“The beginning of wisdom …”(Prov. 9:10, NKJV)
We are currently examining the second Spirit of the seven-fold Spirit, namely the Spirit of Wisdom. In the last teaching we looked at its appearance in the Old Testament. In this teaching we want to look at what the New Testament says about it:
- In Luke 2:40 the following is said about Jesus when He was young: “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” It is not pertinently referred to as the Spirit of Wisdom, but from Isa. 11:2 and John 3:34 we know that Jesus had ALL the Spirits of God. This also explains the word “filled,” the Greek word plēroō, which, according to Thayer, means “fill to the full”. Specifically referring to wisdom also implies that it is something other than just a quality of the Holy Spirit, akin to a “word of wisdom” as spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:8). No, the “word of wisdom” is just a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit of wisdom” is a manifestation of the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9).
- When new deacons have to be appointed to the ecclesia, Acts. 6:3 notes, “brethren, seek out from among you seven men of goodreputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business …” The same linguistic pattern, with the same argument as above, is followed.
- The Scripture that does contain the complete phrase, and is a key Scripture for this subject, is Eph. 1:17-19. In this Scripture Paul prays that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what isthe exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power”. From this it would seem as if the Spirit of Wisdom and “the spirit of … revelation” and (the Spirit of) knowledge work together to enlighten the eyes of our understanding! In verse 19 we also see a mention of (the Spirit of) power. Six of the seven Spirits are thus explicitly represented in this section – the only one that seems to be absent is the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. But take Prov. 9:10 into consideration: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” then the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord is already included, by implication, by the Spirit of Wisdom, as the principle (archē, beginning, origin) of Wisdom already contains the germ cell of that which will eventually become the fear of the Lord.
The believer thus cannot receive the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord without receiving the Spirit of Wisdom! The same principle is also true for the “Spirit of the Lord,” which is thus the archē of the other six Spirits of God. It thus seems as if there is a particular unfolding in the order in which the seven Spirits are received.
- Selah: What do you think the Spirit of Wisdom is, and entails?
- Read: 11-13
- Memorise: 13:14 (Why is this verse significant for our current conversation?)
