The phrase “Tree of Life” in the Proverb today intrigued me. While poking around on the internet, I discovered that almost all religions have some sort of Tree of Life. One that I found fascinating was in the 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights that had our hero searching for immortality, finding it in the garden of paradise in a jewel encrusted tree but coming away empty handed due to an inability to defeat the guard. http://www.scribd.com/doc/60789388/12/The-Tale-of-Bulukiya
But in our Proverb, it is attaining Wisdom that leads to the Tree. Which then brings up the question, how do you attain Wisdom?
It does not seem that Jacob was very wise. He didn’t manage his household well and we know this will have consequences well down the path. He never seemed to strike a good deal – he didn’t claim his stolen birthright, got the wrong girl and got her pregnant, and kept having to connive and wiggle to get his wages. He also put his family in the path of a really angry man. Not smart.
Or was he? Because he always seemed to see and hear God. Remember when he was leaving Isaac and Rebekah? He lay his head on the stone pillow. Most of us would have been dreaming (if we slept at all!) of our piles of rugs and sheepskins. Not Jacob. He dreamed of the stairway to heaven. He needed an out from his father-in-law. God shows up to tell him to leave. God tells Laban to keep his mouth shut. The angels of God met him before Esau. Jacob is going to wrestle with God in tomorrow’s reading. Clearly, God was ever-present with Jacob. Doesn’t that make you wise? Or just needy?
Back then to my original question – i.e. how to you get wisdom. And that, I think, is my problem. You don’t ‘get’ wisdom. It comes to you through time and experience. Through, I am sorry to say, the hard parts of life.
Jesus knew this but he did not have the 50 years of teaching with his disciples. That’s why he gave them all those pithy sayings. The ones that you can remember but don’t understand until you are in the middle of the situation and you think, oh, now I know! And we really have to remember that his disciples did not have the benefit of Sunday School. Alfred spoke yesterday about how he remembered the story of Rachel and Leah differently from childhood. But he has studied this stuff for 50 years. Peter was getting sound bites while he was trying to figure out how to feed the motley crew. We can simmer, read a bunch of different translations, read what the commentators have thought throughout time. Let’s don’t judge our poor wandering disciples as they get it wrong, question and have failure to communicate. I think they ultimately ended up pretty wise and fairly far up the Tree of Life.
This is a lovely song by Rosanne Cash that mirrors our subject today. Enjoy.
I thought "SHE is a tree of life" interesting. I never noticed wisdom was female. I have a 16 year old boy that is driving and I want to give him wisdom so bad and all the things I say just sound like my mother. The definition of wisdom is "knowledge of what is true and right coupled with just judgement as to action. Sagacity. I had to look that up and it means acuteness of mental discernment (good decisions) and soundness of judgement. Insight. I then went to my study bible and it had this to say: The Person who has wisdom is loving, faithful, trusts in the Lord, puts God first, turns away from evil, knows right from wrong, listens and learns, does what is right, possesses knowledge and discretion, hates pride arrogance, and evil behavior, respects and fears God, gives good advice and has common sense, loves correction and is teachable, knows God. It goes on to say: The benefits of wisdom are favor with God, success, health, vitality, riches, honor, pleasure, peace, and protection. I love those benefits. Being in the word leads to wisdom.
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