Proverbs 8:1-36 -Corps- December 2 -1981
Publication Date: December 2, 1981
Walter J. Cummins graduated from the Power for Abundant Class in 1962.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Ohio State University in 1968 and his Master of Education degree in Secondary School Administration in 1978 from Wright State University.
He was ordained to the Christian by The Way International in 1968. He has studied at The Way International under Victor Paul Wierwille and K.C.Pillai. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he was director of the Research department of the Way International and served as assistant to the president.
December 2, 1981
Proverbs 8:1-36
Rev. Cummins
Two weeks ago I shared on, I think it was, chapter 6 in Proverbs and we covered the subject of surety...that you’re not to be a surety for your friend when it comes to loans and things like that. And then after that, Paul Cooper gave me this clipping, it’s entitled “Consumer Checklist” and the subtitle is “Loan Trouble”. Co-signing a loan may seem like a nice thing to do for a friend but you could wind up in big trouble if you do. A recent study by Purdue University indicates that almost half of the people who co-sign loans are asked to pay them. They also may be asked to pay late charges or fees and court and attorney fees. So check all papers to be signed and make sure you understand them, or you might be one of those 50% that are paying the surety for their friend...who used to be their friend. [Laughter].
All right, tonight, I’d like to go to Proverbs chapter 8. And here is wisdom personified. You know what personification is? Personification is when you take something inanimate or a quality or something of that nature and treat it like it is a person. And here you have wisdom treated as a person. As a matter of fact, wisdom is talking to us, in the first person. Wisdom is calling itself “I” or “me”. It starts out:
Proverbs 8:1: Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
Actually it doesn’t get to the personification until you get down to verse 4, in the sense of it being in the first person. Although there still is personification because it’s talking about wisdom as a she, as a person. Okay.
Proverbs 8:2a: She standeth in the top of high places,…
Talking about wisdom, not talking about some goddess or a woman, but talking about wisdom.
Proverbs 8:2a: She standeth in the top of high places, by the way…
(That’s a pretty good place to stand.)
Proverbs 8:2b: …in the places of the paths.
In the places of the paths is where the roads or paths meet. Where they come together; they would sometimes have an elevated platform there that they would speak from. That’s the high places. In the synagogues, many times they would have an elevated platform or they generally did. This is later times. But in the synagogue, they would have a raised platform and the Greek word they used for it was a bēma. I’m not sure of the Aramaic or Hebrew word but they called it a bēma. And I’m sure you know what a bēma is from the Greek athletics and a few other things. But that bēma was the platform on which they read from the scroll. It was an elevated platform. And here is wisdom crying from this high place, elevated platform, which was a normal place where you would read the Word. And what is wisdom? Well, you could have wisdom of the world but that wouldn’t be the Word. It wouldn’t be true wisdom; it wouldn’t right wisdom. But we’re talking about wisdom of God. And that wisdom was read from the bēma, where the scrolls were read, where it was the Word of God that was taught. That’s the kind of wisdom we’re into here.
By the way, that bēma is any type of raised platform. How many of you know what a podium is? I’ll bet you don’t. How many of you think a podium is what you stand behind and put your Bible on when you lecture? That’s what I thought. You don’t know what a podium is. A podium is what you stand on. I am now seated on a chair, but the chair and this desk are on the podium. A podium is this raised platform on the floor. Now in other circles, it could be also some type of bench that goes around the room. But our normal use of the word is a podium that you stand on. Something that’s on the floor, a raised platform, that’s a podium. The thing that you stand behind that you put your Bible on when you teach is a lectern. Okay? So after this, don’t anybody ever ask me. Do you want a desk or a podium to teach from? [Laughter] That is wrong terminology. You don’t teach…you teach on the podium, but you mean lectern or desk, okay? All right, we’ve just corrected some practical error. Now, that’s the high place, a podium, not a lectern. You may have a lectern on it though. And also, where else does wisdom cry?
Proverbs 8:3: …at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
Because, remember I told you this before that a gate into the city generally in the Old Testament times...they had two gates. They had the outer gate and then the inner door on the gate. And that whole thing in between was called the gate. And there were benches in there, where the elders would sit. They also might have had a raised platform where they carried on their court room activities, where they judged certain matters. But that’s where the elders of the gate, the wise men, sat to determine things. So it’s wisdom coming from the elders of the gate who were supposed to be the wise men, as well as from the bēma where the Word is taught. That’s where wisdom stands and cries out. Beautiful personification, isn’t it?
Proverbs 8:4-9: 4 Unto you, O men, I call [who? wisdom personified]; and my voice is to the
sons of man. 5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. 6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. 7For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. 9 They are all [what?] {plain}…
Plain words. It’s only when you get into world wisdom, secular wisdom that you run into intricate wisdom, wisdom that’s so difficult that nobody can understand it, but true wisdom is plain...
Proverbs 8:9-11
9 …to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. 11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
Beautiful introduction, wasn’t it? See wisdom standing on the bēma or at the door, the gate to the city and yelling these things: Listen to me! It reminds me of Advanced Class 1979, that portrayal on “The Epistle Speaks”. Then wisdom continues in verse 12.
Proverbs 8:12a:
I wisdom dwell with prudence,...
And prudence there is the word for shrewdness. Where wisdom, you know, is knowledge applied, your ability to utilize knowledge, to put it into practice. But shrewdness is being able to put it into practice to where it works in everyday situations, in the practical side of life. The functional side of life: in your business, your profession, in your school or whatever you’re involved with in the practical side of life.
Proverbs 8:12b:
...and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
Now, the word for “witty inventions” means an inventiveness or inventive technique. It’s one of the words I gave you in chapter 1 on the opening night. Perhaps the world would call it creativity, which is impossible...for the world. But they don’t know what they’re talking about anyway. It’s inventiveness. To be able to come up with new ideas and inventions that are sagacious, that bless people. A true godly invention or idea will be a sagacious idea, or
invention. It will show sound judgment; it will show knowledge, perception and foresight. In other words, you’re not just coming up with an idea, running it off and then throwing it out to the public. But, you’re able to evaluate that idea or that invention and see what will be its affect in the future. You have foresight in what you come up with. Will it be detrimental to people? Will it hinder them? Will it make them frustrated, defeated? Or will it bless them? Will it encourage people? Will it help people? That’s a true sagacious invention or witty invention. True inventions are progressive in the right sense of the word. Meaning that they move forward, they don’t drag back. But they move forward in a positive way. What many times, people call progressive today, really isn’t progressive, because it moves forward to frustrate people, to defeat people...to steal, kill and destroy. God’s inventions always are progressive and they’ll bless people, they’ll help people. Modern inventions don’t always do that. So if we’re going to have true wisdom, if we’ve got true wisdom and prudence, then we’re able to find out that knowledge that it takes to come up with an invention or an idea that will be sagacious, that will allow for the future, that will bless people.
Heard a report recently of some sheep farmers out West, who have had hundreds of their sheep year after year killed by coyotes. And with all their helicopters, guns, automatic weapons and everything else, they haven’t been able to really help the situation. The coyotes still sneak in, grab their sheep and off they go. So somebody came up with another invention. And I thought this was a real neat invention. It’s called a sheep dog. [Laughter.] They bought a couple of sheep dogs, and now they only lose a few sheep every year to the coyotes. The sheep dogs, which are God’s invention, do a much better job than all the helicopters, everything else that they’ve had…jeeps…you know, to keep the coyotes off. And that really hit a bell, because I thought of this as far witty inventions or inventions that allow for the future that show foresight. Because true scientific inventions or ideas make use of God’s resources in the best way He designed them to be used. True scientific inventions, or inventiveness, is using God’s resources the best way He designed them. Not the plastic, chemical, detrimental inventions that you so often see on the market today. But something that utilizes what God has made in the best way possible. We talk about...have you ever heard this thing, that in the last thirty, forty years or something like that, there has been more increase in knowledge than in all the rest of the history of man? Well, that doesn’t agree with the Word, because the Word says, there’s nothing new under the sun.
And I just happen to think that some of those people in the Old Testament, were just as smart as people are today. And perhaps “more smarter” [laughter]. More smarter. Probably knew Aramaic better than I do. But, they utilized the resources that God made available in the best possible way, that were the most helpful. Caused them to be rulers; caused them to be abundant, financially and in every other category of life. Because they used God’s things in the right way, rather than dreaming up something that was detrimental. And if our scientists, inventors, our idea people do the same thing today, we’re going to come up with some great ideas and things that will really bless people in our day and time rather than things that tear
down, that give you indigestion. Like the ads. If you happen to see any. Like Anacin and Bufferin, these have been around for years; Excedrin and all those other things. You know, one out does the other because it works in half the time. But yet the same pills come from the same factory. So, how do you explain it? Why should one work better than the other? Well, they don’t. And they’re only temporary anyway. So…why not find some inventions that really work, ideas that work, and that bless people and help people. In Proverbs chapter 12, in verse 2 it says:
Proverbs 12:2: A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
This is that same word that’s translated witty inventions. Here it’s used of evil inventions, wicked devices. A man of wicked inventions or evil inventions, he will condemn. See that? In Romans, chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, verse 30. Well…it’s talking here about people that are against God, reprobate minds, filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, all these other things. And verse 30...part of this description of them is.
Romans 1:30: Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of [what?] evil things…
Inventors of evil things. They’re always…got ideas, inventions, but they’re things designed to defeat people, make people more anxious, make people more frustrated, evil inventions. In Job chapter 21, verse 27. 21:27.
Job 21:27: Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
There…that’s the word that’s translated inventions again. The inventiveness. And these would be in the category of evil inventions because they’re those that you wrongfully imagine against me. See, evil inventions. In Job…or in Psalms chapter 10; the tenth Psalm. Chapter 10 and in verse 2.
Psalm 10:2: The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
In other words, they come up with their evil inventions, their devices, and their devices are going to take them. A man that lives by the sword dies by the what? Sword. Their own inventions. Chapter 37 of Psalms. Psalm 37, verse 7.
Psalm 37:7: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
You just wait on God. Don’t worry about the guy who’s out there inventing things left and right, that’s getting all the patents. That’s…you know…and they’re evil devices, evil inventions to begin with. Don’t worry about him because God is going to take care of him. We read that in…in Proverbs 12. Okay? Just wait patiently on the LORD because God is going to give you good ideas. He’s going to give you good inventions; things that will bless and uplift and help people and make you prosperous and abundant in your life. Back to Proverbs chapter 8. To find out knowledge of inventiveness. And these are good inventions. It takes wisdom along with shrewdness. And it also takes the number one ingredient to all wisdom in verse 13.
Proverbs 8:13: The fear of the LORD...
The respect of God. If you don’t have that respect of God, you’ll never come up with any really great inventions or ideas that really help and bless people. Your inventions will always be short-lived, or if they’re longer-lived like some of them have been, they’re generally detrimental or the adversary grabs them up and utilizes them in the wrong way. It starts with the respect of God. And the respect of God is to hate what? Hate evil.
Proverbs 8:13: ...hate evil:…
Evil is what the other inventions produce, but the respect or fear of God is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way. See, pride and arrogancy are the same thing. Evil and the evil way are essentially the same. It says the same thing twice to establish it.
Proverbs 8:13a: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, arrogancy, and the evil way…
See that? And at the root of most inventions and ideas... And inventions and ideas would include songs that people write, performances, productions, the fine arts. It would include things in science, things in business, things in all facets of life. Everything they do is built on pride, if they don’t have the respect of God. And it’s done with evil intent in mind. How can I short change the other guy? How can I get more out of him? How can I make myself look good to the rest of the world? Stars in their eyes...want to go to the top of the world... And also, by the way:
Proverbs 8:13b:
…[the perverse or] froward mouth, I…hate.
Wisdom hates the perverse mouth. Because when they’ve got that pride and that evil intent, what’s going to come out of their mouth? Perverse words. What does it take to come up with good ideas and inventions? Counsel is one.
Proverbs 8:14a: Counsel is mine....
Counsel…remember counsel from chapter one again? Where you don’t just act impulsively but you think a thing through. You go to others that have wisdom for counsel. You don’t make war without counsel. You don’t make war without counting up how many the enemy is and how many yours are. You don’t build a building, unless you count up how many dollars you’ve got and see if you can finish it. Otherwise when you’ve laid the foundation, there’s nothing left to build with. You go to…you have to have counsel if you’re going to have an idea, an invention. Counsel.
Proverbs 8:14b: ...and sound wisdom:...
Which is stability. Sound wisdom is stability where your invention, your idea that’s built on wisdom, is stable. It’s not going to fall apart tomorrow. It’s not something that’s only good for today, but five years from now it’s outlived its usefulness. It’s got stability, it’s a lasting invention or a lasting idea.
Proverbs 8:14c: …[and] understanding...
And there is that word for discernment again, to where you’re able to see, “Is it a good invention or bad invention?”...Separate truth from error. Will it help people or hinder them? Will it hurt people or bless them? You have to have that discernment in coming up with a good idea or invention.
Proverbs 8:14d: …[and] I have strength.
And that again means; it’s not going to fall apart tomorrow. You don’t make a motor so that it wears out in two years after the guarantee runs out, so that they have to buy a new one. You don’t make something that’s going to fall apart so you get more business later on. You make something that’s going to last.
I really saw this, working with Uncle Harry in the furniture business. Because we’d go into homes that people wanted to have their furniture reupholstered. And there was a couch. It looked about 25, 50 years old. The cover was worn through, the padding falling out of it, what little padding was in it. Looked like a piece of junk. Sometimes the wood had come apart inside, so the frame was broken. Asked ‘em, “How old is it?” “A year, two years.” And then I’d go to other houses...and there was a piece of furniture; the cover was still on it, wasn’t a wear in it…I mean, you know, a hole in it. But it would be perfectly covered over. The only thing, it was old, it was dirty maybe and it…it had worn; you could see that it had worn a little bit. Ask them how old was it? Sometimes 20, 25 years old. Where did you get that? H.E. Wierwille Upholstering, 25 years ago. Because he put quality in his work. He put pride in his work to the end that it blessed the people. He always said half of his pay was customer satisfaction. So it’s got to be lasting. It’s got to have strength to it, whatever you come up with, your ideas, your inventions. That all enters into wisdom that you utilize when you’re coming up with these things. Then, it goes on to another category.
Proverbs 8:15 and 16:
15 By me [wisdom] kings reign, and princes decree justice. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
So, not only is it by wisdom that you have great ideas and inventions that really help and bless people and really last and are stable. But also by wisdom is how people are able to rule, how people are able to reign over people and to make the proper ethical judgments that need to be made. As a Twig leader…coordinator, as a Branch coordinator, Limb coordinator, Region coordinator, whatever coordinator you are...as head of a house, as head of a Way home, as head of a business, or a foreman or a supervisor in your business, or as a manager. Whatever position you are in of rulership, by wisdom you’re able to rule. Then it goes on, verse 17.
Proverbs 8:17 and 18a:
17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me…
Riches and honour are with wisdom.
Proverbs 8:18b:
…yea, durable riches and righteousness.
What kind of riches? {Durable.} That means riches that last, not riches that come in today and they’re gone tomorrow. You know how the world operates. Where…you know…like the report on those millionaires that got together back in the 1920’s; 25 years later, they were all dead or they had committed suicide or were on skid row, alcoholics, that kind of thing. These are durable riches, like Joseph brought to Egypt, like the children of Israel had when they
walked on the Word. Durable riches and righteousness, like Abraham had.
Proverbs 8:19:
My fruit is better than gold yea, than fine gold;...
So, it’s not just talking money but talking about all kinds of riches, having that rich life. I thought about this when Vince was sharing last night. Those people in some of those countries live in huts. They don’t have television, they don’t have refrigerators...many of them. They don’t have electric stoves, they don’t have running water maybe. They don’t have a lot of the modern convenience, the things that we think are essential to stay warm and build a fire. But yet they’re rich, in the Word, when they sit through the class. They’re rich.
Proverbs 8:19b-21:
19...my revenue than choice silver. 20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: 21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Who does the filling? Wisdom. You don’t fill your own treasures, wisdom does. Treasures of all kinds: mentally, spiritually, physically, in every category of life. God supplies your needs in abundance. So three categories in which wisdom is vital. Number one is in the category of inventions, ideas. Another is in the category of being able to help or rule over people. And the third is in the substance, the reward, the result of it, the treasures that follow wisdom. Then you ask yourself, “Well where did wisdom come from?” And of course, if you ask this in any classroom today…or most classrooms, they would simply tell you that wisdom has evolved over the centuries. You know, the apes had one type of wisdom. And then, the primitive man had another type of wisdom. And today of course, there’s more wisdom than has ever been. Like 30 times…you know, in the last 30-40 years a greater increase in wisdom and knowledge than there has been at any time in history. Baloney! Two theories. I just read Ken Petty’s paper, his revised edition of that paper on the Origins of Modern Spiritualism. And it shows in the mid-1800’s, how spiritualism had its beginning to Modern Spiritualism, along with Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, and the Darwin’s Origin of Species and the changes in Wagner and the music field. Then changes in theology that were a result of that and another area is psychology...ought to be included in that. Because that’s when some of the psychologists start…you know, forerunners of modern psychology started really developing things. And how everything from that time on was built on materialism. On the idea that knowledge is evolving, that we’re constantly continuing to develop, which opens the doors for…(what do you call it? The life after death thing? Where you don’t…you know, where you die and then you live in somebody else later on.) yeah, reincarnation...to where you’re constantly developing, getting smarter. The other way, is wisdom was there with God. And that’s what this says. And I will still go the Word’s way.
Proverbs 8:22a: The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way,...
Didn’t evolve. It was there with God. See it? So, who do you think was smarter? Well, God certainly was, and I’ll bet the people of the Old Testament were smarter than a lot of people are today. I would just bet. Well anyway, the word “possessed” is not right. God doesn’t possess. The devil possesses. The word should be “acquired”. The LORD “acquired me”. Now remember this was personification. God was wis…you know, He had the wisdom. But it’s making it like, you know, a person. God bought me; God acquired me. God went out to the store and said, “I’ll take a pound of wisdom.” See, it’s personi…making it a living story, making wisdom a person. “The LORD acquired me in the beginning of His way.” When? In the beginning.
Proverbs 8:22b: ...before [his what?] his works of old.
In other words before God could create the heavens and the earth, He had to have one ingredient. And what was that? That’s why He had to acquire wisdom first. So God first acquired wisdom, then He could do all of His works...create the heavens and the earth. Beautiful personification of wisdom.
Proverbs 8:23: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
Wherever the earth came into being, boy, I was there. Because I was with God way back before that.
Proverbs 8:24: When there were no depths, I was brought forth [or begotten]; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
The word “depths”, you see that? That word is used three times in here. Right there “when there were no depths, I was brought forth…” It’s also used down in verse 27, “when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:” And also in 28, “when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:” The word “deep” there. And this word means turbulence, like a circular motion. The verb form means to toss, or bounce around. You see, where it talks about the deep, it doesn’t…the reas...where this came from, is because the ocean is deep, and they always think of the ocean...deep, you know. But that’s not what the word means, or originally meant. It meant a turbulence, or tossing and turning. Like the ocean is constantly going around in currents. See, tossing around. Keep your finger here and look at Genesis 15, I’ll show you something. You can
look up every place the word is used, but this, I thought, would sort of show it to you. In verse…chapter 15 of Genesis, verse 12.
Genesis 15:12 and 13: 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep [see that? A deep sleep] fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he [God] said unto [Abraham], Know of a surety...
And so on. Now, you see, first of all if you looked at it as a dream, you do not dream when you’re in your deep sleep. Am I right? Your dreams are in your shallow sleep. Isn’t there something like three stages to sleep? And the deepest sleep you don’t dream. It’s when you’re in the shallowest stages that you have your dreams. But I doubt if that’s what it’s talking about here. It would…you know, it would still fit as far as a turbulent sleep, because he was in the shallow stages, not in the deep stage of sleep. See that? But I think God could work with Abraham, while he’s awake. Because Abraham was a believer, He didn’t have to work with him in his sleep. And if he had a turbulent sleep, to where he couldn’t sleep, and so in between the times he was sleeping, God could talk to him. Sometimes when things are going on in the world and God puts it on your heart to pray and lift these things, you can’t get much sleep. You’re sort of restless, turbulent…see, in your sleep. So you pray. Back to Proverbs 8. That’s this word tur…“deep”. It’s not deep, that turbulence. And you see, there are more things turbulent…more things that are turbulent than the ocean. The galaxy goes in a circular motion. And I think that’s interesting in light of this talking about the creation, in the beginning...that there were no depths before there was any turbulence, movement of anything. I was brought forth. See that? And then, you get down to verse 27.
Proverbs 8:27 and 28:
27 ...he set a compass [on] the face of [this turbulence]: 28 [And] he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the fountains of [this turbulence, the source].
Fountains represent the source. Like a fountain, we think of a source of water. See, the source. Back to 24.
Proverbs 8:24-26: 24 When there [was] no [turbulence, no movements], I was brought forth; when there were no [sources] abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I [begotten or] brought forth: 26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
The head or beginning of dust, which is...we know it as atoms. The smallest particles of dust of the world. Before that even existed, wisdom was around.
Proverbs 8:27: When he prepared the heavens [where was I?],…there: when he set a compass upon the face of the [turbulence]:
And the word “compass” is circle, like an orbit. “…when he set a circle or orbit upon the face of the turbulence.” Now get a picture of that galaxy in your mind. And you see within that galaxy are solar systems. With each of the planets including the earth circuling…circling, the sun, one of the stars in that galaxy. And everything is circling in that galaxy. The sun itself is circling around the galaxy. It takes something like 25,000 years, something like that for the sun to make a complete orbit through the zodiac. That’s that word “compass”. This word is only used two other times. Look at Isaiah 40. Look at verse 12.
Isaiah 40:12a: Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven...
You know, it sounds just like Genesis what we’ve read in Proverbs and what we’re going to read here, where He set the firmament of heaven between the waters to separate the…that turbulence.
Isaiah 40:12b: …measured the waters in the hollow…, and meted out heaven [measured hand…heaven] with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth…
There is the dust of the earth, the atoms, again.
Isaiah 40:12c-13: 12 …in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Of course we have the mind of Christ. This is in that context in the New Testament.
Isaiah 40:14-22: 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of [drop in the bucket], and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth....
There’s the Word. That’s God. The one that sits on the circle, the orbit of the earth.
Isaiah 40:22b
...and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain [to separate the waters], and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
That’s one of the two other uses of the word “circle”, or “compass”, “orbit”. The other one is in Job chapter 22. Verse 14…well look at 13.
Job 22:13 and 14: 13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
The circle, the orbit of heaven. That’s how great our God is, how big. Both those places it’s used of the circuit of heaven or the circuit of the earth, the orbit. So, you go back to Proverbs 8 and it fits just as beautifully there.
Proverbs 8:27: ...when he set a [circle, an orbit] upon the face of the [turbulence]:
A place for the earth to orbit, a place for the other planets to orbit, a place for the sun to orbit, a place for everything to orbit, a circle: a circle for the zodiac.
You remember Psalm 19? You remember that one, it talks about the stars.
Psalms 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
You get down to verse 6.
Psalms 19:6: His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends it:...
Now that’s a different word, but isn’t that something? The circuit, talking about the stars in the heavens, which are for signs and seasons. That’s this circle upon the face of the depth that God set, and everything orbits around it. Now verse 28, Proverbs 8.
Proverbs 8:28a: When he established the clouds...
The word “clouds” is “sky”. It’s not the normal word for clouds. It means “sky”.
Proverbs 8:28b-29:
28 ...he established the [sky] above [that was the firmament again]: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep [of the turbulence]: 29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
When he did all these things, then I was where? By him, I was by him. I (wisdom was with God) when he did all these things, because he acquired me before that.
Proverbs 8:30: …I was by him, as one brought up with him....
Now this phrase “as one brought up with him”. You can clearly see that three of those words are in italics. This is one of the difficult verses in Proverbs. “One brought up” is one Hebrew word amon spelled A-M-O-N, amon. And the different expositors and translators have been confused, and they’ve debated it over exactly what this word does mean here in this context. But the word is used three other times, in the New Testament. Jeremiah 46 has one of them; 46:25.
Jeremiah 46:25: The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh,
and all them that trust in him:
The word “multitude”, see it? I will punish the multitude of No. Multitude is amon, A-M-O-N. “No” is the name of a city in Egypt. Today it’s called Thebes, T-H-E-B-E-S; Thebes. Amon...that was the Hebrew spelling. The Egyptians spelled it amun and most people in English today spell it “ammon”. Amon was a god. The god of the Thebes; the god of No…of the city No, or city Thebes as it was called. He says, “I will punish Amon of No”. Amon was the supreme deity in that city. As a matter of fact, he was the supreme deity of Egypt. He was worshiped as a ram or as a man’s body with a ram’s head or sometimes he had a man’s body with ram’s horns on top of the head. It’s interesting that this…the feast that’s celebrated this god, Amon of No, or Amon of Thebes...the feast took place during the sign of Aries, the zodiacal sign of Aries, A-R-I-E-S. And Aries is the ram. It’s the first sign that appears after the vernal equinox in the spring. So what month would it be on the Hebrew calendar? First month after the vernal equinox in spring, Nisan. Right. As a matter of fact, the feast started on the tenth of Nisan. And if this was the custom during the time that Moses was in Egypt it meant that in the middle of their feast (and by the way this feast was celebrated with a lot of orgies and stuff, you know...typical pagan feast)…in the middle of their feast on the fourteen of Nisan, would have been when all their first born died; quite a highlight to their feast. Many think that Amon is a deification of Ham. He’s also called Amen-Re, spelled R-E, which means the sun…’cause he was…sun (S-U-N). He was worshiped as the sun, and he was the chief or supreme deity in Egypt. Matter of fact, not only in Egypt, but Ethiopia, and later by the Greeks and the Romans. Matter of fact, the Greeks called him Zeus-Amon, or Amon-Zeus, and the Romans Jupiter-Amon, or Amon-Jupiter. But he was Amen-Re to the Egyptians; it meant Amon the sun (S-U-N). That’s the word that’s used here.
Jeremiah 46:25: …Behold, I will punish the [Amon] of No [of the city of No], and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
Then you get to chapter 52 and verse 15 of the same book. Jeremiah 52:15. This is the fall of Jerusalem and Jerusalem had gone to Egypt for help. When they were screwing around with other gods, so the true God couldn’t help them anymore, they had gone to Egypt for help. And this is the final conflict here in chapter 52, verse 15.
Jeremiah 52:15: Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city [Jerusalem, talking about], and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the [Amon].
It’s almost sarcastic. The rest of those dirty Amons. They had turned to Egypt for help, to a pagan god, rather than trusting in God Almighty, El Shaddai, to deliver them. And the third place this word is used, or third of the other places. There is four altogether, one was Proverbs. I’ve already given you two from Jeremiah, and now the fourth one is Nahum. Nahum, right before Habakkuk. Nehum 3, verse 8. There you have it again.
Nahum 3:8: Art thou better than populous No,...
And it’s “No Amon”; or Amon of the city of No, No Amon. Those are the three places beside the one in Proverbs 8. Now we go back to Proverbs 8. And it’s certain that you could not say that this was Amon, that I was by him as Amon, because Amon was a pagan god. But this word amon (A-M-O-N) is related to another Hebrew word aman, spelled A-M-A-N. Now those of you that are in Aramaic will appreciate this, because Hebrew is a lot like Aramaic. It is spelled exactly the same, except it has different vowel pointing. Okay. You in Aramaic class will appreciate that right now. Different vowel pointing, otherwise it’s the same word. But it’s…you still have to refer to it as a related word. And this related word a-m-a-n means “to stay or support, to make steadfast or constant”. Like when a nurse or someone brings up a child, he’s making that child constant by supporting that child, by helping the child to stay, to remain steadfast in the Word. This word aman (A-M-A-N) is used of stability, faithfulness, dependability; those are all things that indicate steadfastness or constance. An English word we get from it is “amen”. Amen means surely, absolutely (see?), verily, truly. This word is also used of the steady hands of a workman. You can’t have shaky hands and be a good workman. But it takes steady hands. And we are workman of what? The Word. Workmen of the Word. And we’re to have steady, constant hands in our working of the Word. So you have to figure the meaning of the word a-m-o-n from this related word a-m-a-n and how it fits in this context here in Hebrews…or Proverbs.
Now, Amen-Re, the god was the sun. And the sun was to the…a constant or a stay in the solar system. It’s the star about which our planets orbit. It went through a constant cycle in the zodiac. It was a constant. And that’s why it must have been used of this Egyptian god because he was the supreme deity to the Egyptians. He was their constant. And as he was their constant, so wisdom was God’s stay, His constant, His steadfastness. What is the wisdom of God? Everchanging? Relative? Evolving constantly? As somebody wrote a book called God’s Being is in Becoming (theological you know what…). NO! God is steadfast. His wisdom is unchanging, unmovable. There are such things as absolutes with God, His wisdom.
Proverbs 8:30: Then I was by him,...
When God made the heavens and the earth, I was by Him as His constant, His stay, His
stability. Lamsa translates it from the Aramaic: “I together with him was establishing them [meaning the heavens and the earth]....” What makes the sun, the earth, and everything else, so constant in its orbit? What makes everything in the universe so perfect? What makes the human body so wonderful? What makes all the things work together in nature so beautifully? THE WISDOM OF GOD. Isn’t that beautiful! Not Amen-Re, but the wisdom of God. That’s stability. It’s absolute. There’s no question about it. There’s no evolving of wisdom. There’s no constant growth in wisdom. There’s no fluctuation of wisdom. It’s absolute. It’s the truth. It’s God’s wisdom. I was by Him as His constant or establishing the heavens and the earth with Him, to make them constant. As somebody put it, I was His court expert, the one that God would turn to and say, “Well, how would you like to make the earth?” It was wisdom. God’s wisdom, that established it. See. Somebody suggested that it was the court jester because of the next phrase.
Proverbs 8:30b: ...and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.
That’s not it. But it was the greatness of the wisdom. Like you get thrilled when you hear the wisdom of God. Don’t you? I do. I always get thrilled when I hear the Word taught and when I get into the Word and read it, and study it. It just…it, it’s my delight. I rejoice. I get all happy. You know. Once in a while you slug your desk or you do something ‘cause you just get so excited about it. “I, wisdom, was with Him as His constant in establishing the earth and all the other things, I was daily His delight, His joy, rejoicing always before Him.” We just had a wonderful time making the heavens and the earth, and the mountains and the hills and the sea and putting the floodgates up so that things couldn’t pass between, to keep the turbulence where it belonged.We just had a great time doing it.
Proverbs 8:31: Rejoicing in the habital part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
Isn’t that neat? They should have added this to “The Epistles Speak”, but it wouldn’t have been the epistles. Maybe, we’ll have to do another one on “I Wisdom Speak”.
Proverbs 8:32-36:
32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates [where the wise men sit], waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. 36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul [himself]: all they that
hate me love [what?] death.
Something? So, I’d rather have the absolute wisdom of God’s Word, than all the greater knowledge of the last 30 years, than all the other knowledge that’s been known, which is a bunch of baloney! Because there’s nothing new under the sun. And it’s still God’s Word that’s absolute. That’s the truth that will stand, that puts the earth in orbit around the sun, besides all the other planets, to put the sun in orbit throughout the zodiac, you know, throughout the galaxy. And all this stuff is working together. And suppose...like some of the astronomers have theorized that the sun in several billions, or trillions of years will burn out. Don’t you think God can make another one? [Laughter.] I think so. See, all this materialism, all this sense-knowledge wisdom and so on, is just designed to get people off the Word. And once you’re off the Word, then Satan grabs you and leads you right into spiritualism. And when he gets done with you in spiritualism, he just cuts your head off. Spiritualism, Communism, Darwinism, all those things work against the individual. They work against the individual person. When it’s done, who are you? You’re just a number on a computer. But when God gets done with you, you’re a person. You’re at the center. You’re God’s son, His person. You’ve got the wisdom of God, enough of it to keep the fires going in your life and thousands of other people about you. Looks to me, since Vince got back that maybe we ought to start burning a few more fires with the Word more efficaciously right? I think so too because we got so much to talk about: THE WISDOM OF GOD, WHICH IS ABSOLUTE, UNCHANGING, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT. And that’s what you use to come up with some great ideas, some great inventions that will really bless and help people. And that’s what you use when you’re a leader, as a Twig leader…coordinator, Branch coordinator, whatever your position is to rule and to make those ethical judgments you need to make. And that’s what brings to you that…those treasures in life that you really need to live the more abundant life. Okay?
[Prayer] Well, Father, we sure thank you and love you for your great Word and the wisdom of your Word that we can put on in our minds constantly and walk forth with great love and with great joy, because Father we see how wisdom was the joy and rejoicing of your heart and it is to us. And what a privilege it is to know your Word and to be able to share it with other people. Thank you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen! God bless you!