Wisdom of God
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
What does the Bible have to say about the ideal woman? So far, we’ve explored impossible expectations in society and in the Bible in Superwoman and Jesus’ work to bring life from death in Woman Wisdom (with the help of the Barbie movie;). In this third installment on the female ideal in Proverbs 31, we zero in how Jesus is God’s wisdom. Not only that, but we will look at how God’s wisdom is at work in your life, in your impossible standards, in your attempts to be perfect. Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs 1-8; then a vision of a woman bookends the book of Proverbs in Proverbs 31. Thus there is a connect, a Gospel connection, with image of Woman Wisdom at the beginning of Proverbs and the excellent wife at the end of Proverbs in chapter 31. We have already talked about how the excellent wife in Proverbs 31 acts as “law” to kill our attempts to be like God. It drives us to grace. I think there is a Gospel word in Proverbs 31 too—a promise from Jesus for you. I will argue, the excellent wife in Proverbs 31 is also a Gospel word, showing Jesus’ work in your life.
The famous English Protestant Puritan, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) experienced God “act upon him” through Proverbs. Early on in his career he read Proverbs and thought - ah! a guide to holiness for young men! He loved not only the wisdom conveyed, but the form of the poetry. He saw the signified (the meaning) and the signifier (the poetics) unified ultimately in Jesus Christ, “who is both the true wisdom and the beauty of holiness.”(5) It would be so easy for women to read Proverbs 31 the same way and say - ah! a guide to being awesome! But the Bible is not a guide to holiness. It is a living word from God to you that acts upon you to bring you away from saving yourself and into the saving grace of his Son. There are powerful nuggets of wisdom in poetic form all throughout Proverbs. It’s a mine-field of conviction! They will float into your mind and stab your memory with times when you were... not wise. This is a good thing. They are meant to drive you to the Wisdom himself. He is gracious and will not condemn you. He delights in you, remember? He is making his love and grace apply to this place of brokenness. Duane Garrett in his article on “Proverbs 3: History of Interpretation,” describes how this happened to Jonathan Edwards too. “As Edwards matured, he came more and more to recognize that his youthful attempts to discipline himself into godliness were doomed to fail, and so also came to recognize the need for grace. Thus, for him, the wisdom of Proverbs was not merely instructive in righteousness but was ultimately Christ himself, who draws us into holiness by his grace and beauty.”(6)
The “excellent wife” in Proverbs 31 holds out a vision of a tremendous woman. It reminds me of a witty comeback by the character of Elizeabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy has just outlined his version of the Proverbs 31 wife and Elizabeth responds: “I never saw such a woman. Surely she would be a fearsome thing to behold.” Frankly, I feel like I know several of these women today! They are tremendous! However, there is so much pressure for women, and people in general, to be perfect, to be excellent, to be fearsome. Here is a word of hope for those of us who aren’t “doing it” - and also for those who are… for there will come a time when you aren’t. Then you’ll need to hear this.
Elizabeth Bennett played by Keira Knightley and Mark Darcy played by Matthew MacFadyen in the 2005 movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice.
You are not alone. All of us have tried to live up to our own standards and everyone elses’s. It’s too much - and thank God. You’re not meant to. There is One who is and He is for you. God is for you in Jesus. He did what we could not and has something better in store for you. He is not going to fit you back into a mold; he is freeing you to be with him, in his love, forgiveness, and hope all the time, even in the dumps. He’s got you in mind in all he does.
Woman Wisdom in Proverbs is preparing us for Jesus. Wisdom is with God at creation in Proverbs 8. It foreshadows God’s Word (Logos) in John 1 and Colossians 1, which show the supremacy of Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made. The early church fathers loved to see Woman Wisdom as Jesus.[7]
Wisdom reveals Jesus
Proverbs 8 is a poetic description of how Wisdom was with God, and was God, at creation. I love reading it. It shows wisdom rejoicing before God in his inhabited world and delighting in the people God made (Proverbs 8:29-31). The controversy that eventually birthed the Nicene Creed came through a dispute over Proverbs 8:22 (“The Lord possessed me” sometimes translated “created me”) (read more here). Arius (c. AD 256-336) used this as evidence to argue that Jesus was not God but was rather created by God, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. Arius was named a heretic because his teaching was not Christianity yet claimed to be so.
In his work, Contra Arianos, Athanasius challenged Arius by proving that Proverbs 8:22 is a statement that could only be made by the person of Christ at the time of incarnation. Duane Garret summarizes Athanasius: “It is at the incarnation, not as the eternal Word, that Wisdom says, ‘You created me.’”[8] Wisdom was created in a womb – “incarnated”; wisdom is also one with God before creation. Proverbs 8:25-26 repeats “before” three times to underscore the pre-existence of Wisdom. Athanasius shows that Proverbs 8:22 is actually very accurate about Jesus. In fact, it could ONLY refer to Jesus! It shows Jesus “in history” - God Incarnate, born of a woman in history. At the same time, it also shows Jesus “before history” - one with God at creation. It could only describe Jesus: fully man, fully God. In speaking of Wisdom’s role in creation in Proverbs 8:22-31, Derek Kidner writes,
“The New Testament shows by its allusions to this passage (Colossians 1:15-17; 2:3; Rev. 3:14) that the personifying of wisdom, far from overshooting the literal truth, was a preparation for its full statement, since the agent of creation was no mere activity of God, but the Son, His eternal Word, Wisdom and Power (see also John 1:1-14; 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30; Hebrews 1:1-4).[3]
Preparation is a good word: Proverbs prepares us for the full revelation of God’s wisdom in Jesus Christ.
We are on our way to the Gospel promise with Proverbs!
There is more to wisdom than just aligning yourself with the right thing to do. Indeed, Proverbs 1 shows us that we do not do that! Even when we do, it is a gift, not our doing. I noted how God must give wisdom; we can do nothing to help, despite the constant warnings in Proverbs. He does so by first binding our sin with conviction (Prov. 1). That opens our eyes and ears to see and hear God’s gracious gift: God gives what we cannot. Only God’s gift to us opens up God’s promises for us (Prov. 2).
Proverbs 8 showed us that God’s wisdom is eternal with him, yet entered into our time and history. Furthermore, God’s gift is personal. Proverbs gets us ready to meet that personal gift of Wisdom in Jesus. God in his wisdom, did not use our cooperation or efforts (the wisdom of the Greeks) or military might or miracles (signs to the Jews) to forgive us our folly, our rejection, our pride, our adultery with addiction. God gave up his life.
“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).
None of us can boast of being worthy of this gift (by being amazing like the Proverbs 31 woman). That’s the point. You are worth more than deserving. In his wisdom, God has saved you by grace because he delights in you.
God’s wisdom is not like ours. His wisdom is entirely entangled with his mission to rescue us from death; it is bound to Jesus’ forgiveness on the cross for us.
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
He shall be high and lifted up,
And shall be exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13).
God exalts Jesus, his servant, because he acted wisely in dying on a cross for you and me. It shocked and horrified us. Our sin always does. Human wisdom would never waste life so extravagantly for fools. God’s weakest love is stronger than our strongest love. His wisdom is bound to grace. Jesus is the Binder of sin, the Releaser of forgiveness, the Yes to all God’s promises for us, the wisdom of our God of grace given to you and me. We cannot read Proverbs and do what it says. Wisdom can and did. God acts upon us through Proverbs to expose our weakness so we will find rest in his grace again and again.
I’ll say it again: You are worth more than deserving. God has saved you by grace because he delights in you.
Jesus gives you the “fear of the Lord” that the Proverbs 31 wife possesses, the same fear that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7 - another bookend!!!). “Fear” does not mean “being afraid of” the way we use it today. It means to cling to, to trust, to rest in. It’s what Peter replies when Jesus gets explicit about his mission to die for our sins and hundreds of people stop following him.
“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life...” (Jonn 6:66-68)
It is what the prostitute, Rahab had when she hid the Jewish spies from her neighbors and friends in Jericho. She could see that the God of the Jews was the only, real God and she wanted his protection and kindness:
“For the Lord your God, his God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you will deal kindly with me” (Joshua 2:9-15).
The “fear of the Lord” means you’ve been given the gift of faith to believe God is for you in Jesus. You’ve been convinced that God is real. You’ve been convinced that you’re not God! You’ve been convinced that there’s no one else who can help. (Of course, God will bring others in to help, but He is the source!) That is the Spirit of God at work in your heart. He is making you hear, see, and trust Jesus’ grace for you. He is wise—he knows where you need to hear Jesus most today.
Back to the excellent wife of Proverbs 31
Now when I read about this fearsome woman of Proverbs 31 - her shrewd business skills, her preparations for calamity, her flourishing family, I see Jesus. He is active in our emotional life, our business life, our marital life, our parenting life, like this diligent, God-fearing housewife. He is not phased at the future for you. He is nurturing a home in you. He is providing for you. He is with you in the temptations, a shield, a deliverer, a guard, a redeemer. And your testimony will be about the cross of Jesus - his grace in your weakness, which made you wise about God. With that testimony of his grace you will dress your loved ones in scarlet; you will shine in fine purple. You won’t notice but we will. You will hear someone better: you will hear Jesus.
Endnotes
[5] Duane Garrett, “Proverbs 3: History of Interpretation,” p.572, Edited by Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2008).
[6] Ibid.
[7] Duane Garrett, “Proverbs 3: History of Interpretation,” p.570, Edited by Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2008).
[8] Ibid.
[9] Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, edited by D.J. Wiseman, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1964), 79.
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