Intro to Wisdom Lessons
The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. At first glance, this sentence doesn’t seem to present any deep theological truths. But if you look closer, you’ll discover that this sentence is actually infused with deep, hidden insight.
Let’s get started! The first word, Proverbs, carries the idea of a parable, a poem, ethical wisdom, ethical maxims, or, in its original sense, superiority in mental action. The root word for Proverbs in the Hebrew language, משל, carries the idea of having dominion that one rules over. Pull all these different Hebrew translations together, and what do you find? The word Proverbs means, essentially, to present truths that rule our lives.
So we see then that the book of Proverbs is much more than a collection of short pithy wisdom statements. It is much more than wise maxims or parables that we read once a day to gather practical insights for living. Proverbs are words written to rule our lives!
If you turn back in your Bible to I Kings 4:32 you’ll discover the word Proverbs makes an appearance. We read that Solomon spoke three thousand of them! Can you even imagine that? Three thousand! Definitely more than we have recorded in the Bible. Why don’t we have all that he wrote? That’s a fair question. And the answer is found in the book of Ecclesiastes: Besides being wise, the Preacher (Solomon) also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care.
We read that King Solomon carefully weighed out which ones were the most important (and weeded out the rest). This process was done with great care. If you continue reading in Ecclesiastes you will learn that he then grouped these proverbs into three categories: Words of Delight, Truth, and Wisdom. To read anything beyond these categories of words, Solomon warned, can hurt your soul. But those who would determine to have the words of delight, truth, and wisdom rule their lives, would be blessed.
There are many choices that parents have today regarding the books their children will read. God has not left this decision to the subjective feelings of parents or children but has given us objective truths to guide all decisions for what we take into our minds and hearts. Regarding anything beyond delight, truth, and wisdom, God says to beware! God knows that even vicarious role models of questionable character will corrupt good morals (I Cor 13:18).
God’s Word or Words should have the ultimate rule of our lives. When it does, those words will both guard and guide us to become honorable sons and daughters; thus laying the foundation for our positions in life. Hence we read, The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. Notice that Solomon lists himself first as a son then as a king.
In order for our children to become king or queen of their kingdom, they first must fulfill the role of son or daughter. To fulfill this role, they must take heed to the words that will rule their lives.
Blessings,
Mark Hamby
Recommended Reading:
The Silver Cup (Illustrated) (Ages 2-5)
The True Princess (Illustrated) (Ages 4-7)
Basket of Flowers (Ages 9-14)
Raising a Modern-Day Knight (Ages 16+)
