The great vanishing act: WISDOM

Isaiah 29:14b
"The wisdom of their wise men will vanish, and the understanding of the perspective will be hidden."

This, of course, was written regarding God's chosen people and their inconceivable abandonment of G-D in their hearts. As verse 13 declares, "these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service—yet their hearts are far from Me..."

As I consider the implications, I find that nothing has really changed over the millennia: the children of Abraham (both by blood and by Spirit) pursue man-made, hollow wisdom instead of that of our Lord. What's more, I find that I myself am not unaffected. This seems to be true in how I read the biblical texts. It would seem I bring much of my own so-called wisdom to the interpretation. I am a latent child of the Enlightenment; secularization of religion borne out of western thought[1]. I am modern and post-modern at the same time—conflicted and confused. Even when seeking the safety of my previously steadfast theology, I now find that greater minds than my own have struggled to unlock the true nature of the Bible and have succumbed to the staggering conclusion that we still know very little and understand even less.

In that light I have come to realise that wisdom itself has vanished because we have turned our hearts away from God. My wife reminded me this week that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight..." (Psalm 111:10). Modernism instructed us to turn away from all that cannot be explained by natural means. Today, post-modernism revisits the spiritual without fearing God or believing that "He exists and rewards those who seek Him [by faith]" (Hebrew 11:6). Thus, even while we see ourselves as intellectual and spiritual (simultaneously holding on to the elements of both modern and post-modern views), Jesus responds that our "worship is a farce, [as we have] replaced God's commands with [our] own man-made teachings" (Matthew 15:9).

While I realise we do well to revisit and re-examine our long-held beliefs, and anyone who knows me would attest this is something of a regular occurance in my journey, we must never allow our hearts to turn from God and His annointed one, the Messiah known as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus came to this world to embody wisdom itself and to reveal the Father to us. My new-found desire is to return to the gospels afresh, seeking to understand the essential message it contains. I hope to redress my presuppositions and preconceptions to find the real Messiah. It is to HIM I must devote myself, and to the Father who will have my heart. Amen.

[1] "Enlightenment." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service 14 Apr. 2005 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9032680>