Scripture Daily

Context No. 1501 of 4322 · Wisdom

Context · Reflection

Wisdom 7:17-30: in context

17For he himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things that are, to know the structure of the universe and the operation of the elements; 18the beginning, end, and middle of times; the alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons; 19the circuits of years and the positions of stars; 20the natures of living creatures and the raging of wild beasts; the violence of winds and the thoughts of men; the diversities of plants and the virtues of roots. 21All things that are either secret or manifest I learned, 22for wisdom, that is the architect of all things, taught me. For there is in her a spirit that is quick to understand, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, freely moving, clear in utterance, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving what is good, keen, unhindered, 23beneficent, loving toward man, steadfast, sure, free from care, all-powerful, all-surveying, and penetrating through all spirits that are quick to understand, pure, most subtle. 24For wisdom is more mobile than any motion. Yes, she pervades and penetrates all things by reason of her purity. 25For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her. 26For she is a reflection of everlasting light, an unspotted mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. 27Although she is one, she has power to do all things. Remaining in herself, she renews all things. From generation to generation passing into holy souls, she makes friends of God and prophets. 28For God loves nothing as much as one who dwells with wisdom. 29For she is fairer than the sun, and above all the constellations of the stars. She is better than light. 30For daylight yields to night, but evil does not prevail against wisdom.

Solomon, in the book of Wisdom, praises the wisdom God gave him. God taught him the structure of the world, the seasons and stars, the natures of creatures and plants; but the hymn soon rises beyond such knowledge to Wisdom herself. She is described in radiant terms: a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of his glory, a reflection of everlasting light, a spotless mirror of God's working, an image of his goodness. And of her effect he says: passing into holy souls from generation to generation, she makes them friends of God and prophets; for God loves nothing so much as the one who dwells with wisdom.

The line to hold is what Wisdom does when she enters a life: passing into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets. Divine wisdom is not merely information, a store of facts about the world; it is something that, received into a soul, transforms it, drawing the person into friendship with God. The one who welcomes God's wisdom does not merely become clever; he becomes a friend of God. And the hymn adds a striking word: God loves nothing so much as the one who dwells with wisdom. To dwell with wisdom, to make our home with it, to welcome it and live in its company, is to become the object of God's particular love. Christians have long read this hymn as pointing beyond an abstract quality to a person, for the New Testament calls Christ the wisdom of God, the image of the invisible God, the radiance of his glory, in language that echoes this very passage. To dwell with wisdom, then, is finally to dwell with Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom are hidden; and to welcome him is to be made a friend of God. The wisdom this passage praises is not cold knowledge but a transforming presence that befriends us to God. To seek it, to dwell with it, to welcome the Wisdom of God into our lives, is to be changed, drawn into friendship with God, and loved by him as those who dwell with wisdom are loved.

Am I seeking a wisdom that is only cleverness and information, or the divine Wisdom that, welcomed into a life, makes us friends of God, and do I dwell with that Wisdom, which the New Testament reveals in Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom are hidden?

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