Proverbs 18

Proverbs 18:1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

This verse is rather self explanatory, but I will break it down a bit. Desire is a want of something or a passion or lust so what the man is doing is voluntary but he is pursuing something strongly. He is being driven to it by internal forces which are passionate desiring to gain wisdom.

Separation is division and removal from other things and seeking is searching.

A medley is a mixture and to meddle is to intervene or enter into a situation by mixing ones self with the concerned parties. Related word are “mediate” and “middle.” The prefix “inter” means to enter into or “interject.” Usually the term “meddle” and especially the term “intermeddle” indicates that someone is interjecting themselves as a mediator in a situation into which they were not invited by the parties so that the parties see him as an intruder and not a helper. In the context it means that someone is studying subjects which are either taboo or strictly forbidden as subjects for study or that the masters of those subjects are not welcoming the intrusion of the student perhaps thinking him just a novice from a rival school or a unqualified and uninitiated person who seeks to undermine the teachings of the school, order, college, discipline, etc. The man is said to intermeddle with all wisdom so we could say that means he intruding into every possible subject.

The context gives us the sense that those things are somewhat secretive and the wisdom being sought is somewhat arcane and obscure for it must be sought for and is not readily available or common knowledge. By interjecting himself and mixing the knowledge of the multiple subjects together he is hoping to gain deep wisdom perhaps formulating a unified theory of some sort about life.

We know that Christians are not welcomed into the fields of academics, evolutionary science, biology, political science, earth science, or astronomy, because what they bring to the discussion contradicts communism and its naturalistic father which is atheism.

We know that those Christians who are able to obtain a high level of education by being quiet and just going with the flow so that they are not thrown out of the college course just so that they can secure prestigious degrees are immediately renounced once they pen an article or book that supports the fact that God created the heaven and the earth, the plant and animal kingdom, man, and the spiritual world.

And so these Christians are said to be “meddling” with “science” trying to redefine it as “facts” instead of “naturalism”, but the historical record shows the opposite. That is that all of the major scientific discoveries in the past were made by theists and often very devout Christians who believed that God created the universe and set up knowable laws revealing them to whosoever was willing to learn from the master creator through experimentation and study.

It is then the atheists who are the meddlers that sought to redefine “science” as “naturalism” which is the belief that only the natural world and not any supernatural world exists.

But nonetheless Christians often have to interject themselves into fields of study where they are not welcome to help the simple minded “scholars” out from time to time so that real progress is made in those fields. And that is partially what this verse is about.

A Christian approach to the study of the occult is also something which this verse is about. A lot of discoveries were made by scholars such as Alexander Hislop and Gail Riplinger who through their studies were able to uncover the Satanic origins of Roman Catholicism and the New Age Bibles respectively.

Many Christians would have advised them to not waste their time studying secular, historical, archeological, pagan, new age, feminist, and politically liberal, sources.

However from their studies they were able to construct theses which revealed evil motivations behind the formation of all the world’s various ungodly religions, which are just Babylonian cults, and the modern translations used by those religions and various sects.

The amount of time devoted to research and writing of both of these scholars in the preparation of their work had to be immense.

For the most part Christians and political conservatives broadly are more studious and more appreciative of good researchers and writers than political liberals are. This is evidenced by the fact Christians read far more than any other group of people on the planet and conservatives read more than liberals by quite a lot. Book sales numbers alone prove this, but the numbers of books sold through Christian book stores and the subjects of those books prove it again.

Non-fiction work, especially those books covering political and historical topic is almost entirely read and written by conservatives and the best selling book of all time is the King James Bible which is the translation read by those who read the Bible daily by large margins.

How much more would the sales of the Bible dwarf all other books if all the translations of the Bible into English were combined as one sales number?

Clearly it is Christians who read the most, who study the most, who write the most, who are, as the cursed false-prophet Mohamed called us, “the people of the book.”

We can and do study every subject and intermeddle in every subject and field in which we are not welcome.

We are not going away. We were writing books and dying to preserve them and the presses they were printed on two-thousand and five hundred years respectively before any ivy league college professor that ever was ever lived.

We are begotten by the word of God. We are children of the book.

Ecclesiastes 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

As a side note; it is difficult to explain to people who read, study, and write little how difficult those things are to do regularly and effectively. As an avid reader myself I have an extensive library and honestly could not accurately guess as to how many books I have read over my lifetime.

However to give you an idea I can tell you that my personal library (just those books in my bedroom), would include well over three hundred books not counting magazines and comics.

Because I have read many books which I do not own including a room full of books of an equal number of books in my household, books from the library, borrowed books, books I previously owned but gave away (or which were borrowed and never returned) and electronic books I do not think that it would be inaccurate to estimate I have read maybe a thousand books in my life already and many of those I have read many times.

That is not counting the massive consumption of daily news articles from dozens of sources and countless blogs and commentaries and various research material.

I did not tell you all of that to brag, but rather to explain that my body has suffered damage from all of the reading I have done. Persistent problems with my neck, back, and shoulders are things I have always struggled with but they are exasperated by long hours reading and writing and doing other kinds of computer work.

Although I prefer the kind of isolation which is necessary for serious study and the focus required to acquire skill in art it has had a massively negative impact on my social life for just as the Bible says I separated myself.

You may wonder why I did all that then.

I did it because I desired to just as the Bible says. I wanted to learn things and understand the past, present, and future, in a way that can only be done through serious study.

You are probably wondering if I studied only one subject or a broader number of them. Again, just as the Bible says, I studied them all however to differing degrees.

My library contains books on every subject I can think of. I could list them, but there is no point. The point is that a life of study is rigorous in its own right, but is often mistaken for a life of luxury.

Those who make a living from their mind are familiar with some of the challenges. The expense of acquiring books, especially obscure or arcane volumes, is enough to consume a person’s entire income even if they earn far more than I do.

The physical damage done to the body by long hours of sitting and reading does as much damage as working hard labour although the damage does not occur suddenly as it is usually does to those who work as manual laborers.

The lack of sunshine by being indoors constantly causes vitamin deficiencies and lack of exercise causes muscle weakness and problems with bone density. It takes more than the usual amounts of focused exercise for the sedentary to maintain good health and physique. If you study a lot remember to get plenty of exercise and do a lot of stretching and resistance training and eat well and stay hydrated. Your mind and body will thank you later.

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.