There are three ‘Wisdom’ books in the Old Testament – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. We have been looking at Ecclesiastes at St. Mark’s this term. Wisdom books talk about life from the perspective of long reflection on how things really work in the world. If you read through these books you will notice a progressive change in how they rate human wisdom. Proverbs is very optimistic about the value of being a wise person and how it makes everything in life go well. Ecclesiastes, as we will see this week, says that wisdom is useful but no guarantee of success because the world has a chaotic side to it. Job argues that human wisdom is mostly useless in the face of the mysterious wisdom of God that governs the universe. Which of these perspectives rings true to you? Does the world seem like an orderly place to you, or a random place where things happen that you can’t understand? All of these books invite us to consider our place in the wider world and to strive to understand God more deeply so that we can live well, regardless of our ability to know everything. They show us the need for a clearer revelation from God about his purposes for our lives that can overcome the limits of our wisdom.

-Andrew-