Understanding: "wellspring of life" (Proverbs 16:22)

MP3 article voiceover included

What is “understanding?” To begin, I would like to quote from this verse:

Psalms 32:9 "Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee."

Here, the bible tells us that the difference between a man and a beast is that a beast is without understanding. Prophet Jeremiah further elaborates in this verse:

Jeremiah 5:21 "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:"

Here, the bible tells us that foolish people are as beasts without understanding: which have eyes and see not; and have ears but hear not. Isaiah revealed to us in this passage of scripture:

Isaiah 6:9 "¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not."

Fools will hear the words of the LORD preached to them but understand not; and see the things of the Spirit of God but perceive not. Why? Isaiah continues in the next verse:

Isaiah 6:10 "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."

The bible tells us in Luke 8:11 that “The seed is the word of God.” Moreover, Isaiah tells us from this verse that it was from the ears and the eyes that the word of God gets sown in the heart. However, it is the heart that determines what happen to the information that came in through the ears and the eyes. Jesus quoted from Isaiah in this verse:

Matthew 13:15 "For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

The meaning of “gross” is large or bulky, but when taken together with the word “fat” in Isaiah 6:10, it paints a vivid picture of an enlarged heart that is choked gross with fat:

That would be a diseased heart characterized by the buildup of fatty deposits (plaque) along the innermost layer of the coronary arteries which continue to thicken and enlarge throughout the life span of the heart, narrows the arteries, and blocks the flow of blood to the heart. The coronary arteries are hardened in a medical condition known as “arteriosclerosis,” and since arteries deliver blood to the heart muscle, an obstruction of blood flow will reduce oxygen and nutrients to the heart and other organs eventually leading to death. There are quite a few verses in the bible about hardened hearts, such as this one:

Mark 8:17-18 "And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?"

A fat heart is a hardened heart, and a heart which is hardened belongs to fools who have eyes, yet they see not; and ears, yet they hear not. These foolish people are as beasts, without the understanding of a man. Also to be noticed is the word “perceive” in verse 17 “… perceive ye not yet, neither understand?”

Deuteronomy 29:4 "Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day."

To “perceive” is to understand: to see and hear with the heart. This verse also tells us that foolish people without understanding are blind because they can neither see nor hear with the heart. A hardened heart choked gross with fat makes them blind because it is incapable of processing information that entered through the eyes and ears. An antonym of “hard” is “supple” according to this verse about the leviathan:

Job 41:3 "Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?"

Supplications are soft words, and soft is the opposite of hard. A leviathan will not make supplications nor speak soft words because “his heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone” according to Job 41:24. That is the heart of a beast which is without the understanding of a man. A heart without understanding cannot process the law of God, even if it entered through the eyes and ears. We have a picture of that in the Parable of the Sower:

Matthew 13:3-4 "And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:"

The hearts of every living person in this world are represented in the Parable of the Sower. There are four types of grounds representing four types of heart: [1] the way side; [2] stony places; [3] thorny grounds; and [4] the good ground. The “seed” is the word of God according to Luke 8:11, and way side are hard surfaces. So, when the seed of the word of God is sown on a way side heart, Jesus tells us what will happen to it:

Matthew 13:19 "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side."

When one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, that is the way side heart: a hardened heart which is incapable of receiving the seed of word of God and process information out of it. It is a diseased heart choked gross with fat, so that it is without understanding. The end result for the seed word of God (gospel) sown in such a heart is that the “wicked one,” Satan according to Mark 4:15, will come and take the word of God out of it, so that this person cannot believe and be saved. The ultimate form of the seed of the word of God is a tree of life: the gospel contains the genetic codes for a tree of life.

Genesis 3:22 "¶ And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:"

The tree of life is the antidote for death, after man took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man can live forever if he takes from the tree of life, just like what Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 “… It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The gospel is the seed of the tree of life. Within the seed of the word of God are genetic codes for a “new spirit:”

Ezekiel 11:19-20 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

When one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it, that is the sprouting of the seed of the tree of life in the heart of a man. That was God who puts a new spirit in him, so that he will walk in obedience to his statutes, and keep his ordinances, and do them. Just like seeds in the nature, the seed of the tree of life will also undergo “germination” as the genetic code within it begin to unfold itself in stages. The three stages of germination are: [1] imbibition, or absorption of water; [2] respiration, or re-activation of metabolic activities; and [3] cell division, or formation of the seedling and young plant. Paul refers to the Parable of the Sower in this verse:

1 Corinthians 3:6 "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

Without the planting of the seed of the word of God, and the watering thereof, the gospel received in the heart cannot take root and grow and eventually becomes a tree of life that bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. Ezekiel 11:19-20 tells us that when God puts a new spirit in a man, he will also at the same time take away the stony ground heart out of his flesh and give him a heart of flesh. That is not just watering of the seed, but also the “washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26) whereby a believer is sanctified and cleansed through the word.

John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman."

After the great flood of Genesis 7, Noah became a “husbandman,” and he planted a vineyard according to Genesis 9:20. Likewise, God the Father is the husbandman who plants and waters his vineyard, so that it brings forth fruit some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. Jesus continues in this verse:

John 15:2 "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

Every branch that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, so that it will bring forth more fruit. That is the job of a husbandman, and we are the branches in God’s vineyard. Jesus continues in the next verse:

John 15:3 "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."

Just like what Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:26 “… washing of water by the word,” God the Father is the one who waters his vineyard, so that his elect are cleansed through the word. That is also what the bible calls “sanctification of the Spirit” unto obedience, whereby our whole spirit, soul and body are preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13) When God sanctifies a believer, “he purgeth it” according to John 15:2, so that it may bring forth more fruit. However, for branches that beareth not fruit, “he taketh away.” God gave the increase according to 1 Corinthians 3:6, and the way he purges or takes away is through watering. Jesus continues in these verses:

John 15:5-6 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

A well-watered plant, in the course of time, will bring forth much fruit. If a believer abides in the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season according to Psalms 1:3. That is also God the Father who purgeth him by the watering of the word, so that he may bring forth more fruit. The opposite is also true, that if we stop watering a plant, it will in the course of time, wither away. Those would be the ungodly Christians who abideth not in the word of God. According to Psalms 1:4, these Christians are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. That is also God the Father who taketh away, so that their end is to be cast into fire, and be burned.

Proverbs 16:22 "Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly."

Proverbs 18:4 "The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook."

The bible tells us that understanding is a wellspring of life unto a born again believer, and it compares the wellspring of wisdom to a flowing brook. Therefore, an understanding heart is as the soil by the rivers of water.

“Alluvial soil has the highest productivity with respect to other soils. It is present mostly along rivers and is carried by its streams during weathering of rocks.” — www.sciencedirect.com

Alluvial soil is the best type of soil for planting crops, and they are mostly found by the rivers of water. We also have a picture of that in:

Genesis 2:10 "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."

Eden has a river which went out to water the garden. There, it was parted and became into 4 heads: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. Notice the pattern of the number 4 synonymous to the 4 gospel books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Understanding is as a flowing brook that waters the good ground heart of a born again believer, who is as a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. It is not just the water, but the nutrients that got carried along the riverbanks that feed the trees planted nearby. In the words of prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Notice the words “spreadeth out her roots by the river?” That is a reference to the tree of life in Proverbs 3:18 “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her…” A tree of life is a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Because her roots are spread out by the river, she has no lack of moisture and nutrients, and that is also how a believer abides in Jesus according to John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” A well-watered ground of a wise and understanding heart is necessary for the seed of the word of God to take root, to grow up, and become a tree of life in the process of time.

Proverbs 14:30 "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."

The same analogy can be used to illustrate a diseased heart choked gross with fat, because the bible tells us that a sound heart is the life of the flesh, which according to Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…” When blood flow is restricted or obstructed due to build up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries, causing them to harden over time, life cannot flow into other members of the body. As a result, the body will wither and die in the process of time. Likewise, when a person’s heart is hardened against the word of God, when a Christian stop abiding in Jesus, God the Father will also take away understanding (Job 12:20), so that when the wellspring of life as a flowing brook dries up, he will eventually wither as a branch, which end is to be cast into the fire to be burned.