CHAPTER 11
Eh. It’s more rehashing of the historical moments of the
Torah, with plenty of congrats given to wisdom. This book is really getting kind of thin.
The second half of the chapter is a digression on God’s
mercy. Nothing can happen unless God
wills it, and he can overlook plenty of sins for repentance.
CHAPTER 12
It’s more about God’s mercy. He rebukes offenders little by little. Even the people that Joshua slaughtered, this book claims, God
tried to rebuke by inches at first.
There is one interesting point: God is merciful because he’s
all-powerful. We’re told of God: “your mastery of all things makes you lenient
to all.” That’s an interesting though,
but it’s about all I got from this chapter.
It all just sounds like some generalized whatever.
CHAPTER 13
Yeah, um …this book isn’t very good. The fact that it’s actually arrogant enough
to be titled “Wisdom” just makes it that much more annoying.
This chapter is just a digression on false worship. Apparently, idolatry is a bad thing. He notes how silly it is for a person to cut
down a tree and then worship the wooden figurine he made. Yeah, nice point, but I know I’ve come
across it somewhere previously. Maybe
psalms or somewhere in the back half of the Torah. Somewhere before now.
CHAPTER 14
More info on idolatry.
It’s still bad. Got that?
The writer has an entire section on the origins of idolatry,
and ….he’s just taking his own personal guesses and claiming that’s how it
goes. He really has no idea. It’s just him spitballing.
CHAPTER 15
Oh, barf.
That’s what I kept writing in the margins of this chapter. Oh, barf.
You see, after a long digression on idolatry and making
idols out of wood we get….a section on idols made out of clay. Really?
Do we really need this? Will
anything new be said? Nope.
And it’s all this morally bombastic crud about how a person
who makes a clay god has no heart and only does it for profit. And it’s profit that just creates evil. And all this blah blah blah morally
judgmental stuff about how bad it is. OK, fine we get it.
Oh, and the end of the chapter finishes the digression on
idolatry. Except I no longer remember
what the main point is. The header is
no help: “Second Example Resumed.”
Second example of what?
CHAPTER 16
Apparently the second example is just a bunch of praise of
God for how he treated the Israelites during the history listed in the
Torah. Everything God did was
great. All God’s moves were right and
just. But we’re getting so little info,
and what’s being discussed is so broad, that all the praise becomes
meaningless. It’s all just hollow,
empty words.
The writer comes off like a lackey; a yes-man toady to the
Lord. I just finished reading Job, and
there God smacks down Job, but then rewards him. Throughout the Bible God has shown preferences for those who
contend with him – Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Job – heck even Gideon. But this author is just a bootlicker.
You go, God! You are
so wonderful! This so-called Book of
Wisdom really isn’t living up to its title – and it’s just about over.
CHAPTER 17
It’s just more of the same.
It’s just retelling – really, just a referencing as the stories
themselves aren’t retold – of what God did to the Egyptians in the time of
Moses. Again, all that God did was
wonderful. They had it coming.
This isn’t wisdom.
This is just boosterism. This is
the worst of the wisdom books to date.
Maybe Ben Sira will be worse, but that’s the only possible competition.
CHAPTER 18
More of the same.
This just goes over the end of the 10 plagues. God is so incredibly justified and wonderful and righteous and
all that jazz.
CHAPTER 19
Mercifully, Wisdom comes to an end. This covers the Red Sea. Yeah, we know what happened, pal. We don’t need you referring back to it. This is just the Bible telling us how
wonderful the Bible is.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
For a book called Wisdom, there sure isn’t much wisdom in
it.
Early on, he’s trying too hard, and giving revenge fantasies
like a junior high student who has been picked on too much. Then he does a pointless retelling of parts
of Genesis and Exodus, that just make him look like a servile yes-man flunkey
to the Lord. Oh, and in the middle of
it, he goes into a long-winded and wearing diatribe against idolatry.
This isn’t wisdom.
It’s a guy who agrees with everything he’s supposed to agree with
telling us why it’s so wonderful. This
is like that student in class who gets good scores on all his assignments and
tests – is a real diligent do-er of what he’s told – but doesn’t really bring
anything new to the table.
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