1 Corinthians 1:17b-21
1Co 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
1Co 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written: "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND
BRING TO NOTHING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRUDENT."
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know
God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those
who believe.
1 Co 1:17b ...not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of
Christ should be made of no effect.
God's plan is to show us that we are beasts, and that he is going to deliver us from
evil. Paul knows that is not the wisdom of his words that saves, otherwise our faith
would be in clever men and not the power of God.
1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified.
1Co 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God
might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are
beasts.
2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves
your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the
power may be of God, and not of us.
Here is a great example in the Old Testament of God making certain that he gets
the glory for victory and not man.
Jdg 7:2 NKJV And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
Jdg 7:3 NKJV Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying,
'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.' "
And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand
remained.
Jdg 7:4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring
them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of
whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with you; and of
whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the same shall not go."
Jdg 7:5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to
Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you
shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink."
Jdg 7:6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth,
was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to
drink water.
Jdg 7:7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped
I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other
people go, every man to his place."
Jdg 7:12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay
along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without
number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
God already had Gideon outnumbered before he started to winnow down his army
from 32,000 to 300. Much like Moses parting the Red Sea, this looked totally
impossible, and was impossible for men to gain victory. God does this very thing in
our own lives. So when things look impossible, fear not, God loves to be in
seemingly impossible situations which magnify his glory.
Here is a study on spiritual warfare that reveals exactly how we have been taught
to fight.
http://aionios.com/category/topical-studies/spiritual-warfare/
Psa 20:7 NKJV Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember
the name of the LORD our God.
God wants us to know that it is he that wins the battles, and not the strength of our
flesh, symbolized by chariots and horses which were key elements of a strong
army.
Here are some verses that show how God wants his name to be great and for him to have all the glory.
(Mal 1:11 CLV) For from the rising of the sun unto its setting, great is My name among the nations, and in every place incense is being brought close for My name, and a clean approach present. For My name is great among the nations, says Yahweh of hosts."
Joh 14:13 And whatever you should be requesting in My name, this I will be doing,
that the Father should be glorified in the Son."
(Isa 42:8 CLV) I am Yahweh, The Elohim! That is My name, and I will not give My glory to another, nor My praises to carvings."
1Co 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness (G3472)
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God.
To the carnally minded the message of the cross does not appear to be wise,
but rather a foolish and absurd plan. We're going to look at a number of
examples of God's plan looking foolish, but resulting is great glory and
deliverance. First let's look at the word for foolishness.
G3472
μωρία
mōria
mo-ree'-ah
From G3474; silliness, that is, absurdity: - foolishness.
Here is the root word of G3472 above.
G3474
μωρός
mōros
mo-ros'
Probably form the base of G3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up), that is, heedless, (morally) blockhead,
(apparently) absurd: - fool (-ish, X -ishness).
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness (G3472) unto him: neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned.
1Co 4:10 We are fools (G3474) for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we
are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish (G3474) man, which built his house upon the sand:
Here are some examples:
Here in Daniel, Judah is taken captive by Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar is looking
for men to serve in his palace. Daniel was among these men.
Dan 1:5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of
the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof
they might stand before the king.
Dan 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with
the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he
requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Dan 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince
of the eunuchs.
Dan 1:10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the
king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see
your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall
ye make me endanger my head
to the king.
Dan 1:11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Dan 1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us
pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Dan 1:13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the
countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou
seest, deal with thy servants.
Dan 1:14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
Dan 1:15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer
and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the
king's meat.
http://aionios.com/2012-06/food-and-the-body-part-1/
Here is the story of crossing the Red Sea while fleeing from the Egyptians.
Exo 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the
sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
Exo 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up
their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were
sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast
thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with
us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone,
that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the
Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
God's plan of salvation looks foolish to us, God's true Israel, when the enemy is
drawing near. We are discouraged and cry out, before we are encouraged and
delivered.
Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the
salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians
whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Exo 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak
unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Exo 14:16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea,
and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the
midst of the sea.
Israel had no idea how the deliverance would come, just as we do not know how we
will be delivered from our enemies both within and without.
When the men came back from searching out the land of Canaan, God's plan to
give them the promise land looks foolish to them. Only Caleb and Joshua are given
the faith to believe in God's plan, which typifies Christ within us.
Num 13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the
congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and
brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the
fruit of the land.
Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou
sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Num 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities
are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the
Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by
the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Num 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go
up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
Num 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go
up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
Num 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had
searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone
to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that
we saw in it are men of a great stature.
Num 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the
giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their
sight.
Our flesh cannot receive these words of Christ, which is typified by Israel's despair
in Numbers 14 below.
Num 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the
people wept that night.
Num 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and
against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that
we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this
wilderness!
Num 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the
sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to
return into Egypt?
Num 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return
into Egypt.
Num 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the
congregation of the children of Israel.
Num 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which