Rich Rooms

(Proverbs 24:4 KJV)  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

The third element for building a home is “knowledge” (1847).  Verse three talked about wisdom and understanding.  I don’t think this is trying to establish a hierarchy as much as make us think about the different approaches to building a godly home.

Wealth is described here as the “chambers” (rooms NASB) (2315) being “filled” (4390).  This is a good point to again remind ourselves that there is real danger in pulling a verse out of context to prove a point we want to make.  Sometimes that is all you have time for.  Understood.  But do it with honor and integrity, using the verse for what it means, not for what wins your argument or makes a good excuse for your disobedience.  You could easily take this and make it a statement about materialism and how being rich is a sign of God’s blessing.  That is not what is being said. 

We don’t want just any type of wealth.  We want “pleasant” (5273a) and “precious” (3368) “riches” (1952).  Notice that gold and silver are not mentioned.  This is the kind of riches that come from knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  We are talking about understanding the salvation history that God has woven into our world.  We are talking about knowing how we fit into that history.  We are talking about knowing how to treat people and respond when they mistreat us.  God back and read the first chapter of Proverbs and see all the reasons to study and learn God’s word.  It might include material wealth but such wealth is a sickness if not understood and used with righteousness.

I think it is interesting that love is not mentioned in building this home.  Perhaps it is assumed that with wisdom, understanding and knowledge love will come.  Perhaps it is a clue to us that love has nothing to do with the Hollywood version but involves making decisions about patience and kindness.

So how is your home coming?  If Jesus came by for a visit, would He be comfortable?  Obviously He would.  Let me put it another way:  Would He feel comfortable bringing an unsaved friend to your house for Thanksgiving.   Remember He would prefer leftovers of a meal that had been served in love to turkey with all the trimmings of bitterness.