Proverbs 8:12–14
I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
Wisdom associates with prudence, knowledge, and witty inventions. Wisdom carefully plans the best approach to take. Wisdom can figure things out, and discovers the best way through the complexities of life. Wisdom does not make mistakes.
At this point, we would all have to admit how far short we fall from the Wisdom of God. Life is far too complex and our hearts and minds far too biased by sin and foolishness to meet Wisdom’s standard of perfection. Let us pray with the Apostle for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:17). Where we still make foolish decisions, the Lord is with us and His Wisdom and Spirit compensate.
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
Wisdom is also known by what it opposes—here listed as pride, wicked speech, and every evil way or lifestyle. Foundational to all wisdom is the fear of God. Void of this starting point, the most intelligent systems of knowledge in the world will fail. Because Wisdom fears God, she hates all that does not fear God. She especially hates the humanist institutions of learning which glorify man instead of God. She hates the LGBTQ lifestyle and all sexually sinful lifestyles. She hates state worship. She hates the wholesale killing of babies in utero. She hates the dishonor of parents, strife and disunity, and all else that kills human relationships. She hates Marxism and systems that steal money from one class and redistribute it to another. She hates every form of pride—national pride, academic pride, “gay” pride, self-righteous religious pride, athletic pride, and the pride of power and fame. She hates the running off the mouth in boasting, swearing, cursing, slandering, backbiting, scoffing, reviling, complaining, flattering, and filthiness in conversation. To sum it up, true wisdom abominates anything that is defined as sinful by the law of God.
Wisdom is opposed to evil systems of thought, in which pride is encouraged and the fear of God discouraged. The highly-structured Aristotelian ethics and rhetoric neglected these two most critical elements in human relationships and communication: meekness and the fear of God (ref. 1 Pet. 3:15). But these turn out to be the most fundamental principles in God’s system of rhetoric. The Greeks built irredeemably-fatal flaws into their systems of knowledge. True wisdom rejects these systems. As educational programs in the West separated the fear of God from the knowledge of science and history, the nations abandoned true wisdom—thereby destroying the Christian faith in Europe and North America. Pride in the schools is extremely dangerous, and inevitably results in proud graduates, proud scientists, and proud politicians. This is what destroys nations.
Wisdom repudiates all systems of knowledge that neglect to teach humility and the fear of God as fundamental to human thought and action. Sadly, few schools are dedicated to nurturing the fear of God and humility into their students so as to avoid a “knowledge that puffs up”(1 Cor. 8:1).
How would we know if we were walking with Wisdom, but that we hear the voice of Wisdom. We hear the Shepherd’s voice. We hate what He hates, especially when we confront those elements within ourselves. And we love what He loves.
“Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”
Wisdom is ultimately accessible, and more so through Jesus Christ, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). Sufficient wisdom and counsel are available in Christ. Believe Him for it, and pray for it. This wisdom is robust enough for any circumstance, for any critical matter, and for any crisis. Two things are needed to make it through any crisis—wisdom from Christ, and hope in God and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Wisdom is strong enough to save us.
1. Are you walking with Wisdom? Have you learned to hate pride and all that is evil? Or are you still somewhat tempted to view evil as something other than evil?
2. Are we emphasizing the fear of God and humility in our schooling and discipleship? How might one provide a highly disciplined academic program without the students becoming proud and arrogant?