“ Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
That thy -trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?”
- Proverbs 22:17-21
“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. “ - Proverbs 21:30
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As befits a finale, we are gifted with two texts that bottom line everything we have learned thus far.
The first text, describes the overrarching mission of the book.
Certainly this mission ( the value of wisdom ) is stated clearly in Chapter 1, but here it is so beautifully and elegantly summarized we just marvel….
a. “It is a pleasant thing” … a sweet and desirable thing to keep within us…. to have come out of our lips.
b. The book is written to let us know of the CERTAINTY of the WORDS OF TRUTH… What is true is true. What is true is certain!
As we have looked at the proverbs … they all have the stamp of truth… from the most piquant and pithy sayings, to the most profound.
c. And why should we know the words of truth? “ That thy trust may be in the LORD”.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. He cares for every living person and loves them equally, even the backslidden sinner. He gives His rain to the fields of the just and the unjust in equal measure. He gives His first born Son as a sacrifice for people who hate Him. He knows all there is to know about everything because “everything”, down to a hair on your head, resides —in— Him. His ways are not our ways. He has no need to lie, cheat, or deceive. Lord of all, He took on the form of a servant and washed His creatures feet. He is from everlasting to everlasting and His Word IS His Bond/Covenant!
Think about an ant, and the Empire State Building.
In terms of scale, the building is definitely something the ant can explore in its lifetime. As the ant crawls past network cables, electrical cables, plumbing, heat vents, elevator shafts etc… do you think the ant has ANY perspective on their purpose, or the larger purpose of the building, or even of the builders and engineers and materials and planning that went into it? Please note, that the building was constructed by -creatures- that inhabit the same ecosystem/material plane as the ant.
Now think about the James Webb or Hubble telescope. We see the galaxies and stars. We see this planet in perspective. Turning around, our satellites show us our world in detail from space … oceans, tundras, deserts, cities aglow at night.
Yet, the PURPOSE of all this eludes comprehension.
Sure, you can argue we are accidents. The universe happened by accident, physical laws were created by accident, life evolved by accident, and human intellect as well…. seems like a cop-out argument to us…
Anything that has a beginning must by definition have been created, and hence, we can —also— argue, logically, that the universe, life, and man were created.
Both arguments lead us to the same place. We are here… ? ….
but what is our purpose if we were indeed created? The Bible provides a decoder ring.
It is a consistent story. It has been attested to by human witnesses ( you may choose not to believe them as you once did those who claimed to have seen UFOs ), and historical fact…. the present turmoil in the Middle East bearing witness.
We are in the age predicted by Daniel in Chapter 2, an age symbolized by the feet of the image of a man seen in a kings dream…. an age where iron and clay are mixed together, dictatorships and democracies… and the -end of this age is marked by a group of ten toes/kings … ( NOT the G-10 group of countries … though it is interesting that these alliances are adopting these forms and names ).
That is the truth as the Bible sees it, and we are given this truth so that we can TRUST THE LORD to keep us safe even as civilization crashes and burns all around us.
Things are going to happen with increasing rapidity and we are ( in ant terms ) very close to climbing to the tippy top of our Empire State Building !!
The sheer size, sweep, and scale of Gods plan for humanity is hundreds and thousands of orders of magnitude above our ant and skyscraper example.
And this is a plan that NO ONE can alter, no counsels can change, no wisdom prevent.
There is a loser ( Satan ) in this plan, but he has not admitted defeat yet BECAUSE HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO !! Nor have his minions…. though they well know their time is finite as well ….
“ And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? “ - Matthew 8:28,29
If Spiritual powers cannot prevail against God, what can puny humanity do? It’s like babies trying beat up an adult !! ?
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall ——laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
—-Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
——Blessed are all they that put their —-trust— in him.”
- Psalm 2
Hallelujah!!!!