Wisdom Without God Can Work. And Destroy.

A Surprisingly Wise King

Reading Ezekiel 28 I was struck by what the LORD says to the King of Tyre (verses 3-4):

Yes, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you!

By your wisdom and understanding you have acquired wealth for yourself.

You have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth…

The King of Tyre looks like he’s someone who has taken to heart Proverbs 10:4

Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.

Or Proverbs 21:5

The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit...

Perhaps you know people who, through wisdom and understanding of how the world works, and with skill, have done well for themselves. At least by the world’s standards.

I’m reminded that the general observations of Proverbs are generally true, even for pagans. In other words, all things being equal, if you apply yourself with wisdom, understanding and skill, you can in this instance, increase your wealth.

Of course, it’s not as simple as that. Or as automatic. Hard and wise work should result in suitable provision. But consider the labourer who works skilfully for 12 hours a day and still struggles to meet basic needs. On the other hand, think of the fool who does very little and yet flies business class because of his rich daddy.

We intuitively know that this is not how things should be. But it is often our experience because both the world and ourselves are so deeply broken and out of synch with God’s design.

Nevertheless, the general observations of Proverbs remain generally true. Even those who don’t know God (and I include the religious here) can achieve earthly success – like the King of Tyre.

But True Wisdom Involves the Fear of the Lord

And yet, the dominant refrain of Proverbs is that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (cf. 1:7). This is true wisdom.

It is a life lived with Him, and for Him. It is a life shaped by listening to God (1:5, 8), repenting before God (1:23; 3:7), and living as though He is the source of all things (2:6ff.). Indeed knowing Him is true life.

So much so that even if you ‘succeed’ in wealth and status, without God, you have ultimately failed.

What strikes me in Ezekiel 28 is that even though the King of Tyre’s wisdom ‘worked’, it also destroyed him because he lacked a right and good fear and knowledge of the LORD.

So, look at the verses around the ones we started with, like in verse 2:

Your heart is proud, and you have said ‘I am a god; I sit in the seats of gods in the heart of the sea.

And in verse 5:

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth,

but your heart has become proud because of your wealth.

That is the danger. Without God, the good things of the world can become idolatrous and destroy us.

Only a Man. And Not One of God’s People

So after the King of Tyre says ‘I am a god’, the true God says to him in verse 2:

Yet you are a man and not a god,

though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

Then comes the judgment of verse 6-10, and it is worth reading in full:

Therefore, this is what the LORD God says:

Because you regard your heart as that of a god,

I am about to bring strangers against you,

Ruthless men from the nations.

They will draw swords against your magnificent wisdom

And will pierce your splendor,

They will bring you down to the Pit

And you will die a violent death

In the heart of the sea.

Will you still say “I am a god”

In the presence of those who slay you?

Yet you will be only a man, not a god,

in the hands of those who kill you.

Wisdom without God can ‘work’. And we see this all the time - from both secular and religious people.

But without God - truly knowing and being known by Him as our Father - it can also destroy.