Thursday: Do Not Forget!
Read Proverbs 3:7. What is the trap of being wise in one’s own eyes?
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
To be wise in one’s own eyes will lead to the illusion that one does not need God to be wise. This is a hopeless situation. There is more hope for a fool than for them
(Prov. 26:12, NIV). Again, wisdom is described as a religious commitment. To be wise means to keep God’s commandments (Prov. 3:1), to display mercy and truth
(Prov. 3:3), and to trust in the LORD
(Prov. 3:5). Wisdom implies an intimate relationship with God. Note the repeated reference to the heart (Prov. 3:1, Prov. 3:3, Prov. 3:5), the seat of our personal response to God’s influence. (The heart was already mentioned in Proverbs 2:10 as the place wisdom should enter.)
Read Proverbs 3:13–18. What reward comes with the gift of wisdom?
Wisdom is associated with life and health (Prov. 3:2, Prov. 3:8, Prov. 3:16, Prov. 3:18, Prov. 3:22). One of the most suggestive images is the tree of life
(Prov. 3:18), a promise repeated several times in the book (Prov. 11:30, Prov. 13:12, Prov. 15:4). This metaphor alludes to the Garden of Eden. This promise does not mean that the acquisition of wisdom will provide eternal life; instead, the idea is that the quality of life with God, which our first parents enjoyed in Eden, can to some measure be recovered. When we live with God, we get some inkling, some hints, of Eden; even better, we learn to hope in the promised recovery of this lost kingdom (see Dan. 7:18).
Read Proverbs 3:19-20. Why is the need for wisdom so vital?
The sudden reference to the Creation story seems to be out of place in this context. Yet the use of wisdom at Creation reinforces the argument of verse 18, which associates wisdom with the tree of life. If God used wisdom to create the heavens and earth, wisdom is not a trivial matter. The scope of wisdom is cosmic, going beyond the limits of our earthly existence. Wisdom concerns our eternal life as well. This lesson is implied in the reference to the tree of life, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. This perspective is also contained in the promise that concludes our passage:The wise shall inherit glory
(Prov. 3:35).
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Thank you for allowing us the privilege to read God's Word message to His children. Am thankful to still be able to share with others Gods Word message to the world. May all hear know how much they are truly loved by their Father in heaven.
What an amazing lesson, to know that the wisdom of God is not only a guide for us to make right decisions in life, but it gives us the hope of eternal life. To know God is like standing in his library of Godly teaching, but to impart it into our lives is to life the surety that we will be with God in his kingdom for ever more and there is nothing stopping us from living the that surety here and now, but ourselves. Time to be partakers of God's wisdom and not just members in his library.
Amen!
Another danger of being wise in one's own eyes is believing that others have not been gifted with as much knowledge and wisdom as yourself.
I had a hard lesson to learn when I was growing up. I was academically inclined and learning was never much of a problem. On the other hand, my sister struggled to remember even the simplest of facts. What astonished me later in life was that my sister could think up a design of a dress in her head and create the dress. In fact she designed and made my wife's wedding dress. I had a new insight that we are all created very differently and that our knowledge and skills can be quite diverse. There is wisdom is appreciating those differences in one another.
But isn't that what scripture says about how God dispenses gifts (1 Cor 12)? I am glad that we are not all an ear or a foot or anything else. I am glad that there is variety and that together we all become the body of Christ.
It's interesting how in Proverbs 3:13-18, wisdom is in the feminin. 'Her' proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. The length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
Just shows the significance of the role of women and how men should see them. It also describes how women should see themselves and be treated. But I digress...
Sheila, you can do that if you wish but I think it is dangerous to carry personifications too far. For ships also are spoken of as feminine but they are useless without direction and power and can become a hazard like a loose barge in a river. We should also see that the culture of the ancient world was male oriented such that the Bible rarely if at all speaks of an adulterer but has quite a lot to say about the adulteress. To me perhaps it is best to think of wisdom in the neuter rather than sexually oriented.
Tyler, I don't know if you know it, there are languages other than the English, in which the nouns are gender specific. So for example in my mother language (Croatian) the noun wisdom has also a feminine gender. Maybe it's the same with Hebrew. I don't know, I 'm not a scholar. I wouldn't be so harsh on Sheila when she praises the wisdom as a feminine virtue, because I have also seen women wiser than men. Especially their mental growth is faster than in males. Their possibility of "multitasking" also outshines the male etc... The ancient Greeks also have a goddess of wisdom and not a god...
Yes, Tihomir, I was aware of that fact. Both Greek and Hebrew have gender in their languages. My point was that it is probably best not to attach gender to wisdom so as to make it more of one than the other as Sheila did. I do think that women have need of expressing their value in a world that has suppressed women for so long and in fact still does in many ways.
To me there are definite differences between men and women and God in His infinite wisdom has made both to complement one another.
I just want u to know that I thought about that; however, I believe that it's commenting on the "church" in general. I could be wrong, so if anyone has a comment, please state.
may the Lord bless each one of us as wee study His words with "wisdom"
warm blessings from the Hawaiian Islands for the year 2015.
In Prov. 3:5 we are invited to trust in the Lord instead of our own understanding. This should help us preserve a humble attitude towards our past achievements.
Yesterday’s wisdom will not protect us from the dangers of tomorrow. We need to constantly seek God’s will for our lives and keep our mind open to the Lord’s guidance.
If we do this, the Lord will reveal to us new avenues of spiritual and physical health. Every new day will bring to us new sources of happiness and keep us from sadness and depression.
Being wise in one’s own eyes is rejecting God. The ultimate expression of this is “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1). Yet even those who acknowledge God may still lean on their own wisdom (Proverbs 3:5). When our actions do not take into account the will of God we take the course of the unwise and reflect the attitude of those who reject the Creator.
It serves us well to distrust ourselves and our fallen inclinations, ever inquiring what is the will of our Maker, and will our decisions or actions align with God’s will. We ought to resolve not to intentionally do anything which works against God’s cause, whether we eat or drink, or party, or play, or work or whatever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Happy 2015!!!
Nice contributions there. We praise God for this forum.
Do not forget ...
Prov 3
To forget wisdom is not necessarily memory issues but to shift dependence on God to oneself
Wisdom then is complete in God and Godly issues have everything to do with the heart
My heart condition determines my actions hence the quality of my spiritual life
My actions are at 2 levels;
1. My relationship with God ie my willingness to follow His will
and
2. my relationship with man - how I treat others; as Betty submitted earlier, do I value others knowing Christ died for them too or do I look down on others thinking only I know better? God help us
In provebs3:7 be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. This want to emphasize us that to be wisdom you're not perfect if u will not do the will of God. Wisdom is the gift of God, everyone of we are supposed to ask wisdom.
Wisdom is trust on our Lord and keep his commandments
Amen thanks for sharing. .God blessed
Let's not forget that heavenly wisdom will reward us in this life with longevity, less stress, peace of mind, friendship with God, and life after death. I frequently see much avoidable human suffering simply because people chose to be wise in their own eyes. Godly wisdom dictates that our bodies are God's temples and we should not neglect healthy living. To help us in this aspect, we have been given the Health Message. "Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom (prov 4: 7).
in Thursdays' lesson the author indicates that the metaphor of the "Tree of Live," does not indicate that the acquisition of wisdom guarantees eternal life.
Yet, my undersanding is that the "Tree of Life," in Proverbs and in Revelation is one and the same.
My undersanding also is that Jesus Himself is WISDOM. So doesn't this fact also mean that the TREE OF LIFE is Jesus Himself, making eternal life and the TREE OF LIFE rather synonymous?
Oops!, I must have been in a hurry because I see that I also failed to indicate that since Jesus is WISDOM and ETERNAL LIFE, that therefore WISDOM is also synonymous with THE TREE OF LIFE and ETERNAL LIFE.
To me that is a profoundly interesting observation that I believe Ellen White also said something about.
Beautifully declared Pete. Christ is the POWER and WISDOM of GOD (1Cor:1:24). Since GOD has placed all things in HIS SON (John 3:35; Matt.11:26-28), we can only look to CHRIST for all the promises - wisdom, righteousness, knowledge, life, peace, faith, Sabbath Rest, truth and everything else - made to and by the prophets. Whatever is found elsewhere is our own devising and our own righteousness. All Glory to God.