We have seen that the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs are actually an introduction to the proverbs themselves that begin in chapter ten. Therefore, since we are looking at this introductory material, we have a series of ten exhortations of a father to his child—his son—to give him a heart for this subject. Then, when we get to chapter ten, we launch into the proverbs, but they don’t really follow much of a sequence. Consequently, we will approach those topically. For example, what would be the proverbs that talk about a wise person’s speech? What is the speech of a wise person; or, how about the skills of listening? Proverbs speaks a lot about the art of listening and communication. We will also see topics on relationships and on the wise person’s use of money. As well, we will see a wise person’s way of relating to others, in terms of marriage and also of raising children. Ultimately, we will be focusing especially on the character of the wise person.
We learned in chapters 1-4 of the six little exhortations, which were designed to create a sense of hunger and thirst for the material contained in Proverbs. The exhortations continually remind the reader that the pursuit of wisdom is the pursuit of that which is far, far greater than silver or gold or precious gems—there is nothing in this world that can compare with wisdom.
We also saw the main theme of Proverbs in chapter 1, verse 7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The fear of God, then, is really the foundation for knowledge itself. Proverbs 9:10 also amplifies this theme: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” That may be the best encapsulation of what Proverbs is designed to do. It is designed to encourage a person in the direction of knowing God.
Now, the fear of God, as we have said, involves two components. One component has to do with the reverential awe before the majesty of God—the One before whom we will ultimately give an account. I have mentioned before that if you want to get a proper perspective on who you are in this world—and how great He is—lay on your back on a starry night and stare at the sky for an hour or so, and that will have a profound affect on reducing your cockiness and arrogance, getting you in a proper perspective again on just how great He is. The second aspect on the fear of the Lord is the attitude of a subject before his king, the attitude of one who recognizes that everything about us—our disposition and our well-being—are really in the hands of this great king. This is a king, though, who is not some sort of tyrant. Rather, He is One who is the lover of our souls. He is ultimately powerful and sovereign in all things, and yet He loves us and wishes to have intimacy with us. He tells us that we can enjoy intimacy with Him, even though His power is so awesome and great. At one and the same time He is transcendent—far off—but He is also imminent—He is near; and the marvelous picture of Scripture teaches us that not only is He holy and majestic, He is also One who is loving and caring. This is a picture of a God who is not some force or energy field, but a picture of a person—a person in whom we can enter into a relationship. That is the real genius of Christianity; it is not a religion—it is a relationship. It is a relationship with God, mediated through, most personally, the work of Jesus Christ; and coming to know Christ is to also know the Father and to have access to the indwelling Spirit of God that is in us.
I want you to be aware, as we look at Proverbs, that we are going to notice that wisdom is personified as a woman, but ultimately wisdom becomes incarnate in this world—wisdom becomes the incarnate Christ. This is a picture of wisdom as One who invites us to know God. We are going to see the personification of folly as well as the personification of wisdom—and both are personified as women. One is a woman of ill repute and one is a woman of excellence. Both of them make an invitation to the passer-by; one does it under the cover of darkness while other invites us to know her in the light of open places, without any duplicity. This is a wisdom that invites us to know her and to know her treasures, doing it in a way that is open to all who will receive it.