Where is Wisdom to be Found?

Originally written: June 27, 2007

While waiting for a friend in Harvard Sq. tonight, I met a man, probably a little older than myself, who asked me to read to him the last part of the book of Ecclesiastes. We both had Bibles with us -- me because I had to take the T today and had felt led to bring it with me to read, and him because he was just getting into the Word after having got out of jail for a short period. God's providences are strange and great.

While riding home from Todd and I's time at the Cantab Lounge, where we heard both good blues jams and terrible faux-grunge (as Todd described it), I was reminded of the following passage from Job, which I thought would be a good closing point for this stressful, yet encouraging day of work, spiritual uplift, and personal encounter.

I share this word in the hope that it will be an encouragement and a conviction to you as well, and that it may be a partial fulfillment of God's promise in the Psalms: "Your Spirit instructs me in the night seasons." As we are faithful to Him, little by little, His Spirit guides us into all truth.

Surely there is a [a] mine for silver
         And a place where they refine gold.
    2"Iron is taken from the dust,
         And copper is smelted from rock.
    3"Man puts an end to darkness,
         And (A)to the farthest limit he searches out
         The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
    4"He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
         Forgotten by the foot;
         They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
    5"The earth, from it comes food,
         And underneath it is turned up as fire.
    6"Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
         And its dust contains gold.
    7"The path no bird of prey knows,
         Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it.
    8"The proud beasts have not trodden it,
         Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
    9"He puts his hand on the flint;
         He overturns the mountains at the base.
    10"He hews out channels through the rocks,
         And his eye sees anything precious.
    11"He dams up the streams from flowing,
         And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
    12"But (B)where can wisdom be found?
         And where is the place of understanding?
    13"(C)Man does not know its value,
         Nor is it found in the land of the living.
    14"The deep says, 'It is not in me';
         And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
    15"(D)Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
         Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
    16"It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
         In precious onyx, or sapphire.
    17"(E)Gold or glass cannot equal it,
         Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
    18"Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
         And the acquisition of (F)wisdom is above that of pearls.
    19"The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
         Nor can it be valued in (G)pure gold.
    20"(H)Where then does wisdom come from?
         And where is the place of understanding?
    21"Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
         And concealed from the birds of the sky.
    22"[b](I)Abaddon and Death say,
         'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'
    23"(J)God understands its way,
         And He knows its place.
    24"For He (K)looks to the ends of the earth
         And sees everything under the heavens.
    25"When He imparted (L)weight to the wind
         And meted out the waters by measure,
    26When He set a limit for the rain
         And a course for the thunderbolt,
    27Then He saw it and declared it;
         He established it and also searched it out.
    28"And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
         And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

As Ecclesiastes, the book that the man I met tonight loved, says, "God has placed eternity in the hearts of man, though none can discover His plan from beginning to end." For "His ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts." "Known to God from eternity are all His works."

Those works, of course, have reached, are reaching, and will reach their climax and fulfillment in the person of God's Son - called Jesus for He is God's salvation, called Christ for He is God's Anointed, called Emmanuel for He is God with us, the Word made flesh. "In [Him] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," as Rick preached at CtK Dorchester recently. That's the lesson I thought I was learning at Covenant, but, in Christ, there is always a "farther up and a farther in," and so it will be even in glory. Wisdom is practical and experiential; as N.T. Wright says in The Challenge of Jesus, quoting a contemporary theologian, love is the highest way of knowing, and the means by which Christ knew His Father. "We all beholding with unveiled faces the glory of the Lord shall be changed into that same glory...Now the Lord [Christ] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." "At Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore." "When You awake, You will despise the sinners' image, but I will be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness."

"You will say this word is too great for us: how can we obey it? But hear the words of Moses: who shall ascend into the heavens? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) and who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead)...No, the word is near You, in Your mouth and in Your heart." "Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we shall be is not yet made known, but we know that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." "For now we see in part, and prophesy in part, but when what is perfect is made known, that which is in part shall pass away. For now we see as through a mirror darkly; then we shall see face to face."

Jesus says to all who come to faith in Him, who take up their cross in the way of discipleship in order to serve Him as He has gifted them: "Receive the Holy Spirit," for "as the Father sent Me," He says, "so send I You."

Thus "as [Christ] is, so we are in the world." "For I hold this to be true: that if one died for all, then all died, that they might no longer live unto themselves, but unto God." "[T]he love of Christ constrains [us]; indeed, woe be to us if [we] do not preach the Gospel," for which I give up all things and count them as rubbish that I may have a righteousness not of myself or from myself, but might be found in Christ, my blessed Savior, who loved me and gave Himself for me. "Nothing can separate us from the Lord of God in Christ Jesus."

For we know "that which is of first importance - that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance to the Scriptures." For He was "delivered up for our sins, and raised for our justification." By the fullness of His work - "great is the mystery of godliness! God was manifest in the flesh [and fulfilled the fullness of the Law's commands on our behalf], justified in the Spirit [by His resurrection from the dead], seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" - "Christ has reconciled the world to Himself, and has committed to us the ministry of reconcilation." This is the Gospel in which we stand, for "all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus our Lord." In the prayer of St. Augustine, "Command what You will, O Lord, but give what You command." For "our labor is not vain in the Lord."

Even so, Lord, we pray Moses' prayer: "Establish the works of our hands," knowing that God delights to give good gifts - even His Holy Spirit! - to His children when they ask Him. For I am convinced that "in all things, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord."

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus."