Blogging the Apocrypha - Wisdom of Solomon 5

Hi there!

Still with me, eh? Good for you.

Shall we?

Wisdom of Solomon

"...they will be amazed at the unexpected salvation of the righteous."
It is true that the Pharisees and Saducees were exceptionally amazed that Christ would die for the unrighteous and the early Fathers were amazed that Christ would die for the Gentiles - for everyone. I do pray for those who do not know His kindness, His gentleness, and His love.

"We thought that their lives were madness..."
Those who do not know Him do not understand. What is spiritually discerned to believers is as foolishness to those who do not have the Spirit. We often condemn what we don't know. We fear the unknown.

"So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,"
What a sad description of those who are not in Christ. It is true - we are "born to die" - we must kill off the self and live for Christ - then we have fruit of our eternal life in Him. The search for meaning becomes a life of null and void. What is there without the Lord?

"...the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown carried by the wind,"
It is often heard, "I don't know what non-believers do." When the ungodly suffer, where is their hope? There are limits on everything. There is only so much money, so much hope, so much life, so much health. Everything runs out. The only permanent currency is found in a life lived with the Lord. Eternal life, unending grace, no separation from the author and perfector of our faith. We are fed from the riches of the Lord.

"...he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,"
This was an interesting find. The armor of God is a popular section of Scripture from Ephesians 6. In this case, the divine warrior is God, where in Ephesians we are exhorted to do the same - to be as Christ. You wonder how popular this idea was. Aha - reference is in Isaiah 59:17. Always good to do a cross-reference! The image is of God fighting the spiritual battle against evil. Evil is an opponent to be reckoned with. Good thing the victory is already won in Jesus!

Okay, beautiful imagery here. Definitely a sermon against ungodliness, but again, the overly judgmental condemnation does nothing to inspire me toward righteousness. It seems more self-gratifying toward those who would consider themselves righteous. Although, it would be nice to "yell at" all the evildoers, we'd have to yell at ourselves too. And of course, once again, I am grateful to Christ for His righteousness and the gift I am afforded in His death. If anything, these words inspire me to greater gratitude for His grace.