The Goal of Faith part 4

Wisdom Lights the Path to His Image : Proverbs 8

Today we look at a passage which has a long interpretative history. I will not give you the long version, but will simply give you some quick food for thought. “Wisdom” in Proverbs 8 has been identified as wisdom personified (purely a linguistic device), a pre-incarnate revelation of Christ, and (less popularly) the Holy Spirit. Even today, theologians discuss the many implications of these identities, but even if we lay aside the tree of theological speculation for the sake of seeing the forest of Christian growth. Now, the long discussion of Wisdom’s identity is certainly worth taking a look, but for the sake of time and for the sake of understanding what God is telling us through this poem, we will simply look at what the Bible says and how it relates to the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. I believe that as we study Wisdom and the path she offers, we will discover her work is the same as Christ and the Holy Spirit. She calls us to turn away from foolish sin and turn toward wisdom and righteousness. The two, wisdom and righteousness, go hand in hand. She describes repentance, but just in different terms. Rather than focusing on what we turn from, she helps us see what we turn toward.

What is the Wisdom Literature?

It is important to recognize Proverbs as a piece of Wisdom Literature. Now, what does that mean? It means that Proverbs 8 fits within a particular genre of literature. A writing’s genre tells us what to expect when we read it. When we listen to music, watch a tv show or movie, or read a book, we can usually tell what type of piece it is, and then that genre leads us to understanding it better. For example, if I give you a newspaper, you are going to read it much differently than if I handed you a Stephen King novel. You expect different ideas and scenes from a True Crime show than a Science Fiction show. Personally, I enjoy Country music, but I’m not much of a fan of Pop music. It’s not that one is inherently better than the other, it’s just a preference. But, recently many Country songs have taken on elements of Pop music—catchy hooks, more electric instruments, etc. Some artists have pulled off the crossover fairly well, but for the most part it’s annoying. The genres are different, so we expect different things from the music. It’s like the second Trolls movie. The pop trolls are just trying to make the country trolls happy, but instead it’s an oppressive sound they hate. 

Now, what does that have to do with the Bible? Proverbs is written a particular way, and we expect certain things from Wisdom literature. There’s an emphasis on the moral of the message. There’s more symbolism than what would be found in narrative stories. Much of Proverbs has poetic elements that make it similar to Psalms (another type of Wisdom Literature). 

Wisdom Literature helps answer the question, “How can we live our lives well?”

Now, there are many genres and sub-genres in the Bible, but in general the Wisdom Literature consists of the books Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Each of these books provides answers to life’s questions. Now, they may not be as detailed, or even the answers we want to hear, but nonetheless, that is what they do.

Duvall and Hayes put together a wonderful book for helping understand Scripture called Grasping God’s Word. In it, they describe the Wisdom Literature as a series of books which work together to give wisdom. They see Proverbs as the foundation book that describes the rational life. The others provide irrational exceptions in living well. Now, this excludes Psalms as Wisdom, which is where I disagree with them slightly, but they include Psalms in the Poetry section. Our differences stem from exactly what we are talking about. They are writing a book on hermeneutics. I am writing a sermon about wisdom. Neither are necessarily wrong, we are simply doing two different things. So, here is how I would organize them for your future study, knowing that you can read Grasping God’s Word and get something slightly different:

Psalms gives wisdom in regards to our relationship with God through its poetic music.

Proverbs gives wisdom in regards to living in light of what ought to be.

Job gives wisdom in regards to when things go terribly wrong.

Ecclesiastes gives wisdom in regards to what is truly important.

Song of Songs gives wisdom in understanding the irrationality of love. 

I particularly enjoy their description of Song of Solomon:

The Song of Songs celebrates the wild, irrational, mushy, and corny aspects of true love. This book suggests to us that in the marketplace husbands and wives may need to be the quiet, discerning, hardworking people of Proverbs, but that once the lights go out in the privacy of their home, they need to be the crazy, madly-in-love, slightly irrational couple in Song of Songs.

We tend to forget the Bible truly does address all aspects of life. The Wisdom Literature really can inform our 21st century lives if we will listen to what God has revealed.

So, let’s turn to Proverbs 8 and see what God has in store for us. As we look through this chapter, I believe we will get a glimpse of what God has fulfilled in Christ and what He continues to accomplish through the work of His Holy Spirit. 

Wisdom for the Everyman | Proverbs 8:1-5

The first section reminds us that wisdom is for all walks of life. Wisdom calls out to the “children of man” and “simple ones” in order to teach them “noble things”—a phrase that literally means ‘princely things’. 

Humans are truly elevated by wisdom.

It is the highest call to humanity to gain wisdom. After all, consider Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. To seek wisdom is to seek the things of God. Paul tells us to “seek the things above, not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:2), and then goes on to explain a wise way of life. Here, we are going to see the reverse is just as true. 

A true search for wisdom will always lead to the Lord.

Wisdom corrects evil | Proverbs 8:6-11

Last week, I mentioned the words for ‘evil’ in Hebrew and in Greek picture something that has been twisted from its original condition. Notice in verse 8, Wisdom only speaks what is true, “there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.” It’s interesting that the ESV uses ‘crooked’, because the HCSB and NIV use ‘perverse’. Here, the translators are deciding whether to use the figurative language of the Hebrew, or simply state what the meaning is. 

Wisdom’s worth is found in her ability to make right what was made crooked.

Wisdom leads to righteousness | Proverbs 8:12-21

Verse 13 repeats what has been said before, only in different wording. This repetition emphasizes the conflict between Wisdom and Sin. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and to fear the LORD is to hate evil. Likewise, Wisdom hates arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech. Wisdom is drawing a line in the sand saying, “You will either love the LORD and Wisdom, or you will hate both.”

The road to wisdom is the road that leads away from sin.

Notice as this stanza ends, Wisdom is happy to bring wealth, but her fruit is better than gold and silver. Wealth is a by-product for the righteous life led by Wisdom. 

Here, we clearly see the connection between Wisdom and the Image of God. God created us to bear His image, reflect His righteousness, and administer this world like a royal family. But sin has corrupted our ability to do that. It is through wisdom that we find God’s Image and the path back to our original design. If there is any doubt, then notice how the remainder of the poem goes back to the beginning. Wisdom was part of God’s design. 

The road to wisdom is the road that leads toward God’s Image.

There is Power in Wisdom | Proverbs 8:22-36

This last section describes how God used Wisdom in the creation of the world. Now, verse 22 is where some theological problems occur if we are to accept that ‘Wisdom’ is equal to Christ. In fact, I would argue that to link the two is to miss the point of Proverbs 8. Remember, ‘Wisdom’ is a personified attribute of God. It is not that God created Wisdom, a person. It is that before God did anything, He established what would be wise—He came up with a design. 

There is nothing accidental about Creation—God began with a plan and continues with His plan.

Now this point always lead to a myriad of questions about why God continued with His plan knowing what people would do. I cannot speak for God, but based on Scripture what I can say is this:

In God’s eyes, the wisest thing to do was exactly what He did. Out of wisdom and love, those who would trust Him, follow Him, and become as He designed us to be were worth it. Though it meant losing some, those He would gain were worth it. It is a wonderful and awe-inspiring truth of Scripture. To the Creator who needs nothing, we were worth giving everything.

Verses 22-31 describe how each part of Creation was made in Wisdom. Wisdom was the craftsman beside God and the Lord delighted in His Creation. Remember each day God called His Creation ‘good.’ He delighted in what He made.

Then, in verse 32, we see the last strophe of the poem. It begins with a Beatitude. Those who pursue Wisdom are called ‘blessed.’ They are blessed because the one who finds wisdom finds life and favor from the LORD. 

And this is the great power in Wisdom. It is the power to restore our relationship with God and fellow humans. It is the power to find eternal life and avoid death. 

The Wisdom of God was made available through Christ.

Look last at verse 36. Whoever fails to find wisdom harms himself. And all who hate wisdom love death. The great lie of folly is that it leads to entertainment and pleasure. The truth is it only leads to death. Seeking Wisdom is not some academic exercise—it is a matter of life and death. 

So how do we seek Wisdom?

The New Testament is filled with calls to wisdom which is only found in Christ. If anyone truly wants to be wise, they need only to look to Christ. James 1:5 tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”   

Today, seek true wisdom. Begin with the first step which is the fear of the LORD. Recognize your lack of wisdom which has led to sin and will only lead to death. Then, ask the Lord who created you, loves you, and has a plan for you to give you wisdom. Thank Him for giving Christ who conquered the grave and opened the door to Wisdom and eternal life.