Wisdom, Not What You Thought: Week 7

Once Upon a Curse STUDY

This Bible Study series accompanies my new book Once Upon a Curse. Disillusionment comes from a prideful understanding of wisdom. This is the consequence of a cursed world, and a separation from the tree of life. However wisdom is restored in the one true Tree of Life.

---

We crave a deeper wisdom to succeed and endure this life. It’s who we are. Whether we look to self-help, meditation, other religions, or the Almighty God. We are created for this lost wisdom, that we once had in the garden.

The rights and wrongs. The “do this and you will live". The proverbs that our grandmas could recite and have been passed on from generation to generation. These are the words from God that if we could just follow them, if we could just keep them, then we would be ok. These are the parts of the Bible that make the most sense, practically speaking. Ten commandments, laws of God. Righteous people doing certain things for the most righteous God. Inciting the punishment for the wicked. Pain and suffering for those who don’t follow the path, or love the Lord God with all their heart, soul and mind.

READ Genesis 3:1-5

What was the command of God concerning the “tree of knowledge”?

READ Genesis 3:6-7

What happened to the creatures when they ate from the tree of knowledge?

Eyes wide open, man and women clearly saw who they were. They now had the knowledge that they were never meant to have. God commanded them… “Do not eat.” And yet they ate. And now they saw, they felt, they hid, from their new-found knowledge of good and evil.

READ Genesis 3:22

What was God’s concern about the knowledge man and woman now possessed?

Man and woman were now nourished by a tree of knowledge of good and evil instead of a tree of life. This tainted knowledge leads them into a new reality. The creatures of the Almighty now choked on sin and pain and death.

Lest he reach out his hand and take from the tree of life… and live forever… God was concerned. He knew the ramifications of eternal life and he knew this was not the way that he wanted his people to exist forever. Instead of the tree stood a promise. Instead of take and eat, there was only anticipation. So, the way to life was guarded as the tree of life vanished from their reach, so far away that now they could only hear about it, from a distance.

READ Genesis 3:23-24

What is the new reality for the man and woman concerning the tree of life in a world of the curses?

The tree was hidden from their path. It was protected, put away from man and woman. So, mankind has been set in a direction to walk a long, hard, exhausting deadly path. The very fabric of creation was altered. And now, we all must bear the consequence of a cursed world, on the outside of the garden, blocked from the fruit of the tree of life. All that remains is the hope and reminder of such a tree in a cursed world.

READ Proverbs 3:13-18

How is wisdom described?

A beautiful image of God’s wisdom is the tree of life. And as the Proverb says, those who find wisdom, those who get her, those who lay hold of her, those who hold fast, are called blessed. In Proverbs, the way to the tree of life is spelled out. In Proverbs, we meet wisdom, the way of righteousness, life and blessings. In Proverbs, we begin to see the hidden path from the beginning, The forbidden fruit taken from the tree of knowledge restored to the eternal fruit from the lost tree of life.

READ 1 Corinthians 2:1-7

What is the secret wisdom of God?

The wisdom of God is not a simple prescription to turn around a bad day. It was before the beginning of the earth. The wisdom of God is the speaking and the spoken. The wisdom of God is a Word of God incarnate, hung on a tree, crucified on a cross for the forgiveness of all sin. But from the beginning, Christ crucified remains the merciful wisdom of God, given for us.

The folly of the world is exposed. It is cursed and dying. The folly of our hearts and minds are realized. We are weak and dishonorable, the folly of our ability to do what God requires is laid bare. We are poor miserable sinners, we justly fear the wrath and judgment of God in circumstance and action.