MONDAY LESSON: Wisdom and Creation: Read Proverbs 8:22–31.How is wisdom related to Creation? In these texts wisdom is mysteriously related to the Lord as the Creator. This poem shares many common words with the Creation account in Genesis 1 and 2,and even reflects its literary structure, organized around the three basic elements of heaven, water, and earth. The intention of this parallel is to emphasize the primary credential of wisdom: if God Himself used wisdom to create, if wisdom is the oldest tool, older than the universe itself and so fundamental to its existence, we should all the more use wisdom in everything we do in life. There is also a strong emphasis on the divine origin of wisdom. The first word of the poem is the LORD, Yahweh, who is said to have begotten (second word) wisdom. The Hebrew word qanah, translated as possessed by the NKJV, has the connotation of begetting rather than creating(see Deut. 32:6, Gen. 4:1). The next word is the technical word that is associated with the Genesis Creation,reshit (beginning), which is found in the first verse of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Yet the word beginning in Proverbs 8:22 is used somewhat differently than it is in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1:1 the word is related to the Creation itself, while in Proverbs 8:22 the word is related to God Himself, to His way(derek), which means His nature. Thus, wisdom is part of the very nature of God Himself. Wisdom, therefore, is situated in time even before the creation of the universe. The existence of wisdom, at that time when only God was present, traces the antiquity of wisdom from everlasting. So, wisdom does not originate in us, but rather is revealed to us; it is something that we learn, something that is taught to us; it is not what we generate out of ourselves. Surely, to walk in our own light is to walk in darkness. We are told that Jesus is the true Light which gives light to every man (John 1:9, NKJV). Every man needs it, too.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:52:14 +0000
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