On the glorious resurrection morning Mary went to see—to look for—Jesus. She sought him in his tomb, but he stood next to her. She thought that he was the gardener, but with one word “Mary” he revealed himself to her as her Lord, and she turning answered “Rabboni” which is to say Teacher or Master.1
As we read some passages in the Old Testament, how often our eyes are held, and we see only the earthly form. For example, we see Aaron the priest, or David the shepherd and king, or Solomon the king. But if, like Mary, we are really seeking the Lord Jesus, we see that he manifests, that is reveals, himself to us through the outward type, and we turn in glad surprise, and looking up, we say “Rabboni,” or “My dear Master.”
As we continue to look, we find him even in the least expected places of the Old Testament. Through this paper, we will seek, and find Him, in the book of Proverbs, mainly in the writings of Solomon as he was guided by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
In linking himself with wisdom as presented in the Old Testament, and particularly of Proverbs, Jesus declared that the wisdom that was imperfectly manifested in Solomon, one of the authors of Proverbs, was only a type of the perfect wisdom to be found in David’s greater son: “The queen of the south shall rise up on the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 13:42).
We will study Proverbs looking for Christ by taking a few selected verses and comparing them to their counterparts in the New Testament.
“The early Church Fathers considered Proverbs 8:22–31 as one of the most perfect pictures of the Christ in the Old Testament, giving them clearer ideas about the Second Person of the Trinity. Indeed the wisdom so exalted by the Old Testament book is in the New Testament located in the Christ ‘Who was made unto us wisdom from God’ (I Corinthians 1:30, American Standard Version).”2
Let us now compare Proverbs 8:22–31 with a few passages from the New Testament and see if the Church Fathers were right in considering this passage as they did.
“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of the way, before His works of old” (Proverbs 8:22). The question in this verse is the use of the verb “possessed.” In the Hebrew the word used is “Kanah” which means “to erect, set upright, to form, to acquire, to possess.” We can therefore take this word to mean “to appoint” and not “to create”: thus “The Father set Wisdom over all created things, or made Wisdom to be the efficient cause of His creatures. ‘The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God’ (Revelation 3:14). May we not say that the writer was guided to use a word which would express relation in a twofold sense? Wisdom is regarded either as the mind of God expressed in operation or the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.”3 Thus we know that Christ had being or existence before the world was made, before the beginning of time and therefore from all eternity, for in the New Testament we read, “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was” (Proverbs 8:23). From the beginning meaning here, “before the world was begun to be made.”4
We should also read, “When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:27) and “when He appointed the foundations of the earth” (Proverbs 8:29b). Here the writer tells us the part that Wisdom played in the work of creation. “When He prepared the heavens, I was there” (Proverbs 8:27a). When God made the firmament and divided the water from it, Wisdom cooperated; now with this we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1–3).
We see here that “the beauty of the Book of Proverbs lies hidden in the meaning of the word Wisdom; clearly, this word, as used here, means more than an attribute. We cannot doubt that the Wisdom of Proverbs is identical with the Incarnate Word of the New Testament,”5 especially as we have seen it expressed in the Gospel of John the first three verses.
“Then I was by him, as a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (Proverbs 8:30, American Standard Version). A “master workman” can here be understood as “artificer.” “It will then accord with the expression demiurge or (an architect, especially the Divine Architect of the Universe) applied by the Fathers to the Word of God, by whom all things were made,”6 as we read “his Son…by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2). We see here that God created all things through Christ, and God made the universe in wisdom. In the phrase “Rejoicing always before him” we see that God rejoices over Christ, as it is written: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me” (Proverbs 8:17) can be equated with “The Son of God who loved me” (Galatians 2:20) and “Seek and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7). We can know here the blessedness of loving and seeking Christ. We love Christ because he first loved us. Love for Christ must precede a deep knowledge of Christ; that is, we love before we seek and find. This love to Christ must be based on what is lovable in him. “Wisdom is beautiful and attractive, and can excite love agape. How much more then should the incarnation of Wisdom in our brother man do this. The contemplation of the beautiful life of Christ and the study of his perfect character urges us to love Him, but surely what He has done for us, His sacrifice of Himself, His death on Our behalf, must be our chief grounds for loving him”7; therefore, if we are to find Christ, we must seek him, and we must seek him earnestly and not half-heartedly.
Lastly, we look at Proverbs 30:4: “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended. Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if thou canst tell?’ This is a most marvellous verse. If we ask a Jew the first question, ‘What is His Name?’ he would reply ‘Jehovah.’ But if we go further and say, ‘What is His Son’s Name?’ the Jew is silent, or replies: ‘Lt is blasphemy to say Cod has a Son.’ But here is a verse which attributes ascension to heaven, and the creation and control of the world to Cod and to His Son. ‘And we know that the Son of Cod is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true’ (I John 20).'”
In conclusion, through this paper I hope and pray that we might realize that with the help of the Holy Spirit we can find Christ. Not as I have pointed out, only in Proverbs, but in all the books of the Old Testament. If we read the Old Testament, in connection with the New Testament as the Inscripturated Word of God, looking for Christ, our reading will become more meaningful to all of us.
1. John 20:16, King James Version. (All other internal Scriptural references will be from the King James Version unless specified otherwise.)
2. Russell Bradley Jones, A Survey of the Old and New Testaments, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1857), pages 173–174.
3. Rev. H. D. M. Spence, D.O., Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, (Funk & Wagnalls Company, London and New York, 1913), pg. 165.
4. Ibid, pg. 166.
5. A.M. Hodgkin, Christ in All Scriptures, Fifth Edition (London, Alfred Holness Paternoster Row, E.C., 1914), pg. 121.
6. Rev. H. D. M. Spence, D.D., Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, pg. 167.
7. Ibid, pg. 171.
8. A. M. Hodgkin, Christ in All the Scriptures, pgs. 122–123.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Bible, King James Version.
Hodgkin, A.M., Christ in All the Scriptures, Fifth Edition, London, Alfred Holness Paternoster Row, E.C. 1914.
Jones, Russell Bradley, A Survey of the Old and New Testaments, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1957.
Spence, Rev. H.D.M., D.D., Exell, Rev. Joseph S. M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, Funk and Wagnalls Company, London and New York, 1913.
As we read some passages in the Old Testament, how often our eyes are held, and we see only the earthly form. For example, we see Aaron the priest, or David the shepherd and king, or Solomon the king. But if, like Mary, we are really seeking the Lord Jesus, we see that he manifests, that is reveals, himself to us through the outward type, and we turn in glad surprise, and looking up, we say “Rabboni,” or “My dear Master.”
As we continue to look, we find him even in the least expected places of the Old Testament. Through this paper, we will seek, and find Him, in the book of Proverbs, mainly in the writings of Solomon as he was guided by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
In linking himself with wisdom as presented in the Old Testament, and particularly of Proverbs, Jesus declared that the wisdom that was imperfectly manifested in Solomon, one of the authors of Proverbs, was only a type of the perfect wisdom to be found in David’s greater son: “The queen of the south shall rise up on the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 13:42).
We will study Proverbs looking for Christ by taking a few selected verses and comparing them to their counterparts in the New Testament.
“The early Church Fathers considered Proverbs 8:22–31 as one of the most perfect pictures of the Christ in the Old Testament, giving them clearer ideas about the Second Person of the Trinity. Indeed the wisdom so exalted by the Old Testament book is in the New Testament located in the Christ ‘Who was made unto us wisdom from God’ (I Corinthians 1:30, American Standard Version).”2
Let us now compare Proverbs 8:22–31 with a few passages from the New Testament and see if the Church Fathers were right in considering this passage as they did.
“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of the way, before His works of old” (Proverbs 8:22). The question in this verse is the use of the verb “possessed.” In the Hebrew the word used is “Kanah” which means “to erect, set upright, to form, to acquire, to possess.” We can therefore take this word to mean “to appoint” and not “to create”: thus “The Father set Wisdom over all created things, or made Wisdom to be the efficient cause of His creatures. ‘The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God’ (Revelation 3:14). May we not say that the writer was guided to use a word which would express relation in a twofold sense? Wisdom is regarded either as the mind of God expressed in operation or the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.”3 Thus we know that Christ had being or existence before the world was made, before the beginning of time and therefore from all eternity, for in the New Testament we read, “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was” (Proverbs 8:23). From the beginning meaning here, “before the world was begun to be made.”4
We should also read, “When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a compass upon the face of the depth” (Proverbs 8:27) and “when He appointed the foundations of the earth” (Proverbs 8:29b). Here the writer tells us the part that Wisdom played in the work of creation. “When He prepared the heavens, I was there” (Proverbs 8:27a). When God made the firmament and divided the water from it, Wisdom cooperated; now with this we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1–3).
We see here that “the beauty of the Book of Proverbs lies hidden in the meaning of the word Wisdom; clearly, this word, as used here, means more than an attribute. We cannot doubt that the Wisdom of Proverbs is identical with the Incarnate Word of the New Testament,”5 especially as we have seen it expressed in the Gospel of John the first three verses.
“Then I was by him, as a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (Proverbs 8:30, American Standard Version). A “master workman” can here be understood as “artificer.” “It will then accord with the expression demiurge or (an architect, especially the Divine Architect of the Universe) applied by the Fathers to the Word of God, by whom all things were made,”6 as we read “his Son…by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2). We see here that God created all things through Christ, and God made the universe in wisdom. In the phrase “Rejoicing always before him” we see that God rejoices over Christ, as it is written: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me” (Proverbs 8:17) can be equated with “The Son of God who loved me” (Galatians 2:20) and “Seek and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7). We can know here the blessedness of loving and seeking Christ. We love Christ because he first loved us. Love for Christ must precede a deep knowledge of Christ; that is, we love before we seek and find. This love to Christ must be based on what is lovable in him. “Wisdom is beautiful and attractive, and can excite love agape. How much more then should the incarnation of Wisdom in our brother man do this. The contemplation of the beautiful life of Christ and the study of his perfect character urges us to love Him, but surely what He has done for us, His sacrifice of Himself, His death on Our behalf, must be our chief grounds for loving him”7; therefore, if we are to find Christ, we must seek him, and we must seek him earnestly and not half-heartedly.
Lastly, we look at Proverbs 30:4: “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended. Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if thou canst tell?’ This is a most marvellous verse. If we ask a Jew the first question, ‘What is His Name?’ he would reply ‘Jehovah.’ But if we go further and say, ‘What is His Son’s Name?’ the Jew is silent, or replies: ‘Lt is blasphemy to say Cod has a Son.’ But here is a verse which attributes ascension to heaven, and the creation and control of the world to Cod and to His Son. ‘And we know that the Son of Cod is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true’ (I John 20).'”
In conclusion, through this paper I hope and pray that we might realize that with the help of the Holy Spirit we can find Christ. Not as I have pointed out, only in Proverbs, but in all the books of the Old Testament. If we read the Old Testament, in connection with the New Testament as the Inscripturated Word of God, looking for Christ, our reading will become more meaningful to all of us.
1. John 20:16, King James Version. (All other internal Scriptural references will be from the King James Version unless specified otherwise.)
2. Russell Bradley Jones, A Survey of the Old and New Testaments, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1857), pages 173–174.
3. Rev. H. D. M. Spence, D.O., Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, (Funk & Wagnalls Company, London and New York, 1913), pg. 165.
4. Ibid, pg. 166.
5. A.M. Hodgkin, Christ in All Scriptures, Fifth Edition (London, Alfred Holness Paternoster Row, E.C., 1914), pg. 121.
6. Rev. H. D. M. Spence, D.D., Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, pg. 167.
7. Ibid, pg. 171.
8. A. M. Hodgkin, Christ in All the Scriptures, pgs. 122–123.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Bible, King James Version.
Hodgkin, A.M., Christ in All the Scriptures, Fifth Edition, London, Alfred Holness Paternoster Row, E.C. 1914.
Jones, Russell Bradley, A Survey of the Old and New Testaments, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1957.
Spence, Rev. H.D.M., D.D., Exell, Rev. Joseph S. M.A., The Pulpit Commentary – Proverbs, Funk and Wagnalls Company, London and New York, 1913.