(22) “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his
works, before his deeds of old; (23) I was formed long ages ago, at the very
beginning, when the world came to be. (24) When there were no watery depths, I
was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; (25) before
the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, (26)
before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. (27) I
was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on
the face of the deep, (28) when he established the clouds above and fixed
securely the fountains of the deep, (29) when he gave the sea its boundary so
the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the
foundations of the earth. ~Proverbs 8:22-29
Knowing the Proverbs are wisdom statements we should
probably expect that when an ancient book makes claims that are more or less in
the realm of modern science, they will be inaccurate or wrong. Knowing this we
could assume that they are not written to be scientific statements of fact. Yet
we have the Proverb above. It was a proverb I was merely reading as a daily
devotional in the books of wisdom. Something caught my eye and I stopped to
examine it more closely…and then the thoughts started pouncing on my brain, so
here they are. If understood properly and not stared at from a antagonistic distance we see something immediately...they are all correct scientific statements make thousands of years ago. Bereft of modern terminologies, they are surprisingly accurate.
Naturalists and anti-supernaturalists love to spout
off how much the Bible is scientifically inaccurate. All things considered,
including the fact that the above proverb makes no claim to modern scientific
accuracy…it is rather remarkable just how accurate it is by modern standards.
Let’s look at it. My observations will be brief to get a point across not to
reinvent the wheel here. If you want to take these points farther that’s up to
you. If you want to refute the thoughts feel free, just don’t expect a
response. These were merely meant to be musings not scientific and religious
dissertations
The passage is in the context of wisdom (obviously).
It refers to wisdom as a singular first-person.
(v. 22) “The LORD brought me forth as the first of
his works, before his deeds of old”
We see statements about an active God back in a time
immemorial. We see that wisdom was created and came from God. I figure it this
way, until there was a man around, God did not need to limit His limitless
knowledge and omniscience into an encapsulated form called wisdom so man could
use it. God is vastly more than wise. I view wisdom as a limitation to God
since He is so much more than wise…He is perfect. I believe the wisdom God
gives to man is a limited encapsulate piece of knowledge from God. Complete and
perfect wisdom is omniscience and probably should be considered something
totally “other” just as God is “Other”.
(v.23) “I was formed long ages ago, at the very
beginning, when the world came to be”
We see a repeat statement about wisdom’s creation
and beginning in God. Here we also see a statement about the creation of world
also. There is a grammatical tying of the creation of the world with the
creation of wisdom as it is at the forefront / qedem / קֶ֫דֶם of the
earth/world or at least the implication is here that wisdom existed from the
very earliest times of the world’s creation. Based on the word qedem we could
possibly even say that wisdom came previous to the world as it is sometimes
translated: before.
(v.24) “When there were no watery depths, I was
given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water”
No matter how this is interpreted or framed…it is
accurate. If we are dealing with the Biblical account we know that the wisdom
had to have been before Genesis 1:2 because we know that the “deep” is
mentioned by this time. I personally believe that the presence of God at the
creation IS the presence of wisdom in its infinite form. If we look at this
from a geophysical or geological point of view, there was more than likely no
water on the earth when it was “formed”.
(v.25) “…before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth”
“Settled into place…” or more properly
"sunk" into place which implies a vertical up and down movement. This
is an interesting terminology to use for mountains that at the time of the
writing of this Proverb…probably appeared rather stationary and immobile (and
quite large). We now know through plate tectonics that not only mountains but
entire continents indeed move…a lot. Actually anyone that has experienced an
earthquake would know and accede to the fact that the earth “moves” but we now
know that not only do they move they actually float on the Earth’s mantle on
convection currents. Mountains move both vertically by being pushed up and
laterally by sliding against one another in a sheering force. Mountains are
essentially the by-product of two tectonic plates crashing together like a car
wreck and the mountains are the wrinkled or accordioned fender.
(v.27) “I was there when he set the heavens in
place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep”
We know from both the Bible and the “experts” of
science that the heavens and earth were created or came into existence “ex
nihilo” (out of nothing). Hence they were put into place since they had not
previously existed. Stars, planetary systems, galaxies, galactic
clusters...all created at a given point in time. A beginning. A beginning that
is better described in the Bible than it is by science. All science has done to
this point to explain the inception of the universe was actually a
corroboration of the Bible.
(v.28) “when he established the clouds above and
fixed securely the fountains of the deep”
(v.29) “when he gave the sea its boundary so the
waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations
of the earth.”
Within this statement of wisdom we see clouds linked
to the foundations of the deep forever tying together the oceans and the clouds
in the Bible. We see a statement here that God created/formed the hydrological
cycle (evaporation/precipitation) that produces clouds (mostly from the
evaporation of ocean waters). I will even take these verses as being subsequent
chronologically to (v.24). Having been formed first in the absence of water it
is easy to understand how land will hem in water. The earth being primarily of
solids such as rock (yes I know some are porous) will physically retain the
water which is amorphous. One is solid (mostly) and one liquid…two different
forms…two different phases or states of matter. They can work together but are
molecularly and/or atomically distinct. A solid has a definite shape and
volume. A liquid has a definite volume but it takes the shape of whatever it is
in thereby making whatever it is in …its boundary. The land is solid and
therefore acts as the holder of the oceans...like a water basin/sink and that
is literally what it is called in Oceanography...an ocean basin.
But beyond this wide knowledge of nature, Solomon
possessed supernatural intuition and discernment of character, and insight into
motives and springs of action. This was remarkably revealed in the method he devised
to discover the true mother of the living baby. It is at this point that we see
all of Israel is dumbfounded by the breadth of his wisdom
“When all Israel heard the verdict the king had
given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God
to administer justice.” 1 Kings 3:28
It is Christ we see in the wisdom itself making
Creation…
By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by
understanding he set the heavens in place” Proverbs 3:19
I suppose it is ironic that in the last chapter
of Proverbs we see rumination on the influence of a good mother or the
"virtuous woman”. It is the very opposite thing that brings Solomon down and aids him in his apostasy, the evil
influence of pagan women.
We see in Proverbs the fear of the Lord. Proverbs
teaches that "the fear of the Lord" is the beginning of knowledge.
This is not the fear of fright, but the family fear, or fear of grieving a Father's
love.
The most profound aspect of wisdom is the meanings of
the words of wisdom in Proverbs. The word(s) of Proverbs are identical with the
Word of the New Testament’s John 1:1 and therefore is identical to the
Incarnate Word also in John 1. Wisdom is represented as dwelling with God from
all eternity or from everlasting, from the beginning.
Then we have this verse in Proverbs that is
self-explanatory…
Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has
gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters
in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name,
and the name of his Son? Tell me if you know! Proverbs 30:4
Right within the Hebrew Bible we see mention of
God’s Son. How could the Jews overlook this in such a glaring oversight? His
name is Yahweh and His Son is Jesus Christ!
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