Day 150: A foolish love - Proverbs 8 vs 22 - 36
22-26 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27-31 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
32-33 “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 34-36 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favour from the Lord, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:22-36 English Standard Version)
The last few words of this chapter say “all who hate me love death.” The writer had been talking about a wisdom that enables people to make good choices which lead to blessing, as opposed to being gullible and giving in to temptations. He spoke of wisdom as being a woman who was inviting mankind to learn from her. She now says that those who reject her invitation are choosing a path that leads to death. They love death more than life. And in this section the writer tells us where and when this wisdom came from which leads to life. What's the answer to that according to vs 22-26?
This wisdom he is speaking of originated from God even before he created the world. The Hebrew word 'possessed' at the start of this section can mean 'to set up', 'to own', and even 'to buy'. Wisdom began with God and was present in all of his wonderful works of creation. Because of this, it's easy to see why many people suggest this wisdom refers ultimately to Jesus Christ. It was through Jesus that all things were created and he certainly is the delight of the Father and delighted in all his Father's works. But the picture in Proverbs is that wisdom comes from our Creator and leads to a the way of living that flows from a love of his words. That's why Wisdom makes the appeal and promise we read in vs 32-33. In those verses the writer speaks of “watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors!” I'm sure we've all seen how a dog does that towards a loving master. How much more should we have that attitude of eager devotion to listen to the Lord!
The other thing that struck me in this passage was the wonderful description of God at work in creation. It's worth taking a few moments to think over the phrases used there which tell us how God went about that glorious work. He 'shaped' the mountains . . . . he 'made' the fields and even the dust! He 'drew a circle' on the face of the deep and 'set boundaries' for the oceans. Wow – no wonder Paul says in Romans 1:20 “Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and, through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature.”
And in 1 Corinthians 1:30 Pauls also says to Christians “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself.” So what Proverbs says of Wisdom is just as true of Jesus. Whoever finds Jesus finds life and obtains favour from the Lord . . . but all who hate Jesus love death.” And that is surely a most foolish love.