The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
I was formed long ages ago,
at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
Summary: Solomon provides us with another insight into the nature of wisdom; she pre-existed time.
Wisdom, of course, is intangible. She is not a “real” person in any sense of the word. Yet, wisdom does exist, and the kind of wisdom Solomon is describing to us is very real.
I envision wisdom to be in the same category as physics. By this, I mean that the laws of physics do not change. Before the earth was formed, even before the universe came into being, the laws of physics existed. Assuming that God created the laws governing physics as he created everything else, then they would have been formed about the same time that wisdom came into being.
Like physics, wisdom is similar to a law or a principle. Both of these entities are intangible. Each of them is unchangeable. True wisdom, the kind that Solomon is writing about, is the same today as it was before time began.
I find the timelessness of wisdom to be a comforting thought. It helps me understand that wisdom is not a ‘moving target.’ As the course of my life changes from year to year, the principle of wisdom does not change. It is always the same.
Why is this a comfort?
Life can be complicated. Our government has created so many rules, laws, and regulations that it is impossible for any one person to know them all. Every year, the changes to these rules, laws, and regulations are voluminous. The tax code alone stands as a monument to incomprehensibility.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is a beacon of simplicity. Its premise is simple; do what is right and avoid wickedness (Proverbs 2; 21-22). The rest is easy if we understand what it means to do what is right and avoid what is wrong.
Solomon teaches us by example. Hundreds of illustrations show us the difference between right and wrong. He gives wisdom a voice and imagines her as a woman. He helps us to see what cannot be seen.
Application: Spend time reading Proverbs. One or two verses every day is ideal.
Food for Thought: How can something intangible be “formed”?
The blog today and it’s question are really very fascinating to me. As I read and thought about Proverbs 8:22-23 the words “brought me forth” jumped out at me. Other translations use “produced” or “begot” but it comes to the same point: that God’s Truth and wisdom is a part of Him and He brought it out of Himself. Not like mine, where I ponder things and come up with a guiding principle or “truth”; one that may (and often does) change according to my circumstances or feelings. My “intangible truth” is not “formed”; it is not eternal. Like a sand castle; it looks formed but its not really.
How can something intangible be “formed”?
I think I went a long way around, but something intangible becomes formed when it is unchanging. When it is absolute. God’s Truth and wisdom are formed because they are never changing and eternal.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Col. 1:16 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Chris,
You have touched on something that is deeply mysterious.
The Nicene Creed used by the Lutheran Church reads like this:
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
The word “begotten” has always fascinated me. It is used only once in the NIV version of the Bible but the King James uses the term quite often. Psalm 2:7 reads:
“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (KJV)
The word infers reproduction of oneself, but does not address the means of reproduction. God, of course, being a spiritual being, does not require physical processes to reproduce. Thus, the mystery.
Personally, I find it both refreshing and good that there is mystery associated with our God. It should be that way. I tire of humanity’s arrogance in presuming that we can know everything if we just work at it long enough.
Interesting question. It seems obvious that Solomon is using a metaphor to describe wisdom. Very appropriate for today – he gives wisdom a pronoun: she/her 😊. Wisdom is “formed.” While wisdom does not have a physical form, it is still very real. That it was formed demonstrates a Creators touch and design. From what I gather in Scripture – since all things were created by and for Jesus, that would include wisdom. John 1: 1 – 3; Colossians 1: 15 – 17; Hebrews 1: 1 – 3.
Rich, Rich, Rich….
Her own pronouns? You had to go there, didn’t you?! 🙂
Funny!
“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men.
Proverbs 8:22-31
Like Chris, I find this very interesting.
So, I’m doing a few word studies….
Possessed: to get/ acquire/ possess/ of God creating
Established: to pour out/ to anoint/ to set
Brought: twist/ dance/ tremble/ pained/ wait anxiously/ be born
I think I understand the answer best from the definition of established. God has wisdom, so it’s weird to think of it being created or that He had to get wisdom. My brain errors on that.
But established, that makes sense. Wisdom existed in God but perhaps undefined. Wisdom was not changed, merely became a named concept for man to wrestle with. Anointed, given a purpose on the earth.
Similarly, as Chris pointed out, brought forth also does not negate it’s existence prior, just that it was wrapped differently outside of God Himself. God has given mankind the gift of wisdom, yet we don’t really understand it so most of it goes unused…. Like that art set from when you were a kid, where you get different mediums to use and you’re like… Oooo crayons, I can do crayons.
Sorry, scatter brained today. I might not have completed thoughts….
🤯
A –
Your thoughts today seem quite organized and interesting. What I take from your train of thought is that wisdom is a gift from God, a way that he shares himself with us.
03-30-2021, Proverbs 8:22-23, How can something intangible be “formed”?
Intangible is defined as: something unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.
Only God can create “form” something out of nothing.
He has done this by speaking the heavens and earth into existence. God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1-2
John writes in John 1:3, how everything was created through The Word, Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us He can do nothing by Himself and whatever the Father does, the Son does also. Later He explains He is the vine and we are the branches, and we can only bare fruit if we remain in Him. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing.
Paul expands this truth as he declares how we can do all things through He who strengthens him. Christ dwells in each believer and gives each the strength to do His will.
John 5:19, John 15:4-5, Philippians 4:13
Through believers, Christ will remove the sins of all who believe, give spiritual life to those who have none, spiritual sight to the blind, spiritual hearing to the deaf, the power to the mute to proclaim His truths, and the power to walk with God as our spirits are provided the strength over our flesh. All to the Glory of God who is intangible yet formed into the body of Christ on earth, by true believers.
Matthew 11:5.
Ron,
I like that you point out that God is intangible as well as wisdom. That does not mean that either one does not exist, it simply means that they are not physical.
Correcto Mungo! You just keep coming up with such a wide variety of thought provoking questions. I really enjoy the comments which remind me of looking at, focusing on a diamond and viewing one facet at a time. Each one is a piece of the whole.
One of God’s attributes is He is Immutable, He never changes. Unlike His fallen creation, He is Eternal Perfection, remaining all of his attributes all the time.
All great comments. I dont have much to bring to the table except….. 🤯
Romans 11:33
Deuteronomy 29:29
Thank you, Tim!
Both are good verses but I especially like Deuteronomy 29:29 —
“ The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.“