KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM

 Knowledge & Wisdom

Deep in thought, Knowledge and Wisdom were walking home one night from a Bible study somewhere in country Australia. Knowledge cracked the silence, ‘According to Dolbear’s Law the temperature is 25C. I’ve tallied the cricket chirps.’ Wisdom responded, ‘You’re full of facts and figures. So handy to have at Bible study groups. The Study leader just seemed to rush over the bit where the Lord said to Abram, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” How many stars are up there, Knowledge?’ They looked up at the night sky. Instinctively their eyes locked on the Southern Cross. They nodded in humble thankfulness.

Knowledge spoke, ‘There’re literally billions of stars. However, only around 5,000 can be seen by the naked eye, and, because of the shape of the earth, only about 2,500 can be seen from where anyone stands.’ Wisdom asked, ‘Then God promised Abraham only 2,500 descendants?’ ‘No’, replied Knowledge, ‘Abraham’s offspring were to be as numerous as the sand on the seashore, Genesis 22:17.’ Wisdom asked, ‘Who wrote Genesis and when was it written?’ How would Abraham, living around 2,000 BC, know that the number of stars is comparable to the number of grains of sand on the seashore? How would Moses know? How would anyone before the invention of the telescope, including the Hubble space telescope, know?’ Knowledge replied, ‘Good point! But what does it all mean?’ Wisdom took a deep breath and responded, ‘It means that our Bible Study sessions are superficial. We just deal in facts and figures without considering what the details mean. The very hairs on your head are numbered. The grains of sand are numbered. The stars are numbered. Abraham’s descendants are numbered. Numbered by whom? Us? No! But by the One who wrote the Bible, the One who has numbered every letter in the Bible, every jot and tittle no less! Don’t you see, Knowledge? God cares about the minutiae of His revelation to us. In the Egyptian plagues, after the swarms of flies, “Not one remained.” None of the stars are missing. Of all those whom the Father gave to the Son, including you and me, “None of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” as Jesus said. The Psalmist says, “He counts the number of the stars, He calls them all by name” Psalm 147:4.’

Knowledge considered what Wisdom had just said, ‘I can count the number of a cricket's chirps over 25 seconds and work out the temperature, but I cannot count the number of stars, or grains of sand on the seashore. Therefore, neither then can I work out the number of Abraham’s descendants.’ Wisdom replied, ‘That is exactly what God meant when He said, “Count the stars if you are able to number them.” Abraham was unable to count the number. He just took God’s promise on faith. And what does that remind us of? Those surrounding the Lamb on the Throne in the Book of Revelation, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” As it was for Abraham, so it is for us, “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”’

Knowledge and Wisdom lifted their eyes and looked once again to the Southern Cross and thanked God that He had numbered them among Abraham’s descendants (Galatians 3:29).