Non-scholarly approaches

Dr. Bruce Waltke is a renowned Old Testament scholar, so I was amused to hear his very pedestrian exposition of a verse that has long puzzled me.

This illumination came to him, not in his study, but in a Philadelphia snow storm many years ago. He went out to shovel his walk, and when he was done, decided to shovel the walk of the ninety-year-old woman who lived next door. That completed, he thought he should proceed to the snow-covered sidewalk of the Italian couple across the street, also in their nineties.

There was a third nonagenarian on the other side of his house (I know, this sounds like the set-up for a joke but that's what the doctor told us.). At this point Dr. Waltke had already been out for five hours and was weary. Suddenly a verse with which he was long familiar but whose meaning had eluded him popped into his mind:

"Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?" (Ecclesiastes 7:16)

He picked up his shovel and went home.

I see at least two morals to this story: (1) Be filled with the Scriptures, so that at any time the Holy Spirit can fire the synapses that quicken dormant knowledge into working revelation; (2) The Holy Spirit may skip steps in logic to give inspiration as He pleases, and is not bound by the quasi-scientific means we have supposed must be adhered to; (3) There is an aspect of mystery in the understanding of Scripture that calls for fear and respect; (4) Corollary: Understanding of God's Word is for children as well as scholars.