CHAPTER 9: Wisdom and Truth

c HAP t E r 9

WISDOM AND TRUTH

“Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.”

Proverbs 23:9

The first truth that stands out to me here is this: you and I should go where we are celebrated, not simply tolerated. If you are just tolerated where you work, you know it, and you should consider looking for a place where you will be celebrated.

There is another, more basic, truth being discussed here as well. That is the value of wisdom. In Proverbs 4:7, Solomon plainly states, “Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”

I like to define wisdom as the ability to see beforehand the outcome of a given set of actions. That foresight allows the wise to choose the best path. In many cases, it helps them avoid the school of hard knocks. For example, a 10 year-old boy who plays in the street but is very watchful and leaves at the first sign of a vehicle could be considered smart. However, if that same boy, realizing that he is capable of keeping himself safe, chooses to stay out of the street entirely because he can foresee his 3 year-old brother is likely to copy him by playing in the street as well but without any regard to the

presence of cars, then he is wise. He was able to foresee the results of his decision.

With all the wonderful benefits of wisdom, you would expect it to be very popular. The Bible tells us that anyone can have it, yet it also says that most people do not hunger for it. You see, in order to obtain wisdom, one must pursue it. Wisdom is not the same as education. Someone can have so many degrees that their name looks like alphabet soup, but that doesn’t guarantee that they have wisdom. It may indicate that they have a lot of knowledge, but it doesn’t tell us if they sought wisdom as well as information.

Many people enjoy learning only what they can use to support the decisions they have already made. If you ever try to correct one of these people, they will most likely get mad. In Proverbs 1:24, wisdom is speaking and says, “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke.” Also in Proverbs 9:8 Solomon says, “Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

Have you noticed that we live in a society that does not want to be rebuked? No one wants to hear “that is wrong” or “that is not true.” Proverbs makes it perfectly clear that if you listen to wisdom, you will hear the words “that is wrong, stop it.” And when you do, you will listen. The wise man appreciates correction; the fool despises it.

I like the saying, “If the Bible rubs you the wrong way, turn around.” Once, when the Apostle Paul was teaching his disciples and referring to some of the stories of the Israelites’ many mistakes, he said, “All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10:11). “Admonition” sounds like such a polite word. If you look it up, though, one of its meanings is to “slap your face.” That verse could read “These things are there to slap some sense into you.” Many of us could use a good slap every once in a while. You might be considering doing something immoral, so you read about Samson, and SLAP! It hits you that

sure, you could choose to do that immoral thing, but you’ll regret it because it is eventually going to cost you.

Wisdom and truth are inseparable friends. That is because wisdom is the ability to foresee the benefit of accepting and walking in truth. Notice 2 Thessalonians 2:10 (NIV), which says: “In every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Why were those people perishing? It was because they “refused to love the truth.” They would not acknowledge the truth and accept that they were wrong. In order to be set free, you have to accept that you are bound. In 2 Timothy 2:25, wisdom is the ability to Paul was teaching about truth and correction. He foresee the benefit of wrote, “Those who oppose accepting and walking him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will in truth grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV). You see, unless we repent, unless there is a change of mind, we cannot come to know truth. In the next chapter of Timothy, Paul used an example of some who refused to change their minds and believe the truth. He wrote, “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth” (2 Timothy 3:8-9).

You probably know who Jannes and Jambres are even if you didn’t recognize their names. Remember in the Old Testament, when Aaron threw down his rod and God turned it into a snake? Jannes and Jambres were the magicians who, at Pharaoh’s request, also turned their rods into snakes. Through demonic power they were able to produce supernatural results, but the truth of God’s superiority was obvious when Aaron’s snake ate both of theirs.

It is a beautiful picture of Jesus at Calvary. Let me explain: the two snakes that Aaron’s snake gobbled up represented sin. Afterward, when Aaron grabbed the tail of his snake, it turned right back into

a rod. It is just like when Jesus took your sin and then rose from the dead to return to God’s right hand.

Jannes and Jambres, along with Pharaoh, had ignored the obvious truth even after going through plague after plague. They refused to repent because they were unwilling to accept the truth that stared them in the face. If you and I want to keep from making the mistakes others have made, we must stay open to God’s correction in our lives and let Bible examples like this “slap” us in the face.