Wisdom Truck 44

 

I had a real wrestling match with two verses in Proverbs 17 that I could see went together...

Pro 17:16  Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? 

Pro 17:24  The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 

My problems were the verses between.  Another chiasm? Possibly, but the 'math wasn't mathing."  But the Lord God in His own Wisdom, asked me a question that began my understanding: What defines a fool?  THAT does lie in between.  So lets do like an oreo- open the cookie, lick out the center, then eat the outsides!

When I asked myself that question, I began to look at the 'creme-y middle' as what defined a fool.

Pro 17:17  A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. 

Pro 17:18  One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor. 

Here we see the two sides of people.  One who knows how to truly love, loves through thick and thin; the commentators are united in that adversity makes a true friend into a brother.  On the other hand, the fool thinks his money shows love- and if you look at the MANY refences in Proverbs about what we call co-signing, it only brings ruin to both and ends the friendship.

Pro 17:19  Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction. 

"Whoever loves transgression" is our fool; remember, "the fool says in his heart, 'there is no God' " is our core definition.  He loves his transgression- his sin- more than God or man.  Strife tells us he's a 'typical Martin'- he loves to argue.  He takes his pride from flaunting his own opinion- another characterization found throughout Proverbs- and is headed for a fall.  Putting it here means he intends to use the wisdom he seeks to 'argue better', and exalt himself.

Pro 17:20  A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity. 

Much like the last one:  His MOTIVE behind the acquiring of wisdom is selfish;  He seeks ways to pervert the truth.  Wisdom, to him, is just getting good enough at lacing lies with just enough truth to manipulate those around him.  Jesus's temptations from the Devil are one good example.  A great majority of the fools on X are another.

Pro 17:21  He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy. 

Pro 17:22  A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 

The ultimate end is disappointment;  Where the wise can find joy even in adversity, the fool's soul is withered, incapable of joy.  If you ever wondered why none of the far left can find humor in a joke, tell a good joke, or even accept something actually funny, now you know.

Pro 17:23  The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. 

The fool has given up caring about honesty; truth to him is whatever he chooses to believe.  If accepting an easily discovered lie profits him, so much the better.

Now, the cookie.

Pro 17:16  Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? 

Solomon tells us earlier, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." (Prov. 4:7).  The difference between this one and the fool in v16 is, "Getting" refers to ANY means of acquiring: Listening, learning, praying, etc.  Price/buying is solely focused on money or riches on earth.  Even if he bought his way into a scholarly school that taught true wisdom, it would do him no good.  As many a pastor has said, "It has to travel that 18 inches from the head to the heart", and his heart, we see in v22, is withered.  It no longer has the capacity to take on a change in life.  True wisdom is more precious than any purchase price.  But he wants to 'rent it' to profit himself.  Reminds me of this incident:

Act 8:18  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 

Act 8:19  saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 

Act 8:20  But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 

And the other cookie:

Pro 17:24  The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 

The literal translation of this is that the discerning (AKA understanding) has wisdom constantly BEFORE THEIR FACE; True wisdom teaches with every step.  The fool, on the other hand, who refuses to see its value, who rejects the heavenly for the earthly, and couldn't internalize it even if it was sold, is looking in every place he can peer into, and cannot see it.  The phrase "the ends " is meaning the extreme; without a right heart, it will never be visible to him.

Crunch.