what I'm reading: God's wisdom in our suffering

Do you have a copy of  Knowing God? Is it gathering dust? Is the picture of a sunset on the cover a little faded?

Why not get it off the shelf and read chapter 9, on the wisdom of God? Or read it online here.

It's a little gem I haven't noticed before.

Last week I learned how, even if I never know the cause of suffering, I can always know something of God's purpose.

This week I opened Knowing God and discovered part of God's purpose in suffering.

In chapter 9 Packer talks about Abraham and Jacob and Joseph. He shows how every trial was individually chosen by God to make them into the people he wanted them to be. I read this through twice, I found it so encouraging!

If it's true for them, it's true for me. Packer says,

These things are written for our learning, for the same wisdom orders the Christian's life today.

We should not be taken aback when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now.

What do they mean? Simply that God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and he is dealing with us accordingly.

Perhaps he means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility, or meekness, by giving us some extra practice in exercising these graces under especially difficult conditions.

Perhaps he has new lessons in self-denial and self-distrust to teach us.

Perhaps he wishes to break us of complacency, or unreality, or undetected forms of pride and conceit.

Perhaps his purpose is simply to draw us closer to himself in conscious communion with him; for it is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest.

Or perhaps God is preparing us for forms of service of which at present we have no inkling.

"He knows the way he taketh", even if for the moment we do not.

We may be frankly bewildered at things that happen to us, but God knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is after, in his handling of our affairs.

Always, and in everything, he is wise: we shall see that hereafter (Job in heaven knows the full reason why he was afflicted, though he never knew it in this life).

Meanwhile, we ought not to hesitate to trust his wisdom, even when he leaves us in the dark.

Whatever further purpose a Christian's troubles may or may not have in equipping him for future service, they will always have at least that purpose which Paul's thorn in the flesh had (2 Cor 5:7-9).

They will have been sent us to make and keep us humble, and to give us a new opportunity of showing forth the power of Christ in our mortal lives.

And do we ever need to know any more about them than that? 

Once Paul saw that his trouble was sent him to enable him to glorify Christ, he accepted it as wisely appointed and even rejoiced in it.

God give us grace, in all our own troubles, to go and do likewise.

women of the Bible (6) Abigail: when wisdom marries folly

If there's ever been a mismatch, it was the union of Nabal and Abigail (1 Samuel 25). You can almost see the announcement: “Stupid, stubborn, surly skinflint marries brainy, brave, benevolent beauty”. It's as if the characters of Folly and Wisdom stepped out of the pages of Proverbs and got hitched. Those TV advertisements with the clever wife rolling her eyes over her bumbling husband have nothing on this!

What can we learn from their ill-fated union? How can I be Wisdom rather than Folly? And what do I do if I'm Wisdom married to Folly?

Let's start with the Fool. His name, ‘Nabal’, means fool. In case we miss the point, we're told (by his wife, no less!) “as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him“ (25:25). His is an Isaiah 32:6 personality typing:

For the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the LORD,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

Nabal is the ridiculously wealthy owner of “three thousand sheep and a thousand goats” (1 Sam 25:2), yet he refuses David's request to feed his 600 hungry men, even though they protected his flocks in the wilderness and it's a time of feasting. Oblivious to the fact that David's band of far-from-merry men are about to kill him, he stuffs his face with a “a feast in his house, like the feast of a king”, his heart “merry within him, for he was very drunk” (25:36). All the threads of evil in 1 Samuel merge in Nabal: he is ‘worthless’ like the sons of Eli (2:12), arrogant like the rich in Hannah's song (2:3-8), and power-hungry like King Saul. He's doomed.

What about Wisdom? She matches her actions to the demands of the moment. When her servants tell her David's men are coming to murder the men of her household, Abigail loads some donkeys with a small snack from her pantry—“two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep … and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs”—saddles up her donkey, and gallops off (can you gallop on a donkey?). There's a tense moment as she rides into a ravine and finds hundreds of armed, angry men descending it. Leaping off her donkey, casting herself at David's feet, she begs him not to bring blood-guilt on himself by taking revenge on her fool of a husband. Wisdom receives its reward when she wins David's heart.

Folly and Wisdom indeed. But it's not just qualities like godlessness and generosity that set Nabal and Abigail apart; ultimately, it's their attitude to David. Nabal doesn't just feast like Saul, he thinks like Saul:

Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where? (25:10-11 cf 17:55, 22:7-8)

Nabal sees David as a nobody, a rebellious servant, and pretends to have never heard of him, although all Israel knows his name (18:16, 30). But Abigail sees beyond the desert wanderer to God's anointed, victorious king:

For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD … And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel … then remember your servant. (25:28-31)

It's a statement of astounding faith. Besides Samuel, only two insignificant women discern the truth about David. Hannah was the first to speak of God's coming king (2:10); Abigail, the first to predict his ‘lasting dynasty’ (25:28 NIV). No-one else would foresee this until Nathan prophesied of King David that God would “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam 7:13)—a promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

What about us? What do we do if, like Abigail, we are Wisdom married to Folly? For wives, there's a time when submission to our husband must be laid aside:* when it conflicts with our greater submission to God's anointed king (Eph 5:22-33). A husband who's violent to children, who encourages us to lie or cheat, who doesn't pray much (so why should we?)—above all, a husband who rejects Jesus—there are times when we need the courage and wisdom of Abigail, to protect our children, to disobey when this means not sinning, to stay faithful but take a different path (1 Peter 3:1-7): to choose wisdom, not folly.

Which will we choose? Will we choose stupidity or shrewdness, cowardice or courage, greed or goodness? More importantly, what attitude will we have to God's chosen king? Folly sees God's anointed as a nobody, to be mocked, ignored and mistreated. Wisdom perceives in God's anointed, the humble and crucified Christ, the very power and wisdom of God:

Where is the one who is wise? … Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:20-25 cf Ps 2, Col 2:2-3).

This is wisdom: to see in Jesus the hidden wisdom and knowledge of God (Col 2:2-3).

* What exactly do I mean by this? I discuss it with Claire Smith in the comments at Sola Panel.

This article first appeared in Sola Panel yesterday.

images are from journal of Shalom; Salim Photography; unknown; and kissabug at flickr

Proverbs (7) a picture of Proverbs 1-9

When I read Proverbs, I normally skim through the first 9 chapters and skip straight to the exciting verses on money, words, friendship, laziness, and parenting.

So I've really enjoyed getting my teeth into Proverbs 1-9 for our Bible study this year. I've learned heaps about the value of wisdom, the nature of proverbs, the fear of the LORD, the good path, and about Jesus, wisdom in the flesh.

During our study on Proverbs 9, we summed it all up with a diagram of the first 9 chapters of Proverbs:

The straight lines down the middle represent the straight, level path of wisdom (Prov 2, 4).

The starting point of wisdom is

• God, who alone knows the way to wisdom (Job 28:20-23, Prov 2:6) - we can't be truly wise unless we humbly accept God's wisdom (Prov 3:5-8, 15:33)
• "the fear of the LORD" - so important that it book-ends chapters 1-9 (Proverbs 1:7 & 9:10)
• Jesus, the "wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:30 cf Prov 8:22-31, Col 1:15-20)

We drew wisdom as a treasure box. All the blessings of wisdom radiate from the box: honour, long life, riches, protection, safety and peace (Proverbs 3:13-20, 4:7).

An arrow goes from wisdom to the crown which represents King Solomon, who received God's great gift of wisdom (1 Kings 3, 4:29-34).

Another arrow goes from Solomon to the book he wrote. From the book of Proverbs radiate lines to wisdom, understanding, insight, guidance, discipline, good sense, and what is right, just and good (Proverbs 1:1-7.)

On the next arrow we see that Proverbs is written for both the simple and the wise (Prov 1:4-5). It's also addressed by a father to his son (Prov 1:8, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1).

An arrow goes from the father to his main message: choose the good path of wisdom (Prov 4:18). The final arrow shows that this path leads to LIFE!

Two crooked paths wind off to either side (Proverbs 2:12-22) - the path of the "adulteress" or "promiscuous woman" (Prov 2:16-19, 5:1-23, 6:20-7:27) and the path of "wicked companions" (Prov 2:12-22, 3:12-15, 4:14-19). Both of these paths lead to DEATH.

At the end, we're given two party invitations (Prov 9). Lady Wisdom is a gracious hostess, who prepares good things for her table. Madame Folly is loud and brash, and serves stolen treats. I know whose party I want to attend!

Welcome to the feast of Lady Wisdom - all the tasty proverbs in chapters 10-31!

Proverbs (6) wisdom takes human form

Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing ...
God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells. (Job 28:20-23)

So where does wisdom dwell? What's the hiding-place that only God knows? What is "God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began"? (1 Cor 2:7)

You can almost hear the fanfare as it's announced: "the mystery of God ... Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"! (Col 2:2-3) And then, with a second round of trumpets: "Christ crucified ... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"! (1 Cor 1:23-24)

Jesus is God's wisdom. Christ crucified - such foolishness to oh-so-clever humans! (1 Cor 1:23-24) - is at the heart of God's wisdom. The mystery hidden for ages is revealed as Jesus dies upon a cross (Rom 16:25-27, Eph 1:9-10, 3:4-11, Col 1:26-27).

In Proverbs 8, under the semblance of Lady Wisdom, we see Jesus, wisdom in the flesh. It's not that Solomon had Jesus in mind - he was writing about Lady Wisdom - but this passage, like every other page of the Old Testament, proclaims the name of Jesus (2 Cor 1:20, 1 Pet 1:10-11, 1 Cor 10:1-11).

In Proverbs 8 we hear wisdom call (Prov 8:1-11), we see wisdom rule (Prov 8:12-21), and we watch wisdom create (8:22-31) - and in each we see Jesus, the wisdom of God.

Wisdom calls
Wisdom goes to the most public places and calls people to listen. She calls out from the highest point of the city (Prov 9:3) - from the temple. She calls out to the simple and the wise, "Come and get wisdom, more precious than rubies!" (Prov 8:1-11)

Jesus, too, goes to the public places, to the temples and synagogues, as well as to the lonely places, to a Samaritan woman and a crowd in the desert. He calls people to follow him, preaching the kingdom, for "that is why I have come" (Mk 1:14-18, 21-22, 38, 12:35).

And he speaks with wisdom. The religious leaders are stunned by his understanding at the age of 12, before he grows into his full wisdom and stature. Jesus is a greater wisdom teacher than Solomon.

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. (Lk 2:46-47, 52, 11:31).

Wisdom rules
Wisdom alone can give a ruler sound counsel and just judgement. Wisdom grants power and fills treasuries (Prov 8:12-21). No wonder that Solomon asked for "wisdom and knowledge", "a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong" (1 Kgs 3:5-9, 2 Chron 1:7-10).

In Jesus we see a wiser ruler than Solomon. On him rests "the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD ". He judges with justice, not by outward appearance. He is the "Wonderful Counsellor" and the "Prince of peace". (Isa 11:1-5, 9:6-7)

Wisdom creates
My favourite passage in Proverbs is 8:22-31. Wisdom is "brought forth" and "given birth" as the "first of God's works". She is the "craftsman" at the Creator's side, rejoicing to see him "set the heavens in place" and trace "the horizon on the face of the deep".

It's impossible to miss the echoes in the New Testament. Jesus is "the firstborn over all creation". The entire universe was created and is sustained "through him", "by him and for him" (Col 1:15-20, Jn 1:1-5, 14, Heb 1:1-3).

Then I was the craftsman at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
rejoicing in his whole world,
and delighting in mankind.
(Prov 8:30-31)

In Lady Wisdom's delighted wonder we hear the majestic laughter of the Son, the craftsman at God's right hand, echoing through the newly minted heavens as "the morning stars sing together and all the angels shout for joy" (Job 38:7).

Heeding wisdom's call
We're left with a fantastic invitation: to heed the call of Lady Wisdom, and to hear in her call the far better invitation of Jesus. As we listen to God's message of wisdom - as we trust in Jesus' death on the cross for us - we "find life" and "receive favour" from God (Prov 8:32-36).

What better message to hear this Easter?

A final question
Our Bible study group was a bit confused. Why does Proverbs 8 say wisdom was "given birth", but also that she was "the first of God's works"? What does it mean to say that Jesus is the "firstborn" over creation? Was Jesus born or made? Was there a point at which he came into being?

There's no hint in the Bible that Jesus, unlike wisdom, is one of God's "works". He is God's "firstborn", the "one and only Son". He is eternal, with no beginning and no end Col 1:15, Jn 3:16-18, Heb 13:18, Rev 1:8, 17-18). Our Bible study group ended up looking at the Nicene Creed, which puts it beautifully:

I believe in ... one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made.

images are from stock.xchng

Proverbs (3) wisdom: what is it good for?

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for attaining wisdom and discipline;
for understanding words of insight;
for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young-
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance-
for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Prov 1:1-7)

What is wisdom?
Is your brain is full of facts but you're hopeless at relating to people? Do you know your Bible well but struggle to be godly? Are you trying to decide which job to choose or who to marry? Do you have kids and want to know how to teach them? Would you like more insight into people and situations? Wisdom covers all areas: discipline, understanding, insight, prudence, knowledge, discretion, discernment, and guidance.

Who is wisdom for?
There are 3 kinds of people in Proverbs: the wise, the simple, and the fool. Proverbs makes the wise wiser, and gives the simple wisdom. Only fools are beyond the reach of wisdom, because they've rejected her invitation (Prov 1:20-33). We've all known fools, people who refuse to listen to advice or teaching; and we've all known people who are simple, ignorant but eager to learn. I know which I'd rather be. But when I close my ears to rebuke or instruction, I'm a fool (13:1).

How did Proverbs come about?
It's called "The proverbs of Solomon", but Proverbs has several authors: Solomon, the wise, Agur son of Jakeh, and King Lemuel's mum (Prov 10:1, 25:1, 22:17, 30:1, 31:1). Solomon, who "spoke 3000 proverbs" (1 Kgs 4:32), probably wrote some and collected others from sayings handed down through generations, since this is how proverbs usually come about.

Can you have wisdom without God?
Wisdom happens as people use their minds to reflect on God's world. But true wisdom doesn't happen independently from God. For this is God's world, made in accord with his wisdom. True wisdom means living in the way we were created to live.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov 9:10)

Non-Christian wisdom looks wise - and there's a lot of truth in it, for we've been given good minds by God to make sense of the world - but it ultimately proves empty. True wisdom comes about as God's redeemed people reflect on God's world in the light of God's word.

Why Solomon?
That's why the time wasn't ripe for the full expression of wisdom until Solomon arrived on the scene. God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled: God's people lived in God's place under God's rule. God had redeemed his people from slavery in Egypt, and he dwelt with them in the temple. The people had God's word: the history of salvation and the law.

Now was the time to reflect on how to serve God faithfully in the nitty gritty of everyday life: business relationships, marriage and parenting, sleeping and buying and eating. Now was the time for God's wise king to rule and judge with God's wisdom, and to share wisdom with his people (1 Kgs 3, 4:29-34). Now was the time for the blessing of wisdom to spread from God's people to other nations (Gen 22:15-18; 1 Kgs 10:1-13).

What about us?
In Solomon, we see the forerunner of a far wiser king: King Jesus, who exercises a greater rule with a greater wisdom (Isa 11:1-3; Matt 12:38-43). If wisdom begins with fearing God, then it also begins with loving and serving King Jesus.

Let's get wise!

This is a summary of a Bible study I led just over a week ago. Next week, I'd like to share with you what we learned last week about the fear of God.

images are from stock.xchng

Proverbs (2b) of slogans, speeding and smashes

In what's turning out to be a very Proverb-y week, I realised after re-reading Monday's post that I might have made it sound like I don't think God's word is always true. Of course it is!

I wrote, "Proverbs aren't true in any and every situation." Yes, that's right, and you'll find a statement like this in most books and articles on Proverbs - but proverbs are true descriptions of what life generally looks like, which is exactly what they are meant to be.*

How about the proverb "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother" (10:1)? Well, yes, most parents rejoice in wise children, but not all. Proverbs tell us how things usually work in God's well-ordered world; but in a world disordered by sin, things don't always work out this way.

A woman in my Bible study put it this way (I think she was quoting David Walter): "Proverbs are the TAC ads of the Bible". TAC ads, for those outside Victoria, are advertisements from the Transport Accident Commission, which often show, quite gruesomely, the results of drink driving or speeding.

Here's a TAC "proverb": Don't fool yourself, speed kills. Slogans like this are true as general statements, but they're not true in every specific situation. Speeding will often lead to accidents, but not always. Pick a chapter of proverbs at random, and you'll find lots of similar statements, like "Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour" (Prov 12:24).

You could also say, "Proverbs aren't applicable to any and every situation." One proverb tells us that money is a great blessing, another that it can lead our hearts away from God (10:22, 30:7-8). One proverb advises us to give freely, and another to save our money carefully (Prov 11:24, 21:20). Wisdom is the art of knowing which you need to hear, and which to apply when.

Proverbs are God's true word showing us how to live wisely in God's good world. The consequences Proverbs outlines won't always happen: the righteous aren't always rewarded in this world, and the foolish aren't always punished. But a life lived wisely in God's service will generally bring blessing in this world, and will certainly bring glory to God now, and blessing in eternity.

* See, for example, the excellent article On Answering a Fool by Tim Chester.

image is from stock.xchng

Proverbs (2a) too many cooks make light work

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
"Look before you leap."
"A stitch in time saves nine."

Proverbs are funny things, aren't they? Handed down from person to person, they're a kind of folk wisdom, observations about how things work best.

But how do you reconcile these:

"Too many cooks spoil the broth."
"Many hands make light work."

Aren't they saying just the opposite? Or these:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Prov 26:4-5)

Did you know that Proverbs was nearly left out of the Jewish canon because these two proverbs seem to contradict each other?

Proverbs are observations about how things usually happen in God's world. Most proverbs aren't universal laws or promises, true in any and every situation. It takes wisdom to know how and when to apply them: when to answer a fool, and when not to. Proverbs can be dangerous when misapplied:

Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. ...
Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. (Prov 26:9)

Most proverbs aren't universal truths, although it's tempting to treat them this way. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Prov 22:6). Does this mean that if you raise your kids well, they're guaranteed to become Christians? I know people I greatly respect who hold this view, but I can't read the proverb this way, given the nature of Proverbs. What it's saying is that an adult will generally follow the path of the teaching and training they received as a child: a great encouragement for parents, but not a promise.

In Proverbs you'll find:

• observations, sometimes detached from morality - "A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it; wherever he turns, he succeeds." (17:8)
• moral observations - "A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice." (17:23)
• common sense - "Seldom set foot in your neighbour's house - too much of you, and he will hate you." (25:17)
• consequences - "A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing." (20:4)
• comparisons - "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." (15:17)
• good advice - "Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house." (24:7)
• truths about God - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (16:9)

God provides the framework for wise decisions in the Bible, but he doesn't do the thinking for us. We have to work out how to live wisely in the nitty gritty of everyday life. Wisdom is the ability to make good and godly decisions in every ordinary moment of every ordinary day. Proverbs are memorable sayings which help us do that.

Wisdom, anyone?

image is from stock.xchng

Proverbs (1) the getting of wisdom

Do you want more wisdom? In what areas of life would you like to be wiser?

Last Thursday I asked a group of women in which areas they'd like more wisdom, and they answered "Parenting. Money management. Time management." I'm sure you've got your own list. As I get older and life becomes more complicated, my list gets longer and longer.

Who wouldn't want wisdom? For wisdom is incredibly precious:

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
(Prov 3:13-18)

Power, protection, pleasure, profit, preciousness, peace: all these are the qualities of wisdom. No wonder we're told to "look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure", even if the search for wisdom should "cost all you have" (Prov 2:4, 4:7).

The getting of wisdom is no easy task. It takes passion and commitment. So precious is wisdom, it will cost all we have. (As I write, it occurs to me that these words sound awfully familiar: see Matt 13:44-46 & Prov 4:7).

Where can wisdom be found? That's the question I'll be asking during the next few weeks. I don't know about you, but if wisdom is that amazing, I can't wait to discover how to get it!

This is a quick summary of what we did during our first Bible study on Proverbs last Thursday. Each week, I'd like to share with you what we learn. This first discussion was just an appetite whetter - but what an appetite it gave me for wisdom! I hope you feel the same.

Sunday School - Proverbs (9) wisdom wind-chimes

You may remember that our Sunday School series on Proverbs started with an ambitious plan to make wisdom wind-chimes out of clay. The first step was a conceptual diagram:

We used cookie cutters to cut the shapes out of clay, and my art-teacher friend fired them in her kiln:

The children decorated the top sections with the word "wisdom", using textas, which worked surprisingly well (except the lighter colours, which disappeared under the varnish!):

Here's my son Ben decorating his:

And here's my daughter Elizabeth working on hers:

We found there wasn't time during most of our lessons to decorate the other pieces. Instead, we devoted the final week of term to decorating and varnishing the rest of the wind-chime shapes. This was a fantastic opportunity to revise our lessons. I asked the kids if they could remember what we've discussed (parents, friends money, words, work & gluttony, wisdom & folly), and they drew a picture or wrote a word representing each topic on one of the shapes. Here's my kids working on them:


I tied the shapes together using fine fishing line (quite a job!). Here's some of the finished wind-chimes:



They look great, don't they? What a wonderful reminder of what we've learned together about God's wisdom in Proverbs!

Sunday School - Proverbs (1) wisdom, Solomon and the fear of God

How do you explain the fear of God to a child? Last weekend, I took our Sunday School class back to the start of Proverbs, and there it was: "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7).

So far, we've looked at the value and beauty of wisdom (Prov. 3:13-18) and the ruin brought by folly (Prov. 9), but we haven't talked much about Solomon, who he is, why he wrote Proverbs, and the nature of wisdom. In other words, if you're teaching Proverbs to a Sunday School class, this is the place to start!

When I was a child, my Sunday School teacher asked me, "If you could have any one thing, what would it be?" My answer, which I once saw as a sign of piety but now see as the sign of a proud perfectionism, was "To obey God perfectly" (I remember clearly that I felt very superior to a boy who wished for a red toy truck - in these more complicated days, surely it would be a Nintendo DS!).

So last Sunday I asked, "If I could grant you one wish, what would it be?". One boy answered, "A money-making machine" (at which point some smart-alec pointed out that it's illegal to make money); another, predictably enough, asked for "Infinity more wishes"; and a rowdy boy in a particularly pious mood said "To go to heaven". My daughter, rather poignantly, given that she has 3 brothers, asked for "A twin sister, and that she's Emma" (a Christian friend).

Which was the perfect lead-in to the story of Solomon. We all know the story of how God offered to grant Solomon one request, and how he asked for wisdom to govern and judge wisely between his people (1 Kings 3). And so Proverbs was born: the collected wisdom of the wisest man who ever lived.

We opened our Bibles, read Proverbs 1:1-7 together, drew a picture of Solomon, and wrote a list of all the words for wisdom we could find. I asked them where wisdom starts - with the "fear of God" (Proverbs 1:7, this term's memory verse); and we talked about how to get wisdom - by trusting God's understanding rather than our own, and by living the way he wants (Proverbs 3:5-6, last term's memory verse). Here's the page we made:

But what exactly is the fear of God? I'd been thinking about this all week, and it seemed to me that it's just what it says: fear. We tend to try and get around it with words like "reverence" and "awe", which don't explain anything much, but Jesus is pretty clear: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body ... Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell." (Luke 12:4-5). Of course, for us in Christ this is no longer a slavish fear, for we have found a safe refuge from the storm of God's anger.*

Here's how I explained the fear of God to the children: "Are you scared of your Daddy?" Some children: "Yes." "Does your Daddy love you?" All children: "Yes." "When are you scared of your Daddy?" "When I do the wrong thing." "Why?" "Because he might punish me." "Yes, that's right, and it's the same with God. He can punish us by sending us to hell, but we don't need to be scared if we believe in Jesus and live for him. So what's the fear of God?" One child: "It means being scared of what God can do." Pretty spot on, it seems to me!

We spent the second 1/2 hour (it was a long class!) getting started on our major craft for the term: wisdom wind-chimes. Liz, my fellow Sunday School teacher, is an art teacher in another life, so she gave us a big lump of clay, some hessian squares to roll and cut it on, and access to a kiln (you could substitute air-dry clay). Here's my diagram of how I hope the wind-chimes will look:

And here's how the children made the shapes:

Exhausting, but fun! Once the shapes are fired, we'll paint them. The children will decorate each shape with a picture representing each lesson they learn from Proverbs, like using words wisely, not being lazy, and choosing friends well. I'll keep you posted!

* If you want to further explore this concept of the fear of God, see John Piper's The Pleasures of God pp.204-6, where he has a wonderful illustration about a cave, a glacier and a storm.

Sunday School - Proverbs (3) wisdom and folly

Our little Sunday School class is mostly made up of boys.

I didn't think that primary school aged boys would be particularly attracted by the picture of Wisdom as a strong and beautiful woman pointing the way to the path of peace (Prov. 3:13-18). More motivating, I suspected, would be the image of Folly as the grisly guardian of death, whose guests descend to the depths of the grave.So I dressed one child in skeleton pyjamas and one in a white dress for a mini-drama, and they read the parts of Wisdom and Folly in Proverbs 9.

Our craft was simple but fun: a black A4 sheet with a picture of a skeleton and a princess (don't you love those free online colouring pages?) inviting guests to feast on the food they'd provided. The children drew their favourite foods in the wisdom box, and revolting foods in the skeleton box.

My daughter Lizzy's favourite foods included chocolate and icecream (she's got a sweet tooth) and her disgusting foods included witchety grub muffins and a bowl of eyeballs:
The children painted the skeleton, and highlighted the princess, with glow-in-the-dark fabric paint:
So now they can scare themselves silly every night, and be reminded of the doom awaiting those who live foolishly, and the long life rewarding those who walk in the ways of wisdom.

I'm finding this very motivating myself!

And we're learning a new memory verse together: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Proverbs 1:7). Sums it up pretty well, I think.

Sunday School - Proverbs (2) wisdom

Proverbs is a wonderful book to read with children. It hands on the wisdom of the older to the younger generation.

Proverbs includes a father's advice to his son (chs. 1-29) and a mother's wise words handed down through two generations (ch. 31). It encourages children to fear God, heed correction, accept discipline, choose friends wisely, use words carefully, enjoy pleasure, money and food with moderation, and live wisely throughout their lives.

Yet when I searched the internet, I found no Sunday School material on Proverbs (if you know of some, please tell me!). So my friend Liz and I are writing our own. Since you'll probably have the same problem if you want to teach Proverbs to children, I thought you might be interested to hear about our lessons. No doubt someone will end at this blog after doing the same search I did! If that's the case, welcome. We got our lessons a bit mixed up: you'll find lesson 1 here, and all the lessons here.

Liz taught the children this memory verse: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:4-6). A great choice, because it shows wisdom comes not from our own cleverness, but from God, through humbly trusting and obeying him.

Here's the brilliant craft Liz and the children made during their first weeks on Proverbs. They read Proverbs 3:13-18, and chose 4 verses about wisdom. The children illustrated the 4 verses, and made a cleverly designed hanging book, a wonderful reminder of the beauty and value of wisdom:


All you need to make a book like this is a sheet of white A3 paper, some coloured pencils, and some glue. Cut the A3 paper in half lengthways. You'll have 2 rectangles of paper.

Cut one of the pieces 36 cm long, and fold it into 8, into a concertina or fan shape. On each 1/4 section, draw a picture. Here are my son Ben's illustrations of the 4 Proverbs verses they chose:


Cut the other rectangle 28 cm long, fold 1 cm over at each end, then fold the 26 cm central section into 8, again in a concertina or fan shape. Hold the paper folded, and cut half an arch into the side with four folds and no ends (you'll get it when you see it). Open out the paper, and decorate the arches.

Here's Ben's decorated rectangle, with the 4 verses printed out and stuck on each section:

Put the short rectangle with the arches over the long rectangle (you'll see the 4 pictures through the arches), fold the 1 cm strips at the ends of the shorter rectangle over the ends of the longer rectangle, and glue the ends and upwards folded edges together, so that it looks like this:

Bring the two end together, and glue them. It will turn into a four-sided book, which you can hang from a string through the centre. From the top, it should look something like this:

Here's the 4 verses with my daughter Elizabeth's illustrations.

"Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace" (Proverbs 3:17).

"She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her" (Proverbs 3:15).

"Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour" (Proverbs 3:16).

"She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed" (Proverbs 3:18).

Beautiful!

The book design is from a book about making books belonging to my friend - I'll get the details and add them here.