All right, so this fourth lesson is entitled wisdom in creation because there's gonna be a lot of really great stuff about wisdom in creation in the middle of this lesson We're looking at chapters 14, I tried to put it first 20 all the way through 23, 27, the end of 23, so that's a lot of content here So I'm gonna be doing my best to bring out the main highlights and the more interesting things I think at least to talk about and take away points as we go through this and a lot of it is just gonna be a lot of great practical Applications of wisdom. So remember as I said before as a matter of fact I believe in the last lesson or last couple lessons that C-RAC is really beautifully structured and organized in this alternating pattern of poems Poem on wisdom then after that you've got these various applications of wisdom so practical stuff And that's gonna be the case here as well in this next major section So chapter 14 verse 20 is a fourth poem on wisdom about pursuing wisdom And then we're gonna get into a lot of really great beautiful stuff on the practical application of wisdom And so I'm gonna be looking at a lot of the highlights here and try to teach you the flow of what is going on here At least I perceive it and I really encourage you though this book I mean this is a seven-part series on C-RAC it's 51 chapters We're just scratching the surface and so I really encourage you in a book like this for sure to go back and read it and Absorb it and sip on it like you would find wine as the famous analogy goes because it's just there's so many wonderful passages here You just kind of have to read it slowly and take a little bit by a little bit. We'll look at the highlights All right, so then diving in here to this Roman numeral one chapter 14 through 20 all the way through 15 10 is a fourth poem on wisdom And just as far as a quick recap and a review the three previous poems that we've seen the first poem is chapter one verse one through 10 And that's really focusing thematically on the or the divine origins of wisdom The second poem was in chapter four versus 11th or 19 and the theme there really to summarize and word is just wisdom is discipline He's gonna be hard to pursue wisdom the weaker gonna fall away She tests the her those who love her see she seems really harsh at first But then she's you know put those all these blessings upon you then the third poem on wisdom is chapter six of verse 1831 Where famously it talks about put yourself under her yoke her chains and her manacles and and slave yourself to wisdom And that's really ironically the only way in which you're gonna have freedom freedom from your your simple passions and freedom from unrighteousness and whatnot So so the first poem is on her origins the second poem is on her discipline the third poem is on her slavery if you want to call it that and slaving yourself to her and now this fourth poem to in a word is gonna be about her tender care And so without any further ado then let's read this there are two halves to this poem So let's read the first half versus 20 through 27 and we'll stop look at a couple things here Thank you going all right very good. So chapter 14 verse 20 begins blessed it is the man who meditates on wisdom and who reasons Intelligently he who reflects in his mind on her ways will also ponder her secrets Pursue wisdom like a hunter and lie in weight on her pads.
He who peers through her windows will also listen at her doors He who encamps near her house will also fasten his tent peg to her walls He will pitch his tent or he will tabernacle next to her and will lodge in an excellent lodging place He will place his children under her shelter and will camp under her bows He will be sheltered by her from the heat and will dwell in the midst of her glory All right That's the end of chapter 14 of the first half of this poem and we've seen a lot of this stuff actually summarized in previous poems This first line here blessed isn't actually right right off the path this whole concept of blessed is the man who meditates on wisdom That's been said in other vacations We don't forget Jesus starts off his this course is on wisdom and it's turned them out with the beatitudes of the same idea right Blessed of the poor in spirit and blessed are the me and blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness etc So really I think Jesus has and his servant on the mountain to be attitude so much of his wisdom literature At his disposal that he is elevating and applying to his divine eternal law So that's of course really important to keep in mind and blessedness also I mean that's Psalm chapter 1 verse 1 blessed is the man who turns away from wickedness and walks away righteousness the whole idea But so having said that the second half or this the second half of the first verse blessed is the man who meditates on wisdom Actually saw this back in chapter 6 verse 37 the same kind of concept of you really doing to meditate on wisdom It's not something that you just listen to once like we tend to do you have an interesting quote You know quotes pop up on your social media feeds all the time It's a really cool quote that such and such a person or such and such a thing said that's interesting and kind of move on right But this is the stuff that you got to meditate on you really got to think about and pray about and dissect in your brain using your Intelligence and if you do that if you meditate on wisdom and her teachings then you're truly going to be blessed And this is a thing we've seen before him like I said going back to chapter 6 and just by way of a quick recap here This idea of meditating on wisdom entirely we've seen before in other books of scripture I believe I mentioned this in the last lesson that I should have you can go back to do it on We chapter 6 where famously Moses says love the Lord your God of all your heart soul and strength And think about wisdom meditate on wisdom You write wake up when you get up when you walk down the path and you know teach diligently to your children etc Or he's saying you got to be all in right loving God is not just something you do for an hour on Sunday Or at least for his time in the case of Saturday on the Lord's day That's not something that you do just for a brief amount of time and the rest of the week You're thinking about sports or you're thinking about your hobbies or think about your bills or whatever your career whatever it might be This is something you do every single day that same concept was taught to Joshua if you remember in Joshua chapter one There's this really beautiful structure their chaotic structure Or basically God says that Joshua if you want success wherever you go Then you need to meditate on the law and do not depart from it from the right hand or the left And of course on one I already mentioned someone I mean This is the longest song in this altar all about God's word and his ordinances and his his teachings and his wisdom So you got to meditate on that it's a really long beautiful song So this is the same idea that this fourth poem is opening up with is if you meditate on wisdom like Moses said and like we find in Joshua Like we find in the Psalter you're gonna be blessed You got a reason intelligently you can reason unintelligently I think that's kind of an important adverb right there You can reason very badly if you're not careful So reason intelligently meditate on wisdom and you're gonna be great You're gonna be blessed and there's these various analogies that this first half of the poem uses like pursue wisdom like a hunter And lie in wait on her pads. I really like that a lot because I'm a hunter myself a pretty recent hobby I've gotten into my middle age and I just really love being out there in the wilderness in in the woods Knocking out some rosaries and thinking about different things and you just kind of have to put yourself in the right path and you know Hopefully the deer pass you by you lie in wait for the deer's pads that might take some time actually right because you don't always see a deer every time You go out and I really like this verse here because if you're a hunter you know someone who wants There's a lot of great analogies right there being patient being persistent being tenacious and ultimately you're gonna get your catch You're gonna harvest your prey so I like that very very much as a man myself And then it also talked about peer through her windows which seems kind of interesting right that's verse 23 He who peers through her windows will listen at her doors various commentaries point out There's a connection with a song of songs I chapter two verse nine there Which doesn't surprise me at all because in the song of songs It's this incredibly beautiful very detailed very well selected series of verses and Refrain all about basically the love between God the bridegroom and his people the bride right and so there's the idea that the bridegroom peers through the Windows to pursue his bride and so that's a nuptial imagery in the song of songs and it seems to be the case here There's an echo there where we there's not the nuptial imagery applies And so we need to peer through the windows of wisdom searching for her longing for not like a peeping tom That's weird that's creepy, but just the desire to be with our beloved And so that connection between God and his people makes sense as well because you know wisdom is an analogy or a type of God as well Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ we've seen before and so there's that nuptial imagery between God and us and I love that And then this other great connection that it has is where you're gonna pitch your tent You're gonna table tabernacle next to her well that is another Old Testament echo of God's tabernacle in the Exodus In fact the feast of tabernacles booths not booze the feast of booze is the feast of Saint Patrick But the feast of booths or tents or tabernacles That's a very important feast for the Israelites because it's celebrating God's presence his tabernacle in the middle of the congregation The people of God and so there's the same idea here where if you pitch your tent next to wisdom like you know God pitched his tent amongst his people you're gonna be blessed and it talks again about you know You're going to find shelter or shade and camp under her bows bows belong to a tree So once again, this is evoking the tree of life that we saw back in chapter 1 back in chapter 6 So wisdom is really an echo of the Garden of Eden if you eat of her fruits You're eating from the tree of the tree of life So we have three really quick echoes going on here echoing the nuptial imagery of the song of songs echoing God's tabernacle Amongst his people in the Exodus echoing and evoking the tree of life in the Garden of Eden So there's a lot of lot of things going on here And that's just scratching the surface honestly So this is the first part of the poem about seek blessed is a man who seeks her who meditates upon her and using all this imagery of dwelling next to Her and pursuing her with all their heart basically right and that teases up nicely for the second half of the poem Which is in chapter 15 verses 1 through 10 And this is all about wisdom's blessings and wisdom's tender care for those who seek her in a very beautiful analogy here of Well, the two greatest things that a woman that a woman could identify with or that could be applied to a woman Which is motherhood and the nuptial connection again as a wife So let me read this here And there's a lot to say chapter 15 verse 1 The man who fears the Lord will do this do what well everything we just talked about in the first half of the poem seeking wisdom If you fear the Lord you're gonna see wisdom and he who holds to the law will obtain wisdom She will come to meet him like a mother and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him She will feed him with the bread of understanding and give him the water of wisdom to drink He will lean on her and will not fall he will rely on her and will not be put to shame She will exalt him above his neighbors and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly She will fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding. That's 100% echoes the gifts of the Holy Spirit again Enclothes him with a robe of glory He will find gladness and the crown of rejoicing and will acquire an everlasting name Foolish men will not obtain her sinful men will not see her She is far from the men of pride and liars will never think of her a hymn of praise is not fitting on the lips of a Center for does not been sent from the Lord a hymn of praise should be uttered in wisdom and the Lord will prosper it Now this is really lovely here because again the metaphor now with a mother and a wife I remember I said before wisdom in Hebrew Hohma as well as in Greek Sophia is a feminine noun And so consistently throughout the wisdom literature and really the whole Bible wisdom is really understood in terms of a feminine person here And like I said the two greatest analogies or the crit desires that a woman may have is to be a mother and to be a bright And probably in reverse order right be a bride than a mother. That's that's a better part So this is lovely here So the wisdom is depicted as a mother or a wife taking care having tender beautiful care of for those who love her and she provides This feast if you caught it she provides a feast of bread and water now right off the bat This is another echo into the Old Testament, which is the Exodus wisdom providing bread and water to those who love her is very much echoing The idea of God providing bread that would be manna to his people in the wilderness as well as water from the rock in the wilderness as well So just like wisdom takes care of those who love her in the same way God took care of his people who was supposed to love him And the first generation didn't do so well and the second generation didn't do any better honestly But maybe Joshua and Caleb and Moses maybe those three so in any case This is another connection to God just like God provided for his people so to a wisdom because wisdom is a type of God Now what's interesting here is that a one commentary the Catholic comment Secret scripture kind of mentions in passing that the word water may be translated to wine that may be debatable right there But of course if it's true and I can't tell you for sure if it's true or not But if there's the idea that wisdom is gonna provide a feast of bread and wine for those who love her Then we definitely have another very obvious connection because bread and wine is evoking the Eucharist the feast the Eucharistic table and the Feast the winning feast of the lamb so that's really beautiful because again wisdom as we saw before is a type of Jesus Christ Jesus is wisdom incarnate so if you love Christ and pursue Christ then you're gonna be fed with bread and wine in the Eucharistic table So that is 100% awesome typology right there.
Either way it works right you got bread and bread and wine 24 to Jesus in the Eucharist bread and water looks backwards looking at God while the Trinity providing for his people in the wilderness That's pretty awesome, but let's look here to quick quote from a Catholic state of Bible Which talks about this metaphor as a mother and why it says quote wisdom is personified as a woman through a double metaphor She is like a mother welcoming her son or like a young bride eagerly waiting for her husband and it gives us a bunch of verses on Motherly imagery which we can't really get into Isaiah and wisdom we talked about this in the wisdom Bible study And also a bunch of verses on the bridal imagery such as Proverbs and wisdom as well All right So that's just a really good recap again of what we said many times wisdom is depicted as a mother and a bride and it's very very explicit Right here is it isn't some other passages, but this really I think takes the cake now There's another typological connection here in the history of the Catholic Church as well as using Orthodoxy to a certain extent Which is connection with Mary Mary is fulfilling both of these images here She is called the seed of wisdom the mother of wisdom because of course of course Jesus Christ is wisdom incarnate and Mary's the mother of Jesus She is the mother of wisdom basically in the seed of wisdom Seed of wisdom is really tender the whole motherly imagery because if you can imagine in a very devotional way in a very practical way as well Jesus Christ sitting on Mary's lap and either nursing or just being cuddled with and fondled in You know Mary pitching is cheek or something like that and the very tender very tender image You know she literally is the seat of wisdom Jesus is sitting is seated on her lap and that's very very lovely and of course She is the virgin bride of God She is the very spiritual sense of the spouse of the Holy Spirit and sadly, you know Not a lot of Christians can get that far in the logic train You know if she can see used by the power of the Holy Spirit She is in the very spiritual mystical sense the spouse of the Holy Spirit She is the daughter of God the father She's the spouse of the Holy Spirit God the Holy Spirit and she's the mother of God the son Jesus Christ So she has a very special relationship with each member of the Trinity So that's really lovely that typological connection is Mary's the seed of wisdom in the virgin bride of God But there's another quote here about this natural imagery from another commentary the introduction of Old Testament Which says focusing on the natural relationship the man who pursues wisdom will win her as his wife and she will bring him every blessing Bistod by an ideal wife and quotes of proper 31 that famous walk in a second So she will bring him every blessing bestowed by an ideal wife once again We encounter in the wisdom literature the striking image of the wise man's nuptial or marital relationship with lady wisdom Implying that her pursuit is a total and lifelong commitment not a hobby or a side interest or even a profession in quote And I really wanted to share this particular quote with you because it's just beautiful again It describes this nuptial relationship that an individual soul might have with wisdom and ultimately with God But it really echoes a couple things First I like it because it reminds us of Proverbs 31 that very famous chapter of the ideal wife, right? It's the Proverbs wife. It's often called Proverbs 31 and a lot of women who can who can rise up to that standard You're who can hope and even dare to be to be a wife like that wife in Proverbs 31 It's just too high a standard and that may be true I think in on this life But don't forget that the Proverbs 31 woman is an analogy of lady wisdom because in Proverbs throughout the entire book There's always this echo of pursue lady wisdom love her cling to her Mary her be faithful to her and run away as fast as you can From lady folly that's the really the two ways depicted very famously in Proverbs and it's being pick up here as well So the Proverbs wife the Proverbs woman is really an analogy in a poem about lady wisdom herself And of course women should aspire as a mother and his wife to be that just as many to aspire to be holding righteous as well All right, and the other thing I like about this is when it's talking about this nuptial relationship lady wisdom It's echoing of course this what what marriage should be like when you're married to somebody You just don't hang out with them every now and then right your marriage with that person is not something that you do occasionally You know hanging out on a weekend and spending a little bit of time on a date You know once a month or whatever might be when you're married to someone you're spending all the time that you can with them You think about them when you're away you tackle life together and various passions and desires and goals about life and raising kids and you know Just really helping each other to grow as men and women right and that's why that's the relationship we need to have with wisdom It's not a hobby. It's not a side interest It's not a profession and you know I'm lucky enough to be able to teach scripture as my full-time job and you know run this website and all this type of stuff That's wonderful, but it's and it's a very important wake-up call for anybody who has a profession of teaching the faith Of teaching scripture or teaching theology or catechists at the parish or whatever it might be It's not just a job.
This is a lifelong commitment for everybody And I think people who do it as a profession need to be very very careful not to burn out or just treat it as another thing That you got to do your relationship with wisdom has got to be like a marriage a good marriage a holy marriage Where you're thinking about wisdom all the time? I find that very very inspiring and very important Okay, so that's the end of the second half of this fourth poem on wisdom I've been talking about it for about what 20 minutes now give or take and we've seen a lot there And of course you could always dive in a little bit deeper But that gives us a good idea So the theme of this poem is the tender care of wisdom as a mother and as a wife the typology of Mary who fulfills both of these roles Of course, there's typology of Jesus and the Holy Spirit that's with it. I mean God is wisdom and uncreated wisdom And so that's all very very fruitful. I hope for you to all right excellent now There's a flow here that we finished the fourth poem We're at chapter 15 verse 10 and now we're going to be looking at how do we seek wisdom in my mind?
I'm always trying to find what I call kind of an oscilli way the very various monkey bars You've got to swing from one idea to another trying to find the logic train of how it's all connected I think Ciriac is very well structured Proverbs as much harder as I said before but Ciriac is very well structured by and large And so if you're trying to seek wisdom and dwell with her and tabernacle next to her and peer through her windows trying to find Turn all this stuff what's going to be an obstacle to all of that when that's that's sin right that sin and so now naturally This next section in Ciriac chapter 15 verse 11 through chapter 16 is going to talk about free will and it's gonna talk about sin and the origins of good and evil because we have a choice We are perfectly free moral creatures to seek wisdom or as the end of the poem talks about the sinner of the liar The person who's prideful is not going to find her and not gonna think of her and that's our choice That's the segue I think in this next segue segue here in this next section excuse me little tongue tied there And this is a very important section about free will one of the most important sections in the Old Testament If not in the Bible about free will and our ability to choose no one is pre-determined to Commit a particular action our own sins and our own habits can incline us a certain way But ultimately we do have free will we are free moral creatures to choose good and to turn our backs on evil And this next section is very important So let's read a few verses at a time and I have some quotes to share with you Hey, this is Doc Nick Thank you so much for listening to this course sample if you enjoyed it and want to listen to the entire lesson Please become a student over at scripture and tradition calm where you can listen to this entire course But also all the other courses that we have available in the S&T audio library where you can listen to them on demand however And whenever you want so thank you so much. God bless you and keep setting your Bible