Daily Bible Study: Proverbs 8:32-36

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 8:32-36 (NKJV).

Blessed are those who find wisdom and heed it, but those who hate wisdom love death.

Without objective truths existing, this type of passage in scripture becomes nonsensical. If objective truth, truth which is not contingent from our perspective, does not exist, then extolling a particular lifestyle or set of behaviors simply doesn't work.

For example, look at adultery. If adultery is always a bad idea, then it's always wise to avoid adultery. If it's only a bad idea because people aren't good at "getting away with it", then it's only wise to avoid adultery if you aren't good at "getting away with it". It changes the connotation of "wisdom" from being universally applicable to only being conditionally applicable.

This is why it's a "cop-out" if someone ever claims that debating proverbs can't be done, because the philosophical foundation of such writings requires objective truth to exist. The ideas presented are done so universally, and so if the tenet put forth is not universal, you've got an argument that the wisdom being shared is not all that wise after all, or perhaps is at best conditionally wise.

The dynamic plays out in both the temporal and eternal frames as well, in that if sin is only physical, only material, then regardless of what you do in this life, your eternal destiny is likely to be unaffected. If sin carries an eternal burden, then even if you don't face consequences in this life, you might in the next, so especially if you're going to be reincarnated based on how you lived this life, you should adjust your behavior even if you can't fully comprehend all the possible consequences.

What's sad is that, barring the reincarnation aspect, this is how we should teach discipline to children. A child is not always going to understand the full measure of consequences, but their behavior still needs to be guided, and we see this when they disobey their parents and cite only the known consequences as being "handled", them then expressing exasperation that there were further consequences they hadn't been told of which may have swayed their opinion in one fashion or another.

God, throughout scripture, prescribes specific behaviors and practices without always really explaining why. From a logical standpoint, we could deduce why there is no logical inconsistency given that God is good, but emotionally we "just don't like it."

It's the emotional need for more information, to feel like we're participating in the process, to by any means necessary take some credit for the outcomes we experience that drives us to declaring the most illogical things about truth.

That's how those who hate wisdom can love death, not because of some logical argument, but out of the emotional commitment to the desire to be responsible for the entirety of one's fate, of one's future, of us wanting to be God and understanding everything. Those who hate wisdom, who hate a "natural order", or order at all, are going to be drawn by chaos, by destruction, by death.

It's easy to see this in the current social climate with regard to abortion. Never mind that "not having sex" is 100% effective at preventing conception from occurring in the first place, we cannot deny the hedonistic pleasure pursuit, so instead of taking responsibility, we've instead made it a moral imperative that a woman have the freedom to kill her offspring before they've been born.

Try to suggest abstinence? Marriage? Personal responsibility? All of these things are wise, they either provide a control to prevent or a circumstance to appropriately manifest that which people desire from hedonistic pursuits, but instead of that we'll just make it "legal" and "socially acceptable" to kill unborn children and pretend that there is no other choice available.

In fact, if you do suggest these things and anybody is really paying attention, you'll be faced with mountains of hate for suggesting personal responsibility as the proper path forward, and it's not just about sexual activities either, but branches out into political and financial topics as well.

People don't like being told that they are responsible for the bad outcomes in their life in addition to the good outcomes. We just want to take credit for the good and blame someone else for the bad, all while trying to convince ourselves and others that we are god and the universe is just playing "hard to get."

Listen to wisdom. Appreciate the coherence in its universality. Enjoy a life in alignment with God's designs instead of defining yourself through antagonism.