Wisdom and the Knowledge of Good and Evil

One of the terms for wisdom in the Old Testament is the phrase, leb shomeah, which means “a listening heart.” It is found in king Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 3:6 – 9. A listening heart is one that is tuned to receive God’s word.

Our world is filled with all kinds of messages, like sound waves, and your heart can be tuned to receive the ones you choose, similar to a dial on a radio. What your heart is set on is what you will receive and hear. Solomon asked God for a heart that would be set on Him and His word.

Solomon somehow knew that the result of a listening heart would be the knowledge of good and evil. God loves prayer requests with results that are according to His word. These are called requests with purpose. You recognize them with the phrase “so that” or “in order to.”

Solomon’s request had purpose, “Give your servant a listening heart to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil.” 1 Kings 3:9. The word “discern” is the Hebrew word bayin and means to cut and separate. A heart that is tuned to God’s word results in the ability to cut and separate good and evil. This is called the knowledge of good and evil.

If you remember, the Hebrew word “knowledge” is yada, and means the personal, interactive, intimate experience with someone. With a listening heart tuned to God’s word, for the purpose of discerning good and evil, a person chooses to know in a personal, interactive, intimate experience the good without the evil. Knowing good in a personal, interactive, intimate experience with it gives a person the knowledge of evil without the personal, interactive, intimate experience with evil! This was God’s plan from the very beginning. This is also called worshiping the Father in spirit and truth.

In seeing and knowing God from the revelation of Himself in Christ from His word, the goodness of God is experienced with the joy of having chosen wisely to reject the evil. This choice glorifies God because it is the fruit of His word. God sees Himself in that wise choice and is thrilled at His own goodness! Hallelujah!!! This is what the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in every situation and event of His life on earth. It brought the Father great pleasure! This is worshiping the Father in spirit and truth.

Today, memorize 1 Kings 3:9 and meditate on the purpose of the request. You may want to substitute “my body, Your Temple” for “Your people” in that verse to make it a personal prayer.

Tomorrow, the New Testament’s use of this phrase, “the knowledge of good and evil” in order to understand the purpose of this tree in the garden in Genesis 2.