Proverbs 2 - Wisdom Protects

Below is more or less what I said for our second week in our series on Proverbs 1-9

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This term, we are looking at wisdom and how we can live in this world that God has made. We are doing this by looking at the book of Proverbs. Today we are looking at how wisdom is worth seeking out because it protects.

This is great, as we all want protection from danger. We put locks on our doors, put up security cameras, and we take out insurance. We do these things hoping it will pay off in the end, in case something bad happens. We take out insurance because we can not see the future. We need protection for things that might, maybe one day, happen to us, because we just don’t know. If we could see the future, we wouldn’t insure our car for years on end; we would only do that when we knew there was going to be an accident that year.

Wisdom’s superpower is knowing the future. The wise know the consequences of things before they are going to happen. Wisdom sends us on a different direction to avoid future danger. Wisdom helps us, like a GPS or moral compass, in knowing the right way to live and in avoiding disaster.

Wisdom isn’t about knowing lots of facts, but more about living. We sometimes may know what is the right thing to do, but a wise person will actually do it, even if it is hard or it costs something. Wisdom is playing the long game; it is about having the end in mind and following through with that.

This is valuable, and something we all need. So, wisdom is worth going after, for wisdom protects.

Proverbs 2 is a poem of 22 lines that could be broken into six stanzas. The first three stanzas start with the Hebrew letter A, and the last three start with the letter L. Structure-wise, the passage goes If, Then, So That.

The first half is a big If/Then section, which is about seeking wisdom, and the second half is the consequence. We seek wisdom So That we are protected from danger.

So we have two main parts, Wisdom and Protection.

If we follow Wisdom, then we will find it. This is good news, for it protects us from the manipulations and seductions of the world. If we follow wisdom, we will gain life and not be cut off.

If... Then. Wisdom (v1-11)

The first section hinges off a big if statement in the first four sentences

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:1–4 NIV)

This big if statement is a decision we are all facing. We need to decide if we are going to seek wisdom or not. We "cannot opt out of making this decision or choose a little of one and a little of the other" (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (3) Second Exhortation (2:1–22))

We don’t just accidentally become wise. We need to go after wisdom, we need to listen to teachings and commands, we need to allow it into our hearts. We need to cry out for it, value it and search for it like searching for hidden treasure.

In 2013, James Howells from Wales accidentally threw out his old hard drive. Determined to find it again, he has asked again and again for permission to search the Welsh tip in Newport to look for it. He has found a backer to help pay the tip 10 million pounds to go in and search for this drive. But they have refused again and again. At the start of this year, some 12 years later, James still determined; he was in court arguing over the ownership of the hard drive. He is now considering buying the whole tip. And so what is on this drive that is so valuable to him? He says he has 8000 bitcoin on it, which works out in Australian dollars to be around $1.4 billion.

James is driven, determined to find what he is looking for, as he thinks it is of great value.

How much do you value wisdom? We need to see its value and desire it, knowing that it is worth the search. What if I told you getting wisdom was worth a billion dollars? Would you go after it? How determined would you be to get it? What might you change in your life now to go after it?

We are told in the next bit what will happen if we apply ourselves in this search for wisdom; there is a result, sentences 5-8

then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones. (Proverbs 2:5–8 NIV)

If we go after wisdom, then we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

This is not a futile treasure hunt; there is treasure at the end of it. We are told that we will understand the fear of the Lord. We will know God.

The reason why we can know God is not because we have the ability to ponder the mysteries of the world, or that after long meditations and looking within or reading all of Wikipedia, we will reach enlightenment. No, it is because the Lord give wisdom.

Last week we saw that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and here we see that it is the Lord who gives it.

There is a good and a bad fear. Bad fear is worry that we will be hurt by someone or something; good fear is the exact opposite (I got this from a Tim Keller talk on wisdom). If you were to hold a priceless vase, you would have fear, not because the vase will hurt you, but because you might hurt it. I love Hannah, and sometimes I fear her, not because she will harm me, but because I might harm her. I don’t want to do that, and so I don’t want to disappoint her. Some people fear God, worried that he is going to punish them. But a Christian fears God in the good way; they know God isn’t going to harm them, there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1), but now they live in a way of worship to Him, because they want to.

If we are in awe of God, if we are humble before Him, we are told He will give us wisdom, for wisdom comes only from Him.

God lets us in on who He is. We may look for wisdom, but it is God who gives it. We can ask, seek and knock, and the Lord will answer, invite and give.

This might be different in how we think we gain wisdom. Talking about God and religion in the public space can be awkward for people; those topics are put in the realm of private personal opinion. This is why it may seem hard to talk to your peers at work about Jesus, because people say, Who really knows about God? We really are just guessing about matters of faith. How can anyone know for sure?

But that thinking misses the fact that God comes to us. We forget the main thing about Christmas. God isn’t an unknown stranger out there somewhere in the dark. He is the one who comes to us in the dark. He initiates. He introduces Himself to us.

The good news is, we can know something about God, because He has told us something about Himself. We don’t have to put God in some opinionated or hypothetical category, He is there and He is not silent. He is knowable.

And how do we primarily know God? Though His world and His word. The heavens declare His glory, and His word shows us Himself and His plan to save us all. We can see God’s heart in that He cares for us by making this world for us, and in Jesus, the word of God, we see that He went to great lengths to bring us back to Himself, by dying for us, and rising again to give us new life in Him.

And so, this passage is saying, if we seek after Him, then we will know Him. It goes on to say wisdom will guide you along every good path.

Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you. (Proverbs 2:9–11 NIV)

If we seek wisdom, we will be protected. We will know what is right and just and fair. This will be a good thing; it will be pleasant.

In the natural sciences, there are certain laws and causations that we can discover. If you drop an object from a height, it will fall because of gravity. An object will remain at rest unless acted upon by another force. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And throughout Proverbs, it is saying that with wisdom we can also discover certain laws and causations. Wisdom can help us see down the track of the casuations and consequences of actions before they take place. This is as knowable as any law in physics.

And this God given knowledge, revealed in what we might call natural consequences, is our protection. For if we listen to Him, we will know what is the right path to walk along; if we seek God’s way, He will tell us.

Jesus is the best way of knowing God, He is in God's image. He is God’s wisdom.

Paul tells the Colossians

My goal is that they [believers] may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (Colossians 2:2–4 NIV)

For believers to have a complete understanding of God, we need to see Christ, for in Jesus are the hidden treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge. Last week, we saw that Jesus’s words are like Lady Wisdom’s words, calling us to repent. Today, see that Jesus Himself - He is the wisdom of God.

"God has made sure that the search for wisdom always leads to him. God wants to be found" (Proverbs Contemporary Significance), and it all points to Jesus

And we can know God's wisdom, and it will protect us from being deceived by fine-sounding arguments, which we will see in the second half of this chapter.

So that… Protection (v12-19)

This second half shows us why we need wisdom and its protection. We are introduced to two characters, the wicked men and the adulterous women. We have met this type of men in chapter one, and we will meet this adulterous woman a few more times in our series. For today,y I want to mostly look at their ways and their end.

In sentences 12 and 16 we meet both characters

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, ...
Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words (Proverbs 2:12–16 NIV)

We are told wisdom will save us from these two characters, and note what part. It will save us from their words. This is their ways we need protection from.

The wicked words a perverse. Their words are "deliberately deviating from what is good" (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible תַּהְפּוּכָה). They twist and argue and justify why you should come along with them to do evil. It might not be sold as evil, it may even seem good, but we need to see their words for what they really are.

And the adulterous woman’s words are seductive. We aren’t told about her appearance, that is not how she entices, it is through her speech. These words are smooth or slippery. They flatter (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible חלק 1) and praise and complement. They start by giving the young man positive attention.

Both characters are trying to persuade and promise much.

And they are probably half right. The wicked men could probably justify some of what they are doing, and the time with the woman might be pleasurable, but both parties leave out the other half of the story. There are serious consequences that they are not telling, or they are unaware of it themselves.

The wise can see where these end. They can see the future and the consequences. Wisdom allows us to say no to seductive voices, to see the lies and half-truths for what they are.

We are told about the paths they are both on. The wicked men have left the straight paths, their paths are crooked, and the adulterous woman, her way we are told

Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. (Proverbs 2:18–19 NIV)

Both these characters will destroy the young man, but also it will destroy "the life of the community" (Proverbs Bridging Contexts).

Those who seek to do wrong and evil cause frustration to society; their actions put them out of relationship with the community. Likewise, for the adulterous woman, she has forgotten her partner of her youth and her covenant before God. Her actions will not only complicate the young man's life, but also their relationship with the husband and God. Evil actions impact more than just the person doing them.

Wisdom's power of "protection lie in the ability to say no, to refuse to join the voices that would lead us astray into folly." (Proverbs Contemporary Significance)

We need this skill, and those who are followers of Jesus have this power to say “no”. Titus says

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11–12 NIV)

Jesus is the appearing of God’s grace for all people. We can follow and worship and desire Jesus and in doing that, we will be able to say “no” to the wrong and “yes” to the right, so we can live godly lives.

Wisdom is like the fruit of someone’s life.

I heard someone say, in their backyard they have two trees. One tree, they call it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is mysterious, they don’t know what it is, and they don’t want their daughter eating from it. Their other tree is a lime tree, and they know this because it produces limes.

You can tell a wise person from the path that they are on. From the fruit of their decisions over time, and how they live. So what does this look like? In James 3 it lists what wisdom looks like in someone's life

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17–18 NIV)

This wisdom restores a community; it doesn't break relationships up.

May we be wise and pay attention to who we are saying “yes” to, and who we are saying “no” to?

For how we choose will impact how we will end.

So that… Not be cut off (v20-22)

This chapter concludes with the end result.

Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it. (Proverbs 2:20–22 NIV)

If you keep to the path, you will not be cut off. Being cut off from the land was a huge thing back then. It was being removed from the source that gives you life and the promises of God.

As a consequence of their rebellion, Adam and Eve were cut off from Eden. Later, Israel also ignored God’s warnings and didn’t keep to the path, and they were cut off from the Promised Land.

Jesus came to walk this path. He is the wisdom of God. He is the way, and yet, Jesus was taken outside the city and cut off from God. Not because He had rebelled, but because we had, and He was willing to take our punishment for us. Now, when God looks at us, we are considered blameless, for we are in Jesus. Jesus was cut off, so that we don’t have to be. We have this hope now, of the new land, the new heavens and the new earth where we will remain forever with God, never to be cut off from Him again.

But the wicked, those who are not in Christ, those who do not know the wisdom of God, those who do not seek after Him, those who do not have a positive fear of God, they will be cut off.

So this chapter challenges us to think, which way do we want to go?

Often when my kids can’t make a decision, I tell them this little segment from Alice in Wonderland:

Alice came to a fork in the road and ask the Cheshire cat. She said ‘I just wanted to ask you which way I ought to go?’,
‘Where do you what to go?’ responded the cat.
‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered.
‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘It doesn’t matter.’

The wise know where they want to go. The wise go seeking after wisdom, and they find it, because it is God who gives wisdom. And this wisdom protects. It allows them to see through the slippy words of others, and it sees the end.

Those who do not know where they want to go, they don’t think about their end, and so don’t think about the consequences of their decisions.

So choose to go after wisdom. Desire it. It is valuable. Seek God, and He will give you wisdom. Follow Jesus, for in Him there is life and life to the full.

Heavenly Father

Help us to value and desire your wisdom, for us to treasure it in our hearts.

We thankyou that you give wisdom and understanding, help us to lean on your words for protection.

Give us discernment to walk in your ways, and to see through manipulative and seductive words.

We pray Lord, that you will keep us on the right paths, so that we can remain with you forever, in the new heavens and the new earth.

Amen.