PirkeiAvinu Lesson2

Section One: The Fool
in His Folly
Section Two: Praying
for Wisdom
Section Three: Lesson
Studies & Discussion
Section Four: Write an
article for FFOZ
Lesson Two:
PRAYING FOR WISDOM

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2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to
request additional copies. This document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families.
Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership is a like a free key that opens the online door to an ever-growing treasure vault of keyword-
searchable bible study helps and articles. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such as the popular eDrash
and eRosh.
PRAYING FOR WISDOM
by Boaz Michael,
FFOZ Founder and Director
W
hats your name? What do people
call you? Do you have nickname? A
Hebrew name? A middle-name? Heres
what the sages say about names:
A person has three names: the one
that his father and mother call him,
the one that his fellows call him
[e.g., how people talk about him],
and one that he requires [by the way
he acts]. And the last one is better
than all others.
(Tanhuma Va-Yakel #1)
In this months issue of Pirkei Avinu, we are
going to learn about how to acquire wisdom and
how to acquire a good name in the process.
THE FOOL IN HIS FOLLY
It sounds pretty simple. Study Torah, listen to
your parents and teachers and youll be wise. It
sounds like wisdom can simply be obtained like
a piece of property. But, it really does not work
that wayits not that simple.
Its not difcult to learn Torah, but its difcult
to do it. Its not difcult to have parents, but its
difcult to obey them and honor them. Its not
hard to nd smart teachers, but its not always
so easy to really learn from them. Something
always seems to get in the way.
For example, have you ever said to yourself,
From now on Im going to pray and read my
Bible every day? The rst day you start off with
lots of commitment. The next day your back
at it, but on the third day, a busy morning or
unexpected interruption makes you forget. On
the fourth day, you think to yourself, I dont feel
like it right now, Ill do it later. By the end of the
week, youve given up. What happened?
Another example. Your parents give you an
unpleasant chore to do, like cleaning up some-
one elses mess. It seems unfair and unpleasant,
so you avoid doing it right away. Later when
they nag you about it, it irritates you, so you feel
resentful while doing the chore and do a poor
job. They complain, and this makes you feel even
more resentful and perhaps, you allow yourself
to argue with them. You never meant to dishonor
your parents. Somehow, it just happened. The
Proverbs say,
A fool rejects his fathers discipline
(Proverbs 15:5).
A third example. You are sitting in the congre-
gation, attempting to listen while the teacher is
bringing a word of Torah. You feel sleepy though,
and besides, hes boring and it doesnt really
seem like anything hes saying is important or
matters to you. Your mind wanders. Soon you are
thinking about other things. When the teach-
ing is nally over, you dont really remember
what it was about. You never meant to ignore the
teacher, but week after week, thats what hap-
pens. The Proverbs say,
REVIEW:
WISDOM FROM ABOVE
In the last issue of Pirkei Avinu we dis-
cussed the source of wisdom. God is the
source of true wisdom, and His wisdom is
revealed through His Torah.
Remember the picture that illustrated
the lesson? The drawing tried to imagine
the wisdom of God oating down from
heaven into His Torah where it is revealed
to us and made available to us. In 2 Timo-
thy 3:1617, Paul said that the Torah is the
source of Gods teaching, reproof, correc-
tion, and that it trains in righteousness.
We learned that God teaches us His
wisdom through the study of His Torah,
through the instruction of our parents and
through the guidance of righteous teachers
He places in our lives.
Torah
Parents
Teachers
PIRKEI AVINU The Sayings of our Father
2 Lesson Two: PRAYING FOR WISDOM
2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. This
document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families. Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership is a like a free key that opens the
online door to an ever-growing treasure vault of keyword-searchable bible study helps and articles. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such
as the popular eDrash and eRosh.
When we admit to ourselves that we are actu-
ally fools, then we are ready to start learning
wisdom.
Furthermoreand perhaps most impor-
tantlythe light of godly wisdom can only be
acquired through the work of Gods Spirit. David
prays,
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wonderful things from Your Torah
(Psalm 119:18).
This can be explained in a story:
ILL GRANT YOU ONE WISH
King Solomon was the wisest man that ever
lived. The Bible says that God gave Solomon
wisdom and very great discernment and breadth
of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore (1
Kings 4:29) and that His wisdom surpassed that
of all the wise men of the east. He created 3,000
proverbs, and Men came from all peoples to
hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings
of the earth who had heard of his wisdom (1
Kings 4:34). Many of the proverbs in the book of
proverbs were written by Solomon.
However, he did not start out so wise. The story
is that when he took the throne of Israel, God
appeared to him in a dream and offered him one
wish. Ask what you wish me to give you, the
LORD said to Solomon. What would you ask for if
you had one wish? Money, power, fame, long life,
health, good looks, triumph and victory, these
are the sorts of things that the esh would wish
for. Solomon, however, humbled himself and
asked for wisdom. To paraphrase the passage,
he said, I am like a little child that doesnt even
know how to take care of himself, how much
less the thousands of people that I am king over.
Please give me an understanding heart to dis-
cern between good and evil.
God was so pleased with this choice that he
gave Solomon not only wisdom, but also the
wealth, power and fame that he did not ask for.
You can read the story yourself in 1 Kings 3:1-15.
For the waywardness of the nave
and the complacency of fools will
destroy them (Proverbs 1:32).
These are pretty innocent examples of every
day things we might do, but the same thing that
causes these innocent little failings will cause
much bigger problems in our lives further down
the line. The Proverbs say,
A fool displays folly.
(Proverbs 13:16)
All of these examples fall into the category
that the Bible calls folly. In the Bible, folly does
not mean stupidity and a fool is not a silly
person. Instead, folly is unrighteousness and
disobedience. A fool is an undisciplined or even
a wicked person. It turns out that all of us are
pretty full of foolishness.
This is a big problem because folly leads to
destruction. It results in empty hearts, shattered
dreams and meaningless lives.
THE MIND OF THE FLESH
Where does all this folly come from? Its called
the esh. In the Bible, the word esh means
our natural, normal human state. Paul says,
the mind set on the esh is hostile
toward God; for it does not subject
itself to the Torah of God, for it is not
even able to do so (Romans 8:7).
Our eshly state is opposed to Gods Torah and
wisdom. We do not appreciate its value, its role,
and its importance in our lives. We humans are
fools by nature.
The rst step in acquiring wisdom requires us
to recognize that we are fools. It requires a little
humility. The Proverbs say,
Do you see a man wise in his own
eyes? There is more hope for a fool
than for him (Proverbs 26:12).
PRAYING FOR WISDOM
Like Solomon, we can pray for wisdom too. The
daily prayer, a prayer called the Amidah (a litur-
gical prayer that is prayed three times a day by
the devout) contains prayers for wisdom. In one
form or another, this prayer has its beginnings
with the prophet Ezra, and has been prayed by
the people of God for many centuries.
Wisdom is the top of the list, the very rst thing
we ask for from God in the prayer. Lets take a
look at the prayer for wisdom:
You grant knowledge to man, and teach dis-
cernment to a mortal. Grant us wisdom, discern-
ment and knowledge from You. Blessed are You,
O LORD, who grants knowledge. (Fourth benedic-
tion of the Amidah, Sephardic Version)
This prayer asks for three things: Wisdom, dis-
cernment and knowledge. Whats the difference?
WISDOM CHOCHMAH
Some people are just smarter than other
people. There are several words in Scripture that
are used to describe types of, what we think of
as, mental capacity. But wisdom is not a matter
of how smart a person is. An A+ Trigonometry
student is not necessarily a wise person.
The Hebrew word for wisdom is chochmah.
In the Bible, wisdom is the ability to perceive
and practice truth. Truth, of course, is the Word
of God itself. Thus, the words wise and righ-
teous are synonyms in Scripture, in much the
same way that fool and wicked person mean
the same thing.
DISCERNMENT BINAH
Some people have a natural talent for making
good choices. We refer to them as lucky. They
choose the winning numbers. They choose the
faster checkout lane at the grocery store. The bib-
lical concept of discernment is not luck though.
It is a matter of making biblical distinctions and
making godly choices.
The Hebrew word for discernment is binah.
It is related to the word bein, which means
between. Binah is the ability to distinguish
between one thing and another. To have binah is
to be able to accurately divideto discern.
God demonstrated binah in making the world.
He separated between the light and the dark-
ness. He separated the seas from the dry land.
He separated the waters below from the waters
above. He separated the seventh day from the six
days of labor. God separates between holy and
common, and between Israel and the nations,
between clean and unclean, between right and
wrong. God gave instructions not to mix wool
with linen, to sow a eld with two types of seed,
or to yoke together two types of animals.
Thus, God is understood as the mavdil, the
one who separates, the one who makes a
distinction. And so, on Saturday nights after
the Sabbath closes, in addition to the havdalah
ceremony, a short blessing is inserted during this
blessing for binah that recognizes this fact about
God.
You have granted us the knowledge
of Your Torah, and You have taught
us to carry out the statutes of Your
will, and You have separated, O
LORD our God, between holy and
common things, between light and
darkness, between Israel and the
peoples, between the seventh day
and the six days of labor. Our Father,
our King, begin these days for us
that are coming to greet us for peace;
may we be devoid of all sin, cleansed
from all iniquity and attached to
fear of You.
Following this pattern, we are also called to
make distinctions. We are to imitate God and
reect His holiness. This can only be done
within the context of maintaining the distinc-
tions established in the Word of God. We are to
distinguish between clean and unclean, holy and
unholy, and right and wrong. We are also to sus-
tain the biblical distinctions between man and
woman, Israel and the nations, the Father and
His son, and between the various legal sanctions
of the commandments.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest
on Him, The spirit of wisdom and
understanding, The spirit of counsel
and strength, The spirit of knowl-
edge and the fear of the LORD.
(Isaiah 11:2)
And so we, as imitators of our Master and as
people who have been given the same Spirit,
should exhibit the same qualities as Yeshua.
Colossians 1:910 states:
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we
have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you
may be lled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you
will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please
Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work
and increasing in the knowledge of God.
In Ephesians 1:17, Paul recognizes that the
source, the beginning place of understanding is
prompted by Gods spirit. He prays for us, that
the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the
Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom
and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
And so we seek Gods wisdomwhich is differ-
ent from worldly wisdomJames teaches us:
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let
him show by his good behavior his deeds in the
gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy
and selsh ambition in your heart, do not be
arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom
is not that which comes down from above, but is
earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and
selsh ambition exist, there is disorder and every
evil thing. But the wisdom from above is rst pure,
then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and
good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the
seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by
those who make peace. (James 3:1318)
KNOWLEDGE DAAT
Some people are well studied, have good
memories and retain information better than
others. They always win at games like trivial
pursuit. They have lots of knowledge stored up in
their brains. But the biblical concept of knowl-
edge is different.
The Hebrew word translated as knowledge is
daat. Daat goes beyond mere acquisition of facts
and information. Daat is more like making a
connection. Mentally, this is the ability to con-
ceptualize, that is, to draw a connection between
ones mind and a concept.
In a broader sense, though, daat is an intimate
connection and relationship, such as the con-
nection between a man and his wife. In Gen-
esis, it says that Adam knew his wife Eve and
she conceived. It doesnt mean he knew about
herhe really knew her. Most importantly, it can
be used to describe our relationship with God.
God says to Moses, I have known you by name.
In Jeremiah 31, the promise of the New Covenant
says that everyone will know the Lord.
GIVE ME WISDOM, DISCERNMENT
AND KNOWLEDGE
Wisdom, discernment and knowledge are gifts
of the Holy Spirit. For example, one of the work-
ers in the Tabernacle was Betzalel, of whom God
says,
I have lled him with the Spirit of
God in wisdom, in understanding,
in knowledge, and in all kinds of
craftsmanship. (Exodus 31:3)
This can be recognized even among pagans.
We read in the Book of Daniel, chapter 5:
Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The
king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel
who is one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father
the king brought from Judah? Now I have heard
about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that
illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom
have been found in you. (Daniel 5:1314)
The Messiah himself is prophesied to have
these properties because of the anointing Spirit
of God upon him.
SO, WHO IS WISE?
Understanding wisdom from a Hebrew per-
spective changes its meaning. The word sees
wisdom as synonymous with intelligence,
knowledge or education; but the Hebraic view of
wisdom is synonymous with obedience. In the
Bible, wickedness is the opposite of wisdom, and
folly or stupidity is the opposite of righteousness.
Genesis Rabbah 44:1 states that, The Torahs
commandments were not given to mankind for
any purpose other than to rene people. That
means that the Torah was not given to us for the
purposes of head-knowledge. It was given to us
to make us into better people. This can only be
accomplished through application and obedi-
ence. Thats the biblical meaning of wisdom.
When R. Akavia ben Mehalalel was dying, his son
was fearful that, once his father died, he would
lose his status among the Sages, and he therefore
beseeched him: Father, commend me to your
colleagues. When R. Akavia refused to do so, his son
asked, Is it because of some fault you have found in
me? R. Akavia answered: No. It is your deeds [and
not my words] that will endear you [to the rabbis],
and your deeds that will estrange you.
(Mishnah Eduyot 5:7)
This illustrates the biblical, godly perspec-
tive of wisdom. You will be wise and reveal
your wisdom only through your deedsyour
obedience to Gods commandments. Psalm
119:98 states; Your commandments make me
wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine.
Remember the rabbinic passage that we began
the lesson with?
A person has three names: the one
that his father and mother call him,
the one that his fellows call him [e.g.,
how people talk about him], and
one that he acquires [by the way he
acts]. And the last one is better than
all others. (Tanhuma Va-Yakel #1)
The third name, the one that he acquires by the
way he acts, is better than all others if it results in
being named a wise person, but it worse than all
others if it results in being named a fool.
It is impossible to learn wisdom from books
alone. Wisdom can best be learned through
watching and imitating the actions of righteous
men. True biblical wisdom is revealed in ones
actions even more so than in the teachings
that come from ones mouths. This is a difcult
concept to grasp because our minds are trained
from a very young age to associate wisdom with
smarts rather than with actions.
Paul says that the wisdom of God looks like
foolishness to the world, but if thats the case,
then the foolishness of God is wiser than men
(1 Corinthians 1:25). Some of the wisest people
in this world do not look wise according to the
worlds standards. They are wise because they
walk in obedience to Gods commandments;
which, in the worlds eyes, renders them foolish.
Some of the richest people in this world do
not have moneythey do not meet the worlds
standards for wealth; yet, they are wealthy. They
are rich because of the grace that is evidenced in
their lives. They have the greatest of all posses-
sions: love, peace, a hope through the Messiah,
and a path of wisdom revealed in Gods Torah.
SUMMING IT UP
In summary, the wisdom of God is revealed to
us in and through His Torah. We reveal ourselves
to be wise through obedience to His words and
not by our head-smarts. True wisdom is revealed
through application of Gods Word.
But our esh is opposed to this wisdom. What
can we do? We need to humble ourselves, realize
that we are fools, and pray for wisdom, insight
and discernment.
Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear
the LORD and turn away from evil.
(Proverbs 3:7)
QUESTIONS:
1. What are the three areas of mental
capacity from a Hebraic mindset?
2. What is the difference between the bibli-
cal understanding of wisdom and the
worlds? What is the key difference?
3. What are the similarities between
the fear of the Lord and biblical
wisdom?
DISCUSS THE COVER ILLUSTRATION:
The Torah (Written and Living) is the way
of righteousness revealed by the LORD. In the
picture, the Torah contains three gates leading
into the Holy Temple of God. What do the three
gates represent?
DISCUSSION TOPICS:
1. We closed this lesson of Pirkei Aveinu
with Proverbs 3:7. Discuss this verse
in light of last months teaching with
specic reference to 1 John 3:4.
2. Discuss the following quote: Rabbi
Yaizel of Navorodock, taught, A person
wants to become a scholar and a leader
overnight, and sleep that night as well.
What do you think this means? How
does it apply to our discussion?
3. Discuss the outworking of the three
areas of knowledge from a Hebraic
perspective: chochmah (wisdom), binah
(understanding or discernment), and
daat (knowledge). Give practical exam-
ples of each.
WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR FFOZ
I want to hear from you and give you the oppor-
tunity to share your thoughts with thousands
of others around the world. You may make
an impact for the Kingdom as you share your
thoughts and allow God to work through you to
bring understanding to others.
Please write a short teaching article drawing
from the passages mentioned in this lesson.
Creatively discuss the tension between folly
and wisdom in your own life. Give a couple of
illustrations; have a solid opening and a com-
pelling conclusion. We will select some of the
articles and publish them on our website and
perhaps other FFOZ resources. Here are some
parameters:
Article length: Maximum 2000 words
Due Date: Friday June 8th, 2007
Submit to: www.ffoz.org/eRoshupload

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Section One: The Fool

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