Symbols in the Sophia Necklace:
1. The pearl – represents the situations that God allows to come into our lives that, when faced, help to form wisdom in our hearts.
2. The 9 topaz gems – The topaz has been associated with the attribute of wisdom since ancient times when it was linked to the tribe of Simeon in Jewish history. Simeon’s name mans ‘hearing’. The Scriptures exhort God’s people to hear and to heed the call of wisdom, especially in the Proverbs. There are 9 stones – 1 for each facet of wisdom mentioned in the first 3 chapters of Proverbs. These characteristics will “adorn our neck” or are “bound around our neck as a necklace” as we follow wisdom’s ways (Proverbs 1:9; 3:3; 3:22; 6:21):
1. Listening to instruction (Proverbs 1:8)
2. Receiving teaching (Proverbs 1:9)
3. Directing your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2)
4. Discovering the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:5)
5. Keeping the commands in your heart (Proverbs 3:1)
6. Remaining loyal (Proverbs 3:3)
7. Remaining faithful (Proverbs 3:3)
8. Maintaining competence (Proverbs 3:21)
9. Maintaining discretion (Proverbs 3:21)
3. The placement of the necklace itself: Why do the Scriptures exhort us to bind the attributes of wisdom around our neck? The following is the answer I was led to:
The neck and shoulders symbolize authority or government, and ultimately the condition of one’s heart. For example, people who showed rebellion or ungodly pride were described as “stiff-necked” as in Deuteronomy 10:16 or Nehemiah 9:29. Their authority, the ruler they submitted to, was themselves. Self was on the throne of their heart. A person who showed righteous humility would bow in worship of God (as in Psalm 95:6 or Psalm 128:2) showing a humble heart in which self is no longer ruler. (Bowing, whether the entire body or just the head, requires a flexible down-turned neck.) Proverbs also declares that ‘with humility comes wisdom’ (Proverbs 11:2). By placing the tenents of wisdom around the neck, one would be declaring that their decisions and actions were ‘governed’ by wisdom!
4. A final truth – the neck and shoulders are between the head and the heart.
In reflecting upon these images together, we can see that the placing of the facets of wisdom around the neck like a necklace is a beautiful representation of wisdom guiding the mind (knowledge) and the heart (intuition and emotion) to function in perfect balance!
