After a (very) brief discernment process I have determined to blog my newest journey through "The Wisdom of Solomon." This book is considered one of the Apocryphya by Protestant churches. These were rejected as lacking divine authority and called Deuterocanonical. Looks like the Roman Catholics declared them divine in 1546. This is fascinating stuff, but I fear digressing.
Only the Holy Spirit knows what He has breathed. God is the source of all Wisdom and Truth, and we shall let Him speak to us through our study.
I am unaware of my audience, so I will assume nothing. Please understand I have been a saved Christian 10 years, and have read most of the Bible, (at least the whole New Testament, most of the Old Testament,) and have gone through numerous Bible studies and classes. I have not formally studied Apocrypha before, or any ancient languages, so please note, this is not "expert," but my personal reading of the most brilliant "advice" ever given.
Solomon was reported to be the richest, most intelligent, most handsome, most sexual, most industrious, and most bored man in history. He is the author of Ecclesiastes, the book about how everything is "chasing the wind" and "meaningless." We trust his experience and his logic because his reputation precedes him.
Quick note - I will be reading the New Oxford Annotated Study Bible.
And so we jump right in...
Wisdom of Solomon
From my introductory notes:
"...written...during the Greco-Roman era...many Jews felt hard-pressed to be loyal to the basic principles and practices of their faith."
How eerily similar to today's Christian!
"Although the author claims to be King Solomon...this ascription has been recognized as a literary fiction since ancient times. Instead, the author is an anonymous Hellenistic Jew..."
*GASP* And we trusted him! Amazing what people will do to promote credibility. Ironic that one of the major tenets in Judaism is to not lie.
"Love righteousness,"
Over the years I have tasted the sweetness of the righteousness of God, through Christ, through His justification and sanctification, and although it often hurts to be so refined, the result is holiness. As Pastor Paul once said, "Holiness is happiness." I exhort you to seek it in Him. It is the only thing worth chasing after.
"...he is found by those who do not put him to the test,"
How many times I seek Him in prayer by trying to pray the right words - as if my strength could draw Him. He loves me anyway though. I find Him when I let go most of myself, when there is more of Him and less of me. Oh, may I decrease so He may increase!
"...manifests himself to those who do not distrust him."
When we draw near to Him, (e.g., by trusting Him,) He draws near to us. How amazing is that, though? He manifests Himself...He makes Himself known to those who trust Him. How much more to release our doubts and ask Him for forgiveness. Poor atheists - they will never see Him. Even poorer agnostics who may wish to see Him and yet for all their distrust, never will.
"...perverse thoughts separate people from God,"
I am guilty of many a perverse thought, yet I choose to distinguish between them. There are some that pop up that are "old man" - meaning they are old tapes that naturally occur and I dismiss them. Then there are those that are purposeful, willful, evil, when I am tired, angry, hurt, and deliberately sinning. I have to let go and pray then, find a quiet place and take care of myself. I am most helped by quiet scripture meditation, rest, and the quiet companionship of my kitties or a gentle friend. Last are those thoughts put there by the Enemy - those that I know are of some deep sinful nature. In those I was frequently fearful - that somehow I were more evil than I thought. But I rejoice in those now for they were dark spots that were able to be touched by the sunshine of His truth and released to the Cross. In this act of confession and repentance, I re-enact my salvation through Christ and I am drawn into relationship with God instead of being separated.
"...wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,"
If I am lying to myself or to others, I block all entry to Truth and we are at a standstill. What torture until I give it up.
"...or dwell in a body enslaved to sin."
Praise Jesus that I am no longer a slave to sin. I may be taunted by it, but I am beyond its grasp through the freedom in His blood! Because of that, I am teachable. When one's obsession is removed, more space is available for rent in the old noggin. Old tapes and wall-head-bangings, (i.e., insanity,) cease, and progress may be made.
"will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness."
I guess I am still more often ashamed by the approach of righteousness. Boyd once gave a brilliant sermon at UMCN about loving living in the darkness. We prefer to live in the sin - it's comfortable. I recently heard that you know you're on the right track because it's uphill. It stretches us. It is a slow process to forget all the sin you knew and continue on as the new creation. When confronted by unrighteousness, however, often we learn to recoil, naturally, because we hate it. Like we heard at Large Group last night - we learn to love the things of God and loathe what is not of Him. It is a process - one He is seeing through to the day of completion.
"...that which holds all things together."
This reminds me of my testimony last Sunday - about how the world is spinning, but in His control, in His hands. Everything is in His control - even us, even when we feel like we are "out of control" that is only a feeling the Enemy perpetuates. And, to re-state, it is only a feeling and perspective. It is not the ultimate truth that the Lord who ordered the stars and calls them by name is unchanging. We may still have evil to contend with for a time, but He will always be with us holding all things together.
"...the sound of grumbling does not go unheard."
I am a frequent grumbler. I pray against it getting me in trouble. I complain about being bored at work, being 32 and unmarried with no children, about my father not showing me attention, about people not responding to me, about having to "put up with" difficult people, and it will get me in trouble should I continue on in it. There is no need for me to complain. My perspective doesn't matter, really, but He will listen to me, nonetheless. Best to turn those complaints to earnest prayer requests and take action where able.
"...a lying mouth destroys the soul."
Lying is suicide.
"...invite death by the error of your life,"
The wages of sin are death. How stupid and foolish we are...denial is a powerful tool in the hands of the Enemy. We refuse to acknowledge that we have problems. We eat, drink, smoke, have sex, and do foolish dangerous things that cause our own untimely demises. No one has done it perfectly yet. Yet, did Christ's death prove an error? Did Christ invite death? Perhaps willingly, purposely, to slay it forever.
"...God did not make death,"
Although, God vanquished it at the Cross. We had this discussion in our Creation class at church this past spring. "Was there death before The Fall?" If I remember correctly, the answer was yes, that death is natural, things wear out, that is how we have new life, but there perhaps is a difference unstated here, about natural death and the untimely demise of something that, unmolested by evil, would have lasted longer. I wonder how many people die of sin versus "naturally" in our world? Don't we call kill ourselves and one another? It seems an endless, hopeless mess, doesn't it? We hide ourselves in the cleft of the rock in those times it seems overwhelming and renew our faith and hope in Christ so we may emerge again to carry on running the race toward the goal He has called us to.
"...righteousness is immortal."
Which is why Christ lives forever, and we only do on His merits by believing in Him.
"the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death; considering him a friend, they pined away and made a covenant with him, because they are fit to belong to his company."
Interesting how when we are in sin, death seems to be a friend to us - a promise of release from the agony. And this is just what the Enemy wants - to destroy us. Eerie, "they are fit to belong." Conjurs images of zombies to my mind's eye.
Well, so far sounds like some interesting philosophy. It does have a ring of "spirituality" to it, but it doesn't jive with me as being, "divine," or even "divinely inspired."
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment