Pro 8:22-23 | KingComments | STEP | In the previous verses, we heard Wisdom calling. Her call has come to every person without exception. In , Wisdom tells Who She is. We find in these verses a wonderful description of the Lord Jesus, because it is about Him. He, the eternal Son, is Wisdom in Person. If we were to ask how long God has been wise, the answer is simple that Wisdom has existed as long as God has existed, meaning eternally. Indeed, there is no conceivable moment when God was not wise to then become so at some point. This conclusively answers the question of how long the Lord Jesus exists. This is evident from the first thing Wisdom says about Herself. She was with God, the LORD, even before any of the works of God were visible ( ). Before the foundation of the world, Wisdom was with God as a distinct Person. The evangelist John confirms this. He writes, “In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” ( ). “The Word” is also the Lord Jesus. It is noteworthy that Wisdom begins by speaking of the LORD, the God of covenant with His people. With Him She is intimately connected. How closely, She says next. The LORD possessed Her “at the beginning of His way”. A wrong and misleading translation says that the LORD “created” Her instead of “possessed”. But Christ, the Son, as the Wisdom, says that the LORD possessed Him “at the beginning of His way, before His works of old” (cf. ). When God began His way with the world, when He brought about His works, He did so through the Son, Who was with Him “of old”, that is, from eternity. Christ is the beginning of the creation of God, which means that He is at the beginning of all the works of God’s creation, that He began creation and completed it ( ; ; ; ). From Him all creation came forth. He was with God as the Wisdom of all the works of God. All the works of God were brought about by His wisdom. Thus, the Wisdom Herself was not created, but was with God from eternity. Wisdom has been established or consecrated from eternity ( ). Establishing or consecrating has to do with destiny to a particular purpose. In the Old Testament, kings and priests were established or consecrated to be what they were destined to be. Similarly, the Wisdom, Christ, was predestined by God to a particular work. We see something similar with regard to the atoning work of Christ, to which “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world” as the Lamb ( ). The work at issue here is the work of creation. Wisdom was there “from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth”. That Wisdom was “brought forth” or “born” – it is said twice: in and in – means that Christ began to act as Creator at some point. What is present in God becomes visible. It is similar to what happens at the birth of a child. A child being born is already present in the womb, but becomes visible at birth. Wisdom proves Her pre-existence by beginning to act when there is nothing yet, when there “were no depths” and “no springs abounding with water” ( ). The same goes for “the mountains” and “the hills” ( ) which also owe their existence to Him Who was there ( ). The emphasis throughout this section is on the eternal (pre)existence of Christ. It is very important to hold to that. Everything there is is created by Him. It has a beginning, whereas He Himself does not. There is no such thing as ‘eternal matter’. Only the triune God is eternal. The Son was there “while He had not yet made the earth and the fields” ( ). After the waters and heights of both previous verses, this seems to refer to the more habitable parts of the earth. By “the dusts of the world” are meant the constituents that make up the earth, including the treasures of the soil. All things have a beginning and that beginning is through Him. The Word was in the beginning, meaning He was there with all that has a beginning and that He Himself has no beginning. He is the beginning of all things ( ). God is the great Architect, Who built everything through Wisdom. He created all things through the Son ( ). Everything became through the Word. This section from Proverbs 8 is explained in the first verses of John 1. The Son is also involved in the preparation of the heavens ( ). He was not a spectator, but the Executor ( ). He gave the heavens their shape, brilliance and covering of sun, moon and stars. The heavens are drawn by Him as an overarching span over the flood of water, as one draws a circle with a compass (cf. Js 40:22; ). In that span, He has made the clouds strong so that they can hold the water to pour out that water over the earth in His time and where He wants ( ; ). Also “the springs of the deep” are fixed and can spring up because of the power He grants them. The place of the sea was not determined by evolution, but was appointed to him by the Son ( ). In doing so, He has also commanded that the sea keep to the boundary set by Him and will not transgress it ( ; ). He has marked the foundations of the earth in such a way that the earth stands unshakable ( ). All the acts of creation just described by Wisdom attest to the Divine wisdom behind them. This proves the pre-existence of Wisdom before creation. God planned out His work and performed it with Wisdom, that is through His Son. In it is no longer about creation, but about the relationship between the LORD, Yahweh, and Wisdom. Wisdom was eternally “with Him”. She is loved by God because Wisdom is the Person of Christ. He is the Word Who was with God in the beginning ( ). In the New Testament, we see this same relationship of love reflected in the love between the Father and the Son. The relationship between the Father and the Son is one of eternal love ( ). While there is no time in eternity, yet it is expressed in such a way that the Father enjoyed His Son “daily”. Thus He allows us to share in the feelings of His heart for His Son. It is at the same time an example for us to occupy ourselves with the Son every day, to see Him and rejoice in Him. Surely there can be no other object of love and joy for us than Him to Whom the heart of God goes out, can there? He is from all eternity God’s “master workman” and His “delight”. These expressions indicate how much God loved Him and how much He rejoiced in Him. There was never a time when this was different. God eternally looked upon Him with the greatest and deepest love and joy. The cause of this is the perfect unity in nature, attributes and desires that exists between Them. There was and is perfect harmony in thoughts and feelings. All that God is, He saw and sees in His Son. This did not change when the Son became the Creator, for His work of creation is the fulfillment of God’s purpose. When He created the heavens and the earth, He was engaged in a game, as it were, which He played with great joy. It is reminiscent of the satisfaction He had when He saw everything after creation and then observed that “it was very good” ( ). As a result of what the Son created, a new area is created in which the Son Himself finds His joy ( ). He Who was always the delight of God’s heart, rejoicing before Him, or: playing before Him also played in the world of God’s earthly kingdom. Then it seems as if He discovers in it something that fills Him with joy, and that is “the sons of men”. He calls them “My delight”. He delights in all His works of creation, but in man He finds a special delight. His delight in man is shown in the clearest way by the fact that He became Man. The angels rejoiced when He created the world ( ). But when the Son becomes Man, they see the good pleasure of God in men and without any envy praise Him for it with the words, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” ( ). God has His pleasure in men. That is why Christ became Man. God has no pleasure in sinful men. He is pleased with that one Man, His Son Jesus Christ, Who came as the expression of God’s pleasure in all men, for He came to save men from eternal judgment. Every person who confesses his sins and believes in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross is going to share in God’s pleasure. God is pleased with every person who is united to His Son through faith in His work. World history is not an accident in which the Son of God spontaneously entered one time. At the beginning of all God’s ways is Wisdom, the personification of the Lord Jesus. This is the deep purpose of the world and its history. In Hebrews 1, this is stated in a nutshell ( ). Christ is the center of God’s ways. Knowing His Person not only answers the questions of our heart, but leads us into the world of the Father and the Son. Of this we get an impression here through the speaking of Wisdom from that eternity. We are not merely spectators in this majestic and sovereign action of Wisdom, but we in His grace are involved in this eternal plan of God. We have entered the house of Wisdom, as we see in Proverbs 9. It is this Wisdom Who has guided every action of God with this earth, be it creation or salvation history. All things are through Him and for Him. This glory as Mediator stands before us here in the joy that God has in Him. And He is not a Mediator of angels, but His joy is with the sons of men ( ).

‏ Proverbs 8:22-23

Wisdom Is an Eternal Person

In the previous verses, we heard Wisdom calling. Her call has come to every person without exception. In Pro 8:22-31, Wisdom tells Who She is. We find in these verses a wonderful description of the Lord Jesus, because it is about Him. He, the eternal Son, is Wisdom in Person. If we were to ask how long God has been wise, the answer is simple that Wisdom has existed as long as God has existed, meaning eternally. Indeed, there is no conceivable moment when God was not wise to then become so at some point. This conclusively answers the question of how long the Lord Jesus exists.

This is evident from the first thing Wisdom says about Herself. She was with God, the LORD, even before any of the works of God were visible (Pro 8:22). Before the foundation of the world, Wisdom was with God as a distinct Person. The evangelist John confirms this. He writes, “In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (Jn 1:1). “The Word” is also the Lord Jesus.

It is noteworthy that Wisdom begins by speaking of the LORD, the God of covenant with His people. With Him She is intimately connected. How closely, She says next. The LORD possessed Her “at the beginning of His way”. A wrong and misleading translation says that the LORD “created” Her instead of “possessed”. But Christ, the Son, as the Wisdom, says that the LORD possessed Him “at the beginning of His way, before His works of old” (cf. Mic 5:1).

When God began His way with the world, when He brought about His works, He did so through the Son, Who was with Him “of old”, that is, from eternity. Christ is the beginning of the creation of God, which means that He is at the beginning of all the works of God’s creation, that He began creation and completed it (Gen 1:1-31 ; Gen 2:1; Jn 1:3; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2). From Him all creation came forth. He was with God as the Wisdom of all the works of God. All the works of God were brought about by His wisdom. Thus, the Wisdom Herself was not created, but was with God from eternity.

Wisdom has been established or consecrated from eternity (Pro 8:23). Establishing or consecrating has to do with destiny to a particular purpose. In the Old Testament, kings and priests were established or consecrated to be what they were destined to be. Similarly, the Wisdom, Christ, was predestined by God to a particular work. We see something similar with regard to the atoning work of Christ, to which “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world” as the Lamb (1Pet 1:20). The work at issue here is the work of creation. Wisdom was there “from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth”.

That Wisdom was “brought forth” or “born” – it is said twice: in Pro 8:24 and in Pro 8:25 – means that Christ began to act as Creator at some point. What is present in God becomes visible. It is similar to what happens at the birth of a child. A child being born is already present in the womb, but becomes visible at birth. Wisdom proves Her pre-existence by beginning to act when there is nothing yet, when there “were no depths” and “no springs abounding with water” (Pro 8:24). The same goes for “the mountains” and “the hills” (Pro 8:25) which also owe their existence to Him Who was there (Psa 90:2).

The emphasis throughout this section is on the eternal (pre)existence of Christ. It is very important to hold to that. Everything there is is created by Him. It has a beginning, whereas He Himself does not. There is no such thing as ‘eternal matter’. Only the triune God is eternal. The Son was there “while He had not yet made the earth and the fields” (Pro 8:26). After the waters and heights of both previous verses, this seems to refer to the more habitable parts of the earth. By “the dusts of the world” are meant the constituents that make up the earth, including the treasures of the soil. All things have a beginning and that beginning is through Him.

The Word was in the beginning, meaning He was there with all that has a beginning and that He Himself has no beginning. He is the beginning of all things (Jn 1:1). God is the great Architect, Who built everything through Wisdom. He created all things through the Son (1Cor 8:6). Everything became through the Word. This section from Proverbs 8 is explained in the first verses of John 1.

The Son is also involved in the preparation of the heavens (Pro 8:27). He was not a spectator, but the Executor (Heb 1:10). He gave the heavens their shape, brilliance and covering of sun, moon and stars. The heavens are drawn by Him as an overarching span over the flood of water, as one draws a circle with a compass (cf. Js 40:22; Job 26:9-10). In that span, He has made the clouds strong so that they can hold the water to pour out that water over the earth in His time and where He wants (Pro 8:28; Job 26:8 ; Job 36:27-29 ; Job 37:11). Also “the springs of the deep” are fixed and can spring up because of the power He grants them.

The place of the sea was not determined by evolution, but was appointed to him by the Son (Pro 8:29). In doing so, He has also commanded that the sea keep to the boundary set by Him and will not transgress it (Jer 5:22; Job 38:10-11). He has marked the foundations of the earth in such a way that the earth stands unshakable (Psa 104:5).

All the acts of creation just described by Wisdom attest to the Divine wisdom behind them. This proves the pre-existence of Wisdom before creation. God planned out His work and performed it with Wisdom, that is through His Son.

In Pro 8:30 it is no longer about creation, but about the relationship between the LORD, Yahweh, and Wisdom. Wisdom was eternally “with Him”. She is loved by God because Wisdom is the Person of Christ. He is the Word Who was with God in the beginning (Jn 1:1). In the New Testament, we see this same relationship of love reflected in the love between the Father and the Son. The relationship between the Father and the Son is one of eternal love (Jn 17:5 ; 24b).

While there is no time in eternity, yet it is expressed in such a way that the Father enjoyed His Son “daily”. Thus He allows us to share in the feelings of His heart for His Son. It is at the same time an example for us to occupy ourselves with the Son every day, to see Him and rejoice in Him. Surely there can be no other object of love and joy for us than Him to Whom the heart of God goes out, can there?

He is from all eternity God’s “master workman” and His “delight”. These expressions indicate how much God loved Him and how much He rejoiced in Him. There was never a time when this was different. God eternally looked upon Him with the greatest and deepest love and joy. The cause of this is the perfect unity in nature, attributes and desires that exists between Them. There was and is perfect harmony in thoughts and feelings. All that God is, He saw and sees in His Son.

This did not change when the Son became the Creator, for His work of creation is the fulfillment of God’s purpose. When He created the heavens and the earth, He was engaged in a game, as it were, which He played with great joy. It is reminiscent of the satisfaction He had when He saw everything after creation and then observed that “it was very good” (Gen 1:31).

As a result of what the Son created, a new area is created in which the Son Himself finds His joy (Pro 8:31). He Who was always the delight of God’s heart, rejoicing before Him, or: playing before Him also played in the world of God’s earthly kingdom. Then it seems as if He discovers in it something that fills Him with joy, and that is “the sons of men”. He calls them “My delight”.

He delights in all His works of creation, but in man He finds a special delight. His delight in man is shown in the clearest way by the fact that He became Man. The angels rejoiced when He created the world (Job 38:6-7). But when the Son becomes Man, they see the good pleasure of God in men and without any envy praise Him for it with the words, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Lk 2:14).

God has His pleasure in men. That is why Christ became Man. God has no pleasure in sinful men. He is pleased with that one Man, His Son Jesus Christ, Who came as the expression of God’s pleasure in all men, for He came to save men from eternal judgment. Every person who confesses his sins and believes in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross is going to share in God’s pleasure. God is pleased with every person who is united to His Son through faith in His work.

World history is not an accident in which the Son of God spontaneously entered one time. At the beginning of all God’s ways is Wisdom, the personification of the Lord Jesus. This is the deep purpose of the world and its history. In Hebrews 1, this is stated in a nutshell (Heb 1:2-3). Christ is the center of God’s ways.

Knowing His Person not only answers the questions of our heart, but leads us into the world of the Father and the Son. Of this we get an impression here through the speaking of Wisdom from that eternity. We are not merely spectators in this majestic and sovereign action of Wisdom, but we in His grace are involved in this eternal plan of God. We have entered the house of Wisdom, as we see in Proverbs 9.

It is this Wisdom Who has guided every action of God with this earth, be it creation or salvation history. All things are through Him and for Him. This glory as Mediator stands before us here in the joy that God has in Him. And He is not a Mediator of angels, but His joy is with the sons of men (Heb 2:16).