Wisdom – What Does This Mean?

Encore Post: When God invited Solomon to ask for a blessing, Solomon asked for wisdom. Solomon’s request pleased God for several reasons. First, he was humble, realizing his limitations. He was still very young and had little experience governing. Second, he sought to serve God first. He asked for wisdom — the ability to use knowledge well to meet needs and discernment — the ability to tell right from wrong. He sought first God’s Kingdom and righteousness. God granted him what he asked for — and riches, fame and long life as well.

King Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba. His life shows how completely God forgives, since David committed great sins with and because of Bathsheba. They deserved to die, but God forgave them, let them live and gave them a second son. Solomon would be an ancestor of the Messiah.

Under Solomon, Israel became a prosperous and powerful nation. Solomon was a great organizer. He reformed the kingdom’s bureaucracy, making it more efficient and channeling its prosperity effectively. He built God’s Holy Temple and numerous other buildings. He became a collector of proverbs, many of which appear in the Book of Proverbs. According to tradition, the Books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs are written by the King, although much debate about this exists among scholars.

As great as he was, Solomon was a sinner also. He married hundreds of wives, mainly to secure treaties. He allowed them to worship the gods of their fathers and even constructed temples for them. For this reason, God caused the kingdom to be divided during his son’s reign. Yet, for the sake of the one greater than Solomon, his sins are forgiven, along with ours.

The book of Proverbs has a unique role in the history of doctrine in the Church, especially the Greek word for Wisdom (σοφός). The Greek word is feminine in the rules of language, and so when Wisdom is personified throughout the book of Proverbs such as Proverbs 8 and 9, people are sometimes uneasy to ascribe this to Jesus. But Jesus is the Wisdom or Torah of God in the flesh, and He has built the house, and he is the one who calls out for all to come to his feast.

We have our reading from Proverbs matched up with our final reading from John 6, the great discourse where Jesus calls himself “the bread of life.” In our reading from John 6 we see Jesus tell all who would hear, “whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Wisdom in Proverbs 9, effectively says the same thing. “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Wisdom speaks like Jesus speaks. We are called to walk in His ways. Jesus Himself says He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. That is where true life is, and we get that life through the bread that Jesus/Wisdom feeds us.

Following His his call we go to His House, the Church, which he has built and onward to the table which He has prepared and eat of the bread he has made, and drink of the wine he has mixed in our presence that we might have life and walk in His way to the glory of the Lord’s name forevermore.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Tag: Wisdom

Sunday School: Solomon Asks for Wisdom

The House that Wisdom Built