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The Gift of Wisdom, Proverbs · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the deep dive where we
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take specific, often academic source material and well, we
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break it down to get to the core of what you need to know.
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And today we're getting into a section of the Bible that I
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think it's misunderstood more than almost any other I.
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Agree. We're talking about wisdom
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literature, and we're going to be focusing almost entirely on
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the book of Proverbs. For a long, long time, people
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have handled proverbs like it's some kind of, you know,
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spiritual self help book. A list of handy tips for a good
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life. Sort of a Benjamin Franklin
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Almanac, but with God sprinkled on top.
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Right. And what that does is it just
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guts the book of its absolute binding authority.
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So that's what we're here to correct.
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Our source material today is a really solid academic analysis
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of proverbs. It looks at the theology, the
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structure, and this is the key part, its own claims to
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authority. We're not just.
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Talking about good morals here. No, not at all.
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Our goal is to really understand how Proverbs isn't just ancient
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folk wisdom. It's a book of special
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revelation. Yes.
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It is completely rooted in the fear of IMM, and from that root
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it offers a system of absolute truth.
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It even anchors the promise of eternal life, but all within
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that covenant context of Israel's God.
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So if you're someone who wants to get past the surface level
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applications, you know the self help stuff and really get a
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handle on the theological weight of this book, this is for you.
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It changes how you see the whole Old Testament really, the
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reliability of it all. OK, let's unpack this.
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We're going to start with the genre itself, Section 1, looking
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at the distinctive identity of biblical wisdom literature.
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It's unique. Right.
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So when people talk about this genre, there's a general
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agreement on the core books. You've got Proverbs, Job, and
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Ecclesiastes. And then a few songs get pulled
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in, like Psalm 37 or 49. They have that same kind of
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feel. But just listing the books is
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the easy part. The trouble starts when scholars
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try to stick labels on the genre.
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And these labels, will they really miss the theological
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heart of it all? That's where we hit the first
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big hurdle. We had to clear this label of
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humanist theology that gets thrown around.
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What does that even mean in this context?
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It's the idea that these books depend on humanity's own ability
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to figure out well-being. That God kind of created the
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world, Set up an order and then step back.
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So it's up to us to use our own smarts and observations to
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navigate it without needing direct input from God all the
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time. Precisely rational deduction
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apart from constant divine instruction.
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But the second you call it humanistic, you're really
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cutting the cord to special revelation.
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How does the book of Proverbs itself pushed back against that?
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Oh, it pushes back hard. Proverbs sets up human
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self-reliance is the direct opposite of wisdom.
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Take Proverbs 3.7. It's a direct warning.
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Do not be wise in one's own eyes.
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Fear I am and shun evil. That's pretty explicit.
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It's a complete rejection of that humanistic starting point.
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The entire book is an argument for faith.
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The righteous person is the one who trusts and I am with their
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whole heart and importantly, does not lean on their own
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understanding. Proverbs 3.5 and 6.
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The classic text. So success, safety, knowledge,
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none of it is a product of your own cleverness.
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It's all granted through a dependent relationship with the
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covenant God. The teaching only works if you
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receive it with faith. And that posture of faith is the
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fear of I AM. It is.
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That's the definition. That makes perfect sense.
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Humanism is about self-sufficiency, but Proverbs
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demands this relational dependence on a very specific
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named God. And that brings us to the second
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big mislabelling, which is the idea of natural theology.
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OK, break that down for us. This is the idea that the sages
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were just looking at the world around them and figuring things
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out from nature itself. That's the core of it.
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Scholars like Gerhard von Rod argued that the sage was just
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searching for some kind of inherent order in creation, and
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that creation itself revealed wisdom totally separate from the
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Sinai covenant. But that view makes it sound
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like the sage is just a philosopher, or maybe an early
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scientist just deriving truth from what he can see.
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And it fundamentally misunderstands where the
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authority is coming from. Proverbs doesn't teach that
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creation reveals wisdom on its own for any rational person to
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just deduce. But wait, the sage is clearly
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looking at the world. I mean we read about him
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observing the Ant looking at the sluggards field, the chaos of
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the city. If he's making all these
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observations, isn't that just empirical evidence?
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The difference is the lens he's using.
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He doesn't approach creation with a blank slate.
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He's looking at all of reality through the established mosaic
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worldview. So he's not getting truth from
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the Ant. No, he's using the Anne as an
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illustration to teach a truth he's already received by special
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revelation, the truth that diligence leads to provision.
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He's interpreting the created order based on the knowledge of
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IMM that he got from Sinai and from the Prophets.
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Yes, the wisdom is special revelation because you could not
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get to it on your own just by looking at ants.
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The revelation pre frames his entire view of the cosmos.
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Wow, OK, that changes everything about how you read the genre.
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It's not creation giving the truth, it's creation confirming
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a truth he already has. It confirms and illustrates it,
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yes. And this also helps us make
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sense of the genres. Let's call it qualified
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international character. You're talking about the
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similarities with other ancient Near Eastern texts.
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Exactly. You can't ignore how much
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proverbs sounds like, say, the Egyptian instruction of ameneme.
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The parallels in the form and even some of the moral content
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are undeniable. So that's the big question.
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If some of the content sounds like what the Egyptians were
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teaching, why do we hold up proverbs as unique, binding
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revelation? Because the uniqueness isn't in
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every single phrase, it's in the foundation.
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Solomon, who wrote most of Proverbs, was acting as an
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inspired editor. He was adapting things.
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He was taking these cosmopolitan sayings that were floating
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around, maybe adapting some of them.
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But here's the crucial move. He anchors all of their truths
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and their promises in the covenant, keeping God of Israel
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in I AM. So the theological significance
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is ethical monotheism. It's everything.
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The wisdom works because it operates under the rule of I am
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the Lord of the Covenant who originated it, revealed it, and
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now upholds that moral order. So Pagan wisdom might have some
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practical truth in it. It does because of general
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revelation, but it doesn't have that active personal covenantal
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anchor. It's Solomon's inspired
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reframing that lifts Proverbs to the level of divine instruction.
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I see. So the reason for obeying the
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ethic is completely different. One is based on fear of some
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generic Moody God or just cosmic order.
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While the other is based on a personal relationship with the
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God who revealed himself at Sinai.
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And that connection to Sinai that also deals with another
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critique, right? The idea that Proverbs is
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somehow non historical. Yes, the qualified non
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historical nature scholars used to say, look, there's no mention
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of the Exodus or Sinai or the Davidic covenant.
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This wisdom stuff is an alien body in the Old Testament.
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It's disconnected from redemptive history.
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But you're saying that's a surface level reading?
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It's completely superficial. Sure, Proverbs focuses on the
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individual's daily life, not Grand National events, but the
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inspired sage is confirming the mosaic worldview by reflecting
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on creation. Through that Covenant lens we
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just talked about. And even more directly, the
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book's favorite name for God is IM or YHWH.
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That's not an accident. That name connects it straight
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back to the God revealed to Moses at the burning Bush.
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The God of Proverbs is not some abstract deity.
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He's the personal God who brought Israel out of Egypt.
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Acknowledging his name is acknowledging his history with
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his people. Which brings this whole
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discussion back to the source of the book's authority.
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It's not just good advice. You said it's Tufra and Miwat.
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And that is the unmistakable sign of its inspiration.
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The unique way it works is that God uses the sages human
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abilities, his keen observations, his logical
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reflections, but they're always divinely guided and filtered
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through faith in Israel's covenant God.
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So it's a divine gift, as Proverbs 2.6 says, not something
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a human can achieve. The Sages themselves knew this
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Sugar and King Lemuel. Their sayings are presented as
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divine oracles or inspired utterances.
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This isn't a suggestion box, it's special revelation.
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Let's breakdown that authority, then, when a sage calls his
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teaching tutra. That's a heavy word.
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It is. It means instruction, or
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pointing the way. It's the word used most often
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for the Law of Moses. So when the sage calls his
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proverbs tura, he's claiming that his teaching has the same
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quality of divine guidance as what was given at Sinai.
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It's catechetical teaching. It directs your path.
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It does, and then he adds miwo. Which adds the legal binding
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way, right? Miwo are explicit commandments.
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They're decrees you have to obey, not suggestions you can
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evaluate based on how you feel about them.
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This whole framework tells you the sayings have an authority
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like the legal code from Moses. They're not just advice to be
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considered, they're decrees that have weight because they come
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from the character of the covenant, God Himself.
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And then this authority is just magnified through the voice of
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woman wisdom. To talk about her role, how does
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this figure establish the books authority?
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Woman Wisdom is the personification of Solomon's
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revealed teaching. She speaks with this incredible
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prophetic authority with real emotional intensity.
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And she's not just claiming to offer good advice.
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She's claiming more. She's claiming an authority
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that's rooted in God's own eternal character and his
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complete universal knowledge. Her speech is there to give
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Solomon's teaching absolute, infallible truth because it
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comes from the mind of God before the world was even made.
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She is the guarantee that the wisdom in the book is, in a
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sense, the structural law of reality.
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That's a good way to put it. OK, so we have to ground this
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whole conversation in that phrase.
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We keep coming back to the fear of I am.
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Yes, we've said it's the key principle for getting wisdom.
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It's what separates this from all other moral guides.
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It's the central religious and you could say epistemological
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foundation. It's the gate you have to walk
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through to get wisdom. Without it, you can't.
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We defined it simply as submission to God's revealed
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will. But let's go deeper.
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What does that submission look like?
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What does it? Feel like it's a mix of things.
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It's a deep reverence for sure, but also a moral caution and a
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hope that comes from faith in the living God.
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It's recognizing God's absolute sovereignty and his moral
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purity. But at the same time.
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At the same time, it's this joyful knowledge that he's
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entered into a covenant with you.
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So it's not a cowering, terrified dread, it's more of a
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respectful awe that leads you to want to obey.
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Exactly. If it were just terror, nobody
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would seek wisdom with joy. The fear is connected to hope
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because the one you fear is I am the covenant God who promises to
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protect you and bless you. It motivates you to seek wisdom
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because wisdom is the path to life.
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The only path. OK, let's spend a little more
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time on this distinction between the fear of I Am and just
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generic religious ideas you mentioned.
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The sources show a big theological difference between
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using the covenant name I AM M and the generic name God or El
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Shim. This is so critical for
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understanding the theological weight of proverbs.
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The fear of I AM is about the God you know through special
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revelation, the historical promise keeping God of Israel
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when the sage uses the name I AM, which he does 87 times. 87
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That's a lie. It's overwhelming.
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He's invoking the God who acts in history, who keeps his
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promises, and who demands loyalty based on that
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relationship he established. And what about the generic fear
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of God? That phrase can apply to any
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kind of deity worship. It usually points to God's
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general revelation through conscience, and that explains
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why you see shared moral content in a text like the instruction
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of a minima P. Because the Pagan sage might
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talk about God, but he means a generic deity or fate or
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something. Right.
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But the second the Israelite sage says I am M, he's anchoring
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that morality in a personal, active, known reality.
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The moral law in Proverbs isn't just a universal truth floating
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out there. It's a direct personal
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instruction from the Creator of the universe to his people.
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So the big theological result is that Proverbs affirms ethical
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monotheism, but it's a specific kind.
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It's a covenantal ethical monotheism.
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Absolutely every moral rule, every social dynamic, every bit
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of justice is anchored in I am. He's the ultimate reality who
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originated Wisdom, revealed its teachings, and personally
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guarantees the entire moral structure because of his
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covenant commitments. And Pagan wisdom doesn't have
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that. It lacks that specific active
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anchor, so it eventually slides into fatalism or moral ambiguity
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because their God isn't personally committed to
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upholding justice. The names for God really
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highlight how he interacts with the world.
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We said I am is used 87 times showing he's imminent.
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He's the covenant keeper. And then God or Ilshim, which
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points to his raw power and transcendence.
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That only shows up five times. So you need both.
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You need this dual nature, transcendence and eminence to be
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sure of the moral order. You do.
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If God were only imminent, only near and personal, He might be
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limited. If you were only transcendent,
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distant, and powerful, He might not care.
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Proverbs teaches both, and both are necessary for the certainty
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of the moral law. Let's start with transcendence,
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the idea that God is not bound by space and time.
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How does that give a certainty about justice?
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It means total, all-encompassing oversight.
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The sage keeps reminding us that nothing is hidden from God's
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sight. This is so vital for moral
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accountability. He sees what people can't.
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He sees the deepest parts of the human heart which we can't even
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penetrate ourselves. He sees the real intentions
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behind our actions. He sees into Abaddon the deepest
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parts of the grave. So the wicked person might think
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they're getting away with something.
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They might think their acts are hidden in the dark, but the
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transcendent God sees it all, which makes the certainty of
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final retribution absolute, even if we don't see it happen right
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away. And the sovereignty, it goes
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beyond just watching. It extends to controlling things
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that look random to us it. Controls everything.
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Proverbs 16.33 is so clear about this.
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The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from
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INM. Casting lots was like their
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version of rolling the dice. Pure chance.
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And the text says God rules even chance itself.
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There was no such thing as an accident that gets past his
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will. What about our own decisions?
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I mean, we spend all our time planning and choosing.
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How does God's sovereignty work with human will?
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Our will is real, but it operates completely inside the
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boundaries of divine sovereignty.
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Proverbs 16.1 says To humans belong the plans of the heart,
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but the answer the tongue is from I am.
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And 16.9. A man's heart plans his way, but
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I AM directs his steps. We make our clever plans, but
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the final outcome, the very direction we walk, is determined
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by I AM. And we often can't figure out
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why it's inscrutable. It is.
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Proverbs 20.24 says a person's steps are directed by IAM.
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How then can anyone understand his own way?
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It's a constant reminder that the wisest thing isn't to have
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the perfect plan. But to commit every plan to him?
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If we can't Philly grasp his ways, as Proverbs 25 says, then
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the wisest position is always submission.
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It's always the fear of I am. Right, that's the logical
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conclusion of God's transcendence.
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So now let's talk about his imminence, his nearness.
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His nearness. How does that assure the moral
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order? Because he is personal and he is
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active, especially for those who can't defend themselves.
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He's not a distant, hands off kind of God.
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He's the active defender of the weak and the defenseless.
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Proverbs 14.31. And 15.25, if you oppress the
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poor, you're insulting their maker, and I am takes that
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insult personally. He actively maintains the
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boundary markers for the widow and the fatherless.
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So when justice is violated here on Earth, the victim isn't just
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left alone. Not at all.
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I AM steps in as both the prosecutor and the judge for the
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one who was wronged. The righteous person who trusts
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in I AM finds his favor, and he acts as their shield and
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defender. So this assurance that the
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transcendent God who controls fate is also the imminent God
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who defends the helpless, that's the bedrock of the whole system
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of justice and Proverbs. It's the bedrock of everything.
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OK, let's pull these threads together.
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We've established that wisdom isn't something you discover on
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your own. It's a divine gift.
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It's given not achieved. And that gift is revealed, and
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the revelation itself has the binding authority of God's own
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nature. Let's go back to woman wisdom
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for a minute. Right, the personification of
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Solomon's teaching. She claims authority from God's
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eternal character and His complete universal knowledge.
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OK, but I have to ask a question here that I think a lot of
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people might be thinking. If woman wisdom is a metaphor, A
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personification, how can her speech have literal prophetic
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authority? Isn't that just Solomon dressing
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up his own advice and fancy poetry to make it sound more
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convincing? That's a really good and
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necessary question. The answer is that the metaphor
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is the vehicle for a literal, non metaphorical theological
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claim. The personification is how the
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doctrine of God's revelation is delivered.
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So her story in Proverbs 8 is making a claim about the nature
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of reality itself. An ontological claim?
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Yes. What is that claim?
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Well, woman, wisdom is metaphorically born out of God's
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very being before creation. She was his constant companion,
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his master Workman while he was structuring the entire cosmos.
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She was there when he set the foundations of the earth, marked
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out the seas. No human being witnessed any of
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that. So she is the blueprint for
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reality. She represents the divine
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knowledge that holds the universe together.
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Which means Solomon's teachings, which she represents, are not
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just his human opinions. They are in line with the
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complete perfect knowledge of the universe across all the time
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and space. When Proverbs tells you how to
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live, it's telling you how to live in alignment with the
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operating system of the cosmos. That's why the teachings have
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absolute, infallible authority. They come from God's eternal
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character and design. That's the argument.
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That is a crucial distinction. It means we're dealing with
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certain truth, and if that's the source, it means humanity on its
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own is completely incapable of getting to that level of
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knowledge. Which brings us to Ogre's
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confession in Proverbs 30. It's like a whole philosophy of
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knowledge packed into a few verses, and it stands against
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all human self assurance. Right, Augur's text is this
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promise that we can get off the treadmill of just relying on
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human reason. He builds this 5 rung ladder.
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A ladder that moves you from shaky human opinion to the solid
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ground of absolute revealed knowledge.
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OK, let's climb it. Rung 1.
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The confession of human incompetence.
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Agur starts with this shocking bit of humility.
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He says I am only a brute, not a man.
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I do not have human understanding.
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I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge
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of the Holy One. He calls himself a brute.
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That's a strong word. It's meant to be shocking.
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It's a blunt confession that mortals with just their own
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resources can't attain certain moral and social skills.
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This is the total opposite of the Enlightenment, isn't it?
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The belief that human reason is perfectly capable of figuring
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out morality and how to structure society.
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Absolutely. The modern world was built on
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that confidence in sovereign human reason.
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And look, we've had amazing scientific and engineering
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successes, but we've also had these repeating catastrophic
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failures in social and moral skills.
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We get cycles of moral relativism and conflict.
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Because Augur says our reason isn't enough to grasp the whole
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truth. Which leads to the second rung,
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recognition of limited human knowledge.
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Agora hits us with those big rhetorical who questions.
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Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
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Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
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Who has wrapped up the waters and cloak?
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Who has established all the ends of the earth?
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The point is so powerful, the only one who could possibly come
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up with absolute universal values is the one who has
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holistic, comprehensive knowledge.
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The one who's been to heaven and seen the whole design.
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If you haven't seen the whole design, your knowledge is always
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incomplete. Always provisional.
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We see this play out all the time.
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You mentioned that library example before.
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Architects design what they think is a wise, stable
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building, but they don't have the complete geological
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knowledge to know there's a deep earth fracture leaking radon gas
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into it. So their wisdom, based on their
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limited data turns out to be foolishness.
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Dangerous foolishness. It's the same with damning
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rivers. It seemed wise at the time for
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power and irrigation. Decades later, ecologist show
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how it destroyed entire ecosystems.
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What looks wise today might be foolish tomorrow, because our
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knowledge is always incomplete. That really speaks to our
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current moment. I mean, postmodern philosophy
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has basically been saying the same thing, that objective
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universal truth is impossible for us to grasp.
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And that is where the paths split.
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The postmodern atheistic conclusion is awesome despair.
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If we can't know absolute truth, there are no moral absolutes,
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just cultural opinions. But augur is different.
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Augur uses his confession of limitation to push us toward the
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only possible source of truth, which is the third rung, naming
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the competent teacher. He asks what is his name?
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He's calling on the listener to name the creator and sustainer
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of all things. It's I am AM.
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His name means he's the ultimate reality who controls the heavens
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and the wind and the earth. So the intellectual crisis
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becomes a relational crisis. We have to identify the
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competent source and submit to him.
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You must. And once we've identified the
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teacher, we have to identify the student.
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That's the 4th rung naming the privileged student.
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What is the name of his son? Who is the son?
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In Proverbs, the son is the student listening to his father,
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the teacher. In the covenant story, I am
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brought Israel into being as his first born son.
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So the student is Israel. And by extension.
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By extension, in the full sweep of redemptive history, it's
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Jesus Christ, the true Son and all those united to him in the
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church. The point is that true wisdom
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isn't just an intellectual exercise.
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It's found in a receptive relationship with the Triune God
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who is our Father Teacher. OK, so we've confessed our
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inability, recognized our limits, named the teacher I am,
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and identified ourselves as the students.
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That takes us to the final solid ground of truth.
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The 5th rung, reliance on God's flawless word Agar gives us what
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is basically a canonical formula.
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Just like Moses and Deuteronomy, every word of God is flawless.
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He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
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Do not add to His words or He will rebuke you and prove you a
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liar. So the text itself draws the
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boundary around knowledge. It does.
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The final step is to trust that certain absolute truth is found
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only in Scripture. Augur doesn't try to prove the
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Bible's reliability with human reason.
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The certainty is in the Word itself.
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It's self certifying. Our only proper response is to
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receive it, take refuge in it, and realize that adding to it or
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taking away from it is an act of incredible pride.
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This is the firm non relative foundation for everything else
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the book claims all. Right.
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So the whole motivation for doing all this, for climbing
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Auger's ladder and fearing I am, is the promise of life.
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But we have to be clear about what I am means here, because if
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it just means physical health, that seems a little weak given
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the huge theological claims we've been talking about.
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It's totally insufficient now. Sometimes I am does just refer
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to clinical physical life, the energy from food, the length of
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your days. But when it's used without
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qualification, it almost always means something more than just
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biological existence. What is it?
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It's an abundant life in fellowship with God.
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It's a spiritual dynamic relationship that is
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qualitatively better than just being alive.
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And this is symbolized by the Tree of Life.
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Right. The tree of Life stands for
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perpetual healing vitality. It's the restoration of the
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relationship that was lost in Eden, and this living
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relationship is not seen as a temporary thing.
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It's never pictured as ending at clinical death for the righteous
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person. Never.
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So how does Proverbs actually communicate that idea that the
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wise person's life goes on after the grave?
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The language can be very explicit.
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The righteous are rewarded with immortality.
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The phrase alamalwet in Proverbs 12.28 literally means not death.
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Not death. And then Proverbs 14.32 says
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that even in death the righteous seek a refuge in God.
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This points to a real future hope that goes beyond clinical
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death. The righteous person, even as
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they face death, has a safe place, a refuge in INM.
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The relationship ensures eternal life.
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So if that's what the righteous get, what about the wicked?
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They might be rich and healthy and clinically alive right now.
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The book describes the clinically alive wicked as
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already living in the realm of darkness and death.
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Why? Because they don't have that
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relationship with the living God, their physical life is
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already a state of spiritual death.
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So their clinical death isn't a transition to something else.
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It's a final, tragic end. It's an eternal death.
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It's a land of no return with no second chances, no refuge.
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So the pursuit of wisdom is quite literally a matter of
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escaping the realm of death and securing your destiny.
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This whole structure of reward and punishment, it brings us to
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that famous problem. The promise is too much problem.
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Proverbs seems to guarantee health and wealth for the
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righteous, but that just doesn't line up with what we see in the
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world or with what Job and Claesiastes complain about.
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So if the Word of God is flawless, why do these promises
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seem so detached from reality? Is the sage just being
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simplistic? We have to reject the academic
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views that just dismissed the Sages as dullards who confused
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what should be with what is. And we also can't just water
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down the promises and say they're probabilities.
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No, we cannot. Why does that probabilities view
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fail theologically? Because it completely undermines
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God's faithfulness and the command to trust Him completely.
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If wisdom is just a probability, then what happens when the
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righteous suffer? When the good person dies young
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or the diligent farmer has a drought.
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They're left with no certainty, no vindication of God's rule.
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Exactly. If the promises are not certain
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in the end, they can't be the object of absolute faith.
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So if they aren't just probabilities and we still see
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suffering, how does the book itself solve this tension?
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The source material gives us three connected solutions.
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First, the book itself qualifies its own promises with counter
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proverbs. It fully accepts the reality
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that wicked people can prosper for a time.
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You have those better than proverbs.
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Right. Better is a little with
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righteousness than great revenues without justice.
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It also says the Wick is treasures, even if they get
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them, will not deliver him from death.
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So the Sages were not naive about temporary injustice.
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OK, what's the second solution? The genre itself, Proverbs, is
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written mainly as a primer for young people, so its focus is
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catechetical. It's hopeful.
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It stresses the ultimate rise of the righteous not dwelling on
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all their present falls. Proverbs 24.16.
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The famous 1. Though a righteous man falls 7
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times, he rises again. The book is giving the long term
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view. Job and Ecclesiastes are the
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necessary balance. They focus on the present
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suffering before that final rise.
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They argue from the experience of suffering, while Proverbs
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argues from the certainty of God's design.
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Well said. And that brings us to the third
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and most powerful theological solution which connects back to
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eternal life. Divine justice demands an
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afterlife. This is the critical point.
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It is the central idea of personal divine retribution that
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I am actively judges and detest the proud.
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It requires a hope beyond clinical death.
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Think about Abel, murdered by Cain.
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Or the innocent traveler killed by robbers in Proverbs 1.
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If clinical death is the last word for the innocent who died a
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premature, violent death, then the Bible's claim that God of
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holds justice is completely undermined.
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Justice requires a balancing of the scales.
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It does the very integrity of the covenant.
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God demands vindication. For justice to be done, the
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innocent have to be delivered from death in a future that is
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beyond their clinical land. The promises of health and
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wealth aren't cancelled by present suffering.
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No, they are transferred and guaranteed in the ultimate
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future where that relationship DM secures life forever.
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And that helps explain the purpose of suffering in the
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present. It stops piety from just being a
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transaction. If God just immediately gave you
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material success for being good, we would all follow the rules
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just to get stuff for the pleasure of it, not.
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For a genuine relationship. And that is why I am delays the
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immediate rewards. He delays them to grow the real
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virtues, faith, hope, and love. Suffering gets repurposed.
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It becomes part of God's loving discipline for those he loves.
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As Proverbs 3 says, it builds character and makes the
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righteous ready to receive the everlasting covenant blessings.
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So the certainty isn't what happens today.
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The certainty is the absolute promise of I am personal
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retribution. It is personal divine
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retribution, not some impersonal fatalistic world order.
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I am actively detents the proud and he personally guarantees
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that justice will be done, even if the timing and the method are
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hidden in his inscrutable wisdom.
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So the fear of I AM is the key that shapes your character now
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and secures your destiny in the future.
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That's the whole system. So this deep dive really makes
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it clear that biblical wisdom literature is not some, you
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know, grab bag of clever sayings.
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It's a unified systematic theology.
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It focuses on the individual, it's rooted in God's special
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revelation, and it guarantees eternal life through covenant
29:31
faith. And to sum up the difference
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between the wise and the the wise person confesses their own
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inadequacy, they acknowledge the limits of human reason, and they
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find absolute truth and life in a receptive relationship with
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the Triune God and His revealed Word.
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And the fool the. Fool is defined by
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self-reliance, by self trust, and that path always leads to
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moral relativism and eternal death.
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Which brings us to our final thought for you, the listener.
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If you take Auger's ladder seriously, if you confess that
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you are, in his words, a brute incapable of knowing all the
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ends of the earth, how does the assurance of God's flawless word
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change the way you approach decision making?
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Not just in big moral choices. No, in every part of your life,
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knowing that I am directs your steps, even when His ways are
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completely inscrutable to you. If the truth is flawless, how
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does that silence the demand to understand everything right now?
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We'll leave you with that to chew on.
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Until next time, goodbye.