If you didn’t know who wrote the book of Proverbs, you’d probably think it was a priest or prophet who had compiled a book of thoughts to live by. They’re the sort of people we normally associate with wise teaching. But it was written by a king, primarily Solomon (1:1) and in today’s reading we have a collection of Solomon’s proverbs copied out by the servants of another king, Hezekiah (25:1). Kings today aren’t necessarily associated with academic inquiry and wisdom. But if you think about it from a biblical perspective it makes sense. We’ve been called to rule with Christ in the coming kingdom of God, fulfilling the very reason man was created – to have dominion (Gen. 1:28). Solomon himself is famous for requesting from God the wisdom to be able to rule his kingdom and Hezekiah, a godly king, recognized and valued that wisdom and wanted to use it in the way he reigned. This of course is a lesson for us since we’ve been called to rule, and have authority over cities during the Millennium. The book of Proverbs gives us insight into how to practice godly rulership now in our homes and ecclesias, preparing ourselves for the massive responsibility when our Lord returns.

With that in mind let’s look at the wise saying in chapter 25 contained in verses 2-3. I find it a very exciting couple of verses, giving us a tremendous vision of the Kingdom of God. First, we read, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” (v.1). It’s an intriguing thought that God conceals things. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” So, God chooses certain things to reveal, and other things to hide. Jesus did the same with his teaching, using parables to hide the truth. Some of those secret things are later revealed, like Jesus telling his disciples what his parables meant, or what God says through Daniel – “he reveals deep and hidden things” (Dan. 2:22) – in the context of revealing world history in the form of Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

The proverb continues, “but the glory of kings is to search things out.” The Bible isn’t a manual with all the information we need plainly written. That would be boring, and the mind of God is more amazing than that. He’s interested in us searching things out. He’s hidden a multitude of gems and gold beneath the surface of Scripture and wants us to be interested in studying our Bible to find them. But more than that, the search process in itself helps us retain information and grow in wisdom. And often we don’t find out what something really means in scripture until we’ve gone through a trial and experienced that “aha!” moment.

The second half of the saying in Proverbs 25 goes even further – “As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.” (v.2). There’s basically an infinite amount of space in our minds to contain information. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God “has put eternity into man’s heart”, which could mean the same thing but also the idea that we yearn to know things beyond our comprehension. The animal mind is only concerned about food and shelter, but man has stretched the limitations of his mortal mind by examining the Universe and God’s creation. We want to know the answer to the big questions – where does life come from, how old is the Universe, what is consciousness, why are we here? Science provides hints at some of the answers to those questions but cannot match the mind of God – “his understanding is unsearchable” (Isa. 40:28). There are things that only an eternal mind can know.

But one day we’re going to put on immortality. What will that mean regarding the things we’re going to be able to understand? Paul expresses his astonishment at the eternal mind of God at the end of Romans 11, saying, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (v.33). The context is God’s purpose concerning Israel and the Gentiles, a plan that spans thousands of years. Imagine coming up with a project that is going to take thousands of years to implement. It involves things like a nation going out of existence but being resurrected two thousand years later. It’s mind boggling. But here’s the amazing thing for us – we’re going to help Christ rule in the Kingdom of God. We’re going to have to come up with plans to restore the earth to Edenic glory. The administration required for that is going to take the immortal minds that God will bless us with. Our Bible study and meditation on the deep things of godly wisdom, as well as finding things out through the experiences God puts us through, is preparation ground for our kingly role when Christ returns. We take what we learn now of the wisdom of God and apply it to ourselves, our families and ecclesias. Magnify that to an enormous level when we’ll rule with Christ for a thousand years.

And then. Eternity. What is beyond the Millennium? God has concealed it for now, but one day we’re going to find out…

Richard Morgan,
Simi Hills, CA