Solomon built his own ships even though they are a
landlocked nation. Hiram, his father's
old friend, the king of Tyre, assists Solomon in this endeavor and supplies the
men to go to Ophir and bring back gold, almug wood for the supports for the
temple, and spices. At the same time
word of Solomon's great wealth and wisdom are spreading the world over. The queen of Sheba comes to see for herself
if this man is as wise as rumored. She
brings hard questions which Solomon is able to explain to her and she brings
tribute to this king. We are intended to
have such wisdom in the church. We have
the Holy Spirit in us as Christians so we have access to the greatest database
of wisdom and knowledge that has been or ever will be collected. We should be known for extraordinary wisdom
in all things and yet Mark Noll wrote a book several years ago called The
Scandal of the Evangelical Mind because too often we scorn intellectual
pursuits but we need to reveal true wisdom to the world as Solomon. True wisdom is only known by those know that
wisdom and understanding are bound up in interpreting events in light of the
purposes of the Creator.
The crowd shows that they know nothing of God's ways at all
when they choose Barabbas over Jesus.
Pilate cannot understand Jesus' response in light of the reality that
the Jews have charged Him and brought Him for trial when He sort of claims to
be their king. Nothing about this
situation makes good sense. God's
purposes are being worked out here, Pilate is at a complete loss to understand
his own role in the drama and to do justice.
He thinks he knows justice and can force the issue by offering what
seems to be a silly choice between the King of the Jews and an
insurrectionist. These things only make
sense in light of the resurrection, no one understands at the time that God is
indeed incredibly active this day.
If you want to see how frail we really are, try and keep
your tongue from sinning just one day.
The tongue speaks the overflow of the heart and frequently what it shows
forth is that what is in our hearts is jealousy, envy, covetousness, hatred,
lack of love, horrible things. Our souls
are not quieted by His love, they are restless beyond measure and they lack
wisdom. When we are hurt we lash out, so
unlike Jesus. When we are disappointed
in another we speak evil about them rather than speaking lovingly to them. Wisdom is in taking the long view, God's
purposes are being worked out in all things because He is sovereign over all
things but that sovereignty needs to be extended to our tongues. How do we use our gift of speech, or in our
age, also the gift of communication electronically as well? Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord and
extends through trust in the Lord.
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