The Complete Package

Proverbs 3: 19-22

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

by his knowledge, the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.

My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion;

they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

We learned in Proverbs 3:15-18 how precious wisdom and understanding are and how we can get them. More importantly how to nurture it and care for it. Search, ask, and receive. The army thinks that it was the originator of the, I will tell you what I am going to teach you, I am going to teach you, and finally, I will tell you what I taught you. Solomon was there before the army, before Solomon God!

Here Solomon is reminding us of where wisdom and understanding come from. He goes from the human to the creator. He is showing us how God uses wisdom and understanding, and why we should too. God tells us about it, shows us how to use it, and then emphasizes to us what we just learned.

Let us look at how to design a successful project.

1. In the beginning, Go create the heavens – by having knowledge he sets the heavens in place. He knew what to do.
2. With His wisdom, thinking about it, and looking at all the possible outcomes he laid the earth’s foundations. He built a strong base upon which He worked.
3. He knew we had to have enlightenment, light by which to see. Very few people I know can operate in the dark.
4. He created a distinction between light and dark, positive and negative. There always must be a balance – nature can not survive without balance.
5. He separated the waters so that there was access for all, and then He created the cycle of life – the dispersion of water - rain.

What Solomon is telling us is to imitate God not a man!

Barnes writes, “Hereto Wisdom has been thought of in relation to men. Now the question comes, what is she in relation to God? and the answer is, that the creative act implies a Divine Wisdom, through which the Divine will acts.”

Wisdom is creation, creativity, thinking, pondering, and much more.

We have studied the word hakma (wisdom) but let’s take a quick look at understanding or tabun. Sadly, the Germans to the word and used it as a code word for an extremely toxic nerve agent. The origin came from the name of a truncated cone-shaped oven. You would stoke it from the bottom and cook on a secondary layer or on the walls of the oven.

Think about the baking/cooking process.

1. You gather the ingredients.
2. Separate the stalks by beating them with sticks or oxen and millstones.
3. Then the grain would be milled by pestle and mortar.
4. Make the yeast and let it proof.
5. From there you would add salt, water, butter, and knead the mixture.
6. Cover it and let it rise.
7. Punch the dough and shape.
8. Let it rise again.
9. Bake the bread.
10. Let it cool and eat.

This is the perfect recipe for using wisdom and gaining an understanding to create a solution. This is what thinking and problem-solving are all about.

1. Get all the facts, information, and possibilities.
2. As Norman Vincent Peale used to do, put them in a big balloon and float them above the table and beat them, poke them with a stick, or in other words – look at the information from all angles and find the weaknesses.
3. Sit on it and let it simmer, don’t try to force a solution.
4. Attack it again with fresh eyes.  Come up with the solution that seems right for you.
5. This time put it into the fire and bake it. Let it come together.
6. Taste it and see if it is good. If not, do it again.

This is the basis for knowledge. Basically, trial and error but always moving forward and learning from past experiences – yours or others.

 

That is what life is all about – learning and growing! Here we come full circle to what Solomon is talking about - learning, gaining knowledge, and growing. But how can anything grow without water? Water is the source of all life spiritual and physical. Water is required by the body and Jesus is the fountain of the living water.

I am astounded that many people believe that we came here by accident, by a big bang, that there was no plan, and that everything that constitutes our life is random. Please explain to me the way the water cycle randomly happened and how it continues to work?

Let’s look at the water cycle. Science has proven that there was a vast amount of water covering the world and it was all in one place. In an interview by Christiane Amanpour from ABC news, she talked with a scientist who, with his team went to look for proof of the flood. Dr. Ballard and his team found undeniable proof that a flood happened 5000 years ago. These bodies of water separated and were divided into fresh water and salt water.

We all have a rudimentary understanding of the water cycle, but let’s look at it a little closer. It truly is amazing.

We’ll start at the part where the waters were separated giving us salt and fresh water. This water and the moisture from the ground and plants re-enters the atmosphere by way of evapotranspiration. The sun warms the water molecules, which in turn excites them and transforms them into water vapor which is absorbed into the atmosphere. This whole process of the water being excited by the sun whether it is from a plant, the ocean, ice, desert, works as an amazing filter system cleaning the water to give us fresh, clean, safe water.

As the vapor rises higher into the atmosphere it gets colder and turns into water droplets. As these become heavier, they are releases as rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Giving the life-giving water again and again and again. Yes, this is a scientific fact, but the question is, did this just happen by accident? Did this living-giving process all come together by an accident or big bang?

This is where Solomon prevails on his son to preserve sound judgment and discretion!

Tuwshiyah, from a feminine noun meaning to substantiate, support, help, compare and show sound judgment. We are not to take anything at face value but by thinking about it, researching it, and proving what you are proposing to be the best possible explanation or way to success. Or as the bible wants us to live – with abiding success! We do this by using sound judgment.

Discretion or the Hebrew word mᵊzimmâ, is also a feminine Hebrew noun. This word is unique in that it can mean opposite things, but mainly purpose, device, and plot. It could mean a good or evil plan. It also encompasses wit, invention, or mischievous and wickedness. But Solomon entreats us to use sound discretion.

And we are to wear these as a worn as an ornament around our neck so that we will never forget to use them. A literal translation from Hebrew tells us to wear this necklace so that it will be life to our souls.

 

Bibliography

Allison Protas, G. B. (1997). Water. Retrieved from umich Education: http://umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/index.html

Ancient Israelite cuisine. (2021, May 30). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Israelite_cuisine

Barnes, A. (2021, May 30). Proverbs 3:19. Retrieved from Bible Hub: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/proverbs/3-19.htm

Benson, J. (2021, May 30). Proverbs 3:19 commentary. Retrieved from Bible Hub: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/proverbs/3-19.htm

Hydrologic Cycle. (2021, June 13). Retrieved from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/Observatorium_Feat_5-8.html

Jenna Millman, B. T. (2012, December 5). Evidence Noah's Biblical Flood Happened, Says Robert Ballard. Retrieved from ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/evidence-suggests-biblical-great-flood-noahs-time-happened/story?id=17884533

Krauzer, M. (2014, November 11). What is the Bible or Spiritual Meanoing of Water? Retrieved from Patheos: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/11/11/what-is-the-bible-or-spiritual-meaning-of-water/

mᵊzimmâ. (2021, June 13). Retrieved from Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4209/kjv/wlc/0-1/

Nellie, J. (2019, January 2). EASY HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE. Retrieved from Butter with a side of Bread: 2019

Tabun. (2021, May 30). Retrieved from WordSense Dictionary: https://www.wordsense.eu/taboon/

tûšîyâ. (2021, June 13). Retrieved from Blue Letter Bible: 2021

Wellman, J. (2015, July 17). What does water represent in the Bible? Retrieved from Patheos: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/07/17/what-does-water-represent-in-the-bible-a-christian-study/