“By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.” (Proverbs 3:19, 20) (NIVUK)
Proverbs 8:22-31 has been a source of controversy through the centuries, due to the way ‘Wisdom’ is described in a manner that reflects what we know of Christ. In Luke 11:49 and 1 Corinthians 1:24 Jesus is described as the ‘Wisdom of God ‘, and in Colossians 1:16 as the one ‘through whom, and for whom’, everything was created.
But Jesus is eternal and not created, as Wisdom is described in this passage, so perhaps Solomon is simply continuing his poetic ‘personification’ of Wisdom, rather than directly indicating the ‘person’ of the coming Messiah.
Whatever way you choose to interpret this passage one thing is clearly evident – that all of creation is saturated in God’s Wisdom. Everything was created and is sustained with purpose, discernment, order and stability, and with the intention of bringing joy and delight to its Creator.
“‘The Lord brought me (Wisdom) forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
23 I was formed long ages ago,
at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
when there were no springs overflowing with water;
25 before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
26 before he made the world or its fields
or any of the dust of the earth.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29 when he gave the sea its boundary
so that the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
30 Then I was constantlyat his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
31 rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in the human race.”
(Proverbs 8:22-31) (NIVUK)
Karen Barclay
