“A wise man is strong”
[Proverbs 24:1-9]
Have you ever heard of the Jewish standard of life, the "Talmud"? “The Talmud” is a compilation of Jewish laws, traditional customs, festivals, private transmissions, and commentary aft the Old Testament was written and it has been the spiritual support of the Jews. This includes not only the religious life of Jews, but also legal regulations and case law, and is said to be a valuable resource for knowing not only the lifestyle of the Jewish people at the time, but also the relationship with Christianity (Internet). I learned two interesting things about this Talmud. First, Jews say that the Talmud is often compared to the great sea. The reason is because the sea is huge and everything is there, but you can’t know for sure what’s there. Second, it is said that the first and last chapters of the Talmud are blank. According to a pastor who studied the Talmud, the reason is because the Talmud is a book that is always read for a lifetime, day or night, not a book that has a beginning and an end. And it is said that it is because they believe that anyone can study and record it at the same time (Internet). It is said that this Jewish Talmud says four things about wisdom: (1) Wisdom is God Himself, (2) Wisdom is the foundation of wisdom to know God, (3) Wisdom is the most important way to enter into fellowship with God, and (4) We can imitate the Lord through wisdom (Internet).
If we look at Proverbs 24:5, the Bible says, “A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.” Focusing on this verse, I would like to receive a lesson from God by meditating on three things under the heading “A wise man is strong.”
First, the wise man doesn’t envy the prosperity of the wicked.
Look at Proverbs 24:1 – “Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company.” We have already learned in Proverbs 23:17 that the children who really please Heavenly Father don’t envy the sinner's prosperity in their hearts. The reason is because we know that sinners have no future or hope (v. 18). Rather, the children who really please Heavenly Father fear God (v. 17). Those who fear God in this way are the wise children of God.
The wise children of God know how to view the prosperity of the wicked. They know that as Psalms 92:7 says, “though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.” There are three things we need to point out in this word: (1) As we see in real life, the wicked rise up and rise quickly. The psalmist compared the wicked to the grass and said that they “spring up”, which means they succeed quickly in cunning without labor. (2) The prosperity of the wicked may seem like the lushness of wild grass, but the important thing is that there is no fruit. In other words, the wicked aren’t bearing any fruit in the sight of God in their prosperity. The Bible describes the prosperity of the wicked as fruitless grass. (3) The quick prosperity of the wicked is that they will eventually perish forever. For example, just as pigs are fed well to gain weight to lead to a slaughterhouse, the purpose of the wicked's prosperity is for eternal destruction. Regarding the prosperity of the wicked, Pastor D. L. Moody said: ‘The wicked will grow like grass eventually to be fuel.’ In fact, as Psalms 73:17-20 says, the end of the wicked prospering in this world is ruin, destruction, annihilation, and contempt.
If we look at Proverbs 24:1, the Bible doesn’t just tell us not to be envious of the prosperity of the wicked, but it also tells us not to be with the wicked at all. What’s the reason? Look at Proverbs 24:2 – “for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.” The reason is because the wicked’s hearts plot violence, which means that their hearts study destruction (Internet). The wicked who study destruction with their hearts like this are “the schemers” who (always) plot evil (v. 8). Regarding these people, the Bible says that they are "folly" and "mockers" (v. 9). And their thoughts are “sin” and they are hated by people. Not only that, since the lips of the wicked speaks of calamity, we should not be envious of their prosperity and should not desire their company. The Bible says that the violence of the wicked will drag them away (21:7). Also, the Bible says that “Misfortune pursues the sinner” (13:21). “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble” (22:8). Therefore, we should not envy wicked men and should not desire their company. May God give us wisdom so that we don’t envy the prosperity of the wicked.
Second, the wise man builds up his house firmly.
Look at Proverbs 24:3 – “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.” In May 2008, I received three prayer topics while meditating on the word of God 1 Chronicles 17:16-27 under the heading “Lord, may You build our home!”: (1) ‘Lord, let my family be ruled by the grace of God!’ (v. 16), (2) ‘Lord, let the word of God become authority in my family!’ (v. 23), and (3) ‘Lord, let my family experience God's presence through prayer!’ (v. 25) When we think about these prayer topics again, I want to reconsider whether our homes are ruled by God's grace, God's word is the authority in our families and our families experience God's presence through prayer or not. If we look at Proverbs 14:1, which we have already meditated on, the Bible says: “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Looking at this word, the foolish woman who despises God does only what is good for her [“he whose ways are devious” (v. 2)], is proud (v. 3) and is mocker (v. 6) and has no knowledge because she doesn’t listen to God’s word (v. 7). Therefore, the foolish woman deceives herself (v. 8) and mocks at sin (v. 9). She doesn’t listen to God because she thinks there is no God. And she doesn’t know the truth because she doesn’t listen to God. And because she doesn’t know the truth, she does evil. And she still doesn’t consider her sins to be sinful. She has lost the ability to do so. Rather, the foolish woman who doesn’t know her truth and loses her ability to regard her sin as a sin finds pleasure in evil conduct (10:23). Therefore, the foolish woman is hardened by sin and isn’t afraid to sin against God. Although God certainly takes sin seriously, the foolish woman takes it lightly. This foolish woman eventually opens her own house with her own hands (14:1). But a wise woman builds her house (v. 1). How does she build her own house? The wise woman walks in her uprightness as she fears God (v. 2). There is knowledge on her lips (v. 7) and she is diligent (v. 4). And she understands her way (v. 8). She knows God's will for her and lives according to His will. In other words, the wise woman knows exactly what she will do that is in accordance with God's will, and she does it (1 Cor. 7:17). One of the will of God is to build her own house and also to build His church, which is the house of God. The wise woman knows the will of this Lord and is faithful to Him, strives diligently to fulfill His will. Through this wise woman, the Lord builds His house.
In Proverbs 24:3, the Bible says “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established.” What does it mean? It means that a house is built solidly because she fears God. So she keeps away from evil and obeys the word of God. Jesus said in Matthews 7:24, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” As a wise builder builds a house, he puts its foundation on the rock (v. 25). Here, when we think of “the rock”, doesn’t the concept ‘reliable, strong or solid’ comes to mind? And in fact, the figurative meaning of “rock” that Jesus refers to is “firmness” or “stability”. That is why Jesus said to the apostle Peter in Matthew 16:18, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” This word means that the church is the church of Jesus, and the main spiritual foundation of the church is Jesus, who is the Rock. The wise man will set the main foundation of his house on the Rock Jesus. What is the result? Look at Proverbs 24:4 – “through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” What does it mean? Does this really mean that when you build your house firmly on Jesus, who is the Rock with wisdom, that house will be blessed with abundant material things? This is what Dr. Yoon-sun Park said: And “through knowledge its room is filled” doesn’t mean that material becomes abundant. The Proverbs writer doesn’t believe that the blessings of man's wisdom (the fear of God) are in rich wealth. … This word is parable, and shows true believers that there will be many treasures in heaven (Internet). Would the wise try to store treasures on earth or in heaven? Isn’t it in heaven? The fool man stores treasures on earth. But the wise man stores treasures in heaven. The wise man who builds a house on the foundation of Jesus, who is the rock of wisdom in this way, not only has many treasures in heaven, but also enjoys the happiness that the Lord gives by building a beautiful family that obeys the word of the Lord while living on this earth. In the end, each of our houses or the church, that is God’s house, that the Lord builds are built up firmly with the wisdom that God gives. So it will be built into the beautiful home and church that are filled with precious and beautiful treasures and enjoy the happiness that God gives. I hope and pray that we all enjoy the precious and beautiful treasures that God gives us by building our homes and His church up with the wisdom of God.
Third, the wise man wage war by wise guidance.
Look at Proverbs 24:6 – “For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory.” As we meditate on the Book of Proverbs, we have already learned that the Bible taught the lesson that the secret to victory is guidance. Look at Proverbs 20:18 – “Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.” Also, look at Proverbs 11:14 – “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.” To sum up the point of these words, the secret to victory in war is a lot of guidance. When we think of it, we might think that in order to win the war, we must have a lot of weapons. But the Bible says that we must have a lot of guidance. What is the reason? I found the answer in Ecclesiastes 9:18 – “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, ….” Therefore, the wise person fights with guidance and wins the war.
We must not forget that Satan engages in spiritual warfare with his own strategy. Pastor John MacArthur said this: ‘It is Satan's main strategy to deny, pollute, and confuse the truth by spreading as many lies as possible’ (MacArthur). Now our thoughts are much polluted with lies that are non-gospel and untruthful. We don’t distinguish between the truth and a lie under the trend of mutual respect. Now, many of us are confused and lead a syncretistic life of faith. We had already meditated on Satan's strategy in the Bible. Let me just mention two: (1) This is Satan's strategy in Exodus 14:3. Satan's strategy is to get us to wander and live without a goal and to put us on the corner. (2) This is Satan's strategy in Acts 21:27-36. (a) The strategy of Satan is, first, “stir up” (v. 27). It is not a claim based on facts, but in the midst of speculation, he makes a claim about the people he hates and dislikes. (b) Also, the strategy of Satan is ‘provocation’ (v. 30). Satan stirs up people and causes provocation even in the church. (c) Satan's strategy is ‘rumor’ (v. 31). Satan spreads malicious rumors even within the church. (d) Satan's strategy is “violence” (v. 35). The reason we need to grasp this Satan's strategy is that in spiritual warfare, we must grasp the strategy of our enemy so that we can set the strategy right and fight and win.
As we build the strategy, we must know (believe) that “victory belongs to the Lord” (Prov. 21:31). And we must pray to God. How should we pray? We must pray like David. When David was chased by Absalom, a man told David that Ahithophel was among those who rebelled with Absalom. So he prayed to God: “… O LORD, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness” (2 Sam. 15:31). Here, Ahithophel was King David's counselor. But when David's son Absalom betrayed King David, Ahithophel abandoned King David and chose Absalom. So he was among those who rebelled with Absalom (15:31). The advice he gave was “as if one inquired of the word of God” (16:23). When Absalom told Ahithophel “Give your advice. What shall we do?” (v. 20), Ahithophel gave him two good advices. The first advice Ahithophel gave Absalom was to go in to his father King David's concubines (v. 21). The reason for this was that “then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. The hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened” (v. 21). Ahithophel's second advice to Absalom was that if Absalom gave him 12,000 troops, he would pursue David that night, and when David was exhausted and tired, he would ambush him and kill only David, and all the people with David would return to Absalom (17:1-3). What a good advice is this? After hearing this second advice, Absalom and the elders of Israel both were pleased with the Ahithophel's advice (v. 4). Nevertheless, Absalom also wanted to hear an advice of the another wise man, Hushai the Archite (v. 5). Here Hushai the Archite was King David's friend (1 Chron. 27:33). He didn’t go with David according to David's command (v. 33). Instead he returned to Jerusalem, where Absalom, the rebellious, lived (v. 34). The purpose was to thwart the counsel of Ahithophel according to what David prayed [(2 Sam. 15:31), “O LORD, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness”] (v. 34). Unlike Ahithophel's counsel (he and 12,000 troops pursuing David), Hushai counseled that “all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle” (17:11). In addition, Hushai's strategy was that, unlike Ahithophel's strategy (killing only David), Absalom to one of the places where David can be found and attacked him and killed not only David but also David's army without leaving a single person (v. 12). And if David withdrew into a city, Hushai told Absalom that he had to destroy that city as well (v. 13). Absalom and all the Israelites who heard Hushai's counsel thought that Hushai's counsel was better than Ahithophel's (v. 14). But was Hushai's counsel actually better than Ahithophel’s? I don't think so. Ahithophel's counsel was much better than Hushai's counsel, “as if one inquired of the word of God” (16:23). If Absalom didn’t choose Hushai's counsel, but chose Ahithophel's counsel, and gave him 12,000 troops to Ahithophel in order to pursue David that night, Absalom would not have been killed, but David would have been killed. And if only David had been killed as Ahithophel said, all the Israelites who followed David would have returned to Absalom. But why did Absalom abandon this good Ahithophel's counsel and choose Hushai's counsel? The reason was that God heard David's prayer (15:31) and decided to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel “so that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom” (17:14). Therefore, like David, we must fight with many counsels (or advices or guidance) in spiritual warfare. We must pray to God to defeat Satan's strategies.
Those who are wise are strong. Those who are wise have power. May God give us all wisdom and raise us up as strong and powerful soldiers of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I hope and pray that all of us will not be envious of the prosperity of the wicked, and that we will be able to build up our houses and the house of God, the church. Also, I hope and pray that all of us become wise and win the spiritual battle with guidance and strategy. Victory!