In chapter 4, the author reveals that the wisdom he is trying to pass down to his children contains wisdom that was passed down to him by his parents.

This tells us that wisdom isn't just some special knowledge we receive from God in a dream. It isn't some esoteric wisdom belonging to the guy on the mountaintop. Wisdom comprises the lessons we learn in life and which we pass down to our children. 

We focus on the individual in our society. We focus on what we might call "personal wisdom." The lessons I learned in my life. And we do typically make an effort to tell our kids about what we learned, but the kids can take it or leave it.

There's an urgency in Proverbs. There's a science to wisdom. We are meant to gather the wisdom we glean in our lives and pass them on to the next generation. They, in turn, will acquire wisdom in their lives and pass it down. And this is one of the ways we improve the quality of life in our family trees.

I'm not out to get wisdom just for me.

Wisdom is an inheritance, more valuable -- Solomon might tell us -- than an inheritance of money or property.

Pass it on.

People cherish the idea that they are able to choose from a variety of options at every crossroads in life. *I* am not only acting within the world, but upon the world. *I* love that every restaurant will alter the menu to suit my peculiarities; that there should always be a restaurant open 24/7 just in case *I* am up and out late; that *I* should be able to order American food at a Mexican restaurant—you know, for the kids... Why shouldn't *I* have all of these options so I can live life the way *I* choose. We tend to think that our decisions drive the world. Companies are on pins and needs to convince me to buy their product, because the economy revolves around how *I* spend my money.

Proverbs lays bare this conceit by depicting a world of influencing. Rather than making purely rational decisions about how we live, we are constantly being influenced one way or the other. In other words, the air around us is not empty; we are not alone; we live in a spiritual world.

Proverbs begins by reminding us of the positive influences in our lives: Our parents and, above all, God (wisdom personified). Our parents are influencing us toward God while Wisdom "cries out in the street" and "raises her voice."

You cannot grow up without hearing your parents' voice. And when you are older, you cannot walk through the city, going about your life, without hearing her voice. You are being constantly influenced.

But Wisdom isn't the only voice heard in the streets:

In this metaphorical city in which we all live, there are evil influences (often personified in Proverbs as a prostitute) who are likewise found all over the city ("now in the street, now in the squares").

Proverbs doesn't see human beings a neutral moral agents who freely decide how they want to live. It depicts us as living in a city together where the voice of Wisdom and the voice of Foolishness are heard everywhere that you are and all of the time. We cannot escape their voices.

The choice that Proverbs puts to us is "Who will you listen to?"

So we have these wise sayings in the Book of Proverbs. What are they meant to do for us?
Solomon gives us several reasons for Proverbs in the opening chapter:

This list isn't exhaustive because Solomon often seems to repeat himself (probably a part of his teaching method). But let's unpack each of these.

The NET emphasizes "moral" instruction, versus mere "instruction" (NIV, KJV, NASB, etc.). The noun, musar, can mean "discipline, warning, or [moral] training." In the 1800s, a Jewish movement in Lithuania called the Musar Movement focused on the importance of moral reform and ethical accountability. It was named after this word in Proverbs.

Solomon's point is that this isn't mere classroom instruction. It isn't theoretical. We are meant to learn wisdom and to learn how to live an upright life that pleases God.

Interestingly, wisdom first appears in the Bible in the Book of Exodus, where God places his "spirit of wisdom" on some craftsman and tailors who help build the sanctuary (Exodus 28:3; 31:3; 35:31). The Law was also meant to make Israel wise (Deut. 4:6) and Joshua was given wisdom after Moses laid his hands upon him (Deut. 34:9). The word "wisdom" doesn't play a major role until Solomon, who asks for wisdom (literally, "a hearing heart") so that he can rule ("judge") God's people well.

Wisdom was critical to building the temple and to having good leadership. It was always a gift from God, not something that human beings could obtain on their own.

When you're given two pieces of advice, how do you know which one is the best course to take? Part of wisdom (or cousin to it) is discernment: the ability to weigh your options and choose the best path. According to 1 Kings 4:29, "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment." When you pray for wisdom, it comes in a package deal!

But how do we gain discernment?

Psalm 119:104 tells us that "your precepts give me discernment." That is, by reflecting on God's commands, we can gain discernment. Paul offers us another way when he tells us that everything that happened to Israel "happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us" (1 Corinthians 10:11). We are meant to grow in discernment by using history as a series of case studies to learn from. Of course, you can always pray for it like Solomon!

Of course, the goal of wisdom is to instruct us in how to live. We are not interested in sitting on a mountain top dispensing advice to visitors. We are meant to live our lives down here, among the people. Let our wisdom be seen in how we live.

The NIV likes the word "prudence" here. It comes from the Hebrew haskel - a word which is most memorably used in 1 Samuel 25 to describe Abigail's behavior (in contrast to her husband's behavior). Go check that story out if you don't remember what it's about.

Basically, Solomon is saying that wisdom will help you know how to live in a prudent way.

We all need wisdom, especially when we live in uncertain times. By studying these wise sayings, the lives of those who wrote them, and by seeking wisdom from God, anyone can grow in wisdom. We can make better decisions, have better insight into the problems of our time, and see our own moral character grow as a result of being intentional about pursuing wisdom.

Solomon, the (major) author of Proverbs, wrote A LOT of Proverbs:

1 Kings 4:32: 
"He spoke three thousand proverbs
and his songs numbered a thousand and five."

Solomon wasn't the author of Proverbs. At least, he wasn't the only author. Proverbs 25:1 marks the beginning of King Hezekiah's additions to the Book of Proverbs. Apparently, Hezekiah felt the book wasn't finished and decided to add on. The "sayings of Agur son of Jakeh" (30:1) were also added on, along with "the sayings of King Lemuel" (31:1). Proverbs is really a compilation of wise sayings assembled by different authors.

Where did these wise sayings come from? Undoubtedly, Solomon had inspired ideas. But there's also a puzzling connection between Proverbs 22:17-24:22 (the "thirty sayings of the wise") and an Egyptian book called Instruction of Amenemope, which some scholars thing inspired these thirty sayings -- or perhaps Solomon inspired the Instruction of Amenemope! Consider the parallel here:

Proverbs 22:22: 
"Do not exploit the poor because they are poor
    and do not crush the needy in court."
Amenemope 2:
"Beware of robbing the poor,
and oppressing the afflicted."

Is this proof that the two collections of wise sayings were aware of each other? After all, Solomon did form ties to Egypt by marrying the daughter of a Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1). One cannot say for sure what the connection, if any, there might be.

No one believes that only God's followers have a monopoly on wise ideas. So however the authors of Proverbs obtained their wise sayings, we can have confidence that whatever made it into the Book of Proverbs was meant by God to be there.

Proverbs is clear that, even with wise sayings, wisdom is still a gift of God (2:6). What does that mean? Consider these two proverbs: 

Proverbs 26:4-5
"Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes."

What gives? One proverb tells us to NOT answer a fool according to his folly, while the other one tells us that we had been answer a fool according to his folly. These proverbs contradict each other! How can we know which way to go in a particular situation?

You need God to tell you which of these proverbs applies in which situation.

This is a bit of a bummer because we would naturally prefer for Proverbs to give us the right answers in each situation so we don't have to have faith. But, it turns out, you cannot have true wisdom without faith.

The chapters of Daniel famously jump back and forth through time. What insights emerge when we put them in chronological order?

Here's what Daniel looks like when we put the chapters in order:

• Daniel 1 - "The third year of Jehoiakim king of Judah" (approx. 605 BC)
• Daniel 2 - "The second year of Nebuchadnezzar" (approx. 603 BC, give or take a year) 
• Daniel 3 - Unknown
• Daniel 4 - Unknown (approx. 570-560 BC) 
  • (This chapter tells us that Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity for 7 years. Given that Nebuchadnezzar died in 562, this chapter should likely be placed in 570 or earlier. This is further corroborated by what we know of Nebuchadnezzar's reign: his constant wars ended around 585 BC, leading to a relatively tranquil period of building - a setting of this story)
• Daniel 7 - "The first year of Belshazzar" (approx. 553 BC)
• Daniel 8 - "The third year of Belshazzar" (approx. 550 BC) 
• Daniel 5 - Fall of Babylon (539 BC)
• Daniel 9 - "The first year of Darius son of Xerxes - a Mede" (approx. 539 BC)
• Daniel 6 - Clearly the beginning of Darius' rule of Babylon (approx. 539 BC)
• Daniel 10 - "The third year of Cyrus king of Persia" (approx. 536 BC)
  • This is complicated because Cyrus began reigning as king of Persia in 559 BC. So does Daniel 10 take place around 556 BC? No. Clearly Daniel means the third year of Cyrus after Babylon had been conquered, because in 11:1 (ch. 10-12 is a continuous unit) Darius the Mede is mentioned. It seems that Darius either died or was removed and Daniel began reckoning time by the reign of Cyrus instead of Darius.
• Daniel 11 - (approx. 536 BC)
• Daniel 12 - (approx. 536 BC)

That's a lot of bullet points. Sometimes it can help when we visualize it:

When we want to analyze the biblical material, we must first gather the data and then organize it - such as by creating a timeline. When we organize it, patterns can emerge.

The first thing we recognize is that stories of Daniel take place in three distinct clusters: The Nebuchadnezzar Stories (Chapters 1-4 - 605-562), the Early Belshazzar Stories (chapters 7-8 - 553-550) and the Late Belshazzar/Persian Stories (chapters 5, 6, 9-12 - 539-536). It can be said that all of the Book of Daniel really covers three distinct parts of his life. And they truly are distinct: In the Nebuchadnezzar Stories, we find Daniel refusing to eat King Nebuchadnezzar's food (1:8). But in the Persian Stories we find Daniel setting aside the "choice food" as well as meat and wine (10:3). This means that Daniel had begun eating the "choice food" at some point after chapter 1. While we don't know exactly why Daniel refused Nebuchadnezzar's food (offered to idols? Making a political statement? Unclean?), we can surmise that if Daniel resumed eating the food in the Persian period, he was doing so as the ruler of Babylon and could likely prepare the food in a way that was acceptable to him. Understanding the chronology helps us see solutions to this problem.

We often compare chapters that are next to us because chapters are, usually, in order. When they are not in order we have to put them in the chronological order to understand context. When we do that we find Daniel 6 and 9 connected as they both took place within a few months of each other.

Daniel 6 features a law which is passed to prevent Daniel from praying to his God in hopes of killing him. This chapter takes place just before the events of chapter 9, which is mostly a long prayer in which Daniel wrestles with the ending of the exile and his hopeful return to Jerusalem. While Daniel 6 emphasizes that praying three times a day was Daniel's habit, the close historical context of his prayer in Daniel 9 helps us understand what he was praying for in this days: a return home. The fact that the satraps refer to Daniel as "one of the exiles from Judah" precisely at the moment where Daniel was looking for the end of his exile might suggest that the satraps knew of Daniel's desire to return home and were wickedly "twisting the knife" by reminding others of his status as a exile.

We also see a nice contrast between the lion's den which attests to Daniel's innocence before the king in ch. 6 and Daniel's prayer in ch. 9 where he confesses that "we have been wicked and have rebelled." Daniel was innocent as an individual as pertaining to Persian law, but he saw himself as a member of a guilty people before the law of God.

Now, why do I say Daniel 6 takes place before chapter 9? Because Daniel identifies himself in 9:1 as one who was "made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom." This is exactly what Darius intended to do in 6:3 and it seems after the lion's den ordeal he made good on this intention by promoting Daniel over the kingdom of Babylon.

We could also note that in chapter 5 -- which also takes place in 539 BC -- we have Belshazzar promising to make Daniel third highest in the Babylonian kingdom (after Nabonidus and Belshazzar). Daniel rejects this offer and ends up becoming, within a few months, a ruler of Babylon himself (9:1). Daniel rejected Belshazzar's offer of power because he had faith in God that Babylon was doomed. As a result, he gained greater power than he would have had.

See what cool stuff we can learn?

A chronology can give insight into other problems as well. Linguistically, Daniel 2:3 (603 BC) to 7:28 (553 BC) were written in Aramaic whereas the rest of the book (ch. 1 and 8-12) was written in Hebrew. While there's no way to know why the book was written in two languages like this for sure (why start in 2:3? Why end in chapter 7?) , a chronology might give us a hint: Aramaic was the lingua franca of Babylon and when the events of Daniel 2 took place Daniel was a recent graduate of Babylon University where he would have been taught to use Aramaic (1:4). Daniel could likely understand Aramaic before arriving in Babylon, but his recent graduation and employment in Nebuchadnezzar's court might explain why he began writing in Aramaic.

Why then did Daniel stop writing in Aramaic after chapter 7 (553 BC)? This is harder to understand. It's possible that Daniel reverted back to Hebrew as the power of Babylon began to crumble. Perhaps the change of language had to do with the content of chapters 8-12 in that Daniel wanted to hide them from Belshazzar?

We will likely never know, but finding new ways to approach these questions sure is interesting.

We have a new podcast!

We've released a new podcast all about the people and beliefs in our church. We're going to feature interviews with members, discussions on hot-button issues, devotionals, Bible studies, and just a lot of fun as we practice leading lives of worship.

You can listen in our Peoria Adventists app (available in iOS and Android app stores) and on our website. Let us know what you think!

Pastor Matthew reports on the North American Division CALLED convention

The North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists held their second CALLED convention for pastors and their families in Lexington, Kentucky, on June 19-22. Roughly 6,000 Adventists registered to attend seminars, catch up with old friends, and earn some money for innovative evangelism.

Adventism can be a lonely place given that so many churches are spread thin across the planet, so it's always a treat when a few thousand Adventists can get together. Pastors in the same conference only see each other about 1-2 times a year, so you can imagine what it is like for us when pastors from across the Division get together. Many of us haven't seen each other since the first CALLED in 2015.

The NAD really thought of everything. The childcare was amazing (though we left our girls in Peoria). Redshirted exercise teams routinely marched into the arena to urge us to stretch and move. The music was on-point. Testimonies were shared. New Adventist movies and documentaries were previewed. Baptisms happened. George Knight, the most memorable Adventist historian, was there to give us daily nuggets of new information about people in our past, including a never-before-seen image of our first female pastor, Sarah Lindsey.

A highlight of this CALLED was the techLAB, which inhabited the convention center's nightclub space and allowed pastors to get their hands on lights, cameras, and microphones. NAD tech people were there to tell you anything you wanted to know about integrating any of it in your church. I ended up using their gear to record three podcasts while I was there. Others shot video. The Ellen G. White Estate was present to talk about their software, as were reps from several Bible software companies.

I even got to do a techLab talk about podcasting ...and let me tell you how cool it is having a video wall behind you for your slides.

Most heartwarming of all were the Evangelism Shark Tank, where pastors doing creative and effective ministry could make a pitch each night for a grand prize of $20,000 (or end up with a smaller prize).

Nitza Salazar, who works for the Washington Conference, came out big with the most inspiring presentation of her ministry that we saw. People were in tears by the time she was done:

CALLED was many things for Laura and I: It was a place to reconnect with old friends; a place to rest; a place to learn.

Above all, it was a place of inspiration.

We are not alone. We have work to do.

Illinois Conference President interviews Polish Union Leaders about Plight of Ukrainian Refugees

With the war in Ukraine creating an unprecedented refugees crisis, Adventist organizations have risen to the occasion. No nation has taken in more more refugees than Poland (1.1 million), creating an immense challenge for the Polish Union of Seventh-day Adventists.

The Illinois Conference has raised $30,000 for the Polish Union's humanitarian efforts. At the recent General Conference session, John Grys, acting Illinois Conference President, sat down with Ryszard (Richard) Jankowski (President, Polish Union) and Andrzej (Andrew) Sicinski (Editor-in-Chief, Polish Publishing House) to talk about the refugee situation there.

Watch it here: