# 400 The Proverbs – ‘A manual for living’ (MSG). Proverbs 1:1-7 (key words: knowledge)

In Australia, where formal education is highly valued, we take for granted that all children will be educated. So, these days a majority of students complete up to 12 years of education before going into the workforce (or apprenticeships) or then going on to university for another 3-5 years of education.

But sadly, this is not the reality in all countries because “Today, education remains an inaccessible right for millions of children around the world. More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of their children.”   https://www.humanium.org/en/right-to-education/

Although education is not the answer to all our problems (as some seem to think), and knowledge is not the same as wisdom, and although uneducated people can still be wise, without knowledge it is more difficult to gain the sort of wisdom that enables one to live well as regards some of the very basic requirements of life.

So, the author of Proverbs, understanding this, uses a number of key words in 1:1-7 indicating this reality. Those words are instruction… understanding… knowledge… learning… discerning.

In Bible times, education and learning in the Middle East was often done by religious leaders and was often for the privileged only. This involved having to be very disciplined and conforming to a traditional pattern of thought. Most education was taught by drill and memorization (still used today in some countries). The alternative was an “apprenticeship” model which continued even in the times of Jesus as he taught his disciples.

This “apprenticeship” was a bit different to our understanding today though. “The Rabbi-disciple relationship of biblical times was… [when the disciple] was a live-in learner in the home of the [Rabbi]. A disciple did not merely learn a trade or craft but also a whole way of life. The master-disciple relationship was central to this learning process, where knowledge and skills were assimilated not by attending a series of lectures but by attending closely to the master’s whole lifestyle. Learning involved listening, observing, interacting and imitating… [and so] Jesus’ call to “come” (John 1:39) and “follow” (John 1:43) was never a command to pursue a curriculum but an invitation to “be with him” (Mark 3:14) and deepen their relationship with him…

[It seems that today we tend to think the goal is to fill the students mind with as much information as possible but] Formation, unlike filling, is a process that cannot be hurried. Formation that leads to transformation [which brings wisdom] cannot be completed within the confines of a classroom but takes place in all the spaces we inhabit in our everyday lives.” (SU Notes, Encounter with God, John, written by Tanya Ferdinandusz, 14.06.2024)

So, as important as education is, Paul suggests that in everything we do in our lives that we:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect [and the way of true wisdom].   (Romans 12:2 NLT)