Straightforward

Greetings everyone. Let’s turn to Proverbs chapter 8 and begin our Bible Study through this wonderful book of Proverbs inspired by God. And Solomon is the instrument in God’s hands that He used to write down all of these wonderful proverbs. So let’s begin in chapter 8 of this book, and let’s see what we can learn, and let’s see how these inspired scriptures of God apply even in our day and time to our daily Christian lives. Chapter 8:1:

1 Does not wisdom cry?—

or cry out

1 —and understanding put forth her voice?

Now this particular chapter of Proverbs is primarily focusing on wisdom—one of the most important character attributes that a Christian can have or that anyone can have, but basically a Christian is the one who will have wisdom because true wisdom comes from God. So it’s really focused on and concentrated on and highlighted in this chapter in particular.

And wisdom in chapter 8 is personified. It is pictured as an individual. Now, of course, it’s not an individual, it’s not a personality, it’s not a person. But in order to make it real and in order to make it easier to understand, God inspired that wisdom is characterized as an individual or it’s personified, as in verse 2 of chapter 8.

2 She stands in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

In other words, she makes herself prominent and known, wisdom does, to those who really seek it and who want this attitude, this action, this character quality. 3 She cries at the gates,—

or cries out at the gates

3 —at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

Wherever you go, wherever you look, wisdom is there if we want it and if we seek it.

4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

5 O ye simple, understand wisdom—

Understand common sense. Understand the way God thinks. Understand how to apply true knowledge because that’s what wisdom is. It is making excellent choices and excellent decisions according to God’s word and God’s way.

5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

7 For my mouth shall speak truth;—

Still talking about wisdom, still talking about what flows from wisdom.

7 —and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Wickedness and wisdom do not mix. They do not come from the same source. They are opposite of one another. So, as it says in verse 7, in the case of wisdom

7 —my mouth will speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward—

there is nothing crooked

8 —or perverse in them.

In other words, when we have the right attitude, and when we try to conduct ourselves in a wise way, and when we think and speak with wisdom, and this is not some kind of highfalutin subject that we’re talking about here, that only gurus and PhDs have. That’s not the kind of wisdom we’re going into here in the book of Proverbs.

This is talking about right thinking, right motivation, right planning, right decision making, right choices. This is talking about being godly. This is talking about knowing what counts, knowing what works, knowing what produces the right results in the life of a Christian. This is understanding the thought process that takes us down the right path and we end up in the right place in terms of God’s way of life. And there’s no perversity in that way of thinking. There’s no perversity in wisdom.

9 They are all plain to him that understands, and right to them that find knowledge.

Wisdom is not some kind of complicated, complex subject or quality. To someone who is trying to do what God says, to someone who really wants to think and do and say the right thing, wisdom and the principles and concepts and precepts that are involved in wisdom are plain. They are clear. They are understandable. They work.

9 They are plain to him that understands, and right to them that find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

Now we read something like that and it sounds good, but do we really wrap our mind around it and really agree that what it says there is absolutely true? Most people would do nearly anything for silver, do nearly anything for gold. So much of what human beings are about and so much of what human beings do is money, money, money and more money.

But the Bible says in one place that money is a root of all evil. There’s the old saying, “Follow the money.” Money is power in this world today. Money is prestige. Money is gratification in this world today. But money really doesn’t have anything to do with what really counts except that if God blesses us with it, we use it properly and honor Him in the way we use it and help others in the way we use it.

But what verse 10 is telling us is: We need to seek wisdom. We need to seek godly instruction way more than we would ever seek a silver mine or a gold mine because it’s so much more valuable than silver and gold.

11 For wisdom is better than rubies—

One of God’s ministers can have a meeting where they’re going to teach the principles and the ins and outs of wisdom, and there would be some people who would come and listen. But you could also have a meeting where you’re going to pass out pure, real rubies to everybody who comes, and there would be a turn-away crowd.

Let’s face it—people are far more interested in rubies than they are in wisdom. And yet when an individual changes and repents and begins to walk with God and turns his or her life over to God, then they begin to realize, “No, I mean, wisdom is much better than rubies.” Rubies are just rubies. Where can you go with rubies? What can you do with rubies? It’s just mundane, temporal benefits.

But wisdom will go with you wherever you go and will benefit you in all that you do and will keep you going in the right direction, and will be with you even after you’re resurrected and you’re a spirit being in the family of God.

11 —wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Verse 12, first person:

12 I wisdom dwell with prudence—

I dwell with discretion.

12 —I find out knowledge of witty inventions.

In other words, learning the smart ways to do things. But another translation would use discretion there. Now notice verse 13:

13 The fear of the Eternal is to hate evil: pride, arrogancy, and the evil way, and the—

perverse or

13 —froward mouth, do I hate.

Now wisdom in the first person is saying this, but it’s actually God who is inspiring this. So it’s actually God pointing this out. I mean, wisdom flows from God. The Bible says God is love. He is the source of love and we can partake in that love. Well, He’s the source of wisdom. He’s the fountainhead of wisdom. True wisdom, if you trace it back to its source, always takes you to God. He is where true wisdom comes from. And so when it says here in verse 13:

13 The fear of the Eternal is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

That’s wisdom. Because if we stand in awe of God and we reverence God, we do hate evil, we do hate pride, we do hate arrogance, and we do hate the evil way. Those are the exact opposites to what God is all about. Those are actually satanic characteristics.

And when a person really does stand in awe of God and love Him, he hates evil. And when a person really does hate evil, he loves God and loves His way. So we have to just ask ourselves how much we really do stand in awe of God? How much we worship and adore God? How much we glorify and honor God? And if we are doing that and growing in doing that, we’re going to hate evil more and more, and pride and arrogancy and the evil way. We don’t want to have anything to do with that, and that is wisdom to have that attitude.

14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

That is if they are successful kings and if they are successful princes, and especially if they try to reign and carry out their authority in a godly manner.

Let’s notice verse 16:

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

Now when you look at the judicial systems we have in various societies on this earth today, you don’t see a whole lot of godliness and wisdom. You see a lot of injustice and many, many times wrong verdicts are handed down. But a just judge will always be inspired and guided by wisdom and will always be carrying out his responsibilities with God in the picture.

Notice verse 17. Let’s ask ourselves if we really do think about verse 17 and if we really do follow what verse 17 is telling us in this matter of wisdom. This is important. Notice, it says here:

17 I love them that love me;—

So if we love wisdom, we love the right attitude, we love the right thought pattern, we love godliness. We really do want to live and move and have our being in God. We really do want to take the high ground and stay out of the ditches, and so therefore we do love wisdom. Well, then God will love that individual, and wisdom will love us in the sense that it will be a part of everything we do.

17 —and those that seek me early—

or diligently

17 —shall find me.

It’s not going to just be handed to us on a silver platter this matter of wisdom. It’s not going to be forced upon us. It’s not going to be rammed down our throat. We have to want it. We have to seek it. We have to cry out for it. We have to look for it, and then God will give it to us. And the more we seek it, the more we’ll have. And the more we use it, the greater the amount that we have will be.

18 Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

So it’s not a matter of, “Oh, well, you know, let’s just see how wealthy we can get; let’s just see how much stuff we can amass.” That’s not it. But as we do walk with God and as we do grow in wisdom, we are going to be blessed physically, and above all, we’re going to have spiritual riches and honor. But there’ll also be physical blessings too, and we’ll be growing and be rich in faith. That’s the most important thing.

19 My fruit is better than gold,—

What results from wisdom? The fruit, the characteristics, the good things that flow from wisdom is better than gold.

19 —yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

I walk in that way, this personification of wisdom. In other words, this is what wisdom is about, and as we grow in wisdom, that’s what we’ll be about.

21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

We will have our needs met and then some. We will have blessings and opportunities. We will have breaks and perks, both spiritually and physically. It’ll happen every time as we grow in wisdom and grow in maturity and grow in balance and grow in common sense and Godliness. It’s just a fact.

22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

That just means wisdom was with God before everything was made and created, before even the universe and the world was created. As long as God has existed, wisdom has existed because He’s wisdom, He’s love. And so therefore God has always existed, love has always existed, and wisdom has always existed. And everything that God has done and does now and will do in the future is something that is completely and totally interwoven with love and with wisdom. Notice verse 23:

23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was.

So when you go as far back as your mind can take you—and our mind is limited so we can only go so far back—and you get back to where God existed, and the one who later became Jesus Christ existed, wisdom was there, love was there. And then when you start coming forward and reading about creation and how God created the universe and how God created the earth and how God created all things on the earth, including plants and animals and then human beings, the design that you find in every area of creation, it’s clear that it was all done in wisdom and with wisdom and by wisdom. By the power of God, but wisdom was used, just like love was used.

I mean, when you take a look at the human body, the incredible design that has gone into the creation of a human being reflects wisdom. You take a look at a tree or a bird or a fish or an animal, or even microscopic life. You look at microscopic life and then take it all the way out into the universe where you see not just galaxies but clusters of galaxies, and then between that you see elephants and you see, you know, sequoia trees, and you put all this together and you realize there’s design here. There’s a great designer that designed all of this, and He designed it in wisdom.

Because when you consider all of creation, you see there is a balance. There is an intricate interweaving that has taken place here. There is a delicate and yet very tough dependency in all of creation, and it works wonderfully and beautifully like a fine-tuned instrument unless and until mankind begins to pollute it, damage it, and eventually even destroy parts of it. Then we have what we have today—a troubled creation and a troubled polluted earth.

But when God created all of these things, there was no trouble and there was no

pollution. There was just beauty and splendor and fantastic abundance, and it was all done by design, and it was all done with wisdom—all of it was, the whole creation was. Wisdom was always there with God. He has always done everything in love and in wisdom.

And we can have some of that same love and some of that same wisdom so that everything we do will be done in love and wisdom as well. That’s the message in Proverbs 8.

24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields—

or the outer places

26 —nor the highest part of the dust of the earth.

27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the deep:

28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

Wisdom was there. Love was there. God was there, and where you find God, you find love, you find wisdom.

You know, it’s interesting when you study the waters of the earth, and you study the oceans, and you study the shorelines and the beaches. It’s amazing how these vast oceans thunder in on the beach, but they don’t come any further. It’s like God drew a line and says, “The tidal waves can come in this far and it can’t come any further.”

Now once you have these huge storms and whatever, then they come in further and in situations like that, but a lot of that has to do with the rebellion of man. In the ideal situation, the way God originally made it, the sea has bounds. It has limits. It has shorelines. God designed it that way, for the beauty of His creation and for the good of mankind, and for the good of the creatures that He put on this earth. That was all done in wisdom.

30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

In other words, wisdom should be a very important part of our relationships, of our lives, of everything we do. What we eat should involve wisdom. How we maintain our health should involve wisdom. How we manage our finances and our marriages and our families and our homes and our jobs, the way we drive, the way we dress, how we work. We pray, we study, we serve God.

31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

You will be blessed.

33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

34 Blessed is the man that hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

Still talking about wisdom here.

35 For whoso finds me finds life,—

That’s right. Wisdom not only ties in to having a wonderful, abundant, fulfilling, exciting, thrilling, challenging life now. But it also ties into having eternal life and living for all eternity in the family of God, inheriting the whole universe. Wisdom is a part of that process. No doubt about it.

35 —whoso finds me finds life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.

Why? Because through wisdom, we choose the right over the wrong, and we do the right instead of the wrong and we are blessed for that.

36 —he that sins against me—

He that rejects God, rejects His way, rejects wisdom, breaks His laws.

36 —wrongs his own soul—

Wrongs his own life, wrongs his whole being, hurts himself.

36 —all they that hate me love death.

So in other words, if we turn our back on wisdom, we reject wisdom, not only do we create trouble and problems and ultimately failure, but we create pain and trouble for us and collaterally for others. So why should we reject wisdom and harm ourselves? Why not choose wisdom and be blessed? And then the collateral spinoff is that others can benefit from that blessing as well.

So let’s take heed to what we read here in Proverbs 8. Let’s hear. Let’s listen. Let’s respond and let’s be blessed by doing so.

Alright, we’ll stop there and begin in Chapter 9 next time. Hope you’ll come back and study through the book of Proverbs with us.

This is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.