Greetings;
The good news preached to Abraham was that in blessing God would bless him, in multiplying God would multiply him, his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies, and through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. It was a Father’s blessing to a father’s destiny. It was multigenerational in its intent.
This commission was also seen in the foundation set by the apostles in the first century church. The apostles were fathers in the faith, not mere mentors of Christian principles and activities. Their testimony was built upon the ceiling of the prophets of the Old Covenant. They had a covenantal foundation in their understanding that was rooted in the judgments, statutes, commandments and ways of God established in the past.
Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The objective was to advance the testimony of the kingdom of God to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. God’s culture is an advancing culture of life to the nations. His heart in the now is always a furtherance of what was and a testimony of what will be. God’s house is built with wisdom and wisdom always implies a way to the future.
How do we attach to the things of the past with the revelation of the present? We cannot be bound to the past; we must be thrust forward because of it. It is wisdom that will keep us in the path of destiny, but where do we find wisdom?
Proverbs 1:20, 21 Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. 21 She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words…
The New American Standard Bible uses the word street for outside. In these verses we see that wisdom is found in the street, in the open squares, in the chief concourses, and in the gates of the city. To understand these four things, we must compare them to four small creatures described by Solomon in Proverbs chapter 30.
Proverbs 30:24-28 There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks; The spider (or lizard) skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.
Wisdom is in the street; it is like an ant. The ant knows what season it is; it knows where it is in life by where it is in the journey of life. Is it winter? Is it summer? It doesn’t need to be told by a commander; it knows where it is in the journey of life. What time is it? What is necessary today? There will be more to do tomorrow, but what is the present season of life? We cannot understand the season of today without first understanding the seasons of the past. The seasons of the past are what brought us to the season of today. The things that are necessary today are connected to the things that have led to this moment from the past. The things that are necessary today are also connected to the things that will be for the sake of others tomorrow. To know what can be true today we have to know what has been true from our past. That is not just our past, but our multigenerational past in the journey of Christ’s destiny.
Wisdom raises here voice in the open squares; it is like a rock badger in its quest to live. Though the rock badger is small and not considerably strong, it uses its natural environment to get its foods. It builds its home in the crags of the rocks and uses its house as a place of protection and a way of surprising its prey to sustain itself in life. What in the open squares of my life leads to the destiny of God’s glory? What is obviously around me and can serve me in my role in the destiny of life? Some of the obvious things are the things that have been established in our surroundings by the work of others.
Wisdom cries out in the chief concourses; it is like the locust. The locust realizes that if it lives in close relationship with other locusts it can do impossible things. What relationships are in my life? How do those relationships serve the purpose of who I am. Who am I joined to? My direction forward is connected to the relationships given to me in life. My relationships in life are part of my inheritance in life. Those relationships are meant to lead to others even as Paul told Timothy to find faithful men who would be able to teach others also.
What are the things that we inherit? What is it that we must advance in the generations of men? The instructions of our fathers and the principals, patterns, and values are the substance of inheritance to the future. Cultures and societies of the world reject the instructions of their fathers and the substance given them by their mothers. They think themselves to be wiser than the past. Wisdom is not found in the past; it is found in the things that are being given to us by God in heaven. Wisdom is not found in the past, but the instructions, principles, patterns, and values of the past set a foundation for our hearing wisdom today.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Help us reach the generations and the nations. I have several trips coming up in April, May, and June.
If you can make a donation it would be greatly appreciated. Donations are payable to House of Bread Ministry. You can donate at the link on this page or mail your contribution to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
Thank You So Much – Ted J. Hanson
