we may live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. This crooked and twisted generation. Keep us unstained by the ways of this world. But give us knowledge and wisdom and courage on how to speak the good word of God to the people in this world.
That they may turn from their sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and live. Guide us in these things and hold us fast in your truth we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
And let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.