Who is “the smartest man who ever lived”? If Jesus and Solomon are removed from the list, the remaining contestants stand a chance. Albert Einstein would be nominated, of course, and some would vote for John von Neumann, “the late mathematician and quantum mechanics theorist,” according to Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon in The New Spirituality (19).
Regardless of who the most intelligent person in the world might turn out to be, does it really matter? There is no prize given out by God for being the smartest. As Paul asked, “For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). IQs vary, but whether low or high, no one earned the amount of intelligence he or she has. True, one can improve upon one’s natural assets and through reason of use, training, or practice rise to a somewhat higher level, but the raw materials were still a gift.
However, everyone can be wise. There are those with an IQ of 80 who will forever be wiser than geniuses whose can score 100 points higher on an intelligence test. Wisdom is by far the greater property to possess. Some have a natural ability to apply what they know and have been taught; others must learn it.
Possessing earthly wisdom (or what sometimes is called “common sense”) will enable a person to get through the problems of everyday living and perhaps advise others, but there is a wisdom that is superior to this mundane kind–spiritual.
How does God define wisdom? What are its properties? Can anyone have access to it? This last question is the easiest to answer. Some will never gain wisdom. The fool, for example, despises it (Pr. 1:7). It seems unlikely that the one who is not searching for it should find it. Likewise the proud cannot possess it–only the humble (Pr. 11:2).
Spiritual wisdom comes from the Source of all knowledge and wisdom–God Himself. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Pr. 2:6). “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). No wonder scoffers seek it but are denied access to it (Pr. 14:6).
Without question, God is the source of wisdom. He granted it to Solomon as a gift (1 Kings 4:29; 5:12). Wisdom is also one of the spiritual gifts that was given in the New Testament (1 Cor. 12:8). But one can attain wisdom without it being supernaturally or miraculously supplied. God can also bestow it through natural means–through the indirect and intermediate means of His Word.
Job asks the same question that many have struggled with: “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:20). Job demonstrates that God knows all about wisdom, and therefore He declares to man: “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).
That verse explains the reason that scorners do not attain wisdom: they practice evil, and they have no fear of God. They may have been blessed with great intelligence, but they will never be wise because they have rejected the very means of becoming such. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever” (Ps. 111:10).
Atheists, agnostics, and humanists can display absolute brilliance in many areas of academic endeavor, but they will never be wise because they fear not God. They will think they are wise. As Solomon wrote, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Pr. 26:12). For this reason many college professors, the media elite, Hollywood luminaries, and ACLU lawyers frequently find themselves opposing goodness, righteousness, truth, and Biblical morality–they have no wisdom because they have no fear of God.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pr. 9:10). Few today are being taught respect and honor for God. His name is primarily used for swearing by those who lack wisdom. They mock even the concept of fearing God, which they are free to do, but the irreverent will never be blessed with true wisdom. They may achieve wealth, fame, and power; they may ridicule, persecute, and put to death Christians, but they have put their hope in material things, which cannot prevail against the fires that will burn up this world (2 Peter 3:10-13). Stripped of all their props and standing naked before God in the judgment, how wise will they have been shown to be?
Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom, but then what? Consider what God, through Moses, told Israel:
“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of all the people who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'” (Deut. 4:5-6).
Some people climb mountains (allegedly) to talk with yogis to find out the secret of life; apparently the plain truth that spiritual wisdom involves fearing God and obeying His Word is too simple. Like Naaman, some are expecting that some great thing is required; they are offended by such a simplistic thing as fear God and keep His commandments. Many stand ready to pay huge sums of money or to go on a quest to prove their worth, but all that God requires is to trust and obey.
Wisdom, in the Scriptures, is associated with certain concepts and divorced from others. Wisdom is found among those who are righteous (Pr. 10:31), the just (Luke 1:17), those who listen to counsel (Pr. 12:15; 24:6), the humble (Pr. 11:2), and those who win souls (Pr. 11:30). Wisdom is absent from the perverse and the selfish (Pr. 10:31).
James contrasts earthly with heavenly wisdom. This world’s wisdom is associated with bitter envy, self-seeking, boasting, lying (even against the truth), confusion, and every evil thing (James 3:14-16). “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
The first thing wisdom does is involve purity. Wisdom does not involve lying, self-seeking, or things that promote the flesh. “Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Pr. 20:1). Certain religious doctrines being taught by false teachers in the first century permitted people to engage in licentious behavior, which in reality made them “slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:18-19). Spiritual wisdom does not tell people it is all right to sin and that they can be a Christian without giving up the lusts of the flesh. Those today who give their consent to those in unauthorized marriages are not dispensing any heavenly wisdom, since their advice violates purity.
Wisdom is next peaceable. Once purity is a priority, then peace can follow. It does not exist first because then we would be at peace with sin in its myriad expressions, which would be most unwise. On the other hand, once purity is established, then peace should follow (as opposed to pride, envy, and self-promotion which foster division). Certainly, wisdom can be corrupted by the love of self and the desire for self-exaltation (Ezek. 28:17). Despising others constitutes neither love nor wisdom. “He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor” (Pr. 11:12). In fact, the best thing to do is to refrain from venting anger towards others: “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace” (Pr. 17:28).
The Word of God is wisdom; the same reverence we hold toward God should be extended to His Word as well. Paul 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 (1 Cor. 2:6-7).
The word of God spoken through Jesus or His apostles would truly need to be classified as wisdom, but there is in particular a wise plan that God had determined from the beginning, which would result in our salvation.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself… (Eph. 1:7-9).
This mystery not only involved God’s plan for redeeming man (that is, the cleansing of His sins); it also involved putting the redeemed into the body (or church) of Christ. Both Jews and Gentiles, therefore, are part of the one body of redeemed souls, over which Christ is head (Eph. 2:11-3:7). “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28).
The Scriptures associate many wonderful blessings with the attainment and practice of wisdom. Below are a few of them.
1. Happiness is ascribed to “the man who finds wisdom” (Pr. 3:13). Most people are searching for happiness through various forms of fleshly satisfaction, but pursuing it in earthly domains will leave one disappointed.
2. Salvation comes to the individual with the correct priorities: “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul” (Pr. 19:8). This statement implies that those who do not seek wisdom are acting contrary to their own best interests.
3. “The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools” (Pr. 3:35). The glory here may refer to an earthly reputation, but certainly the wise shall also share in the glory of Christ because they loved their souls.
Happiness, salvation, and glory: what more could anyone want in this life–or the next? A further benefit of wisdom is that it profits other people. “…but the tongue of the wise promotes health” (Pr. 12:18). “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death” (Pr. 13:14).
Not everyone is interested in being wise; some (as shown previously) would rather be scoffers. Some display too much pride; others are satisfied with cheap substitutes. They, unfortunately, are content to settle for folly in place of happiness: “Folly is a joy to him that is destitute of wisdom…” (Pr. 15:21, KJV).
But anyone else can be wise. If such were not the case, how could Solomon write: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Pr. 23:23)? He encouraged seeking after wisdom in an earlier verse, also: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Pr. 4:7). Jesus admonished His disciples: “Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16).
Not everyone is created equally with respect to intelligence, but everyone has an equal opportunity to be wise. Children will have a head start if their parents punish them appropriately: “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother” (Pr. 29:15). Unfortunately, many have taken the advice of foolish modern-day “experts” over the wisdom of the Scriptures. The latest theories of men will never rival the Word of God. All of us have a need to be rebuked, chastened, and corrected so that we may become wise and learn not to always trust our own judgment.
In fact: “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered” (Pr. 28:26). The “way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jer. 10:23). Only the proud think their own way is best; only they can feel comfortable doing what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25).
It is fearing God and walking in His ways that indicate genuine wisdom. Those who think they are lacking in their own wisdom should put themselves under the influence of those they consider wise. “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Pr. 13:20). Those who want to learn medicine will try to put themselves in a position in which they are taught by the best. Those who would learn wisdom should put themselves under the influence of those who are spiritual (who fear God and walk according to His statutes and commandments).
Such individuals are ones who are genuine followers of Jesus–not those who make a profit off their spirituality or those who are hypocritically hiding their sins from public view or those who have risen to a position of ecclesiastical power and prominence. We should all subject ourselves to the influence of those who simply love the Truth and who use knowledge rightly (Pr. 15:2).
Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore, we should devote ourselves to it. We can grow in wisdom by reading and studying the Word of God and by living according to it. The more we live it, the more we will understand true wisdom, and the wiser we will become. We will be better prepared to “walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:6). Our measure of wisdom will be further enhanced by walking with those who are wise. There will be many smart, intelligent, and clever people who will be lost when the day of judgment arrives. The wise, however, will have lived happily here, will be saved there, and be allowed to enter into glory. We are all wise–or otherwise.