Proverbs 8:11 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 8:11 – “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

1. For wisdom is better than rubies;
   1. The price of wisdom is above rubies (Job 28:18).
      1. Rubies are among the most rare and expensive gemstones on earth, costing between $1,000-$3,000 (and some in the 10’s of thousands of dollars) per carat for one of high quality.
      2. Wisdom is more precious than rubies (Pro 3:15).
      3. To this day, rubies are referred to as precious (of great price; having a high value; costly – OED) stones.
   2. As wisdom describes the exceeding value of instruction and knowledge, she compares it to increasingly more valuable commodities.

• In the previous verse she began by comparing them to silver and then to gold.
  1. Historically gold was worth about 16 times as much as silver.
  2. Today it is worth about 68 times as much (July, 2021).

1. By weight, rubies, depending on their quality, are worth hundreds to thousands of times as much as gold.
2. The lips of knowledge are a precious jewel which exceed the value of gold and a multitude of rubies (Pro 20:15).
3. We should now begin to understand the immense value that God places on wisdom.

• Since wisdom is found in God’s word (Pro 2:6), how valuable must reading, searching, and meditating in the scriptures be in the eyes of God?

1. and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
   1. In the unlikely case that a man has no interest in silver, gold, or rubies, God gives one final comparison that proves the unparalleled value of wisdom.
   2. All of the things that a man desires cannot equal wisdom.

• Wisdom doesn’t merely surpass the value of a man’s most prized possessions; or even all the things that he owns; or greater yet, all the things that he desires; but rather all the things that he may

1. Take all of the endless things that a man can think of and wish for and add them all together, and they are not only unequal to wisdom, but they are not to be compared to her.
2. Just as a drop cannot be compared to an ocean, or a candle to a forest fire, so all the priceless things a man can conceive of cannot be compared to wisdom.
3. Is it any wonder why God said that “Wisdom is the principal (first or highest in rank or importance) thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Pro 4:7)?