Wisdom

RV75-02

Surrounding the Father's throne, horizontally, were 24 other thrones are occupied by pastor-teacher-elders representing the totality of the body of Christ. The church was seated there, with ultimate sanctification, signified by its white robes, and with rewards having been given, signified by the crowns on the heads.

As John views this scene, he sees, from within the Father's throne, flashes of lightning coming forth, and he hears thunderclaps rolling forth. He also is aware of the rumbling sounds of nature in violent upheaval. All of these signify that that throne of judgment, which the church has escaped, is now about to exercise the doom that the tribulation world has been prepared for – the judgments of God to be poured out on the tribulation world. As we get into the book of the Revelation, and we begin with chapter 6, to unravel these judgments, you will begin to see how serious these symbols are that John saw here of thunder and lightning and sounds just as on Mount Sinai when the Holy God faced an unholy people. You will see how serious this judgment of God is.

The world has seen suffering. Any place on this earth that the hand of communism has been free to be exercised, there has been brutality beyond human imagination. But even today, communism is not nearly as bad a tyranny as it will yet be when God the Holy Spirit is removed, and all restraints upon that evil system have been neutralized. So, the judgments that are going to come in the tribulation period are going to be human suffering beyond comprehension. Those are words. Most of us have never been in a situation where we have seen human suffering at first hand. We've never been in a war-torn situation where human suffering is being experienced in a maximum way. But the things that John sees coming from that throne are a signal that God's wrath is to be poured out. And when God's wrath is poured out, the results are horrendous.

Seven Flaming Torches

Moses made this very clear to the people as he was now about to leave them, and about to experience death in Deuteronomy 28:58. Moses says, "If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name: the LORD your God." There we have the sacred Tetragrammaton in "LORD." Then he goes on in verse 59 and following. He says, "If you don't go positive to the doctrines of Scripture that I have taught you, then," Moses says, "you can count on disasters like you wouldn't believe." Then he outlines in those verses the things that are going to come upon these people.

One of the things that is very interesting that he says is that the diseases of Egypt would not come upon them, and that they would escape all this. However, if they were negative to the Word of God, sickness and disease will come upon them. That is, in part, true because they were violating dietary laws and sanitary laws, all of which were built in to the Mosaic Law. The Israelites acted like the heathen about them, who did not follow these dietary regulations; who did not follow these laws of sanitation; who did not follow the rules for the process of washing clothes under sunshine; who did not follow the rules of handling dead bodies; and, so on. All of these laws were carefully laid out in a pre-scientific era, but they had direct relationships with their personal health. As they observed these laws, they were preserved from diseases which were rampant in the ancient world.

So, this is the God who has total sovereignty. That's what the word "LORD" ("YHWH") means. This is ascribed to the person, the Spirit of God, who is the constant companion of every believer in the church age. This is the person who empowered the humanity of Jesus Christ. And remember that, in Isaiah 11:2, what we are being told is what Jesus Christ in His humanity would have going for Him to enable Him to come to the point where every knee over all the earth would bow to Him as the supreme celebrity. What He received for His humanity, we too receive as believers for our humanity. That's the point. This is a tremendous passage of Scripture.

So, you and I, as Christians, I remind you again, live every moment of our lives in the presence of the Spirit of Jehovah. This is the great potential that we have to become awesome human beings. This is what distinguishes you and me from the rest of the herd of humanity. If you grasp this, and if you grasp the significance of living under the advantages provided by God the Holy Spirit, life is going to take a direction of enormous blessing and significance to you. You can ignore all this. You can sit there and you can be indifferent. You can be blasé about it. You can let it just pass off. You can be bored. You can be distracted. But the cost to you is going to be not just now, but in terms of eternity. What this ministry of the Spirit of the Lord produces is a ministry that has eternal consequences. That's where it's really important. Oh, it will make you successful now; it will make your life a blessing; and it'll give you stability and happiness now, but that's not nearly as important as what the consequences will be in eternity.

There are a lot of areas of our lives where God is ready to bless us, through these ministries of the Spirit of God, which we keep Him from doing. There are many areas that God has blessed us, and where we're prospering, and we can't keep from fouling them up. There are many families that are happy families, and are moving in the wrong direction, who can't keep from absorbing the viewpoints of the world, and rejecting the viewpoints of the Spirit of God. There are a lot of perfectly good marriages that ignorant Christians kick to pieces. Why? Because they are not functioning in their humanity on this ministry, that the Spirit of Jehovah is indwelling you to perform, which is described for us here in Isaiah.

The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding

Values

That's an amazing thing. If somehow, you, as a human being, could receive wisdom from the Spirit of God, which is a quality that has to come from God, you would increase your capacity to make the right choices consistently. Wisdom is a divine viewpoint frame of reference in the mentality of the soul. The source of all "chokmah" (the source of all wisdom) is God, who is absolute righteousness. We have this indicated for us in a variety of Scriptures.

For example, Job 12:13: "With Him (speaking of God) is 'chokmah' (with Him is wisdom) and strength. He has counsel and understanding." The source of wisdom is God.

Also Job 28:20: "Whence then comes wisdom, and where is the place of understanding?" Job says, "Where does wisdom come from?" Verse 23: "God understands its way. He knows the place of it." So, you have indicated here that wisdom is coming from God.

Proverbs 2:6 says, "For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."

So, you have in the Bible a source of wisdom. There are three books in the Old Testament that we call, therefore, wisdom literature, because they were written specifically to give a summary of this word "chokmah." Those books are Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Those are the books that have been provided in the Old Testament for the Jews to study in order to give them a basis for making divine viewpoints decisions. Those books, when absorbed, will give you a frame of reference of values. They'll give you a sense of divine values.

You have studied a book like Proverbs, for example, enough to know that Proverbs gives you a sense of value concerning sexual morality. It is in Proverbs that we have very explicit direction relative to prostitutes and relative to young men engaging in illicit sex, and the consequences. "Chokmah" says, "Don't do it." The cost is enormous.

The problem is that you think you get away with it. The problem is that, humanly, in the earthly sphere, you manage to arrange for it; to gloss it over; to live with it; to outskirt it; and, to outmaneuver it. But when you have the wisdom of "chokmah" (divine wisdom), you will know that you have not outmaneuvered it. You may have dealt with it in the human realm, but the eternal consequences are going to be there.

Parenting

You and I have seen children screaming, kicking, shouting, biting, and having their own way. You have seen a person who lacks "chokmah" – a parent who did not read the Word of God concerning wisdom of child-rearing. They listened to some idiot with a high IQ who is in the medical profession, who has degrees, but who is shot-through with human viewpoint, and therefore does not have wisdom. This is a precious quality, and it is one that our society is practically totally devoid of.

The Poor

This wisdom literature is very explicit as to how to deal with the needs of the poor. And when you follow that, you have the enormous advantage of having consulted with God on the matter.

Marriage

So, I said to him, "Well, you know, enough about doctrine, and this has to be left in the hands of the Lord, but I will tell you this: I've had enough experience with the people I have to deal with to assure you that there are some things in life that are a whole lot worse than not being married." This is what proverb says. Proverb says, "Oh, boy, it is so much better not to be married than to live with a nagging wife," which is like the old Chinese torture of the water just dripping off the roof. And there you see that flapping, nagging mouth going. The Bible says that if you get into marriage, and you can't function on "chokmah," it's going to be misery. And it has, therefore, a lot to say about wisdom relative to marriage. That's an enormous advantage to have that. How many people enter relationships like that, and they don't have the foggiest notion of wisdom for this particular activity?

Emotional Stability

Finances

A man that has the right value systems, or a woman that has the right value systems, is not going to enter a marriage that is not God's purpose for them, or that is a place of misery.

Government

Personal Integrity

Social Relationships

These are not to be found, by and large, in our society. But what this word is referring to is the kind of information you find in Job; in Proverbs; and, in Ecclesiastes. True wisdom belongs to God. That's where you're going to find it. If you're going to look for wisdom, you have to realize that it is God that's going to be the source of it.

Daniel knew this. Daniel 2:20: "Daniel answered and said, 'Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.'" Daniel was looking for information. Daniel had to make a judgment – a judgment that the wise men of Babylon were not able to make. But Daniel came through with it. Daniel said, "The only reason I can do it is because I've got "chokmah." In Daniel 2:20, he talks about that wisdom that he has that can only come from God.

Wisdom is not found in Human Speculation

I'm well aware of the fact that the resisters always try to cover themselves by saying, "Oh, that's just your interpretation." But I also notice that the bird who says that never comes and says, "Let me explain to you what that verse really means. Let me explain to you what God is really saying there." They just brush it aside, and say, "That's your interpretation," as if they have answered the Scriptures. Job says, "There is no wisdom in human speculation."

Also, in Ecclesiastes 7:23-24, you have this statement made: "All this have I proved by wisdom. I said, 'I will be wise.'" Solomon says, "I will be wise." Ecclesiastes is the kind of wisdom literature in reverse, because most of Ecclesiastes is the expression of human viewpoint. It is the expression of Solomon when he was out of fellowship with God for many years, and when he was trying to function apart from that great infusion of wisdom that was given to him as the result of his prayer, when he was crowned king of Israel at his coronation. Now, he's out of it. He's out of temporal fellowship. He's living in sin. He's living in evil. He has tried a variety of things. He is the man who has given us all this good advice in Proverbs concerning sex; sexual immorality; and, wisdom relative to sex. What does he end up doing? He gathers 700 wives and 300 girlfriends on the side. And Solomon said, "I'm going to keep doing this until I get it right." The problem with Solomon was that he already knew how to get it right. He was turning his back on it. This is unbelievable. You would think that surely 1,000 women is not what this means. But that's exactly what it means. It shows you how far off the man who wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes was when he was in his human viewpoint enslavement.

So, in Ecclesiastes 7:23, Solomon says, "All this have I proved by wisdom. I said, 'I'll be wise,' but it was far from me ‐ that which is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?" There's always some jerk around that says: "Me – I can find it out. I've been to school. I'm smart. I can find the wisdom on which to function successfully. I can come up with a value system that's going to work." That's what we're talking about: the value system that works. The Word of God says that you'll never come up with a value system that works.

For that reason, we have, in Proverbs 2:2, the statement that we are to listen to wisdom with attentive ears: "So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding." Understanding is another factor. We're going to get to that one next. But: "Incline your ear to wisdom." Wisdom is not found in human speculation. Therefore, we must pursue it in the only place it can be found, and that is from God Himself. That is why the spirit of wisdom (this particular role of God the Holy Spirit) is so crucially important to you and me. If we're going to have any smarts, that's where it's going to have to come from. So, men are to listen with attentive ears.

If you insist on playing Solomon's role and follow human viewpoint, it's going to bring you grief and frustrations. Human wisdom is not worth it. In Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, Solomon says, "So, I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I did not withhold my heart from any joy. For my heart rejoiced in all my labor. This was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do. And, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."

Solomon says here, "I still had a frame of reference of wisdom, but I was out of fellowship. I insisted that I was going to find satisfaction in life." And as you read through Ecclesiastes, you will find that he goes from one thing to the other. And one of the things that he went into was a big building project – construction work. And, you know, when you're building things, that gets to be kind of exciting. A person can get caught up and get lost in that. Solomon was very excited, and he thought, boy, he was really on there. He was operating on wisdom, and he was doing something significant. Then verse 11 says, "And when I finished it, I looked at it and said, 'So, what's it worth?'" Suddenly, he realized that someplace along the line, he's going to die. Someplace along the line, he's going to face a God of wisdom, and that God is going to examine and evaluate Solomon on the basis of divine wisdom. Solomon had enough acquaintance with that wisdom to know that he was going to fail terribly. He was going to come out zilch, in spite of all the magnificent construction that he had been responsible for.

Human wisdom will bring you grief and frustration. So, if you like suffering, help yourself. The New Testament says that human wisdom is doomed to be exposed as monumental stupidity, In 1 Corinthians 1:19-20, the apostle Paul points this out: "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise (human wisdom), and I'll bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (human understanding). Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where's the disputer of this age? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world?'" That's what is so hard for the person who is not oriented to the concept of "chokmah" to grasp – that, someday, God is going to make all His thinking clearly the thinking of a fool. He's counting on the fact that he's smart. He's arrogant in his human viewpoint intelligence: in his background: in his education: in the circles that he moves in; and, in his logical mind. God says, "When I'm through with you, you are going to look (and be) a fool, and you're going to be that out there where you can't hide it. And all that you thought was so great, you are going to see that it was just as nothing as Solomon discovered.

One of the happy things that Solomon recognized, back again in Ecclesiastes 2, is that God provides, and is ready to provide, this "chokmah" wisdom to those who are ready to receive it. In Ecclesiastes 2:26, Solomon says, "For God gives to a man that is good in His sight wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner, He gives travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit." Solomon said, "To the one who wants wisdom, God will give it.

Proverbs 1:7 gives us a prerequisite for securing wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." This whole passage is talking about securing wisdom: "But fools despise wisdom and instruction." So, if you despise wisdom and instruction, the way to do it is to not begin with a fear that is a reverence of God.

The people who do not have "chokmah" are skeptics. Skeptics (people who are on negative volition signals) suffer several serious consequences. They will never secure God's wisdom, and therefore, they never know how to make the right decisions. They never really secure the blessings that they are looking for. They never know the real answers to life.

Proverbs 14:6 says, "A scoffer seeks wisdom." This is the person who is a skeptic relative to what the Bible has to say. He scoffs at it. He is seeking wisdom, but he is seeking it in a totally wrong direction: "And he doesn't find it. But knowledge is easy onto him that understands." I don't know what that Scripture means, except that for the scoffer, relative to the wisdom, the "chokmah" wisdom that God is ready to give, is going to come as the result of being receptive.

This whole passage should be read. Just take a look at what is before you in these tremendous passages in the book of Proverbs:

"A scoffer seeks wisdom and doesn't find it, but knowledge is easy unto him that understands."

Go from the presence of a foolish man when you don't perceive in him the lips of knowledge." So, here's a good little piece of advice. When you find someone that doesn't have "chokmah," avoid him. Don't get entangled with him.

"The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit."

"Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favor." Isn't that true about those who lack wisdom? They justify all of the evils of our society. They make fun of it. They belittle it as they cast it off as if they were ready and capable, and have the right to take God's place in certain decisions.

"The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not intermeddle with its joy."

"The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish."

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Notice that that verse has to do with this section on wisdom. The people who do not have wisdom think they have the answer. The people who don't have it have no answers. The answers that they have are the ways of death. Isn't that something? Don't forget that you and I can experience death at this moment. While we are physically alive, being out of the inner circle of fellowship means that you are in temporal death. Any time that you are out of temporal fellowship, you are in a condition comparable to death. You are out of touch with all divine reality. How many church people go around thinking that they know exactly how it should be, and they are moving in the realms of death?

"Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness."

"The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied from himself."

"The simple believes every word, but the prudent man looks well to his going."

"A wise man fears and departs from evil, but the fool rages, and is confident."

"He that is soon angry deals foolishly."

"A man of wicked devices is hated."

"The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge."

"The simple are those who lack wisdom."

"The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous."

"The poor is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends."

"He that despises his neighbor sins, but he that has mercy on the poor: happy is he."

"Do not they err that devise evil? But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good."

"The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness of the fools is their folly." Have you known somebody who's always talking about big plans; big money; and, big deals that he's in? His ship is going to come in, and he talks of all the things that he's going to do when that ship comes in, and all that big money is there. The "chokmah" man doesn't talk like that. He is a producer. His wisdom does not make him a talker, but it makes him an achiever.

"In all labor there is profits, but the talk of the lips tend only to penury."

Verse 25: "A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies."

"In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge."

"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of light to depart from the snares of death."

In the multitude of people is the king's honor, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince."

"He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit (the hothead) exalts folly." The hothead doesn't have wisdom.

"The sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy (emotional instability) is the rottenness of the bones."

"He that oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, but he that honors him has mercy on the poor."

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous has hope in death." The righteous do not have to fear death.

"Wisdom rests in the heart of him that has understanding, but that which is in the midst of fools is made known."

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

"The king's favor is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that causes shame."

Just reading through a passage like that gives you the feel of wisdom. If you can instill in your children this kind of wisdom, you have set them in the same category of blessing that the Lord Jesus Christ received from the indwelling Spirit to His humanity. God freely gives wisdom to those who seek it. The skeptics will never secure it. So, success in life, in terms of the long haul of eternity, is dependent upon this possession of God's wisdom. For that reason, the believer is to fall in love with wisdom. Wisdom is presented as a female figure.

Therefore, in Proverbs 4:5, we read, "Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don't forget it, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Don't forsake her (wisdom), and she shall preserve you. Love her, and she shall keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote you. She shall bring you to honor when you embrace her (that is, wisdom). She shall give to your head an ornament of grace. A crown of glory she shall deliver to you. Hear, O, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be many." Ah, ha. Isn't that interesting? That is physical capacity. As wisdom was given to Israel of old to preserve them from the diseases of the Egyptians and the nations round about them, so divine viewpoint frame of reference sense of values will prolong your life. And the opposite will speed up and terminate your life.

"I have taught you in the ways of wisdom. I have led you in right paths. When you go, your steps shall not be hindered, and when you run, you shall not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life."

And where do you think you're going to get wisdom? There's only one place you're going to get wisdom. You're going to get it from the Word of God as it is illuminated to you by the Holy Spirit who lives within you: the "ruach chokmah" – the spirit of wisdom. You'll get it from the Word of God, and the Word of God says, "Grab hold of this gal, and never let her go. Like the song says, "Once you have found her, never let her go." That is so applicable to wisdom. When you have understood that this is waiting for you, it is here in the pages of Scripture. It is here specifically in this wisdom literature. Then make it a point to pursue it. The only way you're going to pursue it is by reading it and being immersed in it.

Wisdom is the mental attitude of trusting in God's values and abhorring evil. Job, after he came through all of his agonies, came to that conclusion. Job 28:28: "And unto man, he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord: that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding."

One of the things that Moses pointed out, also in the book of Deuteronomy, his last testament to the Jewish people as he was about to leave them, was to those who are now to follow him. The young man who was to take his place was Joshua. His name means "Jehovah is salvation." That is the reason that Jesus was given the name "Jesus," because "Jesus" is the Greek name of the Hebrew "Joshua." In Deuteronomy 34:9, Moses says, "And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom." This is the same thing we're talking about. He was full of the "ruach chokmah:" For Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses." Moses says, "This is your leader. There is upon him divine wisdom. He will be able, because he has the value system, to lead this nation successfully." That is what is required of government administrators – to have wisdom to be able to lead the people of God. If you want to know what's greatly the problem for us in our nation, it is the fact that we do not have administrators in government who have divine wisdom values.

1 Kings 3:28 tells us that wisdom makes a man respected. Wisdom gives respect to a man in his society: "And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged. And they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice." Here was the administrator of the nation, King Solomon. Here were two women who were both claiming the same baby as their baby. One was lying. She had rolled over on her child, because she was foolish enough to sleep with the baby, and had suffocated him, so she took the live baby of another woman. They came to Solomon. How was he going to decide which woman is the real mother? How is he going to decide to whom this baby really belongs? Take a blood sample from the child and match it up to the mothers? What's he going to do? And all of Israel is standing there saying, "Now, here is our young king. Now, we'll see what kind of smarts he has."

You will remember that God said, "Solomon, you're going to replace your great father, David. I'm going to put you in an exalted position like David never was. But I'm starting off by giving you the privilege of asking for anything you want. What do you want?" And Solomon snapped right back: "God, give me 'chokmah.' Give me the wisdom to the degree that no man has ever possessed it before." And the Lord said, "That was a good choice. You've got it. Furthermore, I'm going to give you all the material prosperity, and everything else along with it, because if you've got wisdom, you're going to be successful, and you're going to be a winner in every way."

So, when he came here with that kind of wisdom to face this issue (you remember the story), Solomon said, "That's easy. What people should do, who are the people of God, is share things. Bring the baby. We'll cut him in half, and each of you can have half of a baby, and share it." Solomon's "chokmah" knew that the real mother would say, "Forget it. Let her take him." And she did. Solomon said, "That's the real mother." The other woman said, "That's fine. Let's cut it in half." Immediately, Solomon knew that she was the fake.

How did he think of something like that? It seems so simple to us – for us to read it. It was a discerning move that applied to that situation, because he had the wisdom values of God, and therefore, he knew how to meet the circumstances of life.

So, the second wonderful thing that that flaming torch before the throne of God represents is "chokmah" (wisdom) – a system of values. You'll get it no place else but from the Spirit of God who indwells you, through the Word of God, which He will illuminate to your heart.

You can go out of here and determine to immerse yourself in the wisdom literature of the Scriptures, and become that kind of super human being, or you can just ignore it and say, "I'll just ride on my IQ." And you'll ride right into your misery. But if you take the ride on God's wisdom, it's nothing but glory and blessing and prosperity, and all the stability, and everything else that you need to meet life on a daily basis.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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