A devotional look at Proverbs 8 and 1 Corinthians 1:30
The Lord Jesus on several occasions told both His disciples and His enemies that He was the primary subject matter of the Old Testament scriptures (see Jn. 5:39, 46; Lk. 24:27, 44). As we approach the Old Testament, we need therefore to be looking for the Lord Jesus in prophecies. psalms and pictures (tupos, types).
Modern scholarship seems to have overlooked this principle. Recently I was disappointed to see in two of the more recently published conservative evangelical commentaries a denial that Proverbs 8 speaks of the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, all of the older evangelical commentaries affirm this. For example,
We cannot doubt that the wisdom of Proverbs is identical with the incarnate Word of the New Testament” (A. M. Hodgkin, Christ in All the Scriptures).
When studying Scripture, we must constantly remind ourselves that its Author—the Spirit of God—loves to magnify the Lord Jesus: “He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you” (Jn. 16:15).
Proverbs 8 is clearly Wisdom personified, but of whom does this speak? In I Corinthians 1:24, 30, we read of “Christ, the wisdom of God.” In Colossians 2:3, speaking of our Lord Jesus, we read, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
As we look briefly at this chapter, may “looking unto Jesus” be our basic principle of interpretation.
Before we look at the overwhelming evidence that this speaks of the Lord Jesus, there is a minor difficulty to overcome and that is that Wisdom personified seems to be feminine. “She standeth in the top of the high places” (Prov. 8:2, etc.). How are we to reconcile this?
The Hebrew language has only two genders, masculine and feminine, so grammatically speaking there are no “its” in the language. As a rule, concepts such as righteousness, wickedness, love, truth and law are feminine. Wisdom fits into that category and appears as “she” in this chapter.
Wisdom’s Cry (vv. I-5)
In Proverbs 7, we read of the harlot going out into the streets to seduce a young man. Here in chapter 8, Wisdom is also gone out into the highways and byways, calling to the simple and the fool alike. Thus we have contradictory messages in the public arena; both are vying for the affections of men!
In John 7:37, we find Christ, the Wisdom of God, calling to the sons of men, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink!” So it is today. The public arena is the scene of competing voices. Men must make a choice and, as we shall see, there are far-reaching consequences to the choice which one makes!
Beloved, let us not forget our responsibility to confront men in the streets and public places with their great need to chose Christ. Evil seeks daily to entice them and the stakes are high!
Wisdom’s Speech (vv. 6-9)
Again, in contrast to the deceitful words of the harlot, Wisdom personified speaks excellent things, right things—the truth. In fact, wickedness is an abomination to his lips! Surely this speaks of the One whose enemies had to conclude: “Never man spake like this man” (Jn. 7:46).
His disciples, too, expressed the fact that there was something wonderful about His words. We often read statements like: “Thou hast the words of eternal life” and “neither was guile found in His mouth” and “Did not our heart burn within us as He talked with us by the way?” These indicate that “all the words of his mouth are in righteousness.” Do we love to listen to His voice? Are we availing ourselves daily of the vast treasury of His words found throughout the Word of God?
Wisdom’s Reward (vv. I0-21)
You are in the public places and you hear Wisdom’s speech. If you positively respond to what you hear, what then? The clear implication is that you will never regret embracing the wonderful words of Wisdom personified. There are great rewards involved here. The benefits are contrasted with items that are given great value in the world. We read that Wisdom is better than rubies (v. 11) and better than gold (v. 19).
It is important to pay attention to the personal pronouns used in this section, I, me and my being particularly dominant. This shows us that the greatest reward is to know Wisdom as a Person: “I love them that love Me; and those who seek Me early will find Me” (v. 17). Getting to know this wonderful Person is reward in and off itself (see Jn. 17:3), and especially knowing that such a wonderful Person actually loves us!
Other rewards include such things as: good counsel, sound judgment, leadership ability, and moral strength to do what is right. In a world of confusion, these bring stability and strength to those who embrace Wisdom!
Wisdom and the Creation (vv. 22-31)
Before us in these verses we see clearly the blessed eternal Son of God, in what Arno C. Gaebelein calls “a great prelude to the incarnation.” Here wisdom is represented as dwelling with God from all eternity. Of course, God—whom Scripture calls “the only wise God” (1 Tim. 1:17)—never existed without the attribute of wisdom.
Here we have, then, the One of whom it was said: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). What was their relationship like? Wisdom tells us: “I was daily His delight,” and who can read this without being reminded of Luke 3:22? There the Father breaks the silence of heaven and expresses once more His delight in the Son of His love: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” or “in whom is all My delight”! As well as being the delight of the Father, He was also co-Creator, as the NIV renders verse 30, “I was the craftsman at His side.”
Again our minds go back to John 1:3, “All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” Yet perhaps the most staggering statement in this amazing passage is found in verse 31, “…and My delights were with the sons of men,” His delight was so great, that it caused Him to lay aside His glory and leave His eternal dwelling place to become a man and redeem man by the death on the cross. Such was His delight in the sons of men!
Wisdom and its Consequences (vv. 32-36)
As we confront the world in the highways and by-ways by wisdom personified or Christ the Wisdom of God, there are eternal consequences to the choice each individual makes concerning Him! “Whoso findeth me findeth life” (v. 35) or as the apostle John later would put it, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” In contrast, we read, “He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death” (v. 36).
Again let us allow John the apostle to clarify that statement: “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” For those of us that have responded to Wisdom’s cry and delight in His words, the future looks bright. Sadly for many in the world the future instead looks bleak. Should we not then renew our efforts to take the message of Christ back to the public places. The harlots and purveyors of evil never seem to rest in their onslaught to capture the hearts of men with their deadly message. Is it not time to rise up and work?
WISDOM EXCELS THEM ALL
Charles Wesley
Wisdom divine! who tells the price
Of wisdom’s costly merchandise?
Wisdom to silver we prefer,
And gold is dross compared to her.
Her hands are filled with length of days,
True riches, and immortal praise—
Riches of Christ on all bestowed,
And honor that descends from God.
Happy the man who wisdom gains;
Thrice happy who his Guest retains;
He owns—and shall forever own—
Wisdom, and Christ, and heaven are one.