Oh the Depth of the Riches Both of the Wisdom and the Knowledge of God

In this passage the apostle Paul explains God's mysterious plan for the salvation of the Gentiles and the salvation of Israel, and praises God's deep wisdom and love, which human wisdom can never understand. Through the illustration of a shepherd who builds a fence to protect his sheep from fierce beasts, and puts up a higher fence or ties with a rope a sheep that will not obey, it shows the way God protects us in love.

We often regard God's protection as confinement or mistake it for suffering and try to climb over the fence, but God, though he knows our stubbornness, patiently works to the end to save us. In particular, along with God's grace in forgiving sin, it emphasises that when we repent and obey even amid repeated sin, we are led by the Holy Spirit and go forward on the path of truth. It also points out that the true fence protecting the church, the family and the nation must be built firmly, not of rotten wood but of the word of Jesus Christ, and that for this believers must read the Bible, pray and stay spiritually awake.

Just as we cannot fully understand God, neither can we fathom God's plans and love with our wisdom. Then with what attitude should we respond to this vast wisdom and love of God?