Wisdom Literature

Well, break is over.
And we're back into the swing of things. Third quarter had begun and the next break I get will be graduation from SBS. Hard to believe it's going by so fast.

This week and next we have the privilege of Ron and Judy Smith teaching the OT wisdom literature: Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. They are the founders of SBS and very wise people themselves.

Proverbs
The proverbs assignment was so enjoyable. I was so amazed at how much great stuff is in this book. We picked four themes of the proverbs and then assembled all the proverbs related to that theme from the book. I've always intended to do something like that out of the book, but now I actually had the time. I encourage you to do that if you are able. One of the themes I looked at was the fear of the Lord. I am realizing now how much of the Christian life requires the fear of the Lord. And wisdom is not something you get without it. Another thing I was challenged by in this book is that it repeatedly says "Get wisdom." I always viewed wisdom as something that passively happens to you as you experience life and learn from those experiences. But, Proverbs says that we must work to get wisdom....we cultivate the fear of the Lord, we put ourselves around wise people, and we do humbly but actively learn from our experiences. I want to make it a life journey to get wisdom.

Job
What an intense book....the great OT book on suffering. Though, I'm realizing how much Job is also about wisdom. Job demonstrates the failure of human wisdom in the face of suffering and in comparison to the wisdom and sovereignty of God. When we did our first outloud read through of this book and I had listened to Job's friends repeatedly trying to get Job to repent from some great sin he had committed so it would alleviate his suffering, and listened to Job cry out to God asking why wasn't he answering him, when God finally answers, I nearly wanted to cry. God's answer is essentially was "Job, who are you? And who am I?" And I believe this is the great fundamental question of human existence....who are we? And who is God? And when those two things get put into perspective....worship is the response.

I was greatly challenged by Job in the midst of my own grieving and suffering over the last few years...and seeing more of the reality of human suffering in general. Our God is great. And we are small. And there is so much in life we don't understand.

So, next week we are diving into Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. I'm sure it will make for some interesting discussions with my fellow classmates!
And as promised, a few select photos from the last few weeks of my time in Taiwan:
With a friend visiting the National Palace Museum


Mmmmmm....fresh grilled squid anyone?


A peek inside a temple as I walked by. It's been interesting going from an Islamic culture to a Buddhist/Daoist one. There is definitely so much to learn and understand here. But, bottom line is, we are all looking for something/someone to worship.



A gorgeous sunset at a beach party over the break. This was also during the Moon Festival so after the sun set, people lit tons of red lanterns and set them floating off over the ocean. This was probably one of my favorite evenings of the break. I'm so thankful to be experiencing so much beauty.