Wisdom - Part 23

The lesson taught on March 10, 2024 was part 23 of the “Wisdom” study. This lesson covered Proverbs 22. We see that this part of Proverbs is dealing with Personal Character. Proverbs 22:1 declares right away that a good name is better than riches and loving favor is better than silver and gold. It is so important that parents provide loving favor to their children. Wayne opened up by looking at Biblical Art produced by the Bible Project for Proverbs. This good name that Proverbs is referring to is reflected in Philippians 2:10 KJV “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”. We took a little side journey to Matt. 23:37 where it shows how children refused to come to the Lord by their free will. This directly refutes the Calvinist TULIP principles of Limited Atonement and Unconditional Election. Continuing in Proverbs 22:2, it declares that the rich and poor meet together and that the Lord is the maker of them all. This resonates with a very important document here in America, called the Declaration of Independence. When the founders wrote “…it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…” It declared that “…that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The founding fathers took the wisdom declared in scripture and embodied it into the Declaration of Independence. What a great document that our elected officials should read again. Proverbs 22:6 KJV is a very well known verse.. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

The scripture reading was from Matthew 23:34-39 KJV “34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.