HOS-02 Revelations for the Wise

Hosea designed his book to impart wisdom to God’s people, so how should we understand the concept of wisdom?

Wisdom is the growing capacity to run with, rather than against, the grain of God’s created order. Sometimes the vocabulary is used in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, for something that’s merely a skill or perhaps for abstract philosophizing. But of course, that’s only going to run so far in terms of going with, rather than against, the grain of God’s creation. So, ultimately, wisdom begins where it ends, with the fear of the Lord. And it’s a growing capacity to live in light of the fear of the Lord. So, wisdom is both a process and a product. We have two ways — toward life or toward death. We’re to choose the way toward life and grow in our ability to walk in it in the right direction, rather than choosing to go in a wayward direction and pursue folly. So, wisdom is communicated through tradition. The wisdom literature in the Old Testament provides us with memorable, punchy sayings that enable us to capture the best of what the community wants to pass on regarding how to live well. But wisdom involves not only tradition; it also involves inquiry. It involves ongoing reflection about how that tradition relates to present-day circumstances and challenges. So, the traditional wisdom of Proverbs is balanced out by the more reflective and challenging wisdom of Job or Ecclesiastes.

In the New Testament, of course, wisdom has a new dimension. It becomes more fully personal as it is embodied in Jesus Christ and enabled by the Holy Spirit. Wisdom is further democratized or spread around through the capacity we have to gain the mind of Christ by the Holy Spirit. All of God’s people can grow in wisdom rather than having wisdom be initially focused in a group of sages who are learning to teach others how to live well… The other emphasis in biblical wisdom comes in terms of virtue, and the way that moral and spiritual excellence is formed in community. Of course, ultimately our relationship to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is the center of how we gain wisdom, but Christ, by the Spirit, forms wisdom in his people as the people of God grow together in virtue over time.