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    The Study of Wisdom - Proverbs 1

    1. The Wise and the Fool

    a) Fools despite wisdom and instruction 1:7

    Psalm 14:1  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

    A-Theos: Without God - Vile Deed (Belief translates into Conduct)

    Proverbs 29: 18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. (cherishes the Torah)

    Revelation = the process by which the nature and character of God is made known to us. God's word not mere recommendations but obligatory

    Chazon: root: to See, peceive with the intelligence, by experience

    Sin - natural disposition

    Torah - moral clarity

    Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls.

    Judges 17:6 .“In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

    My thoughts: it reminds me of the Enlightenment (separation of Faith from Reason) and Humanism (anti-religion religion with a faith in no god)

    b) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge 1:7 - the starting point, but not the end!

    2. The Seeker and the Sluggard: Wisdom instructs and has to be received. To receive someone is to consciously welcome him. Wisdom needs to be sought. Seek and ye shall find. This is active. Wisdom does not come to the lazy and ill-disciplined. (1:3)

    a) Justice: objective standards of right and wrong

    b) Judgment: the ability to apply these standards to a specific case/context

    c) Equity: this goes beyond the strictness of the law, to fairness, mercy. Ex aequo et bono. A system of law framed by the larger objective of equity, which is relational in being concerned about all parties. Justice may focus on one party only. God looks at the heart and only He is a just judge, as our own hearts deceive us.

    3. Benefits of Wisdom - Progressive Attainment

    a) To the Simple - Prudence (careless)

    b) To the Young Man - knowledge and discretion  (countering ignorance and uncouth lack of wisdom)

    c) to the Wise Man: - continued hearing and increased learning - wisdom must grow until one is a wise counsellor.

    d) Whoever listens, shall dwell safely and in security, without fear of evil 1:33

    4. The How Tos - Practical Wisdom and the Role of Human Agency and Choice.

    a) Heed the instruction / law of parents (assuming parents are wise)

    b) Autonomy: if sinners entice, DO NOT CONSENT. This is Human Agency. Sin is a choice, Hell is a choice.

    c) Avoid the company of the evil - do not walk in their paths - be careful who you fellowship with; whom you keep company with is also a choice. But God says no good will come of it. Be wise in heeding the warning. It's your own fault if you mix with stupid and carnal people who despite instruction and correction.

    But they lie in wait for their own blood,
    They lurk secretly for their own lives.
    19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
    It takes away the life of its owners.

    d) Respond to His Rebuke - Pours out His Spirit, Makes His words known;reach out to His outstretched hand - or face destruction and silence. "I will mock when your terror comes."

    e) The Centrality of Choice: we choose to hate or love knowledge/fear of the Lord; to harken to or despise the rebuke of the Lord. "They shall eat the fruit of their own way" Choices have consequences

    (i) Turning Away (deliberate choice of direction)

    (ii) Complacency of Fools (no sense of urgency or purpose) will destroy them.

    5. Wisdom is Public, not private. Personal and Corporate Lives.

    20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares

    6. There is apparently a seductive quality to being simple, a fool and scoffer: 1:22

    “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
    For scorners delight in their scorning,
    And fools hate knowledge.

    7. Summary

    A PERSON HAS A CHOICE: choose knowledge or foolishness - love and hate -

    HUMAN AGENCY: our choices are informed

    CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES: we choose our way and the paths we walk on and we eat of its fruit.

    a) Growing Knowledge (we turn to the Lord) - in Eden, Adam and Eve turned away from God. To repent is to 'turn back'

    Biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs: שוב shuv (to return) and נחם nicham (to feel sorrow).

    New Testament Greek: the word translated as 'repentance' is the Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia), "after/behind one's mind", which is a compound word of the preposition 'meta' (after, with), and the verb 'noeo' (to perceive, to think, the result of perceiving or observing).

    To think differently after - different way of thinking; to change the mind, to regret and to change conduct i.e. change of heart and change of conduct.

    b) Growing Fear of the Lord (reverence) - maturity is a process

    c) Attending to His rebuke conscientiously - this is relational

    ACCOUNTABILITY: our choices are called to account

     

    • 18 September 2012
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