Wisdom Wednesday: The Treasure of Wisdom
Summary on The Mind
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.” Isaiah 45:3 (NASB 95)
Treasures of the World
This interesting verse is from a prophecy by Isaiah that began in the latter half of Chapter 44, where the end of the captivity in Babylon is described and the return to inhabit Judaea and rebuild Jerusalem is foreseen. Referring to Cyrus, the Persian king who overthrew Babylon in 538 BC, Isaiah describes him as an instrument of God’s sovereign control. (Isa 45: 1-2)
He conquered Babylon on the night of the Babylonian King Belshazzar’s’ feast (recorded in Dan 5:30). As the conquering king, he became the leader of the exiled Jews from Judea. He later issued decrees that released the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, as recorded by Ezra. (Ezra 1:2–4; 5:15; 6:3–5).
Isaiah wrote over a century before this event. In the verse for today, the Lord revealed to Isaiah that He would enable Cyrus to obtain wealth and treasures (in his conquests by expanding the Persian empire) for the purpose of revealing to Cyrus the knowledge of The One True God.
Another king of Assyria, hundreds of years earlier in his arrogance, claimed to garner the treasures of other nations by his own wisdom and power:
For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants’ (Isaiah 10:13.)
Treasures of God’s Wisdom
Isaiah also spoke of another treasure – the fear of the Lord that provides wisdom:
And [The Lord] will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure. Isaiah 33:6.
The spiritual wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge is the treasure provided by God. When Paul spoke of Jesus Christ, he stated that in Jesus alone “…are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. (Colossians 2:3)
Jesus distinguished between earthly and spiritual treasures when He warned, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:20-21)
Jesus further described how our treasures (the things we value and focus our lives on) influence our behavior: “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” (Matthew 12:35)
James echoed this thought and extended it to our life’s summary – the treasures that define our lives: “Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!” James 5:3
Let us focus our lives and place value on the things that God values. These are the values that Paul prayed for the early church at Colosse: To know God’s will, to walk in a worthy manner to please Him, to bear spiritual fruit, to grow by increasing our knowledge of Him, to be steadfast in our faith, and to be thankful for our salvation. (Col1:12) Let us make these our treasures!
