Delineating Human Wisdom

Scripture: 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, but your heart has become proud because of your wealth. Ezekiel 28:3-5

Observation: In the prophesy explicitly against the king of Tyre, Ezekiel declares that king is wiser than Daniel ... yes, THAT Daniel, the Jew who by his wisdom has been raised to be the most trusted advisor of Nebuchadnezzar. Certainly, it is illogical to declare that the man who rules one city by his birthright alone is wiser than the man who went from captured slave to now advising the most powerful ruler on earth. And of course, as Ezekiel is declaring the true word of God, this is not quite what God is saying.

The king of Tyre is so wise that he has created the greatest trading center on the Mediterranean, and in so doing has acquired great wealth. He is brilliantly wise among men of business, trade, and expedition. And he knows it, openly proud of his wisdom. Daniel, on the other hand, has little knowledge in these matters, and does not seek to even understand them for himself. And in his humility, he turns to the Lord who reveals all great wisdom, ranging from territorial governance, to economic policy, to city leadership, to even accurate prediction of future events.

Daniel is not himself wise, but rather is granted wisdom by his faith in the Lord. The king of Tyre is actually very wise by worldly standards, and thus will be destroyed because his pride has led him to a place where he disregards the Lord.

Application: I do know the Lord has given me and my family very good intelligence, and I do know that this has been a trap for me in my life. I have looked for my own solutions to problems, considered my own path in my work, and done research and analysis to attempt to understand mysteries and issues. No matter how much I do that - even when I do that well - I will never be as wise as if I just prayed and sought the Lord's wisdom by faith.

The king of Tyre ruled a great city, where he and all the people were killed, and the city was eventually destroyed and partly flooded into the sea. His name isn't even remembered here in the bible, nor in the Wikipedia article about the history of the city. Despite possessing wisdom, understanding, and skill so great the Lord himself declares him wiser than Daniel, he is a failure, gone and forgotten. What hope do I have with my meager wisdom? The answer is 'none on my own', but I have all hope in the world when I seek the Lord's wisdom instead of mine.

Prayer: Lord, you are the wisest, the greatest, and the most powerful. You are legendary, and your ways are sure and true. May I only follow your wisdom in all matters great and small. Amen.