ECCLESIASTES 3:16

     " And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgement - wickedness was there, in the place of justice - wickedness was there."     (NIV)

     This verse, along with several before and after it, is an expression of utter emptiness and negativity.  The author is Solomon.  If the readers continue further into Ecclesiastes they will discover that Solomon not only expressed how empty the world is; but, also that satisfaction comes only from knowing the Lord.  Earlier  in Solomon's life,  God asked him what he gift he would like.  Solomon answered that he would like to have wisdom.  God was so pleased at Solomon's answer that He granted him not only wisdom, but also, wealth, fame, power, and prestige.
     But looking back on his own life, Solomon realized that the only meaningful experience he'd had was in knowing God;  all else was nothing.  So Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes to teach his people that while success and prosperity are nice during our short stay on earth, they are meaningless when compared with eternal values.





 In  chapter 17 of Deuteronomy God gave certain commands for future kings.  One such command was that each king must write a copy of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).  Writing the Torah included, of course, the specific "do's and don'ts" for a king of Israel.  Part of this reads: "Only he shall not multiply horses to himself... Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away; neither silver and gold."  (Deuteronomy 17: 16-17)  But Solomon, when he wrote his copy of the Torah, changed one letter.  One letter!  In the original language of the Bible- Hebrew- the word was "yarbeh", meaning "he shall not multiply".  But, Solomon changed it to "arbeh", which means "I will multiply".  Solomon thought that he was wise enough that he could increase all these things in his life, and not give in to temptation.

depiction of Solomon worshiping false god

The reason God said,  "Neither shall he multiply wives unto himself," was to prevent the many wives' different pagan practices from creeping into Solomon's beliefs and practices, pulling him away from the One True God.  Solomon thought that his insight would prevent this...  But, here is what the scriptures say: "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart to other gods".  (I Kings 11:3)  To paraphrase Ecclesiastes 2:12,  Solomon ended up saying: " Because I thought of myself as wiser than Torah, because I persuaded myself that I fully understood Torah, and because I thought I could change the words of Torah,  all my understanding and knowledge turned out to be folly."

  



      Nowadays we have so many evil influences in our lives... TV, movies, the news, magazines... almost all the media is telling us that sin is okay.  Our legal system often seems to protect the bad guy and punish the good guy. It seems as if justice has lost out to wickedness.  But we, like Solomon, need to look at the larger picture.  We need to look back to Torah.  God has the perfect plan, and He gave us a copy of it!  We do not and can not have the vision He has... Eternity is a long time.
     Are you living with eternal values in mind?

PROVERBS 3:16

          "Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor."  (NIV)

     The subject of this verse is wisdom.  If you substitute the subject into the verse, it would read, " Long life is in wisdom's right hand; in wisdom's left hand are riches and honor."  The author is Solomon - the wisest man on earth..  Through the Holy Spirit, Solomon wrote the majority of the Proverbs.  He also collected and compiled the rest of the writings from other great men of his time.  Solomon's goal was to teach people how to take God's principals and apply them to everyday living. Wisdom is the main theme of Proverbs, but there are  lots of topics involved: honesty, self-control, morality, marriage, parenting, how to handle oneself in business - to name a few.  Since God will be the final judge of all we do, applying His wisdom is certainly good advice.
     God can use almost anything to teach His people.  In the story I'm about to share, God used an animal to demonstrate wisdom for me.  Only God could have known what I would need to know...
  


       Years ago when I was a home health nurse, I was making my visits in the countryside of rural Georgia. Because of the seriousness of this particular patient's condition,  he required  daily nursing visits.  And, as often is the case with this type of nurse-patient relationship, I had become good friends with Mr Wellborn, his family, and his pets... several dogs and several cats, all of which I knew by name, and all of which would come running to greet me when I arrived each morning.
     But, one day a new cat greeted me.  He was a beautiful black and silver tabby, with a white "tuxedo" in the front, very expressive eyes, and a constant smile on his little face.  When I opened the car door, the cat jumped in!  He spoke to me.  He didn't say the typical "Meow".  He said,  "Ooomp-yow".  Amused, I removed him from my car, made my nursing visit, and went on with my day.



      Next day, same thing.  Cat into car. "Ooomp-yow".  Out of car. Me into house to do nursing visit. I asked the Wellborns what their new cat's name was, but they explained that he wasn't theirs. He had simply shown up one day, and they could not keep him.
     Same scenario for two weeks.  Open car door.  Cat jumps in.  SO happy to see me!  Those eyes... "Ooomp-yow!"  In my mind I was calling him Spanky.  One day, my patient's daughter, with tears in her eyes, told me that they had found a home for Spanky. A farmer acquaintance of theirs was going to take him to be a barn cat;  he would pick him up in a few days... Then she said, "I think he needs a better home than that.  We have been praying that he would live with you."   SIGH.  Arrangements were made and Spanky came home with me two days later.
  


   And Spanky was a wonderful pet.  Everybody loved him.  So smart.  So funny.  Never, ever, ever got up on a table or a kitchen counter... such a good boy.
     But, then one evening he got hit by a car.  The Vet had to amputate his left arm at the shoulder joint.  He had several other injuries as well, and it was touch-and-go for a while.  I took him home the second day, because the Vet felt he would be more likely to recover at home with me.  I washed him and fed him like an infant.  Talked to him. Sang to him. Despite my efforts, Spanky became very depressed, much like people do when they lose a limb or experience any major change in body image.  I got up every two hours during the night to coax Spanky to eat or drink. And I sobbed aloud the first time he looked at me and said, "Oooomp-yow".
     Spanky, also known as "Mr Oooomp", recovered and got around amazingly well.  He was strong and courageous, and remained very friendly.  He learned to use his right paw for washing, etc. (Most cats are left-handed.)
     Years later, I developed a serious medical problem.  I had to deal with body image changes.  I was unable to use my right arm, and barely able to use my right leg.  I had to learn to use my left hand for washing, eating, etc. Dealing with disability is not easy; you take one step forward, then two backwards again.  You start to think, "Hey, I'm doing okay". And then you have a setback.  And then you cry.
  

       Pets have this wonderful sensitivity about them.  If  I was lonely, or tired, or in pain... all I needed  was that sweet little face nearby... and "Oooomp-yow".  Spanky was there, telling me, "I know just how you feel... It will be alright."  Spanky has since passed away, but I will never forget how much comfort that funny little fellow was.
     I have often told  Spanky's story to demonstrate how wise God is.  He had me nurse Spanky back to health; then, He had Spanky help take care of me.  Spanky learned to completely trust me during his illness, and I learned to completely trust God during mine.  I learned that God would never leave me or forsake me.  God had used a simple animal to reveal to me His wisdom.
     Wisdom.  The application of knowledge.  Nothing happens by chance when you walk with God.


  

I KINGS 3:16

                       "Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him."   (NIV)

     Well, now, you don't see THAT verse every day!  Let's see what we can find out about this story!

     The king mentioned in this verse is king Solomon, David's son.  God gave Solomon the gift of wisdom.
When two women came to him, they presented Solomon with a problem.  The first woman spoke: "Both of us live in the same house and we both had babies within three days of each other.  During the night this woman's baby died, so she got up and traded the babies while I was asleep.  When I woke up to nurse my son, I found the dead baby. But, when I looked at him closely, I could see that this was not the little boy I had given birth to."
     But, the second woman insisted, "No!  The dead child is hers and the living one is mine!"  The two women argues back and forth before the king.  Then Solomon said to the guards, "Bring me a sword."  They did so.  Then he gave the order: "Cut the baby in two and give half to one woman and half to the other."
          (Oh, my!  I remember hearing this Bible story when I was a child.  Being fairly sensitive and one with an active imagination, I always feared that the end of the story would change!  oh, no!  And something terrible would happen to the little baby!  Would they cut him up and down or at the waist? Ugh. Ugh. Ugh!  And, I would be praying, "Please, oh, PLEASE, don't let them hurt the baby!"  But, I digress... let's get back to the story...)
     So, after the "solution" was offered - to give one-half of the child to each woman, the first woman (whose son it really was) said, "No, please my lord, don't kill him.  Give her the living baby instead."  But, the second woman said, "Neither I nor you shall have him.  Cut him in two."   Then king Solomon gave his ruling:  "Give the living baby to the first woman.   Do not kill him; she is his mother."
     King Solomon's wise decision spread throughout Israel and the people held their king's wisdom in awe.

     We all have wisdom available to us; it is a gift from God.  We only need to pray, listen, and apply God's word to our lives.