God of Science

Solomon was a king who was known for his wisdom. Early in his reign, he dreamt a prayer for wisdom, and God granted it in his waking hours, and then, persons and leaders from all over the world came just to hear his wisdom. 

He is responsible for many proverbs, for many songs, for many pieces of worship. We're told that his wisdom was greater even than Ethan and Heman, two persons we know wrote some of the psalms. We remember the story of the Queen of Sheba, who traveled a very long distance to come and hear his wisdom, and when she heard it, she gave him every single piece of the elaborate gift she had brought with her and declared his wisdom was greater even than this. 

Yes, Solomon was a man of great wisdom. 

So it's interesting that in 1 Kings 4, the Bible tells us that some of the things he reflected on in wisdom were...the trees. Animals. Birds. Reptiles. Fish. 

In other words, nature. 

This is important for us because we're living in a world torn, it seems, between science and faith. (And for what it's worth, I don't understand what all the tearing is about; the two are largely compatible. But I digress.) The world tells us that it is science that is able to tell us about all of these things, that it is science that gives us understanding of them. We have taken these things into the labs and torn them apart, carefully cutting through to see what we can discover and compiling great troves of books that document all of the things that we learn. And then, when we have a question about something in the natural world or there's something we want to know more about, we turn to these books. Because the world tells us that it is science that holds the answers we seek. 

But the Bible says...not so fast. It's not just science that speaks to the natural world; it's also wisdom. And wisdom comes from the Wise One Himself, God. 

Because when God granted Solomon wisdom, it wouldn't have had to be about science. It wouldn't have had to be about nature. He could have stuck to the things that we consider wisdom today, in our multifaceted culture. He could have stuck to interpersonal relations or math problems or whatever else you want to say that wisdom impacts, but He didn't. We are told that in all his wisdom, Solomon spent his time reflecting on...nature. 

And of course he did. Because nature itself is the product of the spoken word of the Creator Himself, who is wisdom personified. God is wisdom, so His creation obviously is also wisdom.

We don't call it wisdom. We call it knowledge. But...it's wisdom. 

Which maybe shows just how little we actually know sometimes.