Proverbs 8:1–5
Does not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
She stands in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
She cries at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
O you simple, understand wisdom: and, you fools, be you of an understanding heart.
Contrary to the gospels of gnosticism and other mystical religions, true wisdom is easily accessible. It is not something that is only available to a certain class or race of people––or even to those with access to the universities or those who happen to be born into wealth. You do not have to climb to the top of some remote mountain in order to obtain wisdom from some guru. “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Christ is risen and He is the Savior (Rom. 10:6–10).
Wisdom does not hide itself from us, but foolish men hide themselves from wisdom. Consider, for example, the “wisest” men who have written the great classic books for the city of man, men like Ernest Hemingway or Bertrand Russell. These men are considered veritable geniuses by most scholars in universities today. Throughout their lives, they pretended to seek out true wisdom in philosophical meanderings and by crafting great literary stories. The problem is, of course, that any attempts to seek out truth in the forest of human ideas inevitably lead one to catch a small glimpse of light from the sun of truth. But all truth is inescapably revelational of God Himself. Because these authors’ hearts had rejected the truth, they instinctively recoiled from the light, and retreated back into the forest of their thoughts until they came to another clearing. They rejected the truth again, and this pattern continued until they finally gave way to insanity (Russell), and suicide (Hemingway). This leads us to question whether these very smart men were all that wise after all. The problem is in the heart. That’s why Wisdom says, “Oh fools, be of an understanding heart!”
While very foolish intellectuals reject Wisdom, our little children may, by God’s grace, receive the words of Wisdom. If they trust in God to save them from their bad hearts and the bad things that they do, and if they listen to correction in the study of the Word, they will be wiser than all of the intellectuals in the world who refused to humble themselves to receive the words of Wisdom.
1. What is your heart attitude when it comes to hearing the teaching of the Word of God? Is your heart ready to receive God’s Word?
2. Do you think that one must be an intellectual genius to understand that Jesus’ death and resurrection save us from our sins? Is it hard to believe this?