In a multitude of people is a king's glory, But in the dearth of people is a prince's ruin.   Proverbs 14:28

A king is not a king unless he has a kingdom over which to rule. A kingdom will not exist where the people are not fruitful and multiply. Therefore it is wise for kings to encourage their people to grow in number. Today's proverb handles this situation - but the implications of this proverb are fascinating, especially when applied to what is happening in both the United States and Europe.

The simple meaning of this proverb is obvious - a king needs people to have his kingdom flourish. When there is a multitude of people under his rule - he is blessed, but when there is a declining population within the kingdom - it points to the ruin of his son. The son will have a far smaller kingdom over which to rule - or possibly none at all.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, this has amazing ramifications for both our nation and the nations of Europe. Both places have declining populations when it comes to the original population of the countries. As a result of this both of these regions are trying their best to maintain population growth by immigration. The problem is that as the numbers of immigrants grow, they are having more and more influence in the policies and direction of the nation. Give this direction a few more years - and soon Europe will be different - completely different than their forefathers. The United States is not that far from this development either. Why is this happening to these once great nations?

For a king to continue to rule over his own people, he has to encourge his own people to multiply in their families. If they do not, the indigenous people of the land will begin to dwindle in numbers. The result of this will be that a different group of people will begin to rise up and rule the land. All this happens because the people do not have children. Or, in our case, they only want 2.4 children or less. That is what has happened in our nation. We have become a people who do not believe that having multiple children is a blessing. This all began with people espousing a worldview that did not value children. We became a people so interested in our own comforot and our own pleasure that we decidd that children were no longer a blessing of the Lord. We came to the conclusion that the man whose quiver if full of children is not blessed at all. In fact, we decided children were a burden - an unnecessary burden - and within a couple of generations - an unwanted burden.

According to the humanistic worldview - this was a wonderful development. We were supposedly choking the world to death with our overpopulation - our poluting - and our urban sprawl. So when people bought this unbiblical view, they stopped having childen, or they did what was necessary to reduce the number of children they have. Everything seemed wonderful and the planet would be saved. But over time, the dearth of children began to weigh heavy on our society. Now we face problems as our system is imploding. It is doing so because we no longer have far more families coming up, because we do not like or enjoy the thought of having multiple children. Programs like Social Security require a larger generation of younger people than in the older generation. Even our national character - is shifting from being European and western to being either Mexican or Islamic.

A wise set of leaders would have had a biblical worldview. That worldview remembers that God said to be fruitful and multiply. The whole concept of overpopulation is foreign to God. He promises to supply our needs if we will live for His glory and obey His Word. But since those things have been jettisoned just as we have done with His view of children and family - we are facing the "dearth of a people."

An interesting thing about this passage is that it says that the prince is ruined by this. The king is to rule not just with an eye toward himself - but toward his sons - and his grandsons. That is a fascinating thing to see here. It is fascinating because one of the curses of our current political fabric is that we only see the immediate future as important. Most of our elected officials actually only see the next election cycle as important - therefore they plan only to keep people fat and happy til past the next election. All the while as we are doing this - the princes of our future (our children) are having their future ruined by the selfishness of the current generation.

Wisdom means that rulers think ahead - they think long-term - and honestly, they should think biblically. To do otherwise is to think in a way that God will not bless. This, more than the economy or any other factor, is what will bring about the blessing or the dearth of our society and its people. We should always remember the verse, "Blessed are the people who are so situated. Blessed is the nation who's God is the Lord."

Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: Proverbs 1:20-21

If you go to most wise men - you will find that they say that you have to get away from everything to gain wisdom.  Some sit on mountain tops - where you have to come and sit in silence so that you can gain their wisdom and perspective.  Others require you to come to a school - and there you receive your wisdom.  What is truly interesting to me is that the Bible does not have this view of where you can receive wisdom.  What is delightful about the biblical view is that it makes wisdom available where it is needed most - in the throes of everyday life.

Where do we find wisdom in this passage?  According to Solomon, wisdom is shouting to us in the streets and in the square.  Wisdom calls to us at the head of the noisy streets and at the entrance gate of the city.  These are not places isolated from everyone - but rather are places where you can find the greatest number of people - and they refer to the places where there is abundant activity taking place. 

The first place we see wisdom calling to us is in the street.  The street could be any street - but no matter which street is being referred to - it is still out where we live our lives each and every day.  God's wisdom is not made for ivory towers of high learning and inquiry - but for everyone.  It is accessible to the average every man - who walks the streets.  The way wisdom calls to us is with a ringing cry or shout.  There is no mere whispering of wisdom - we will find a ringing shout when God desires to give us His wisdom.  If we ignore it - that is our own doing - for wisdom's call is not a quiet thing that can be missed easily.  It is a loud, attention-getting shout.

The next place is more populated.  It is the square.  This was the public square or plaza.  This would be a very high density place to be - and was where most of the people met in the city.  Wisdom calls out to us here - for the public square is a place where most public conversation takes place.  If we will listen to the Spirit of God as He is seeking to teach us wisdom - we will know how to speak in the public place - as well as how to discern what is said there.  This word in the Hebew not only referred to one square - but also to a network of streets that would lead to it.  When you move from streets to the open square in a city - you are coming to a place of greater importance and influence.  It is imperative that when we come to greater and greater places of influence, that we have wisdom guiding us every step of the way. 

The next place wisdom meets us is at the head of the noisy streets.  This is the place where a fork in the road was usually found.  Once you came to the head of a street, you had a decision to make as to which way you were going to go.  What a great place to have wisdom from God guide us.  It is here that we see once again wisdom calling out to us.  Even more fascinating is that this word means to summon or to invite.  At the place where we have a decision to make as to what way we are going to take - it is there that wisdom offers an invitation to us to listen and learn.  Since this word was also used in places like Exodus 34:6 to introduce a section of Scripture that dealt with moral and ethical issues - we see that wisdom's invitation is to know our way both morally and ethically at the crossroads of our life.  How often have we faced a crossroad wondering which way to take.  If we will turn to God, we will find that His wisdom is freely offered to us so that we can know the way that we should go.

The last place where wisdom is offered to us in at the gates of the city.  This was the political arena - or the place where the elders of the city would sit to discuss not just political ideas - but also economic ones as well.  The gate was the place where they sat to make business decisions.  What a wonderful place to have wisdom available to us.  As we face decisions about morals and direction for not just our individual lives - but for our city, state, and nation - we can know that wisdom is there uttering her sayings.  As we walk in the business world and face a situation where wisdom would keep us from making a bad decision, we can know that wisdom sits wanting to utter to us the very things we will need to avoid a foolish decision. 

God's wisdom is not locked away in come castle or on some mountain top where the practical issues of every day life seem far far away.  God is waiting in all the places where we walk - waiting to give us wisdom to walk in the manner pleasing to Him.  He is also waiting to impart wisdom to us that will bless us and guide us in His way.  You will not have to become a monk or a seeker who has to walk to the ends of the earth to get an hour or two with a guru who gives you some obtuse saying you will have to parse to grasp any meaning from it.  God is in all the places you walk.  God is there wanting to shout out, call out, or simply utter His sayings.  These will guide us into His way - which is the way of blessing.  What a joy to know that our God is omnipresent and waiting with His glorious wisdom to lead us in every situation.  Turn to Him then in the streets, in the square, at every crossroad, and in all the affairs of life, business, and even politics.  What you will find is wisdom that will direct you in the way of His blessing and favor.  There is no better place to be!