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No peeking! Play fairly! Guess who or what I am.

“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primeval dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth, Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.” (Proverbs 8.22-31).

Who or what could this be? It existed prior to the creation of the universe, yet its delight was with the sons of men. Whoever or whatever is involved here was a master craftsman and was God's daily delight. We can rule out anything or anybody that is human. We can exclude anything that man helped to make or found. The context of the passage just quoted from Proverbs will reveal the answer. In beautiful form and thought, see this mystery revealed.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength. By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.” (Proverbs 8.12-21).

Wisdom is a part of God's divine nature. God possessed wisdom even before the founding of the universe and the divine appointments that pertain to this world. The creation was not a trial and error proposition! It did not occur by happenstance, but it was merely an execution of God's wisdom regarding our existence. He had no counsellor to guide Him apart from His own eternal wisdom and knowledge. He needed no one else!

However, God determined that He would not keep wisdom to Himself. Because of His goodness, He determined to impart wisdom to His creation. To put it like the Proverbs writer did, “[Wisdom] was daily His [God's] delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.” God could no more contain His wisdom than He could His love or His mercy. His goodness is like an overflowing river. His wisdom is but a portion of that which His beneficent hand has given to us.

There may be knowledge apart from God, but there is no true wisdom. Man can lift himself by his bootstraps (maybe), but he cannot attain to wisdom to any degree except through the avenues of learning that God ordained for our benefit. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9.10).

Questions:

1. How do we know that the universe did not occur as a result of chance?

2. What evidence is there that there was wisdom behind the creation of the universe and everything in it?

3. Why could or would God not keep wisdom as His own possession and hide it from mankind?

4. What is the beginning of wisdom? If this is true, can true wisdom exist apart from this one thing?

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

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