Wisdom literature is a gift to the people of God because it gives us an understanding of how people operate, the realities of work, the difficulties of decision making, and the perspective of those who have gone before us. For many people, when they think of wisdom literature they read the book of Proverbs, but there are actually a few more books in the Bible in the “Wisdom” genre. These other books give us different perspectives on how to live wisely, Godly lives with our time here on earth. For example, the book of Proverbs gives us general straight forward truths, “if you do the wicked things that are in your heart, destruction will come from it…”. However, the book of Job, also a “wisdom” book, tells us that sometimes evil befalls upon a righteous, Godly man, and there may be no answer that satisfies the question of “why has this happened to me?” In other words, sometimes you do all the things you should and the outcome does not turn out the way we think it should. Does that not match up with experience? Life is not a computer in which we type commands and outcomes are determined, nor is our walk with God.

The book of Ecclesiastes confronts another aspect of “wisdom”. Ecclesiastes was written most likely by Solomon towards the end of his life. He takes the role of teacher, as story teller, of the vanity of so many of his pursuits and encourages the readers, his pupils, to consider living life in light of God and His sovereignty. Solomon, the wisest man who had incredible wealth, looks at all his material gain and counts it as worthless in comparison to God.

This week we will see how Solomon teaches us to understand God as Lord over time and season and what that means for our lives. We will continue our journey through the book of Proverbs and other wisdom literature this summer as we continue to ask our selves, “How now should we live?”

Ben Melli