Wisdom and Revelation

Eastertide
May 29, 2014

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23 

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. — Ephesians 1:17-19 

My Sunday School Class is studying the books of Kings as we determined it was a section of the Bible about which we generally had little knowledge.  It has been an interesting experience. Kings would make a great soap opera. We had an interesting discussion on the Wisdom of Solomon. Most of us were aware of his reputation for being the wisest of men. In fact the story of Solomon solving the conflict between the two prostitutes over who would get the one living child was one of the few stories from this part of the Bible that most of us had learned as children.

Our discussion went in another direction, however. How wise was Solomon really? Was it wise to conscript many of the aliens that lived in his domain and some of the citizens to build the temple and his lavish home? Was it wise to have three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines from various surrounding countries? Was it wise to worship their gods? Solomon’s actions most likely led to the downfall of Israel. He looks a lot like the wheeler dealers in our financial system growing riches with no thought to what the eventual impact might be.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines wisdom as:

  • knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life
  • the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand
  • knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is for this kind of wisdom and this kind of wisdom, particularly the understanding of things that most other people cannot understand, are revelations from God. We must spend much time in God’s service to gain experience, much time communing with God to gain understanding, and much time in community with our co-workers in Christ and with our neighbors to gain good sense.

Prayer: God grant us the same gifts of wisdom and revelation that Paul requested for the Ephesians so many years ago. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.