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What Is The Difference Between Wisdom and Knowledge In The Bible?

What Is The Difference Between Wisdom and Knowledge In The Bible?

Last updated on: April 27, 2014 at 6:30 pm by Jack Wellman

What Is The Difference Between Wisdom and Knowledge In The Bible? 2014-04-27T16:37:09-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Are wisdom and knowledge the same thing? If not, what are the differences between the two and how can we know the difference? How can we gain wisdom and knowledge?

True Wisdom

The Bible says that “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days” (Job 12:12) and so we know that wisdom comes from experience but that’s not the true source of wisdom. I have learned many things from the many mistakes that I have made and so with experience I have learned and usually the hard way, however “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7a). To fear God is what the wisest man on earth once said. Solomon wrote that “wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it” (Prov 7:12) and “Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city” (Prov 7:19) and so we ought to “search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things (Prov 7:25a). Wisdom leads one into the path or righteousness (Prov 4:11) because it is “the man who pleases him [that] God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness” (Eccl 2:6).

What Solomon is saying is that wisdom is really obedience to God because the consequences of obedience are His blessings. Wisdom is obedience and obedience leads to righteousness. To fear God is true wisdom. This fearing of God is not a fear of being struck down by God or that He will send you to hell, but fearing God is reverencing God, having a deep and abiding respect and honor for Him. Wisdom will preserve your life and leads to eternal life. James wrote that “the wisdom that comes from [God] is pure.” If you want wisdom then you can simply ask God for it and He will give it generously to you (James 1:5). The foolish person is quick to lose his temper but the truly wise person “keeps themselves under control” (Prov 29:11) and “the man who finds wisdom…gains understanding” (Prov 3:13). Wisdom will take you further than knowledge because there is danger in having knowledge without wisdom.

True Knowledge

If you don’t have wisdom that goes with knowledge, you are only a walking encyclopedia. A book of knowledge is useless without the wisdom to know how to apply that knowledge. I have met some who have Doctorates but they don’t have the wisdom to keep their family intact. They can write a book about raising children but they don’t have the wisdom to actually raise their own. When a person has a lot of knowledge they sometimes have a lot of arrogance and pride. How hard it is to be around a know-it-all. Knowledge makes a person believe that they are elevated above those around them and they sometimes disdain those with less education than them. Paul wrote that “all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge puffs up” (1 Cor 8:1) and even if I “understand all mysteries and all knowledge [and] have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:2). Certainly, wisdom and knowledge is not the same thing. Information without transformation leads only to frustration.

When Solomon succeeded King David, he wisely ask for “wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people” (1 Chro 1:10a) and God seeing that Solomon humbly asked for wisdom and knowledge, God granted these to him. Because Solomon valued wisdom and knowledge above riches, God blessed him with the greatest wealth of any king (1 Chro 1:12) as he was able to see that wisdom had to come before knowledge because knowledge without wisdom leads to pride and arrogance. Solomon had wisely been taught by his father David that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov 9:10). Wisdom and knowledge go together and when that is in regards to the Holy One, that is true understanding. We could put it this way; start with wisdom, add to it knowledge, and you will get true understanding.

Acquiring Wisdom and Knowledge

To learn true wisdom is to abide in the Word of God. Jesus said “abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5) and “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). So true, biblical wisdom comes from abiding or staying in His Word and Jesus is that Word, the Word that became flesh (John 1:14). We need both wisdom and knowledge because having only a book on how to assemble an engine (knowledge) is useless unless you have the wisdom of putting one together and remember that wisdom comes with age (Job 12:12) but true wisdom is from the Lord and from obeying Him (Prov 9:10; Eccl 2:6).

Conclusion

Acquire true wisdom and knowledge in this way: examine the Bible and the Bible will examine you; read the Word of God and the Word of God will read you; go through the Bible and the Bible will go through you; abide in the Word and the Word will abide in you. Man’s or the world’s wisdom is foolishness to God but for “those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (1 Cor 1:24-25a) so the wisest thing you could ever do is to repent and trust in Christ for Christ is the true wisdom of God and you are wise to trust in Him for all eternity.

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon

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