Be wise and otherwise Between Ideal and Reality I. Introduction Renaissance: an era of ideals REV SAMUEL GOH Israelites ideal: being a wise person A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother (Prov 10:1b NIV) Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, those who gain understanding (Prov 3:13 NASB) What s a wise son like? II. The Profile of the Wise A. Able to do things well Wise = able to. 1. wise = able to build the Tabernacle (Exod 28:3) 2. wise = able to build ships (Ezek 27:8-9) 3. wise = able to make legal judgment (1 Kgs 3:16-22) 4. wise = able to reason well (Eccl 1:13) B. Able to make spiritual/moral judgment 1. wise = able to make spiritual judgment (Prov 1:7, 9:10) 2. wise = able to make moral judgment (Prov 3:7) 1
A Portrait of the Wise (ala Proverbs) C. Being greatly blessed by God 1. Being blessed with success What the wicked fears will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted (Prov 10:24) Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor (Prov 21:21) 2. Being blessed with longevity For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life (Prov 9:11) The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short (Prov 10:27) 3. Being blessed with God s protection The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead (Prov 11:8) The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. (Prov 14:11) Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. (Prov 14:26) A Portrait of the Wise (ala Proverbs) Blessings Who would fit the profile? 2
III. The Best Candidates A. Solomon 1. Able to make spiritual judgment: But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong (1 Kgs 3:7-9) 2. Able to make moral judgment: I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be (1 Kgs 3:12) 3. Able to do things well: God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore (1 Kgs 4:29) He was able to build the temple He was able to build ships He was able to make legal decision He was able to reason very well 4. Being blessed with success: Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for both wealth and honor so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings (1 Kgs 3:13) All King Solomon s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon s days (1 Kgs 10:21) Solomon s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt (1 Kgs 4:30) Blessings Solomon 3
A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother (Prov 10:1b NIV) Is Solomon a wise son? 5. The loss of wisdom: Loss of spiritual discernment: As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God (1 Kgs 11:7) Loss of other aspects of wisdom: Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom (1 Kgs 11:14-40) Faith lesson for us: The obstacle to being the ideal wise: Temptations to give up spiritual and moral discernment Christians and wisdom today: The danger: Singstat 2010 Temptations to give up the ability to make spiritual and moral judgment 4
Modern Solomons: B. The Teacher The Teacher is the author of Ecclesiastes: The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem. (Ecc 1:1) I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. (Ecc 1:12) The Teacher s profile: 1. Able to make spiritual judgment: Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God! (Ecc 5:7) Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him (Ecc 8:13) 2. Able to think and do things well: Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge (Ecc 1:16) I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks. (Ecc 2:4-6) 3. Blessed with success: I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. (Ecc 2:7-8) 4. Perplexed by anomalies The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short (Prov 10:27) In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing (Ecc 7:15) 5
There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity (Ecc 8:14) Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? (Ecc 7:16-17) The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction (Prov 16:23) Faith lesson for us: The obstacle to being the ideal wise: Anomalies of life Is there an ideal wise? C. Job 1. Able to make spiritual judgment: In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1) 2. Able to make moral judgment: In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil (Prov 3:7) 6
3. Greatly blessed by God (1:2-3): 7 sons and 3 daughters 7 thousand sheep, 3 thousand camels, 5 hundred yoke of oxen 5 hundred donkeys Large number of servants Solomon s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt (1 Kgs 4:30) He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. (Job 1:3b) Unexpected incidents. Is Job the ideal wise? The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21) The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction (Prov 16:23) Is Job really the ideal wise? 7
BUT. May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, A boy is conceived! (Job 3:3) All was well with me, but He shattered me (Job 16:12) He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces (Job 16:12 NASB) Why is he so mad with God? He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces (Job 16:12 NASB) 8
The wisdom Job learned: The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead (Prov 11:8) The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish (Prov 14:11) Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge (Prov 14:26) Faith lesson for us: The obstacle to being the ideal wise: Life-shattering and prolonged pain IV. Between Ideal and Reality A. Biblical ideals 1. The Law (Torah) And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord s commands and decrees (Deut 10:12-13) 2. The Wisdom Books A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother (Prov 10:1b NIV) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil (Prov 3:7) Fear God and keep his commandments (Eccl 12:13) 9
B. Realities of the world Obstacles to becoming the ideal wise: 1. Temptations 2. Anomalies of life 3. Life-shattering and prolonged pain Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins (Eccl 7:20) C. The Need for Redemption 1. Christ redeems those fail the law God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive our adoption as sons (Gal 4:4-5) 2. Christ redeems those fail to be wise Even the wisest make mistakes Everyone needs Christ s redemption: And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Cor 1:30) V. Conclusion 1. No perfect wise, all are flawed 2. Christ died for the flawed wise 3. God accepts the flawed wise in Christ 4. We become wise only by Christ 10