13How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. 14For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. 15She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. 16Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. 18She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.
Money has power; it enables us to do things, have things, and control things. We all want it; most people want more. The fool sets his priorities on always running after it. But the wise person has higher priorities and more “lucrative” ambitions than gaining more silver, gold, and jewelry.
Many have pointed out that the Bible speaks quite often about money. For example …
[T]he love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim. 6:10)
The perspective of the Book of Proverbs on this subject shows the wisdom of keeping our resources in proper view. Of course, economics is a fundamental part of all levels of civilization and involves (as one definition puts it) “the production, distribution, and consumption of goods,” whether motivated by need or desire. Resources or goods can vary from tangible things like animals, crops, and metals to labor, skills, and knowledge. Silver, gold, and precious jewels (which this passage speaks about) made up the currency used by the uber-wealthy in the ancient world. Today, we might see an analogy with stock options, real estate investments, and lavish vacation homes. Possessions, possessions, possessions, and more possessions.
Certainly, we can enjoy the tangibles of this life that the Lord gives us, but wisdom is a far greater asset, a more valuable resource. And it is more profitable. One can have many possessions without wisdom, but the wise person will also gain possessions. The capability of wealth to increase our life span is minimal compared to the capability of wisdom for the same (vs. 16).
A poor man writing this could be accused of coloring his outlook about money to justify his poverty, maybe even his bitterness. Not so, Solomon. His view reflects the musings of a wealthy man; he was not bitter, nor was he attempting to create a narrative to console his lack of resources. No, having achieved enormous resources, including silver, gold, and precious jewels, he has the perspective that all of that is not enough. It doesn’t even compare with what wisdom provides. His teaching far predates the present-day adage, “Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Like most old clichés, this one suffers from mocking, like, “It may not buy happiness, but it sure helps.” But Solomon was not given to cliches.
Biblical proverbs often state the truth in stark general terms. Here, wisdom is presented as holding “long life … in her right hand.” Of course, despite wisdom, someone’s life might end prematurely through sickness, accident, or general misfortune. But the wise person is more likely than a fool to avoid things detrimental to his health and wellbeing. The wise person is more likely to experience pleasantness and peacefulness in his life than the one who does not live and act wisely.
We must insert a caveat: What about the person who thinks he can fool “the system” by using wisdom as nothing more than a tool to gain wealth? After all, many proverbs in this book are helpful even for those who are not believers or couldn’t care less about God. But wisdom will not be mocked; the promised peace and happiness will remain elusive if wisdom is manipulated to obtain what the person considers more valuable.
In a most picturesque description, we read that wisdom “is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.” The phrase “tree of life” is found four times in the book of Proverbs and only two other places in Scripture. The first time is in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lost their privileged access to “the tree of life” (Gen. 3:22-24), which represents the result of living according to the knowledge of God and His purposes for humanity. Through sin, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They fell by attempting to gain knowledge apart from God. In their foolish disobedience, they failed to attain the life God desired for them, as represented by the tree of life.
The only other place in Scripture we see the “tree of life” is in the book of the Revelation (Rev. 2:7, 22:14, 19), where it represents eternal life with God forever and ever. That which was lost in Eden will be restored in the new heaven and new earth, the life God intended for us to live all along.
The Book of Proverbs fleshes out what life should be like for believers between Eden and eternity, living by the wisdom of God. To foolishly reject God’s wisdom is to turn our back on the tree of life. But listening to and obeying God’s wisdom and knowledge is like partaking of the tree of life. So Solomon writes, “[H]appy are all who hold her fast.”
Lord, I desire to rise above the failure of Adam and Eve and experience the blessedness of wisdom as a way of life.
0 Comments