The Mystery of God’s House of Wisdom

The Mystery of God’s House of Wisdom.

“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars.”  (Proverbs 9:1).

This verse pictures the quality of wisdom as a wealthy woman who has built her lavish mansion with seven columns that support and stabilize her home. She welcomes all who want to partake of wisdom’s delights to come into her house and enjoy the spectacular feast that will feed the soul of all who dine with her. The Hebrew word “chokmoth” is used for wisdom over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible, and is taken to mean the divine gift of using sacred sense in how one lives one’s life at a practical level. Biblical wisdom as described below is the biblical key to a life of blessing and success. The foundation on which the house of wisdom is built is a reverent awe of the Lord, a humble adoration of God and His character, a faithful and fearful trust in His mercy and goodness. Solomon, the probable writer of Proverbs, never went into detail on what he meant by the seven pillars of wisdom. But this verse can easily and biblically point to a number of ways we can understand these seven pillars that support and beautify the house of wisdom.

Wisdom can be described biblically as sensible judgment; moral discernment; gifted insight; profound understanding; shrewd and righteous street smarts; spiritual intelligence; prudent decision-making; cleverly practicing the truth in daily life; the opposite of being gullible, naïve, foolish. In Scripture it also refers to being highly skilled in a particular area of expertise.

Seven: a Biblical symbol for perfection, completion, fullness, fulfillment, wholeness, finished. A case can be made that seven (7) is God’s favorite number. Because of what it represents, the number seven seems woven into the very fabric of Holy Scripture. Between the Hebrew Bible (OT), and the Gospels (NT), the number seven is mentioned in well over 700 passages. One particular number mentioned that many times is not coincidence. It is significant. Scripture reveals that seven represents an idea that is part of so many passages that it would be tiresome and tedious to relate them all. God decided in His wisdom to create the universe in seven days, and the number 7 has been kept busy ever since. Many theologians consider seven to be a holy number because of its weighty presence in Scripture. Knowing what seven means in the context of a biblical passage will help us to understand that passage better. Seven (7), the biblical number that tops all other numbers.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The vague reference to the house of wisdom and its seven pillars in Proverbs 9:1 can easily point to any number of meanings. We could also conclude that there is no intended reference to anything in particular, except perhaps to the complete perfection of wisdom in its very nature. The seven pillars may be a figure of speech referring to the nature of wisdom being complete in and of itself, and not referring to seven principles or seven particular qualities of wisdom. It could be that the seven pillars of wisdom are simply pointing to that quality of divine wisdom that lacks nothing. On the other hand, many biblical scholars have claimed that the seven pillars could logically point to either the seven days of creation, the Sevenfold Holy Spirit, the seven qualities of wisdom according to St. James, or even the gaining of wisdom through the seven formal times for prayer found in Psalm 119:164. But why feel like we have to choose one of those perfectly reasonable options? All four of those understandings make sense, and so they all could be true.

“O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! What a deep wealth of wisdom and knowledge He has! How incomprehensible are His decisions, how unsearchable His judgments! How undiscoverable are His paths, how mysterious His ways, beyond finding out! Who has understood the mind of Yahweh? Who knows how the Lord thinks, or what His thoughts are? Can anyone discern the Lord’s intentions, His motivations? Who knows enough to give Him advice? Is there anyone qualified to be His counselor? For everything was created by Him, everything lives through Him, and everything exists for Him; So to Him must be given the glory forever! Amen! (Romans 11:33-36, also refer to Isaiah 40:12-14).

The Bottom Line: God’s Wisdom is a Mystery.  The infinite wisdom of God cannot be imagined by any human being, therefore it can’t be adequately described or accurately defined. We get direct revelations of God’s wisdom, though, as we read the gospels and the life and ministry of Jesus. His amazing intellect was always on full display, even at twelve years old in the Temple with the Torah scholars. We see in all His interactions with others that Jesus had perfect insight, unerring common sense, and a deep understanding of whatever needed to be understood. “God’s understanding is infinite.” (Ps. 147:5). Jesus always had sound reason and logic on His side, made shrewd decisions, and had unlimited discernment. His creative imagination was boundless as He told stories, offered object lessons, and used nature as visual aids, showing Himself to be a Master Teacher. There is an impenetrable depth of wisdom to Lord Yahweh that only His Son can reveal.

“It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, that goes deep into the interiors of His purposes. This wisdom of God was once hidden from human understanding and now revealed to us by God. This is God’s secret wisdom hidden before now in a mystery which God predetermined before the ages for our glorification, to lift us into the glory of His Presence. This is the wisdom that God destined for our glory before time began.” (a weaving of 1 Corinthians 2:7 using several Bible translations).

Aspects of God’s Mysterious Wisdom:

1. God’s wisdom cannot be reached by human wisdom, and is not the fruit of human effort;
2. God’s wisdom does not depend on philosophical speculation, or verbal eloquence, or logical argument, or persuasive speech;
3. God’s wisdom appears to be utterly foolish to the unbelieving world and highly improbable to the skeptical world;
4. God’s wisdom includes the Cross, which is absurd to unbelievers: the Son of God in glory comes in the flesh, is a humble servant, poor and rejected, is weak and powerless, and submits to a sacrificial death. Nonsense!
5. God’s wisdom inspired the unexpected plan of salvation, which makes very little sense to unbelievers;
6. God’s wisdom is personified in Jesus Christ, who carries out God’s plan to perfection;
7. Believers are those who have been given the mind of Christ, and thus can begin to understand God’s wisdom;
8. God’s wisdom demonstrates the convincing power of the Holy Spirit;
9. God’s wisdom is generally not fashionable or popular, and is often misunderstood;
10. In His wisdom, God revealed Christ to become our wisdom;
11. God’s wisdom devised His secret plan of salvation before time began, and only waited to reveal it at the appointed time with Jesus;
12. God’s deep secrets can only be revealed to us through His Holy Spirit;
13. God’s wisdom planned the scheme of salvation to center on simple faith, not on skill, status, achievement or intelligence. That doesn’t make sense to the prideful human heart that wants to earn it or claim it;
14. God’s wisdom is drenched in irony, appearing to be weak and foolish but in reality is powerful and true;
15. In His secret wisdom, God is transcendently humble;
16. A key component of faith is learning to trust God’s wisdom, that He knows what He is doing, even though there is much mystery involved;
17. Christ Himself is God’s wisdom: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3).
18. In other words: “In Christ all the treasures of divine wisdom, of comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment, are stored up and lie hidden.” (Colossians 2:3, Amplified Bible).
19. High Praise for our Wise God: “Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.” (Walter Chalmers Smith).

“Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Jesus demonstrated all these attributes of wisdom, because He Himself is all these attributes in the flesh. Christ is embodied wisdom. Christ is wisdom incarnate. Christ isn’t merely full of wisdom… “Jesus, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col 2:3). He is not merely a source of wisdom for us. He literally is Wisdom personified in real, concrete life. Christ is the Wisdom of God. He is God’s Wisdom made manifest. He makes God’s wisdom clearly seen, visible, experiential, obvious to the senses. God wanted everyone to see what His wisdom looked like, so He sent us His Son Jesus. Christian wisdom is not acquired through human effort, but through uniting ourselves with Wisdom, Jesus Christ; through acquiring the very mind of Christ; through union with Christ, the Wisdom of God. “It is by Him that you exist in Christ Jesus, who for us was made wisdom from God.” (1 Cor. 1:30). By gaining the mind of Christ, we are also acquiring the very mind of the Almighty God.