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The master Ben Sira tells us in his book about the life of a person who was famous for his divine wisdom, King Solomon. We do not know for sure if this person existed or not, his life is as old as the desert sands, but it is worth knowing what the Sacred Scriptures tell us about this person.
Just as the Kingdom of God within oneself is living the gifts, the Kingdom of God outside of us is the government of the wisest. That is why this King, this monarch, represented God on earth during the exercise of his reign. According to Aristotle, the monarchy as a regime, that is, the government of the wise man, is the opposite of the tyrant's regime, tyranny. The monarchy is undoubtedly the most perfect political regime.
Wisdom is the most precious spiritual gift that man can receive from God, wisdom makes us like God: "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!" Proverbs 16:16.
His reign represented the splendor of God's promises to his people Israel, and also, Solomon was also an ancestor of Jesus. The Bible tells us that despite his great intelligence, this famous sage made the mistake of marrying many foreign women who brought the worship of their gods to Israel. It is difficult for a sage, who represents spiritual perfection, to make a mistake of this kind, but it is very likely that this happened due to the need to establish political alliances with other states.
This is how the master of Ben Sira describes the Reign of Solomon, a king who established happiness, peace, and prosperity where he ruled:
"SOLOMON reigned in an age of peace,
for God gave tranquility to all his borders,
so that he might build a house to his name
and prepare an everlasting sanctuary.
How wise you were in your youth, SOLOMON,
filled with intelligence like an overflowing river!
Your understanding covered the earth,
and you filled it with difficult sayings.
Your reputation spread to far-distant islands,
and you were loved for your peaceful reign.
Your songs, your proverbs, your sayings,
and the answers you provided astounded the nations" Ben Sira 47:13-17.
Our Lord Jesus invites us to the true life, to that life that fills our hearts and leaves behind that annoying feeling of emptiness. Live the spiritual gifts, this is the true message of Jesus, live the mercy (compassion, kindness), live the piety (constancy, firmness), and seek the perfections of God in all the acts of your lives: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" Matthew 5:48. Only in this way then we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and be called children of God: "This is how we know who the children of God and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister" 1 John 3:10.
That is why Jesus also explains to us that following him, implies a fundamental choice, if we are slaves to our lies we cannot imitate him, when it comes to Jesus there is no gray, it is black or white, friend or foe, the Kingdom of Heaven is not a matter of masks or appearances but of a change of heart towards God: "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.", John 3:5.
When Jesus was preaching in Galilee, it happened that Jesus and his disciples were accused of violating the Law of Moses: "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ´Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.´" Matthew 12:1-2.
Later in response to this Jesus concluded: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" Matthew 12:30.
Like the wheat field that produces the grain of wheat when it reaches maturity, life bears fruit. If we do not do as the disciples who raise the harvest with Jesus, we are losing the sowing. As Jesus tells us, if we don't follow him, we can only scatter, that is, scatter error and suffering, and this is what makes us negative people.
The Psalmist begins Psalm 49 seeking the inspiration of the heart to teach with the science of wisdom, because in the Psalm the author of the book is going to explain how illusory the vanity of man is. Psalm 49 follows the teachings of the wise King Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes, men constantly strive to acquire wealth and go out of their way for it, losing even sleep and health, but in front of this, in the end, there is no distinction between rich and poor, all men are equal before death and we can take nothing with us to the afterlife, in the same way that we come into the world, we also leave, riches do not ensure immortality:
"No one can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for them—
the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough—
so that they should live on forever
and not see decay" Psalm 49:7-9.
The Psalm contains like the book of Ecclesiastes a superficial pessimism, because the wisdom of God does not deliver us from death. What is ultimately the life of man compared to the eternity of the universe and of God? The Bible also adds: "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing" Ecclesiastes 9:5.
The pride that riches give to us is fleeting, illusory, and vain and in the face of the difficulties that the world provides us, the same end awaits everyone, regardless of how they have lived, whether they are wise or foolish:
"For all can see that the wise die,
that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
leaving their wealth to others.
Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had named lands after themselves" Psalm 49:10-11.
But the Psalm also tells us that those who live righteously can expect retribution in the afterlife, the good that we do for others accompanies us in the next life, spiritual goods are not lost, the Abyss is for those who have sinned and have forgotten God: "But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself" Psalm 49:15.
Events
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Friday, 11 July 2014 17:08
New book retired from Editorial
The latest version of the tractate in spanish retired from Editorial Dunken on July 11, 2014
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Friday, 11 July 2014 17:29
The new book in Editorial Dunken
You can buy the lastest version of the tractate more complete than the free version in the web in Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Tuesday, 15 July 2014 11:05
Interview in Radio Fm Signs 92.5
My interview in the program of Estela, the Pandora`s Box, on Fm Signs. Tuesday 10 to 11 a.m. in 92.5 Fm. Link to the radio: http://www.fmsignos.com.ar/index.html
