A Path through Proverbs
Students of the Bible may not immediately point to Proverbs as a particularly challenging book of the Bible. However, a cursory reading of this book begins to provoke questions, such as: Is there anything that unites the book? Is it a loose collection of maxims? Is this a book of mere moralism? Where is Christ in all of this?
On the surface, this book may appear to be an interruption in the unfolding story of redemption, disconnected from the God revealed in the rest of Scripture. But God’s covenant name, Yahweh, which is so prevalent in the book, reveals that this book has much to teach us about the Lord of redemption.
In fact, when read in its proper context, we can see that this book looks back at God’s covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses and Israel, and David, and then forward to the New Covenant, all which find their fulfillment in Christ.
The Place of Proverbs in Redemptive History
We see the origin of one of the major themes of Proverbs in the first book of the Bible. In Genesis 3:15, the covenant of grace was announced: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” From the fall forward, we see a division between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, those who call upon the Lord and those who do not. Proverbs echoes this division by presenting the theme of the wise vs. the foolish.
After delivering His covenant people from Egypt, God gives them laws which are to govern their lives. When we come to the book of Proverbs, we find that it is not original content. In fact, we will be hard-pressed to find anything in Proverbs that isn’t already mentioned in the Pentateuch, specifically in the Ten Commandments. This book expounds the principles which undergird each law, teaching God’s people how to apply them to numerous aspects of daily life while looking to Him as the Lord of life and wisdom.
In addition, the book of Proverbs reminds us that God is King. He rules his people with perfect wisdom, giving them laws that protect them and cause them to flourish. This is a truth that is further revealed in God’s covenant with David, who pictured God’s kingly rule over His people.
The Person to whom Proverbs Points
Walking in wisdom’s way finds its climax in the life of Jesus, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In the book of Acts, we learn that Saul was to bring any belonging to “the Way” bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2). Christians were simply known as those belonging to the Way. This is shorthand for what Proverbs describes as the “way of wisdom,” or “the way of the Lord.” In the New Testament, we learn that “Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30). In the broader context of this verse Paul is contrasting the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God, so that believers might “glory in the LORD” (v. 31). The book of Proverbs, by contrasting the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of God, reveals the Lord of wisdom, so that we might understand what it means to live for His glory in every aspect of life.
If you desire to know the Christ of wisdom better, pick up the book of Proverbs. By God’s grace you will come to a deeper understanding of what it means to walk in the way of wisdom, how God has instructed His people at different times in redemptive history, and how Christ “became for us wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30).
Take a Christ-centered look at the wisdom of the Proverbs with this new Bible study.
