Where is Wisdom?

 When God began creating the heavens and the earth, "...a mist rose from the earth (ground) and watered all the surface of the earth.  Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life....A river rose in Eden watering the garden; and from there it separated into four branches...the Phison....the Gihon....the Tigris....and the Euphrates" (Gen. 2).

I have written before about the adam/adamah (the human/ground or earth) connection.  Without the breath, or Spirit (ruah) of God, man is like the dust of the earth, "dry, parched, and without water."  All the way through the Scriptures, there are constant parallels and references to the condition of man himself without wisdom and the earth without water.  The most direct and constant references come in the Wisdom books (Psalms, Proverbs, Wisdom, Sirach).  And, go figure, these are the least read and least known books of Scripture.  In fact, the Protestant bible does not even include Wisdom and Sirach as inspired books. 

 Without the Spirit of God, man's body and soul are constantly compared to the earth without water.  With the "breath of God," man himself is "like a tree planted near running water; his leaf does not wither."  Anyone who searches for Wisdom, or the Spirit of God, is compared to the earth watered with a mist from the ground and with the four rivers encircling the earth.  Although the ideal 'search" for wisdom references would begin with Proverbs, the most direct example can be found in Sirach 24, where Wisdom sings her own praises:  

From the mouth of the Most High I came forth and mistlike covered the earth (adamah)....

I spread out my branches like a terebinth, my branches so bright and so graceful.  I bud forth delights like the vine, my blossoms become fruit fair and rich.  Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits....He who eats of me will hunger still, he who drinks of me will thirst for more; he who obeys me will not be put to shame, he who serves me will never fail.

All this is true of the book of the Most High's covenant...It overflows, like the Phison, with wisdom---like the Tigris in the days of new fruits.  It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding, like the Jordan at harvest time.  It sparkles like the Nile with knowledge, like the Gihon at vintage time.  The first man never finished comprehending wisdom, nor will the last succeed in fathoming her.  For deeper than the sea are her thoughts; her counsels, than the great abyss.

Now, I, like a rivulet from her stream, channeling the waters into a garden, said to myself, "I will water my plants, my flower bed I will drench"; and suddenly this rivulet of mine became a river, then this stream of mine, a sea.  Thus do I send my teachings forth shining like the dawn, to become known afar off. Thus do I pour out instruction like prophecy and bestow it on generations to come.

To search for wisdom is a wise thing to do.  That might sound redundant, but it is the truth.  Without wisdom, foolishness overtakes us in everything we do, and our minds, hearts, souls, and bodies begin to wither and fail.  One of the best places to begin a search for wisdom is the Book of Proverbs:  How long, you simple (foolish) ones, will you love inanity? Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit, I will acquaint you with my words (Prov. 1: 22).

I have to laugh.  When I watch tv, I indeed "love inanity," and my mind, body, and soul wither and die.  When I read Scripture, I am revivified, energized, and re-watered!  Wisdom is the Gift and Spirit of God given to us for life itself:  Wisdom is a tree of life to those who find her, and those who lay hold of her will be blessed (Prov. 3:18).