Recently, Apostle Michael spoke about how the Angel of Wisdom visited him. The angel told him that she is here to dwell with us, to impart Divine wisdom until all is accomplished for the imminent manifestation of the glory of God.
Proverbs 4:7-8 exhorts us:
“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.”
And Proverbs 3:35 boldly states
“The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.”
Proverbs 16:16 says
“How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”
These scriptures alone tell us that wisdom is of the utmost importance and without wisdom we will not inherit the Glory of God.
Early in the Bible we read in Exodus 28 the account of God instructing Moses on the several garments required for the High Priest to wear. The garments were mandatory and must be worn by the High Priest in order that they wouldn’t bear iniquity and die (Exo 28:43).
The beginning of the passage where God instructs Moses goes:
“So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest.”
Exodus 28:3
The word for gifted artisans doesn’t just mean someone who is creative. In fact, in the original Hebrew language these words actually mean those who are “wise hearted”. (1) Just as the High Priest could not enter the Holy of Holies without the correct garments on, including a tunic made of fine linen (Exo 28:39), in the Book of Revelations we read the prophecy about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the Bride of Christ is wearing the same garment the High Priest is to wear – a garment of fine linen (Rev 19:8). We know that we, the church, are the bride of Christ (2 Cor 11:2), so if we are to symbolically be clothed in a tunic of fine linen (Revelations 19:8 tells us it’s symbolic, not literal), our ‘garment’ also ought to be made of wisdom. In case you’re not convinced that the garment of the High Priest and the bride of Christ are the same, 1 Peter 2:9 says we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Hebrews 4:14 tells us that Jesus is our great High Priest and Romans 8:29 tells us that Jesus is the first fruits of many brethren. Notice above in Exodus 28:3 how God says only those who are filled with the spirit of wisdom are able to make Aaron, the High Priests’ garments.
Likewise, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul to the church of Colosse writes:
“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
(Colossians 1:28).
Paul is saying it is his job as an Apostle, filled with the wisdom of God to impart that wisdom into his students to bring them to perfection. In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul to the church at Corinth writes:
“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Here again, Apostle Paul is giving us another clue that he, an Apostle of God, is able to birth the nature of Christ into the souls of his followers.
Origen of Alexandria, a third-century Early Church Father confirms that God imparts wisdom to teachers who have been endowed with the grace of God. Ephesians 3:2 tells us these teachers are the Apostles, given the grace of God for the church:
It is sound doctrine that the true teacher of virtue cannot be a human being. “He who teaches men wisdom,” as it says in the Psalms (94: 10), is none other than God. God teaches by pouring light into the soul of the learner and illuminating the mind with the true light, his own WORD. And even though we are taught by just men who have received the grace of teaching, it is still the Lord who teaches us through them; the very insight we gain and the opening of our hearts to receive the divine teaching is brought about through the grace of God. (2)
Origen explains above that it is not mere men who can teach wisdom (man’s wisdom), but only God, through his holy vessels who impart wisdom to the hearers. Here is further confirmation from Origen that it is the High Priest, and therefore the Apostles who impart wisdom:
One should note the difference between the lower priests and the higher priestly offices. The lesser priests are not given double robes, nor the “shoulder-cloth” [ephod], nor the “oracular breastplate,” nor the “turban” (Lev 8:7-9), but only “girdles” and “caps” to keep their tunic in place (Lev 8: 13). They therefore receive the grace of priest- hood and exercise that office, but not in the way that he does who is also adorned with the “shoulder-cloth” and “oracular breastplate,” resplendent with “manifestation and truth” [the Urim and the Thum- mim], and bedecked with the “golden plate” and “holy crown” (cf. Lev 8: 7-9). Hence I consider it one thing for priests to exercise their office, and another thing to be equipped and adorned in every way. For any- one can carry out a solemn ceremony for the people; but there are few who are adorned with good morals, instructed in doctrine, formed in wisdom and truly suited to represent the truth. . . . The name for priesthood is thus one; but the worthiness that goes with a meritorious life or the virtues of the soul is not one. (3)
The Apostle Paul, to the church at Corinth writes:
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
(1 Corinthians 2:6-10)
Apostle Paul states that he teaches wisdom, but he differentiates between two types of wisdom: the wisdom of the teachers of this world, versus the Divine wisdom of God. Furthermore, he tells the church that the wisdom that he preaches is in the mysteries, or deeper understanding of the Word of God, as opposed to the letter, which is simply the literal meaning of the scriptures. He writes that it’s only those that are mature that he speaks this Divine wisdom of the mysteries of scripture to, and he adds that it is this wisdom that comes with the deeper understanding of the Word of God that brings us into glory.
On the scripture from 1 Corinthians above, specifically verse 10, Clement of Alexandria enlightens us:
Those who possess the Spirit seek out the deep things of God, that is, the hidden secrets that surround prophecy. (4)
Clement of Alexandria confirms that the Apostles teach the deeper meaning of scripture, through the Holy Spirit that is the teacher and counsellor of the hidden things. Through this understanding we can see that the wisdom we need to search out is found in the mysteries of the Word of God. We cannot say we have wisdom if we only understand the Bible by the letter.
Irenaeus, a second-century Early Church Father wrote the following:
True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which “the natural man receiveth not,” (1Co 2:14) the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man “taste,” (1Pe 2:3) he will not accede to the disputations and quibbles of proud and puffed-up men, (1Ti 6:4, 1Ti 6:5) who go into matters of which they have no perception. (Col 2:18) For the truth is unsophisticated; and “the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart,” (Rom 10:8; Deu 30:14) as the same apostle declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient. For it renders us like to Christ, if we experience “the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Php 3:10) For this is the affinity of the apostolical teaching and the most holy “faith delivered unto us,” (Jud 1:3) which the unlearned receive, and those of slender knowledge have taught, not “giving heed to endless genealogies,” (1Ti 1:4) but studying rather [to observe] a straightforward course of life; lest, having been deprived of the Divine Spirit, they fail to attain to the kingdom of heaven. For truly the first thing is to deny one’s self and to follow Christ; and those who do this are borne onward to perfection, having fulfilled all their Teacher’s will, becoming sons of God by spiritual regeneration, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven; those who seek which first shall not be forsaken. . . Those who have become acquainted with the secondary (i.e., under Christ) constitutions of the apostles, are aware that the Lord instituted a new oblation (offering) in the new covenant, according to [the declaration of] Malachi the prophet. For, “from the rising of the sun even to the setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice;” (Mal 1:11) as John also declares in the Apocalypse: “The incense is the prayers of the saints.” Then again, Paul exhorts us “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom 12:1) And again, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips.” (Heb 13:15) Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it; (Col 2:14) but they are according to the Spirit, for we must worship God “in spirit and in truth.” (Joh 4:24) And therefore the oblation of the Eucharist is not a carnal one, but a spiritual; and in this respect it is pure. For we make an oblation to God of the bread and the cup of blessing, giving Him thanks in that He has commanded the earth to bring forth these fruits for our nourishment. And then, when we have perfected the oblation, we invoke the Holy Spirit, that He may exhibit this sacrifice, both the bread the body of Christ, and the cup the blood of Christ, in order that the receivers of these antitypes may obtain remission of sins and life eternal. Those persons, then, who perform these oblations in remembrance of the Lord, do not fall in with Jewish views, but, performing the service after a spiritual manner, they shall be called sons of wisdom. (5)
Irenaeus confirms that the true understanding of the Word of God is found in the mysteries, as the Apostle Paul above wrote. He really emphasizes that we must walk in the spirit versus the carnal nature (refer 1 Cor 3:1-4). He asserts that we will become like Christ if we too have the resurrection nature in ourselves, which comes by spiritually going through the sufferings that Christ endured also, laying our life, our desires and wants down and being resurrected in the nature of Christ. Irenaeus stresses that we must experience the power of the resurrection, not just hear about it. He goes on to explain the sacrifices were not finished at the cross, but they are to be understood and walked out spiritually, not naturally, by all who call themselves Christ’s disciples. Those who walk in the spirit by offering their lives as a sacrifice are worthy of the kingdom of heaven and are therefore called the sons of wisdom.
As we discovered above, the spirit teaches the mysteries of the kingdom, through the grace of God to the Apostles, which is the wisdom of God. A true Apostle is one who is endowed with this grace to impart that wisdom into our souls and birth us into the Kingdom of God and into the glory. We read earlier that the Divine wisdom of God is an absolute necessity to our walk and without it we will not inherit the Glory of God. There is no middle ground with this – we become fools in the sight of God if we don’t receive the grace from a true Apostle and walk out wisdom. Let us strive towards the goal as one body, united in the vision with Apostle Michael and the wisdom endowed to us in this season.
REFERENCES:
(1) Strong’s Bible Dictionary: ‘gifted’ (H2450) & ‘artisans’ (H3820)
(2) Origen- Fragments of Job
(3) Origen- Leviticus Homily 6, Ch 6
(4) Clement- Stromata, Book 2, Ch 2(5) Irenaeus- Vol 1, Fragments, Ch XXXVI & XXXVII