Author: Denis Gibson

O soul, outside Christ, read verse 36 on your knees and cry to Heaven for mercy. This chapter ends with the fact that there are two opposite Ways, One of Life, the Other of Death, the Way of Salvation or the Way of Destruction (Pr. 14:12). He that sins against me (chata, misses the Prize), wrongs (chamas, does violence to) his own soul. The one who finds Christ, finds Life (lit. my finder), but the one who sins against me (lit. my misser) in reality hates me and not only misses Life, but violates his own soul and in sinful blindness loves death. God puts the issues of Life and Death so clearly as to leave Christ-rejecters without excuse. Their punishment will be just. Therefore, dear reader, learn:

The claim in 35-36 could be true of none other than Jesus Christ. “These last two verses disclose their full meaning in relation to Christ, the Wisdom of God” (Kidner). Those who find Him find Life. What a claim! This is Life at its best, its highest, its noblest. He on whom you wait (v.34) is the author, the Dispenser of Life.

What is the picture suggested by v.34? Is it a priest waiting at the door of the Tabernacle (Ex. 29:42)? Is it the people watching at the gates of the Temple for the priest’s Benediction when he had finished his duties (Lu. 1:10, 21)? Some see an eager pupil waiting at the door of the school for the appearance of his teacher! “Wisdom’s child will ever be familiar with Wisdom’s gates” (Bridges). The daily, as well as the Sabbath assemblies, were ever his delights. Never would he be absent from the Well when his Shepherd comes to water the flock. Every true believer knows that the soul’s nourishment depends on watching daily at her gates, like the servants of the temple.

They are blessed indeed that keep the Way of this One who calls. Yet, so hard are our hearts that the appeals must be renewed again and again. Now, therefore, hearken unto me (v.32). The word therefore points back to all that we have learned about the Person and Work of this divine One (2 Tm. 1:9-10). “Because I give, and am, all this,” have not I earned the right to be heard and obeyed, he asks? Even so, this entreaty is now to be driven home by the stark realities of life and death! The secret of true blessedness is once more brought to light, but when shall we be willing to learn, to love and to live, for only thus shall we find what we were looking for but never finding? The answer is, only when we hearken unto Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3).

Charles Bridges said of this remarkable passage: “It is none other than the Wisdom of God; the source of all light and knowledge, the King of kings; the loving rewarder of his children, the rich Portion and unfailing guide of his people. Look at Him again in His Divine glory as the only-begotten Son of God, the Mediator in the everlasting Redemption, the Almighty Creator of the world, the Friend of sinners.”

Companion in Creation: When he prepared the heavens. I was there. The universe is not eternal. It had a beginning, and will have an end. It was not an accident, a chance evolution. It was originated by One Being (He, His, Him). He, Christ alone, witnessed all. “The errorists who allege that Christ was the first act of creation do not deserve an answer” (Hengstenberg). He was in eternal association with the Creator (vs. 30-31), not just as an interested spectator, but an efficient cause.

The Solution Strengthened: Confusing it may seem, but between the Orthodox followers of Athanasius and those of the heretic Arius, there was no question that the reference in here was to the pre-existent Person of our Lord, although there was a vital difference as to the interpretation. C.D. Alexander, in his exposition of John’s Gospel, declared, “That John’s doctrine of the Word is deeply rooted in Proverbs 8 there can be no doubt when Solomon’s passage is carefully considered. The first five verses (22-26) describe the existence of the Word (Wisdom) before creation, and the remaining five (27-31) tell of the participation of the Word in creation itself. The first three verses of John’s Gospel are but a condensation of this passage in Proverbs.” Commentators tried to link John’s Logos with Greek philosophy, especially that of the Alexandrian Jew, Philo. In fact, John’s doctrine is radically different from the Logos-idea of Philo. A.H. Strong states, “Instead of Philo’s doctrine being a stepping-stone from Judaism to Christianity, it was a stumbling-stone.” He goes on, “The Christian doctrine of the Logos was perhaps, before anything else, an effort to express how Jesus Christ was God (theos), and yet in another sense not the God (ho theos, Jn. 1:1); that is, He was not the whole Godhead” (ST, p.320; Liddon, The Divinity of our Lord, pp.63-72).

This is a vital topic and merits a fuller treatment here because of what is at stake. The personification of Wisdom has been “the battleground of controversy since the days of the Arian heresy” (Perowne). The Lord possessed me. It is over the interpretation of the word possessed that the battle still rages.

The Incarnate Deity: This quest always achieves its desired goal, which is not so for the philosopher (1 Cor. 1:21), the merchant (Mt. 13:45-46), or the pleasure-seeker (2 Pt. 2:13). Many who have followed their star have found it to be a black hole of failed hopes. Christ is the Incarnation of the seeking love of God. No one ever sought God in vain. Man, found by God, wants to know yet more of Him (Phil. 3:8-11). We are only true to ourselves when we know God and are known of Him (Acts 17:28). All good for time and eternity is in one Person, for God is the One who meets all our deepest needs.

A Munificent Deity: A double contrast is implied. First, Wisdom bestows wealth with honour, and because gotten by righteousness it is durable, unlike the sinner’s wealth. Wisdom’s fruit is better than the finest gold, and her revenue (endowment-Alden) is better than choice silver (Pr. 16:16). This sets spiritual wealth over against the material (2 Cor. 4:18). Second, the former is better because it enriches man himself, while all the world cannot fill the aching void in the human spirit. The one is substance (what is); the other is mere shadow (Ps. 107:10), a feeding on ashes, a deceived heart (Is. 44:20).