Proverbs 9:11 ~ "For by wisdom thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased."
This verse suggests some interesting questions and thoughts: How are our days multiplied and the years of our lives increased? Is this something which only happens to the wise? Aren’t there many wicked people who live long lives, sometimes even longer lives than the righteous?
To start with, let’s address those who seem to be living prosperous lives in spite of their wickedness.
"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and whither as the green herb. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. For evil doers shall be cut off.... For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Yahweh shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. They that be cursed of [Yahweh] shall be cut off. The seed of the wicked shall be cut off. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalm 37:1-2, 7, 9-10, 20, 22, 28, 35-36, 38)
"But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my Elohim, to the wicked." (Isaiah 47:20-21)
Clearly, the wicked man’s "prosperity" and "long life" is not a true blessing. There are several things that we can conclude:
1) Physical longevity of life is not all that Yahweh is referring to when He says, "By wisdom thy days shall be multiplied."
2) There are those whom Yahweh grants a long life in spite of their sin, for "Yahweh is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) There are many whom He gives a chance to repent, in His great patience and mercy, but at the same time, there are also many who cut their lives short by their lawless practices and and rebellion against Yahweh.
3) It is true that sometimes it appears that the wicked have life easier than the righteous, but this does not mean that the life of unrighteousness is better than the life of obedience. This can be compared to a parable of grass versus a prized plant. We all know that the grass will grow much quicker than the expensive plant will, and that it takes much more care and nourishment for the special plant to thrive. While the grass grows easier, that does not mean that it is more valuable than the prized plant, or that it is preferred above the prized plant. That which takes careful consideration and diligence is exalted far above that which grows easily. It takes much more care to cultivate a spiritual life, but the spiritual far outweighs the temporal and physical.
4) The wicked not only brings grief upon himself, but the life and blessing of his posterity is also cut short, as we see in the words, "The seed of the wicked shall be cut off." An example of this is found in 1 Kings where one of the punishments for Ahab’s sin was the demise of his children: "Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahiyah, for the provokation wherewith thou hast provoked Me to anger, and made Israel to sin. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city, the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth of Ahab in the field, shall the fouls of the air eat." (1 Kings 21:21-22, 24)
5) In the transgressor’s lifetime, even if he or she lives long, there is a lack of fulfilment, always an emptiness and a struggle. Proverbs 13:15 very aptly reads, "The way of transgressors is hard." True fulfillment is not found when one resists the voice of the Spirit, and there is always an emptiness, a discontent and lack of peace as Isaiah 47 describes: "There is no peace for the wicked."
6) Regardless of how long the unrighteous may live here on earth, that prosperity is immediately cut off at death, as the wicked only has life on this earth, and nothing beyond to hope for.
All of this is rather unpleasant to think on, but at the same time, it provides a groundwork for just exactly how Yahweh lengthens and multiplies the days and years of the wise. So, how are our days lengthened?
One of the first ways that are our years are multiplied is that Yahweh gives to those who trust in Him a peace and fulfillment, a purpose for life. There are many who are the walking dead, those who appear to be alive, but who are spiritually completely dead. These are those of whom the Word says, "There is no peace for the wicked." A life void of peace is a life void of fulfillment and true meaning. When our lives are filled with the Spirit of Yahweh, and with His purpose and drive, life takes on a whole new meaning, and is magnified and multiplied to become much richer and fuller. This is what Yahshua meant when He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it MORE ABUNDANTLY." (John 10:10)
The second way that our years are multiplied is through our children. Proverbs 10:30 ~ "The righteous shall never be removed....." Proverbs 12:7 ~ "The house of the righteous shall stand." Proverbs 3:33 ~ "..... Yahweh blesseth the habitation of the just." There are those who keep their faith to themselves, never bothering to pass on the way of life to their children. Such a lack of forethought results in that person’s life, faith, goals, and vision perishing at their death. However, the book of Proverbs tells us that "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30) In winning our children’s souls, we gain the following reward: "He that chastiseth his son shall have joy in him, and shall rejoice of him among his acquaintances. .... Before his friends shall he rejoice of him. Though his father die, yet he is as though he were not dead, for he hath left one behind him that is like himself." (Sirach 30:2-4) In this manner, our years are multiplied and our days lengthened, because what we have taken from our lives and put into our children lives on through them. Thus may we say unto them, "Honor thy father and thy father, that thy days may be long upon the land which Yahweh thy Elohim giveth thee." (Exodus 20:12) "Therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love Yahweh thy Elohim, that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which Yahweh sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give them." (Deuteronomy 30:19b-20) And this brings us to the last way in which Yahweh prolongs our days.
What land did Yahweh sware to give to Abraham and his descendants? Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16 ~ "By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should hereafter receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS ELOHIM. These all died in faith, not having received THE PROMISES, but having SEEN THEM AFAR OFF, AND WERE PERSUADED OF THEM, AND EMBRACED THEM, AND CONFESSED THAT THEY WERE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS ON EARTH. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire A BETTER COUNTRY, THAT IS, AN HEAVENLY; wherefore, Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim, FOR HE HATH PREPARED FOR THEM A CITY." It is this city which is the consummation of the multiplying and lengthening of our days. It is this city which is our ultimate goal. "If in this life only we have hope in Messiah, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Corinthians 15:19) But rejoice and be exceeding glad, for our hope in Messiah is not limited to life, but stretches into the world beyond, the world of eternity.
Proverbs 10:16-17 ~ "The labor of the righteous tendeth to life.... He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction...."
Proverbs 10:25 ~ "..... the righteous is an everlasting foundation."
Proverbs 10:27-28 ~ "The fear of Yahweh prolongeth days.... the hope of the righteous shall be gladness....."
Proverbs 12:28 ~ "In the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death."
Isaiah 3:10 ~ "Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings."
1 John 3:14 ~ "We know that we have passed from death unto life....."
John 3:18, 36 ~ "He that believeth on Him is not condemned...... He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life....."
Thus we can conclude, that regardless of the trials which we may experience along the pathway of life on this earth, regardless of the hardships and obstacles which we may encounter, our life is lengthened and multiplied:
1) Our years are multiplied as we are filled with Yahweh’s purpose and drive, and allow Him to have full control of our hearts and lives. May we seek to walk in the footsteps of Yahshua, who declared, "I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father hath taught Me I speak these things. And He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him." (John 8:28-29) Truly, in such service of the King of kings is great abundance of Life.
2) Our days are multiplied, too, through our children. John 15:8 ~ "And herein is My Father esteemed, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." Passing the faith and the life along to our offspring is one significant way in which we can bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
3) Our life does not have to end after this mortal existence on earth. Proverbs 11:8 ~ "The righteous is delivered out of trouble....." Psalm 116:15 ~ "Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of His set-apart ones." For those whose years have been lengthened by hearkening unto wisdom, death is only a passage way from the temporal to the eternal, from the physical to the spiritual, from the earthly to the heavenly. And so we travel, from life to Life.
Our lives can be likened to two gardens. One garden is put out by a slothful man who takes little care to remove the rocks and weeds, and allows his garden to grow up in a tangled mess which produces little. It is a garden, but it is useless. The plants are alive, but they are not abundant. The other garden is sown by a wise man. He tills the soil and removes the rocks, he sows and waters his seeds faithfully, he pulls the weeds and cultivates his plants, and in the end, he reaps abundantly. His is a garden which is valuable and fruitful. His plants are alive, and they are alive unto abundance.
Which kind of garden is your life like? Proverbs 9:11 ~ "For by wisdom thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased." Many b’rachim (blessings), and much shalom (peace).