Once again we have a comparison between the wise man and the fool. How often has that been thus far in Proverbs? I have no idea and no desire to try to count. Let’s just say that it has been many, many times. But with that being true, how important is this subject and the comparison? We can conclude that this is extremely important or the Holy Spirit wouldn’t bring it before us so often.

When it comes to this verse, it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about secular wisdom or spiritual. How accurate is this definition – “Wisdom is the ability to properly apply knowledge to everyday life”? Isn’t it true that generally speaking a wise man knows how to make good decisions – decisions which impact his daily life? Christians know better, but the world might say that even an atheist can be wise in regard to daily life.

But then there is the man who is wise in the spiritual sense. The Bible leads us to believe that true wisdom is found in the LORD – only in the Lord. Only a saved man is truly wise. And in fact a man may not be very intelligent or smart in the things of the world and yet be wise enough in Christ to outshine the Rhodes scholar and the members of Mensa.

Despite the differences between secular and spiritual wisdom let’s tie the two together before separating them again. This verse is true either way. Wisdom is often right in front of a person, but is he interested in it? He knows full well what might happen if he takes that offered drug, but is he going to be wise enough to say no? And he has been raised in a Bible believing church, Christ has been before his eyes for years, but how has he responded thus far?

“Wisdom is before him that hath understanding.”

A few years ago I read the biography of Bobby Fischer – the chess master who beat Boris Spassky in 1972. There is little doubt that Bobby Fischer was a genius, but he went on to live the life of an absolute fool. Since then I read a history of the Manhattan Project which produced the atomic bomb. There is no doubt that many very smart people were involved, but some of them were like children when it came to daily life. Smart people can be really, really silly; they can be down-right stupid; they can be fools.

As implied in this scripture, there is a difference between understanding and wisdom. I have known a few people who knew the Old Testament backwards and forwards. They could talk without end about the Tabernacle, or the Levitical sacrifices, or the prophecies of Ezekiel. But those same people missed the fulfillment of those things in the New Testament Christ Jesus. Again, what constitutes a fool? What is the definition of a fool? To what degree does someone have to be foolish before becoming a genuine fool?

Doesn’t this verse hold out hope to all of us who have lost relatives? In the presence of the right kind of knowledge wisdom is possible. Someone we love may be unsaved, but he has been given an understanding of the things of the Lord. He has been raised in church and heard the gospel over and over again for years. He understands what the Bible says about his sin. He understands the principles of a substitutionary sacrifice and atonement. Wisdom is right there staring them in the face. In some respect, there remains hope.

“But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.”

The man who is a genuine fool, looks beyond the truth which stands before him; looking rather to the ends of the earth. For example, there is the scientific fool. The evidence of Creation is as near as his flower bed or his baby’s bed. But he can’t see the evidence for creation evident at Mount St. Helens, or the Grand Canyon. He can’t see that a Divine Creator was necessary for the existence of his eye, his mind, or his heart. So what does he do? He starts looking at the planet Mars for proof – not of Creation but of evolution. He looks to the ends of the earth – and beyond.

Rather than proof for the existence of God which is so near at hand, he goes looking for more education or more scientific knowledge. “We don’t yet have enough facts to completely do away with the human testimony of the divine. So we have to study a bit harder.” More education, more study, more facts will give us “wisdom” – he says. No, it might provide more information and even more knowledge, but in itself – not wisdom.

Beyond the scientific fool, there is the secular fool. I don’t know if the argument is as prevalent today as it was when I was a teenager…. But one of the excuses for using drugs back in the 60’s, was the revelation received when people were stoned. What vivid colors; what truth; what insight there was in LSD, for example. The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth in the search for answers. No, that is the fool talking.

And then we come to the religious fool. I can give you names of people who had Bibles at home, but who turned to Tibetan religion for inner peace. Isn’t that the end of the earth? Science fiction writer Ron Hubbard came along in 1955 and created Scientology, telling brainless kids that he had found the answers they are seeking. Those people were virtually looking into fictionalized outer space for wisdom. 150 years ago, the most intellectual fools in the theological world were flocking to Europe to answer all their questions about the Bible. They were turning to German Rationalism to do away with the miracles of divine power in the Bible. They refused simply believe in an omnipotent God, rather looking to the far ends of earth for logical, rational, humanistic explanations for the inexplicable.

“Wisdom is before him that hath understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.” You have all heard that “grass is greener on the other side of the fence or road or creek?” So many nominal “Christians” – Protestants and others, have grown up unsatisfied with the answers to life’s question which their parents and grandparents enjoyed by believing God’s Word. There must be more than the Bible? There must be more truth than that. The dissatisfaction with whatever we have – intellectually and practically – is now being called a “syndrom.” It is a disease of the mind to be dissatisfied with whatever we have at the moment. Many people are suffering from “the Grass is Greener on the Other Side” syndrom. The Bible has a different word for it – “Foolishness.”

As Bible believers we know that the Lord is omnipresent – He is before us

Also, it is a fact that the Bible is most widely published book in the world, and for a long time that meant the KJV. The Truth of God was in most American homes, and eventually even among the Roman Catholics. You couldn’t go to a hotel without running into the Bible; you could hardly go anywhere. “Wisdom is before him that hath understanding.”

The Lord, who is “Wisdom personified” is before us all. Psalm 34:18 – “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart…” Psalm 145:18 – “the Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him…” Acts 17:27 – “The Lord is not far from every one of us,” if we might feel after him and seek Him. “Wisdom is before him that hath under5standing.”

But there is an obvious prerequisite to finding that wisdom. James 4: 8-10 – “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.” “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart…”

And there is the problem and the reason for our foolishness as a race. Sin has reared its ugly head in our human pride, our lack of brokenness before God. Proverbs 17:25 describes the character of our day – the character of our country – the character of our neighbors and even ourselves. “Wisdom is before him that hath understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.”