International School of The Bible

 [Remember, you may access all of our books and lessons at www.isob-bible.org.  You may also listen to the audio for our Bible class at this web site, either online or through podcast.]

podcast link ............ ISOB curriculum link

Jesus said that the mystery of the Kingdom of God was embedded in the Parable of the Sower.

"And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables" (Mark 4:11).

The mystery revealed in that parable is that Jesus plants the Word of God in your heart and it becomes a seed that bears fruit for your life and the Kingdom of God.  Jesus' voice is called Wisdom in the Proverbs.

Who is Wisdom? 

Wisdom is Jesus Christ. "…but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). 

Wisdom is a voice.

"Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?" (Proverbs 8:1).

Most human beings spend their entire lives thinking that money will solve their problems.  I knew a millionaire who disagreed with that.  If people would spend their energy seeking Wisdom, and not money, they would receive the money they need, plus so much more.  Jesus spoke about the deceitfulness of riches in Mark 4:19.  It is deceitful to think that money can solve your problems.

Several of the Proverbs tell us to seek Wisdom more than gold and silver; to be desperate for Wisdom instead of wealth.

Wealth is different for every human being. In my opinion it means having enough to supply your needs for your God-calling on earth, and plenty left over to give in order to bless others.

Wisdom will bring wealth.

"That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries" (Proverbs 8:21).  Notice the word inherit.  He will fill your treasuries.  Wisdom bears fruit that is better than gold, silver and riches. "My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver" (Proverbs 8:19).

If He is the One to fill your treasuries, then we need to find out how that works! 

Is God's Wisdom different from the normal human wisdom?

Wisdom is not being clever.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).

What is the primary thing that Jesus does, that Wisdom does?  He speaks!  Jesus is the Word of God!

"Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice? She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors: 'To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things; For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold'" (Proverbs 8:1-10).

An author named Waterbury said, "One hour of real communion with God is worth more than a lifetime of anything else" 

If we do not hear God speak, we may live as the unbelievers.

"To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit" (Psalms 28:1). 

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:17,18).

He, Wisdom, existed before the beginning, from everlasting past.

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth, Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men" (Proverbs 8:22-31).

Finding Wisdom is the most valuable thing a person can find!

"Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.  She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens" (Proverbs 3:13-19).

To whom does He speak; to whom does He give Wisdom? 

Those who fear God.

Adam fellowshipped with Wisdom, but he abandoned his fear of the Lord.  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you" (Proverbs 9:10,11).

What does it mean to fear God?

Fear of the Lord is to depart from evil.  The fear of the Lord is knowing what the Lord's passions are, what His precepts are, and respecting them.  It is also knowing what He hates, and hating those things, as well, in your own life.  Fear is respecting His passions and hating what He hates.  It is peasing Him with a reverence, knowing how much of a greater a Being His is, and how small we are compared to Him.  It is trusting Him to the degree that we do not fear anything or anyone else.

"Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!  There is no want to those who fear Him.  The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.  Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?  Keep your tongue from evil,  And your lips from speaking deceit.  Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it"  (Psalms 34:9-14).

Fearing God mean fearing His Word.

"For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist, Says the LORD.  But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2).

All of us will face Jesus in some sort of a judgment setting one day.  We most likely have a form of "fearful respect" for what will happen on that day.  Jesus said that in that day His Word will judge us.

"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).  If His Word will judge us on that day, then we should have that same fearful respect for His Word today.

Blessings and prosperity come from the fear of Lord.

"Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD" (Psalms 128:1-4).

Hearing God is receiving Wisdom.  Fasting also positions you to hear God speak. 

Derek Prince, a well known Bible teacher, is quoted saying that if we truly desire the perfect will of God for our lives, we will be required to fast from time to time.  Brother Prince uses the following illustration:

The last 10% of God's will for you

can only be obtained with fasting

The first 90% of God's will for you

without fasting

There are many Bible examples and even commands about fasting, but I would like to start with the spiritual principle behind it.  One time when my wife and I fasted for an extended period, it was very special.  I asked the Lord why it was that I was feeling "so spiritual" during the fast, and why was it so powerful.  He answered and asked me a question.  He said, "Do I live in you?"  I answered, "Yes of course."  Then He asked, "What is it that is standing between Me in you and all the circumstances and Satanic enemies you face?"  I said, "my flesh."  He said, "Fasting starves that flesh.  The appetite for food is the strongest part of the flesh, and when you starve that, the flesh diminishes.  As you fast, I become stronger in you."  When I fast, I tell my flesh to shut up and get back into the grave!  I have heard that one physically hears better when hungry.

During that fast some absolutely amazing things took place. 

Money began to come in from a source that was overdue to us for almost four years.  We were called on our first mission trip to Africa, and many other amazing things.  There have been many more times in our lives when amazing things have happened while we were fasting.  We are still learning to fast, and are by no means experts. We have fasted throughout our Christian lives, although not as regular as we would like.

I know some people that fast in order to convince God to do something they want Him to do.  They fall on their face, beat the floor, starve, scream, and pray.  All that does is release soul power.  It is the soul that we are trying to quiet.

I think the best attitude in a fast is to seek His face, to seek His will, to hear from Him, to allow His purposes to overtake you

Fasting is the best way to humble yourself.

"But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart" (Psalms 35:13).

"Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer" (Ezra 8:21-23).

"Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road" (Ezra 8:31).

I was in an African nation many years ago and was fasting.  One morning during the fast the Lord quickened this Ezra Scripture to me.  In the next two days we encountered two ambushes.  One was potentially very dangerous and involved two bandits who were sticking their hands through the windows of our automobile.  The Lord protected us.

What does receiving Wisdom do for a disciple?

It gives  everything that we need for life and godliness!

Peter said that everything we need is given to us as we know God and receive His promises.  The only way we can receive His promise is to hear Him make the promise.  That is hearing Wisdom speak.

"…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3,4).

When Wisdom speaks, His seed for fruit in your life is planted in your heart.

John 15 says that fruit glorifies the Lord. 

Wisdom will bear fruit in your life.  We are to live by fruit and by those works that God gives us to do.  Adam was a fruit bearer in the Garden of Eden as long as he had daily conversations with Wisdom, the Tree of Life.  When Wisdom spoke, He planted a seed in Adam's heart, and that seed bore God's fruit on the earth.  Adam was sent to colonize the earth with the Kingdom of God, but ended up giving his "leasehold" to Satan.  How?  By forsaking Wisdom and the fear of God! 

After that Adam was to earn his living by the sweat of his brow and by fighting thorns, the curse.  Jesus wore those thorns when He went to the Cross, thus redeeming us from the curse of no longer being fruit bearers, or godly capitalists.  Now everything we need for life and godliness, or in other words, for provisions and character, is obtained by God's Wisdom.  When God speaks to you, your provisions will come by fruit.  Your character will develop as fruit.  Your outreach will come by fruit.

Wisdom is not found in the sensible world, it is beyond death. 

Wisdom is not in the sensible world, it is beyond destruction and death, and even often is gained through death.

According to the following Scripture in Job, it infers that one does not find Wisdom until he/she has passed through a type of death.

"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.  From where then does wisdom come?  And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a report about it with our ears.' God understands its way, And He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens" (Job 28:12-24).

In effect what this says is, "Death said, 'Yes I saw Wisdom, but He didn't stay here long, He was resurrected.'"  When you go through difficult times in your life and overcome, you go through a type of death.  The result of overcoming is a kind of resurrection that carries with it Wisdom.  You are much wiser, more godly and able to deal with the difficulties in life better.

Wisdom is in the inward parts and comes as one, like David, repents and is honest with God.  David understood godly Wisdom.

"Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom" (Psalms 51:6).

What Proverbs says about Wisdom is radical. 

You should be intense about seeking it, and when you find it, you will be blessed more than silver and gold will bless.  If you forsake Wisdom, you love death.

"A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 28:20).

"Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you. Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble" (Proverbs 4:5-12).

"Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8:32-36).

Wisdom will keep you from the system of the world, often called the Harlot.

 Proverbs 7 is not only a warning on how to stay clear of human harlots, but also how to stay clear of the spiritual harlot, the world.  As you read through this, consider how the world entices you with potential pleasures through not paying your taxes, cheating customers, lying, and dealing dishonestly.  At first you may be enticed for the quick profit, but look at the end of the road!

"For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot [the world system, Mystery Babylon] who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her" (Revelation 19:2).

Proverbs 7:1-27:

1 My son, keep my [Wisdom's] words, And treasure my commands within you.

2 Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," And call understanding your nearest kin,

5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice,

7 And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding,

8 Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house

9 In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night.

10 And there a woman met him, With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

11 She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home.

12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner.

13 So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him:

14 "I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows.

15 So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you.

16 I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

17 I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.

19 For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him, And will come home on the appointed day."

21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him.

22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

23 Till an arrow struck his liver.  As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life.

24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth:

25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths;

26 For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men.

27 Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.

Notice in Proverbs 9:4 Wisdom calls out to "turn in here."  Proverbs 9:16 the Harlot says, "let him turn in here."  You will hear two voices!

Often in the Proverbs, Wisdom is referred to as "she." 

I can only assume, that because God has both a masculine and a feminine nature, that this is referring to that aspect of God that is relational, that aspect of His nature that converses with man.

Our part of the process. 

Our part is to "die to ourselves."  "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me [Wisdom], let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me"' (Matthew 16:24).

Once we receive Wisdom, we must follow Him, obey Him, and continue in the relationship disciplines that keep us in direct face to face contact with Him.  This is called discipleship.  It is not a quick and easy path.  However, life has proven that every quick and easy path leads to despair and failure.

The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we know to be right and the condition we want to enjoy.  This is the feature of human character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it reality.

There are many people I know who posses a vision of (personal) evolution yet seem to lack the will for it.  They want, and believe it is possible, to skip over the discipline, to find an easy shortcut to sainthood.  Often they attempt to attain it by simply imitating the superficialities of saints, retiring to the desert or taking up carpentry.  Some even believe that by such imitations they have really become saints and prophets, and are  unable to acknowledge that they are still children and face the painful fact that they must start at the beginning and through the middle.[1]

You must be desperate for Wisdom.

"Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.  For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly" (Proverbs 2:3-7).

Paul thought that Wisdom was extremely important.  He prayed for people to receive Wisdom.

"…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power" (Ephesians 1:17-19).

[1] Willared, Dallas, The Spirit of The Disciplines.  Harper, San Francisco.  New York, NY., 1998, pages 6-7.