Page 12 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

Name four figures of speech: 1. 2.

3. 4.

5. Poetry has a greater than prose.

6. Hebrew poetry is characterized by

7. The poetical books in the Hebrew OT are collected in a group called

8. The first poetical book in the Hebrew OT is

9. The beginning of wisdom is

10. Wisdom usually requires much thought to discern good and evil.

11. All cultures have wisdom literature based on

12. When God’s wisdom is rejected, a culture is left with

13. Due to the presence of sin in the world, wisdom literature often struggles with

1.5 Let’s Personalize this Lesson….

Start thinking about poetry and wisdom in your country. What types of poetry do people
enjoy in your culture? In your church? What ancient pieces of wisdom have been passed
down from one generation to the next in your culture? Not unlike the days of ancient Israel,
God’s wisdom speaks to cultures today. Societies continue to observe the data of everyday
life and come up with ways to succeed. Some make up their own god. Others declare the
concept of god a hindrance to understanding. All struggle with the same limitations and frustrations of
ancient peoples. Life has not changed. We can be certain that God’s wisdom explored by Solomon and
David and others still speaks, still answers. Yahweh’s exclusive claim to wisdom defeats the thinking of
today.

Nowhere can this be seen so powerfully as the emphasis today on the validity of all cultures. No one has
the truth. Everyone has just bits and pieces. We should all just welcome one another and get along. The
Bible’s wisdom confronts this picture drastically.

The 1,500 worshippers fill the former warehouse, now turned into a sanctuary. Before
the service the congregation sings praise songs and old-time Gospel hymns, led by a
160-member choir. The service is informal and lively. People hug each other. The
minister prances on the stage, preaching at full-throttle, dynamic and mesmerizing. In
the pews are celebrities, people with testimonies, many having been helped by the 31
ministries this full-service church operates.

11