WISDOM INSIGHTS NO. 3 – HONOURING YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER

“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

Wisdom is such an enigma. It seems possible to recognize this quality in another person because of their personal virtues, attributes and track record of wise decisions. Of course, life itself is a great teacher: if you do stupid things and you have bad results, eventually you learn not to do the things that cause pain and distress.  You then can make better decisions. However, as we consider wisdom in the Bible, we find that:

1. Wisdom begins, or has its foundation, in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7), which I discussed in the last few weeks’ newsletters. It is impossible to be wise without God’s counsel because we become “wise in our own eyes”, a sure sign of impending disaster. A friend of mine calls this the demonstration of a high arrogance:ability ratio. In general, our ability score is much lower than that for arrogance and therefore an indication that we “don’t know what we don’t know”. Fortunately, the Bible tells us that if we humble ourselves before God, we also can ask Him to give us wisdom (James 1:5).

2. Wisdom can be learnt from those who have gone before us and has been outlined clearly in various Books of the Bible. The aim of the wisdom books is to teach important lessons for living, often by pithy sayings. The Lexham Bible Dictionary notes that a “distinctive vocabulary is common to biblical Wisdom books”. A number of Hebrew words are found throughout the Biblical wisdom books. These Hebrew words and their English translations include:

   • “wisdom” (חָכְמָה, chokhmah)

   • “understanding” (בִּינָה, binah)

   • “cunning” (עָרוּם, arum)

   •  “stupid” (כְּסִיל, kesil)

   • “scoffer” (לוּץ, luts)

   • “fool” (אֱוִיל, ewil).

So, if we are not wise, we end up being foolish, a scoffer or stupid.

3. Wisdom doesn’t need specialist knowledge but should be evident from first principles, when properly applied. For example, the best indication of future behaviour is past behaviour. So it may be helpful to seek wisdom from those who have an excellent track record and be suspicious of those whose own lives are chaotic. Unfortunately is becoming more and more apparent that as a society, we have handed over responsibilities in many areas to so-called “experts”, whose view of the bigger picture of life may be limited. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the dramatic impact of so-called “experts”. Various opaque computer models were presented by public health specialists, which forecast widespread death unless governments instituted lockdowns. Not only were the models wildly pessimistic but no proper consideration was taken of the broader economic and social impacts  of lockdowns, for which we are paying the price today. Rather than look to “experts” for advice about complex issues, we need to use our own understanding of the world to discern the truth. Of course, wisdom also dictates that we must have a healthy scepticism regarding information provided by governments, academics and commercial interests.

Wisdom Has Its Foundation in the Fear of the Lord – King Solomon’s Lessons

The wisdom books – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes (ascribed to Solomon) and Job (author unknown) are the underpinnings of our explorations of wisdom together. There are a number of other wisdom texts but the Bible books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job  are common to Judaism as well as Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Christianity. The books of Biblical wisdom are described as containing ideas to “attain to virtue and divine favour” (Lexham Bible Dictionary) and have a focus on the challenges of the personal journey through life. The emphasis is on everyday life choices and the sayings often are written in a short but memorable way. Interestingly, wisdom is often portrayed as a woman (“Lady Wisdom”) and the focus of advice is to “my son” and promotes the wisdom of parents. The English word proverb comes from the Hebrew word מָשָׁל (mâšâl) which means a pithy maxim, an aphorism or ethical wisdom.

Let’s have a look at the Book of Proverbs which tells us in the opening verse that we are reading the “Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel”(Proverbs 1:1). When he was only 20 years old, Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern the children of Israel and God granted his request. We are told that:

“God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men…” (1 Kings 4:29-31).

This is a remarkable appraisal and although Solomon lived 3,000 years ago in very different times, the challenges of life and the human heart remain much the same today. Surely, there is a lot for us to learn from a man who was “wiser than all men” and whom God had blessed with “wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore”.

The purpose of the Book is outlined in the early verses (Proverbs 1:2-6):

“To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.”

Then as an overview, we are told (Proverbs 1:7) that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge/wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and instruction”.

So the “fear of the Lord” is the essential foundation or underpinning of wisdom. The Hebrew word for fear denotes reverence, awe, respect, profound faith, obedience and trust. If we do not have the “fear of the Lord”, we have only ourselves at the centre of our lives and so have no foundation for making wise choices. Wisdom requires recognition that there is a Creator of the universe, to whom we are ultimately accountable. He has embedded in the created order, a way of living that is right and if we follow that way, will bring benefit and blessings. Unfortunately our instincts often turn us in a direction that can seem good and fulfil our own immediate desires but ultimately may lead us to destruction. Therefore Solomon tells us that we need to know (the Hebrew word יָדַע yâḏa‘ - implies comprehension, discerning, surety) wisdom and instruction. This involves instruction in justice, judgment and equity. All these words in Hebrew denote righteousness and uprightness. The key thing is that instruction (the Hebrew word מוּסָר mûsâr - also implies correction and chastening) is needed, we need to hear (the Hebrew word שָׁמַע šâma‘ – means to listen and obey) and through good advice and counsel, increase our learning. There is a road to wisdom and it is a journey that requires discipline and good counsel, based on the fear of God Himself.

Honouring Your Father and Mother

As I have been reading through the early chapters of Proverbs, my thoughts went to God’s 10 commandments, given to Moses on Mt Sinai. The only commandment that comes with a reward for obedience is commandment 5:

“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

The Hebrew word for honour is כָּבַד ḵâḇaḏ - and has the implication of heaviness, weightiness or seriousness. Honouring your father and mother is a weighty business and also implies that you listen to them and seriously consider their advice. It must also involve caring for them, considering their needs and loving them.

Solomon follows up to God’s commandment regarding parents, in the early part of Proverbs and says (Proverbs 1:8-9):

“My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck”.

God created the family as the cornerstone of society. In amongst God’s 10 commandments, given to Moses when the children of Israel were on their long desert journey, the necessity of honouring your father and mother is a somewhat surprising commandment. It comes immediately after the first 4 commandments which relate to the centrality of God and His worship. God says that honouring your father and mother brings the reward of “long life in the land”. We also can deduce that the corollary ie failure to honour parents, could lead to a shorter life in the land. Now, most people don’t even know that there is this commandment but if they do, fail in obedience.

From my own experience, I remember thinking in my teenage years that my own understanding was much greater than my parents and I failed to heed much of their good advice. It was only when I was in my 50s that I came face to face with commandment 5, written on the front wall of a church, and I felt confronted by God. I remember thinking – if I want to “live a long life in the land”, I need to do a much better job of honouring my parents. As I was reflecting on this, it seemed to me that honouring my parents meant for me that I needed to return to the family farm and help my elderly parents manage it.

I grew up on the farm as an only child and decided to study veterinary medicine after which I entered the hallowed halls of academia and life on government handouts. Up until being confronted with Commandment 5, I had no interest in being a farmer. I had led the life of an clueless academic for 30 years, swanning around the cafés and restaurants of inner Sydney, attending international conferences and doing what was “wise in my own eyes”. It occurred to me though that God’s wisdom must be greater than mine and so if I had a sense that to honour my parents meant returning to the farm to help them, then I needed a radical shift in life direction.

So, I talked the decision over with my wife and with her agreement, I resigned my job and we packed up all our belongings to move back to the farm, located about 6 hours south of Sydney. My parents, then in their 80s, were delighted about our decision and I had a sense of joy in my heart to be following God’s direction. Shortly after our move, my father died quite suddenly and I was left to deal with my mother, whom my father had nicknamed “the Ayatollah”, which gives you some sense of the challenge that awaited me. Suddenly I was confronted with what honouring really looked like, as I attempted to take over the running of the farm from my 85 year old mother. This turned into an ongoing battle with many ups and down but in the end, a journey for me of learning and humility. As I chased recalcitrant sheep around the paddocks, I sometimes wondered how long my “life in the land” would be! When my mother countered my instructions to the farm workers, I realized that honouring your mother is not an easy instruction. Nevertheless, I can see that the simple obedience of a commandment to honour my father and mother, in a way that I felt called by God, changed my life. It has given me experience and understanding that I could never have obtained as a left -wing academic on government support. I have a sense that it was part of God’s training ground for me to acquire wisdom. I learnt about real work, the challenges of floods and drought, planning during the years of bounty and most importantly, honouring my mother. If I am honest, I can’t give myself an A grade in honouring my mother but I have realized looking back that even taking this decision was a step towards obedience to God. I also may have a few more years in the land that the Lord has given me, to write the Sons of Issachar Newsletter!

Today in society, a family with a mother and father living together is a rarity. Parenting is a challenging task and I have great admiration for single parents who take on such a difficult role. God’s design was for “a father’s instruction” and obedience to the “law of the mother” (Proverbs 1:8) which when heeded, will be like an adornment. It is clear that as parents, we need to carefully consider instruction to our children and to help impart to them “the fear of the Lord”. This requires creativity and also skill in listening. The Book of Proverbs has much advice about the challenges and pitfalls of life and next week I will discuss some of the Proverbs that relate to the “getting of wisdom”.

Wisdom Doesn’t Need Specialist Knowledge – An Example from COVID-19

I have been contemplating this last week, what are the circumstances that enable us to make wise decisions and how to consider this conceptually?  We need to take into account the challenges of deception (increasingly in society we are being told that wrong is right) and there are the problems for all of us in finding reliable information on which to base our decisions. As I thought about these issues, the COVID-19 “pandemic” came to mind as an example where we needed wisdom. I think that the vast majority of people were deceived in relation to taking the untested COVID-19 “vaccines”. After talking to many people, I discovered that most decided to take the “vaccines” because:

1. They were fearful about their health, fear having been induced by governments;

2. They believed information provided by governments, which had their own agendas that had nothing to do with health;

3. They believed the “experts”, paraded on mainstream media networks; and

4. They believed that their own primary care physicians were a reliable source of advice. However, I discovered that none of the dozens of doctors that I talked to had undertaken independent assessment of scientific literature in relation to treatments or vaccinations regarding COVID-19.

Now – I can understand how people were influenced to take the “vaccines” based on one or more of the points above. However, from first principles, and without any technical knowledge, wisdom would dictate a “wait and see” approach and rejection of the “vaccines” on very simple grounds:

1. The normal trial period, set up by the US FDA itself and outlined by the notorious Dr Fauci, is that vaccines need an extended testing period of 5-10 years to ensure that adverse effects, which may initially be hard to detect, are not a problem. This may not be evident in smaller, early trials.

2. The “vaccine” companies were indemnified by governments and so the normal legal consequences for vaccine adverse effects were removed as a constraint. From first principles you can see that the removal of any penalties for harm must make companies less careful when there is a commercial rush to get product to market, as we saw in “Operation Warp Speed”.

3. The “vaccine” manufacturers have a history of billion dollar injury payouts for harm caused by other medications or treatments and so from first principles we can understand that the lure of profit is likely to overcome concerns or caution about products coming to market.

4. All doctors and healthcare professionals were threatened with de-registration if they spoke out against the vaccine and caused “vaccine hesitancy”. This happened in many countries and was an unconscionable constraint on a profession that has a sacred trust with the patient not with the government. Unfortunately, few doctors spoke out but complied with government.

5. Government agencies that oversee the registration and safety of “vaccines” increasingly have a conflict of interest, with commercial organizations now providing more than 50% of the funds for these so-called “independent” government organizations.

The rush to produce a “vaccine”, the pressure by governments to mandate vaccinations, the threat to people’s jobs, the demands on doctors for continuing registration and the secret contracts signed by governments with “vaccine” manufacturers should have been enough for people to reject vaccination without knowing any of the scientific studies. When governments are working so hard to pressure, cajole and threaten people and have taken out advertisements worth billions of dollars to mainstream media, it is self-evident that a wise response must be to say no to vaccination. Yet – government information in Australia indicates that 95% of Australians eligible for vaccination, received the vaccine. To me, this is shocking and indicates that further campaigns using the same tactics must be on the books of various bureaucracies.

I have written in some detail about the COVID-19 vaccination issue as it provides a concrete example of the need for all of us today to make wise choices based on first principles rather than being pressured by governments, social media and commercial companies. Increasingly, various “experts” tell us that we’re in a climate catastrophe, “vaccinations” are essential for our health, elections are fair, gender is fluid and more government debt has no consequences. Each of us need to be wise and in nearly all cases, we can make good decisions without the need for the input of “experts”, simply by asking questions from first principles. Given what has happened in our societies over the last century, we always should be suspicious of any messages and pressure from government and media and the offer of “free stuff”. As we all found out by handing over our information to Big Tech companies, when “stuff” is free, it means that we are the product.

Conclusions

As I read over my musings this week, it feels like a bit of a “pot pourri” as we continue the journey along the road to wisdom. To summarize, wisdom has its foundation in the “fear of the Lord” and this is a challenge for us when we all have a tendency to trust our own “wisdom” and insights. However, we can learn wisdom, and the Bible wisdom literature is a place where we can spend a lot of time meditating and understanding the significance for us individually. Finally, from a practical viewpoint, we can make wise decisions about complex ideas. From first principles we know that:

• the more pressure and promotion by government, the more wary we should be.

• The more that the same stories are being promoted by mainstream media, the more suspicious we need to be about their accuracy.

• The more we see “experts” being promoted to us with “solutions” for problems, the more sceptical we need to be – particularly if they are armed with computer models and clever algorithms.

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SOME NEWS STORIES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENION THIS WEEK

I have been laid low by a bad virus this week and so there are just two stories that caught my attention: Donald Trump’s run for the US Presidency in 2024 and the two big global get togethers that are trying to change our lives.

Trump Announces A Third Bid for the White House

I watched President Trump this week, speaking from the Mar-a-Lago ballroom, putting forth his third bid for the US Presidency. The speech was long, just over 1 hour, and featured some of Trump’s “greatest hits”. The first 15 minutes of the speech were excellent but Trump seemed to wander and lose focus. He targeted Biden’s terrible domestic and international policies and said that the “country is being destroyed before our eyes”,  and he is correct. It is worthwhile viewing the entire speech, which you can see using this link:

Trump’s announcement of his bid for the Presidency came 2 years out from the election but he does have a “war chest” of more than US$100 million for campaigning and clearly he wants to ensure that no other challenger enters the Presidential race. Most of the respected analysts that I have heard assessing Trump’s path to the Presidency believe that it is unlikely to be successful. His moment may have passed and his polarizing impact on the electorate, together with changes to election laws that favour the Democrats, will make it difficult for Trump to win again. On the other hand, Trump has a fanatical group of devotees and it is unlikely that these supporters would have similar enthusiasm for an alternative candidate. I heard an interesting podcast this week from the Spectator Magazine with Freddy Gray interviewing the editor of Modern Age, Daniel McCarthy - . McCarthy makes a compelling case for Trump being successful in his third run for the Presidency and I have included a link to the 44 min interview, which is worthwhile listening to -

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My own evaluation is that the time for Trump may have passed. When he came down the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his first run for the Presidency, his plain speaking and confidence were like shock therapy for the US electoral system. He overcame all obstacles and went on as President to deliver great policies, despite his chaotic style. It will be difficult for him to maintain his momentum over the next 2 years but we have learnt with Trump that nothing is impossible. It does seem as though the mainstream of the Republican Party has turned against him and Trump has not helped himself by “putting the boot” into possible Republican challengers. One thing that is certain – the Biden administration’s policies will continue to inflict economic and social disaster on the country and by 2024 it is likely that US voters will have had enough. However, it is hard to have confidence in the integrity of the voting system and it also is possible that Kamala Harris will have taken over from Biden by the time of the next election. Biden’s health is shaky and it is hard to see him continuing for another 2 years, let alone another 6 years. President Trump has a loyal base of probably one-third of the US electorate. It will be fascinating to see if he is able to communicate a vision for the US that will bring enough independent voters on board to obtain the necessary 270 votes in the US Electoral College.

The Global Eagles Gather

The global control juggernaut continues to gather momentum and it has been extraordinary to see that all the World Economic Forum jargon continues to be trotted out in communiqués released following the most recent of these global “junkets”. First there was COP27 with 40,000 attendees in Egypt - followed quickly by the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

The COP meetings are held in a different location each year to “fight climate change” and COP27 was held in Egypt and is just concluding. These annual meetings seem to continue the momentum for a global takeover of energy and the economy and it is likely that the communication statement has been written before the delegates even arrive. COP stands for “Conference of the Parties” and represents those countries that are “party to” the legal UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, involving almost 200 countries. The outcome always appears to be that the two greatest greenhouse gas emitters, China and India, get to do whatever they want while the rest of the world commits hari-kari. This year there seems to have been considerable pressure on the wealthier Western nations to pay “reparations” via a “loss and damage” fund. Remarkably, the key players appear to believe that they have the tools to limit temperature increases on the earth and the final statement has this quote:

“the importance of exerting all efforts at all levels to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels".

It demonstrates an arrogance by scientists with computer models, who believe that they understand the complexity of climate and have the skills to manage a whole of planet reduction in temperature. The “green” movement has always had elements of religious zeal as the worship of Mother Earth is promoted. Remarkably, on the sidelines of the COP27 meeting this year there was a gathering of more than 100 of world “faith leaders” promoting earth worship. The group has come up with an addendum to the 10 Commandments and what they call a “Third Covenant”. It doesn’t look as though the new 10 climate commandments have been written in stone at this stage but they are reported as follows:

“Ten Principles for Climate Repentance” include:

1. We are stewards of this world

2. Creation manifests divinity

3. Everything in life is interconnected

4. Do no harm

5. Look after tomorrow

6. Rise above ego for our world

7. Change our inner climate

8. Repent and return

9. Every action matters

10. Use mind, open heart

Leaders of the world’s top 20 economies then jetted off to Bali for the annual G20 meeting. There appeared to be a gang-up against Russia and in their final communiqué, the leaders seem to have reached into the World Economic Forum lexicon as the document is littered with phrases such as:

“global challenges”,  “sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth”, “international macro policy cooperation”, “achievement of SDGs”, “transformation towards sustainable and resilient agriculture”, “food supply chains”, “global net zero greenhouse gas emissions”, and “strengthen inclusive and sustainable recovery and build resilience”.  You can read the complete declaration here. Of course there is much more but the most concerning part of the G20 Leaders’ Declaration is the push for “digital passports”. The declaration says (Item 23):

 “We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of the IHR (2005) , to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutions and non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations. We support continued international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks as part of the efforts to strengthen prevention and response to future pandemics, that should capitalize and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates”.

It is clear that the groundwork for a global ID will continue and we are being prepared for monitoring and tracking. We may even be set up for a “one world religion”!

It’s important to realize that armies of bureaucrats from the world’s top 20 economies will now take all the decisions from the international conferences and start embedding them in local jurisdictions to ensure that we are “global compliant”. It will be hard to escape the reach of the decisions which flow down to bank lending policies, “acceptable” land use, cattle and sheep farming and myriad areas of the economy. It must be only a matter of time before central bank digital currencies are employed. It does seem challenging to avoid the vision of the World Economic Forum where by 2030 “we will own nothing and be happy”.