In order to have revelation, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. The spirit in verse 17 must be our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. Such a spirit is given to us by God that we may have wisdom and revelation to know Him and His economy. Actually, the spirit in this verse is the mingled spirit, the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. However, the emphasis is upon our regenerated spirit, not on the Holy Spirit.
Paul prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is in our spirit that we may know the mystery of God, and revelation is of God’s Spirit to show us the vision by opening the veil. We firstly have wisdom, the ability to understand spiritual things; then the Spirit of God reveals the spiritual things to our spiritual understanding.
Wisdom is different from cleverness and deeper than cleverness. It is possible to be very clever, yet not be wise. Cleverness is in the mind, but wisdom is mainly in our spirit. Our need is to be wise in our spirit, not to be clever in our mind. The problem with certain saints is that they are very clever in the mind, but lack wisdom in the spirit. There was a brother like this in Shanghai in 1933. He was a good business man, very clever at making money. In his business he sold women’s hats, especially to British women. One day a wealthy woman was not interested in a particular hat because she thought the price was too low. The brother went to the back of the shop, changed the ribbon on the hat, and doubled the price. At that price, the woman was happy to buy it. By this we see what a clever merchant this brother was. Although he was clever in business, he was lacking in wisdom and could not understand when we spoke about the Scriptures. His mind was very active, but his spirit was not keen. Nevertheless, this brother had a heart for the Lord, came to the meetings of the church, and trusted in us for everything concerning the Lord. He was an excellent example of the difference between cleverness and wisdom.
Let us also give an example of one who had wisdom, but not much cleverness. In 1938 I visited the countryside in northern China, where most of the people had little education. Among them was a certain elderly sister. Although she was not educated, she was very wise concerning the things of the Lord. Whenever you spoke with her about the Lord, she was wise in her spirit. In talking about business this sister had no understanding, but in talking about the Lord she knew much more than most saints because she had wisdom in the spirit.
After wisdom comes revelation. As we have pointed out, revelation means unveiling, the opening of the veil. Revelation is of God’s Spirit to show us the vision of the mystery of God (3:3-5). Suppose you are studying engineering. Through your years of study you gain knowledge of various machines. This knowledge may be compared to wisdom. One day you visit a factory. As soon as the doors are opened, you see all the machines. The opening of the doors can be compared to revelation. Because of your wisdom, your knowledge of these machines, you spontaneously have an understanding of them. However, someone who does not have this engineering knowledge would not understand anything about these machines, although he would also be able to see them. He would have the revelation, but be short of wisdom. Some may have the wisdom without the opening of the door; others may have the opening of the door without wisdom. Only when we have both wisdom and revelation do we have the understanding of the machines. The same is true regarding spiritual things. We need both wisdom and the opening of the veil. When we have both, we can understand spiritual things.
When we have wisdom and revelation, we have the full knowledge of God. We know God in a full way.