WISDOM INSIGHTS NO. 2 – IF WE LACK WISDOM, WE CAN ASK FOR IT!

"Now give me wisdom and knowledge……." 2 Chronicles 1:10

This is the second of a series of thoughts about wisdom that I have been mulling over for a number of years as I have looked at the choices we each face in our daily lives and the choices we make as a society. Some choices that we make are obviously harmful and everyone can see that there is cause and effect. For example, if you park your car on a train track and stay in the car, it is unlikely that there will be long term health benefits. Almost everyone can understand this. However, in today’s world, increasingly it seems that ideology is more important than truth. Ideology often is the lens through which information is filtered, and there no longer appears to be a quest for truth.

A “progressive” world view dominates entertainment, the arts, education and the media so that wisdom (one definition being sound judgments based on what we know) is pushed aside in favour of ideology. For example, an ideology has arisen seemingly out of nowhere, that sex – that is whether you are male or female – is a choice that can be made after you are born. Armed with the ideology of gender fluidity, psychologists and doctors are intervening in many children’s lives, administrating medications that can have adverse impacts on their health and performing radical surgery to “benefit” the child. Extraordinarily, this is often backed up by the legal system as seen with the horrific case of a father in Vancouver, Canada. The father was jailed because he opposed the state’s intervention in his daughter’s life, for gender reassignment, which was undertaken in secret by the school and state authorities. How could this even happen?

Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire explores some of these issues in his film: “What Is A Woman ?”, a question which apparently is so hard that it stumps nominees for the US Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated by the Biden administration to the Supreme Court, could not give a definition of “woman” because she said that “I’m not a biologist”. This should have been enough to ensure that she was not confirmed to the highest court in the US but Western society’s retreat from basic biology in favour of ideology made the definition of “a woman” very dangerous. Brown Jackson will now bring her ideological legal viewpoint to decisions made by the Supreme Court. Somehow, facts no longer matter but rather feelings, even though as Ben Shapiro often says: “facts down care about your feelings”.

The Fear of the Lord

So – how did we get to this point in Western society? The answer is that we have lost the “fear of the Lord”, which I wrote about in last week’s newsletter. “Fear” is the translation of the Hebrew word  יָרֵא (yârê’) which means to venerate, to honour, to esteem, to reverence, to stand in awe, to respect and to be afraid. To fear God is to place Him at the centre of life, to worship Him and to love the things that He loves and has outlined in His law. If we don’t “fear” God then we will make up our own ways and laws. We all have a predilection for sin and as Bob Dylan sang: “we all have to serve somebody – it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but we have to serve somebody”.

So- there is a profound binary choice to be made in our lives each day – Satan or God – even if each of us may not understand the significance of our choices at the time. Søren Kierkegaard said that “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. I think that we can all recognise the significance of our decisions when we look backwards and are informed by the outcomes of these decisions. Then we can have the experience to understand wise versus foolish choices, as we look forwards.

In the Bible, we are given the details about the lives of various key characters to assist us in understanding some of the characteristics of wisdom. This week I am writing about the wisdom of two key Old Testament figures - Joseph and Solomon.

The Story of Joseph and his Wisdom from God

In the Bible, Joseph is identified as one of the early characters who was wise. This description occurred at a time when the Pharaoh of Egypt had a disturbing dream (see Genesis 41). Joseph had a painful road to the acquisition of wisdom. The second youngest of 12 brothers, he recounted a dream to the family which suggested that his father and brothers would all serve him. As his father Jacob’s favourite, he was already on shaky ground with his brothers and he was sold by them into slavery, ending up in Egypt while his father believed that Joseph was dead. While Joseph had favour from the Lord, he had ongoing difficulties, eventually languishing in an Egyptian prison, having been framed for sexual assault. It does seem as though it is a hard road to walk for the acquisition of wisdom. Most of us would have “thrown in the towel” but Joseph’s foundations and belief in the God of  his great-grandfather Abraham, grandfather Isaac and father Jacob, enabled him to have faith that God would work everything for good (Genesis 50:20).

In a series of bizarre events involving dreams, while Joseph spends a long period in prison, he is eventually summoned to interpret a dream of the Pharaoh. This was a dream about cows and heads of grain (Genesis 41) that had stumped the wise men and magicians of Egypt. Pharaoh says that he has heard that Joseph is a top dream interpreter. Rather than say yes, Joseph tells Pharaoh, with humility: “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Pharaoh then tells Joseph his dream about 7 fat cows coming out of the river and being eaten by 7 gaunt and ugly cows. Also 7 heads of grain which withered and were devoured by 7 thin heads of grain. Remarkably, Joseph immediately knows that the dream is one event and that God is showing Pharaoh what He is about to do. Joseph says that there will be 7 years of plenty in Egypt followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph also says that the fact that the dream was repeated means this event will shortly come to pass. Then, amazingly, Joseph provides a solution to Pharaoh. He says that someone should be appointed to gather 20% of the produce during the plentiful years to store for the 7 years of famine that will come after. Then the Bible narrative tells us (Genesis 41:37-43):

“So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.”

It is a remarkable ascent to power for Joseph and the story demonstrates a number of aspects of wisdom:

1. Acknowledge that wisdom comes from God. In Egypt, a country with multiple “gods”, the Pharaoh recognized that with Joseph’s interpretation of the dream and his prescribed solution that to deal with the coming crisis, the country needed “a man in whom is the spirit of God”. Pharaoh had wisdom and discernment to understand that God Himself had shown Joseph all this. There was a realization that there was one true God and that for the benefit of the country, it was good to be on God’s side!

2. The road to wisdom may be a painful one because it often requires real suffering so that pride and self-confidence, are replaced by humility and trust in God. Moses, for example, must have had wonderful leadership qualities and intelligence but it required 40 years in the backside of desert of Midian, a location that today is probably north-western Saudi Arabia, for him to be useful to God. This was a tough and barren location but there was a refining of Moses by God for God’s purposes. It does seem that if we find ourselves in the ”wilderness”, we should ask God to understand His purposes for us and to learn any necessary life lessons.

3. Never underestimate the significance of a dream. Throughout the Bible, God reveals Himself and His plans to people through dreams. If you have a dream that seems significant, write it down and discuss with others who have godly discernment and a history of being able to interpret dreams.

4. Good leaders are not threatened by smart and gifted people but appoint them to key positions. In the case of Pharaoh, he had wisdom to determine that Joseph was a man under God’s favour and was “discerning and wise”. This decision shows remarkable humility when you consider that Joseph was a Hebrew, dragged from prison, with no degrees or credentials but only training in the school of hard knocks. It takes great humility to appoint those who are more “discerning and wise’ than yourself. This is even more the case when you are a ruler, like Pharaoh, with unlimited power.

5. Prepare for the lean years. The years of “famine” are always around the corner if you study financial cycles. It is important to “store up” resources during the years of plenty to prepare for the famine years. It seems clear that there are years of famine ahead, with energy and food becoming scarce. In whatever way we can, we need to have our “storehouses” filled and prepared for the famine ahead. Some years ago, I went to a seminar for farmers where there was evaluation of financial data over a 30 year period for many farms in south-eastern Australia. The data showed that there was an average of three profitable years in every ten. I realized, that just like Joseph, great care had to be taken during the profitable years to “store up” resources, to ensure the long-term prosperity of a farm.

In contrast to Joseph, who went through a very tough apprenticeship for the acquisition of godly wisdom, King Solomon, grew up under the tutelage of his father King David who had a profound trust in God and “fear of the Lord”. This training ground allowed Solomon to understand that he was not equipped for the difficult role of governing the people of Israel and he asked God for wisdom.

King Solomon Asks for Wisdom

King Solomon was King of Israel when Israel reached its zenith of power and influence in the Middle East. He became the ruler of Israel almost 3,000 years ago in 987BC and oversaw extraordinary prosperity for the kingdom during his 40 year reign. This occurred around 1,000 years after Joseph came to prominence in Egypt.

(As an aside - Solomon was acknowledged for his wisdom but this wisdom did not appear to extend to his interaction with women. King Solomon had “700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kings 11:3).  Solomon in his older age, under the influence of wives who worshipped other “gods” turned Solomon away from the true God to “Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…..” 1 Kings 11:5-6. )

When Solomon became King of Israel, he was only about 20 years old. There had been significant scheming by King David’s other sons, notably Adonijah, who tried to take power before his father died. King David had young Solomon anointed by Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest.  Solomon then took drastic action, acting on the advice of his father, and put to death a number of  his enemies, including his brother Adonijah (1 Kings 1). Having secured his power, even at the beginning of his reign, he put the worship of God at the centre of his leadership.

After being anointed King of Israel, Solomon went with all his leaders and judges to Gibeon, a short distance from Jerusalem, where the tabernacle of meeting, that Moses had constructed from a divine plan, was located. In worshiping God at the tabernacle, Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on the bronze altar. Clearly he was a man of extravagance! What happened next is outlined in the Second Book of Chronicles 1:7-12:

“On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honour or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

A similar account is given in 1 Kings 3:1-15 and from these two passages there are some important insights that we can gain about wisdom:

1. Putting God at the centre of national life is a winning strategy. 1 Kings 3:3 tells us that “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David…”. Israel was raised up as a nation by God to demonstrate His ways and His law. When the nation of Israel put God at the centre of life in the kingdom, the country achieved great prosperity. Solomon achieved peace and stability in his kingdom and his wisdom was legendary.

2. Understand the priorities and strategies required for the role that you’ve been given. Solomon understood that to lead Israel, he needed to know how to “go out and come in”. The “going out” refers to leading the nation in battle whereas “coming in” indicates leadership in worship as the nation came in before the Lord. Solomon had a remarkable blueprint for a temple to worship God that had been given to his father King David. He made this centrepiece of worship the foundation of the kingdom and there was great unity during his reign.

3. If you don’t know what to do, ask God! It must have been daunting for Solomon at such a young age to be made king over Israel. When God appeared to him in a dream, Solomon knew that he didn’t have the leadership skills required. His request was for “wisdom and knowledge” and in the companion passage in 1 Kings 3:9 he asks God for “an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil”. We often think that we need to have inherent qualities for leadership but we can ask God for wisdom and the New Testament book of James (James 1:5) tells us that:

   “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

4. Conscious incompetence is better than unconscious incompetence! Everyone will have experienced at some stage, leaders who are unconsciously incompetent (“they don’t know what they don’t know”). Bureaucracies abound with leaders who have risen in organizations under “the Peter Principle”. The principle is that people tend to rise in organizations to levels where they are incompetent. I have included a 5 min video link below

   that is quite helpful in understanding this idea by the man who formulated this principle, Dr Laurence Peter. Conscious incompetence (you know what you don’t know) is easier to remedy than unconscious incompetence (you don’t know what you don’t know). King Solomon knew that he needed wisdom and an understanding heart to judge between good and evil. His son, Rehoboam, failed at the first hurdle, when clearly being unconsciously incompetent, he heeded the counsel of his young advisors rather than the wisdom of his father’s confidants, who advised easing the taxation burden on the people (1 Kings 12:1-16).

5. In leadership, honour and reward are likely to flow from having your eyes on the needs of others rather than yourself.  It is interesting that King Solomon must have had on his heart the challenge of leading and being a judge over what now was the very substantial nation of Israel. So when God appeared to him in a dream with a very broad question: “what shall I give you”, Solomon immediately requested a skill and quality that would enable him to “go out and come in” before his people. God was pleased with what was in Solomon’s heart and in addition to granting Solomon his request, added “riches and wealth and honour”.

There is much more to learn from the stories of Joseph and Solomon but I hope that at least some of these 10 points, both related to dreams, may help to understand a little more about wisdom. Next week, we will delve into some of the teachings of Solomon which are outlined in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. To summarize the main points that I have discussed from the stories of Joseph and Solomon:

1. Acknowledge that wisdom comes from God.

2. The road to wisdom may be a painful one.

3. Never underestimate the significance of a dream.

4. Good leaders are not threatened by smart and gifted people.

5. Prepare for the lean years.

6. Putting God at the centre of national life is a winning strategy.

7. Understand the priorities and strategies required for the role that you’ve been given.

8. If you don’t know what to do, ask God!

9. Conscious incompetence is better than unconscious incompetence!

10. In leadership, honour and reward are likely to flow from having your eyes on the needs of others rather than yourself.  

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In this week’s Sons of Issachar Newsletter, my usual information about “articles that caught my attention” has been scaled down into an analysis of the US mid-term elections. As I wrote the story, it ended up being quite long and complex and so I decided to hold over other articles until next week.

An Analysis of the US Mid-Term Election Results

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about the importance of the US mid-term elections and their significance for the US and the rest of the world. Because of the time difference between Australia and the US, I was able to watch the election coverage early into the morning US time and follow the results of the various races in each of the US states. Most commentators whom I respect, believed in advance that there would be a very strong vote for Republicans across the US. This was based on Democrat Joe Biden’s poor leadership and his promotion of policies that are destructive to families. Crime and violence are out of control, inflation is heading towards double digits, energy production has been shut down, illegal immigrants are pouring across the southern border as are various dangerous drugs and the Biden administration is trying to promote gender change in young kids. It’s hard to see how Republicans could lose, with the Biden administration apparently trying to destroy the foundations of the US and opinion polls showed that 70% of people believed that the US is heading in the wrong direction. However, probably as a result of internal polling, the Democrats chose an election platform warning about “threats” to women’s reproductive rights and “threats” to democracy, neither of which were true. President Trump’s name was evoked as a dark force at every stage of the Democrat campaign and also what Joe Biden called the “MAGA Republicans”. This unlikely tactic seems to have worked, as rather than a Republican triumph, the Republicans picked up just a few House seats but many of the critical electorates stayed under Democrat control.

The expected red wave (and some even predicted a red tsunami) never materialized but instead what we saw was a red “ripple”! From the pre-election polls, the Republicans were expected to end up with a majority of up to 40 seats in the House of Representatives and a majority of four in the Senate. As I write this newsletter it seems as though the Republicans may have a majority of just a few seats in the House of Representatives but in the Senate will be decided by the State of Georgia. It is likely there that will be a runoff between the Republican and Democrat candidates on 6th December, because no candidate has been able to obtain more than 50% of the votes.

The overall result is a shocking one for Republicans and in the last few days I have read and listened to dozens of commentators and their analyses to try to understand what has happened and the reason for these disastrous results for Republicans. I believe that the results are very significant for the Sons of Issachar readers and listeners who are trying to understand the signs of the times. Here is my considered analysis after listening to a rage of different viewpoints and pulling together some opinions that I’ve heard and adding my own amateurish thoughts:   

1. Election integrity will continue to be a major issue in the US and will have a significant impact leading up to the presidential election in 2024.

   In the period before the 2020 presidential election, there was widespread use of postal voting. This was significant because the rules around postal voting were very loose and resulted in the likely dumping of hundreds of thousands of illegal postal votes in a number of the battleground states. Because each state is responsible for its own election procedures, in the last two years, Republican-controlled states increased the rigour of their voting procedures. However, in Democrat controlled states such as Pennsylvania, the rules have remained very loose. It was noticeable that on the evening of the mid-term elections, Florida had watertight processes and the results were available early in the evening of election day. This contrasted dramatically with Arizona and Pennsylvania where results are still coming in today. Not surprisingly, many people are suspicious of what may be happening behind the scenes in such a drawn out counting process.  Then there are the voting machines themselves which have been highlighted as potentially “hackable”. Additionally there was a failure of some machines in some of the key states during the voting process. The end result is that both Republicans and the Democrats are suspicious of each other and it is difficult for people to have confidence in the election results, given the range of opportunities for election tampering. 

2. The Donald Trump effect may be an ongoing force for damage to the Republican Party. President Trump had no greater supporter than me and I have a number of caps saying Make America Great Again. However my support for him started to waver in 2020 when I realized that the COVID-19 vaccines and “Operation Warp Speed” were actually a crime against humanity. “Vaccines’ that had no long-term studies were forced on the world population and they didn’t even work. One can make excuses for Trump because he has no background in science and medicine. However, he has never acknowledged the damage that the vaccines have caused and he continues even today to trumpet his success in vaccine production. This is a failure of leadership. I used to think that Trump’s egocentricity was charming in its own way. With so many people trying to bring him down, he needed to have a strong sense of self-belief. Nevertheless, I was horrified to see that during the election campaign,  Trump turned every issue towards himself and his successes. It was particularly shocking to see his statement after the elections about Governor Ron DeSantis and his warning that DeSantis shouldn’t run for president. Trump said “If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”. Trump only knows one path – ruthlessly attack any opponent and take no prisoners. This “crash through or crash” approach is a quality that has been in Trump’s favour but given that his abrasive qualities are being used by Democrats, it may be necessary for the Republicans to look for another presidential candidate. This will polarize the Republican Party in the coming months and I suspect that the “never Trumpers” will be in the ascendancy. In addition, Trump is now 76 years old and he will be close to 79 years old in January 2025 (his birthday is 14 June) , when the next President is inaugurated. It is a significant risk, as we’ve seen with Joe Biden, to install an elderly President.

3. The failure of US citizens of voting age to vote, is an indication of the likely decline of the US. It is extraordinary that in the world’s greatest power, only 50% of the eligible 250 million electors, actually voted in the mid-terms. This signals that there is no awareness of the threats to the foundations of US republicanism and a lack of engagement by half the population. Citizens must be distracted by the daily issues of life and social media. Given the disastrous policies by the Democrats who control the Presidency and the Congress, US citizens should have been up in arms and then turned out in force to vote against the destructive policies.

   To me, the failure of voters to turn out in huge numbers indicates the lack of understanding by citizens of the threats to their freedom. Additionally, the attack on God’s laws, which are the foundation of the US Constitution, is to invoke God’s judgment. How could this happen? John Zmirak, in an article just out in The Stream magazine, thinks the election results may be because many US citizens are like Patty Hearst and the mid-term elections were decided by Stockholm Syndrome!

   The story of Patty Hearst gained the world’s attention in 1974, as Hearst, a 19 year old US heiress was kidnapped, starved, raped and beaten by left-wing terrorists. She then joined the terrorists herself, sprouting the Marxist slogans of the Symbionese Liberation Front. She became a victim of “Stockholm Syndrome” which is a condition where “people develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time”. Zmirak writes:

   “Our kidnapping started the moment the Chinese bioweapon was unleashed on America, and turned into a pretext for public health tyranny that closed our churches, wrecked our economy, and forced abortion-based vaccines into our veins. It continued through the “mostly peaceful” riots that burned down our cities while cops twiddled their thumbs — except when they came to arrest honest citizens like Jake Gardner and Kyle Rittenhouse who dared to defend themselves. Our captivity dragged on through the blatant theft of a presidential election, and the thuggish crackdown on free speech after January 6. It continues to this day, with a politicized FBI and IRS policing our speech, a border left callously open, and economic chaos. We don’t know if we’ll have enough diesel fuel to bring us food at Christmas. America is a kidnapping victim, the subject of powerful brainwashing by callous, ruthless elites.”

It is worthwhile reading the entire Zmirak article which is provocative but food for thought. Zmirak is right – somehow many US citizens have been captured by “terrorists”, which include the media and Big Tech. As Benjamin Franklin said “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” Media groups, under the control of left-wing globalists, are attempting to define a “new normal” where what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right.  Even church leaders have been prepared to deny the fundamentals of God’s laws in the rush to worship at the altar of woke ideology. The future then looks grim as there are few signs that US citizens in the large Democrat-controlled states – New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California – are awake to the threats to their freedom.

4.     There is a bright light in the darkness and it shines in the south-east of the US in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis won re-election by 20 points over his Democrat opponent. As he said in his victory speech, which it is worthwhile watching in full:

“We chose facts over fear, we chose education over indoctrination, we chose law and order over rioting and disorder. Florida was the refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as a citadel for freedom for people across this country and the world……..We had the conviction to guide us and we had the courage to lead……..the people have delivered their verdict: freedom is here to stay!”

De Santis spoke simply and with conviction about his government’s achievements over the last 4 years where hard decisions had been taken to stand up for freedom. Unlike most Democrat-controlled states, Florida chose to end lockdowns early and also did not require mandated COVIDF-19 vaccination and the wearing of masks. Despite having an age profile with many residents aged above 65 years, the overall COVID-19 outcomes for Florida were much better than, for example New York State, which closed down schools, forced masks and vaccination and shifted COVID-19 infected elderly residents into retirement homes.

5.     Conclusions

Despite many Americans being “taken hostage” and being afflicted with “Stockholm Syndrome”, if leaders have the courage to stand on the bedrock principles of freedom and God’s law, as shown by Governor DeSantis, there is still hope for the US. There is though, a fierce grip by the extreme left in Democrat-controlled states and this extends through to the voting machinery and media. It is not hard to see a split in the US in the future and already many people are leaving high taxation, high crime and high regulation states like California and New York, to move to states such as Florida (>300,000 in the last year ), Tennessee, Texas (500,000 people mainly from California) and Idaho (500,000 since 2011).

Given the disparity in the fundamentals between the Democrat and Republican controlled states, preserving the union is going to be increasingly difficult for any future President. In speaking about “the great exodus” of people leaving other states and moving to Florida, Governor DeSantis concluded:

“Florida has served as the promised land. We have embraced freedom, we have maintained law and order, we have protected the rights of parents, we have respected our taxpayers and we reject woke ideology. We fight the woke in the legislature, we fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the corporations. We will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!”

This, to me, summarizes the stark contrast facing the US in the next 2 years leading up to the 2024 Presidential election. Will a champion of freedom, other than the polarizing President Trump, emerge to bring a new dawn of liberty and entrepreneurship to the US, or will the country break down into chaos? Governor DeSantis and his future career decisions may provide the answer.