Wisdom in a Broken World

Intro

Story of Solomon’s Wisdom

1 Kings 3:5-14

Display of Wisdom: Story of 2 Prostitutes

1 Kings 3:28 “And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”

The Fall of Solomon

1 Kings 11:1-8

Went after the things of this wolrd…

1 Kings 11:9-13

This is the back story of the man who wrote most of Proverbs, and the book fo Ecclesiastes. These two books that we consider “Widom Literature”. (The book of Job, and certain other parts of other books are this same genre, but we’re going to focus in on these two books this morning.)

This morning, I want to look at these two books specifically together, because I don’t think we can fully understand either one without the other…If we look at each one alone, it can lead us to a not so great place:

Proverbs: Disillusionment…what happens when our experience doesn’t line up with what Proberbs teaches? What happens when we do everything right, follow everything it says, but the outcome isn’t what it’s supposed to be?

Ecclesastes: Well…we get depressed. Because everything is meaningless, and no matter what we do, nothing matters.

But…when we read them together, and then specifically through the lens of Christ and what He has accomplished, we gain not only a much clearer picture of Wisdom, but the redemptive work of Christ as the embodiment of wisdom.

So let’s take each one and do a brief overview…

PRAY before we get started.

Wisdom of Proverbs

Summary: The path of righteousness and wisdom leads to prosperity. The path of wickedness and folly leads to destruction.

So this book is broken up into 3 sections:

Chapters 1-9 and this is the foundational understanding of wisdom. It starts out: Proverbs 1:1–7 . In these first 9 chapters, we see this back and forth as Solomon is writing to his son, speaking about the voice of Wisdom, and then the opposing voice of sinners, of folly. The voice of Wisdom cries out: Proverbs 8:35-36 Whereas Folly is describes: Proverbs 9:13-18 These two opposing voices, one leading to the path of life and prosperity, and the other the path of ease and ultimate destruction. The choice, based solely upon these 9 chapters, is quite obvious for anyone seeking the genuine good for their life.

We then come to the next 20 chapters, Ch. 10-29, which is a collection of proverbs, or wise sayings. Sayings like: Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” Proverbs 14:18 “The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.” Proverbs 20:7 “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!” Proverbs 24:3 “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;” Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Proverbs 29:11 “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” These are just a handful of the many wise sayings Solomon records for us in this book. He is diligently seeking to teach and train up his son in the path of wisdom. And this is good! Holy Spirit inspired understanding of what true wisdom looks like.

The final two chapters, chapter 30 & 31 are proverbs from two later men, one by the name of Agur, and the second King Lemuel, which both speak of wisdom in particular secenerios.

*One thing to note about this book is, these are Proverbs, not promises. And this is going to be extremely important as we look at Wisdom in a broader sense, as we turn to Ecclesiastes, as we see all of this within the context of a world that is broken because of sin. These are wise sayings that Solomon, and others, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit perceived and understood about how things ought to work. In a perfect world, when justice reigns, the summation of this book holds true:

The path of righteousness and wisdom leads to prosperity. The path of wickedness and folly leads to destruction.

Ecclesiastes

But now we turn to a very different book. By the same man. This man who was given profound wisdom, yet who lived a long life, in a very broken world, pursuing the things of this world…

And this is how it begins: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

A little depressing. That word, “vanity”, it’s translated differently depending on what version of Scripture you might read… Vanity, Meaningless, Futility…the Hebrew word is often translated “breath” or “vapour”. It’s used in the sense of the result of something being meaningless—the quality of having no value or sigfnificance; as a result of being futile or insubstantial or absurd or incomprehensible.

Everything is meaningless.

Perhaps not a verse you’d hang in your home…

And it just seems to get worse and worse as it goes…

Ecclesiastes 1:12-17 He tries self-indulgence…meaningless.

He tries living wisely…meaningless. “How the wise dies just like the fool!” - Proverbs 2:16b

Hardwork? Meaningless as well. You leave everything to the person who comes after you.

We see this back and forth, though, that Solomon keeps coming at…everything he tries, everything he pursues, it’s all “vanity and a striving after wind”…there’s nothing long-lasting, nothing in this world that brings lasting pleasure…the wise come to the same fate as the fool, toil is meaningless, pleasures don’t last…But just as he comes to this place of hopelessness…we read this…

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

His eyes shift to God, and there’s a reprieve…there is meaning, and purpose…

But then , again…his eyes turn back to the world…

Whether man or beast, “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”

Evil reigns over the oppressed, “and they have no one to comfort them”. Evil men seem to prosper…

Vanity, vanity, everything is vanity!

And then, chapter 5 starts, and his eyes shift upward… “…but God is the one you must fear.”

But again, he looks around…wealth and honour…are all meaningless, a striving after the wind.

This back and forth continues…nothing in this world has any meaning…the only moments anything seems to make any sense, or have any value is when his gaze is heavenword…but then as soon as he looks around him, nothing makes sense anymore.

It’s almost this sense: Everything he’s been taught, all the wisdom he’s acquired…everything that’s supposed to make the world make sense…is failing. (Have you ever felt like that?)

He’s done everything right…and it’s all meaningless.

He’s done everything wrong…and even that is all meaningless.

The book ends:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

You can practically feel the weightiness of this final statement. I picture him weary, after a long, timultuous life…moments of immense faithfulness, building the Temple of Yahweh…moments of a complete disregard for all God has commanded…of seeking wisdom and finding it…then squandering it all on the passions of this world…

Sitting back in his chair…breathing out a long sigh…I just don’t understand…

When I look around, nothing makes sense. I’ve literally tried it all…and it’s all a vapour…a mist…a striving after the wind…

Only when I look up…only when I consider the LORD and Who HE IS…is there any comfort…any hope…

I think we’ve all been there. I think we all can relate to the realities of Ecclesiastes. Perhaps our struggle with this book can be not that it’s depressing…but that it is all too true, and all too honest…

Proverbs seems so much easier! Do this. Don’t do that. If you obey, if you walk the way of wisdom, then it all will work out!

Yet we see the Wisdom of Proverbs translated into our world, and it seems to all fall apart! And we find oursleves all too often in the place of Ecclesiastes…

And there we ask…Where is the Messiah?

Wisdom from God

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1.

1 Corinthians 1:18-30

Folly to the world…Christ is the Wisdom of God.

Wisdom is personified in Christ. It is only when we come to HIM that we find wisdom.

Paul said that he came preaching only Christ, only the foolish message of the cross…Because to embrace Christ, to understand the One who embodies true Wisdom and Power, we have to let go of the wisdom of this world. We have to let go of trying to make things make sense based upon our own understanding. And when we do that…when we come to the end of ourselves, the end of knowledge, the end of wisdom, and we come to see like Solomon did that it’s all MEANINGLESS…and we fall at the feet of Jesus…accepting HIM and HIM ALONE…we find true wisdom and true strength.

And…this wisdom is in direct opposition to the wisdom of this world…

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

As we now live, as those who are in Christ, as those who have been given the mind of Christ, the Wisdom we live by doesn’t make sense in this fallen and broken world.

As I said, the Proverbs are just that…proverbs…we know them to be true, we know that the way of Christ, the path of righteousness is the way to ultimate prosperity…but we also know that life in this world will not always reap the harvest it’s supposed to. The proverb might not look like it’s true.

The wisdom and truth we proclaim seems to actually lead to a place of rejection and suffering and loss…

Conclusion

Psalm 73

The Wisdom of God only makes sense when we keep our eyes fixed on Him. When we try to translate wisdom through this fallen and broken world, we will face immense discouragement.

However, when we remember what Christ has done, when we remember that He is restoring ALL things…then we have hope. Hope that a life lived in opposition to the wisdom of this world, yet in conformity with the mind of Christ, is the only life worth living. It is the only life that brings us true, eternal joy and peace and prosperity.

We might not see those things in the circumstances of this life. I wish I could stand up here and tell you that you will…but we won’t always see this in the here and now. Not until He returns.

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus told his disciples: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

This is a reminder of the here, but not yet here reality of the Kingdom of God. The victory that Christ has already accomplished, the FINISHED work of the cross, yet this process of the restoration of all things.

Will we trust Him? Will we trust His voice, His Wisdom? Will we follow His teaching, when it makes no sense? Will we read the wisdom of Proverbs, and when the result, the outcome, isn’t what it should be…will we continue to trust…continue to press in to Him, trusting in the work He is doing, that He has already accomplished?

The world is fighting to have us question, to doubt, to make concession…to follow its wisdom, its truth…

Will we trust the One who IS THE WISDOM OF GOD?