Proverbs 8:22 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 8:22 – “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.”

1. In verses 22-31 wisdom details her relationship with God which began before the foundation of the world.
   1. Many people erroneously assume that this passage is refers to the preincarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
   2. They think that the supposed “eternal generation” of the so-called “eternally begotten” Son of God is being described in this passage.

• They believe that wisdom being “set up from everlasting” (Pro 8:23), “brought forth” (Pro 8:24-25), and “brought up” (Pro 8:30) refers to the “eternal generation” of the Son of God.

1. This is a faulty interpretation for the following reasons.
   1. The Son of God did not exist until the Word was made flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary (Joh 1:1, 14).
      • The Word is the second person of the Trinity (1Jo 5:7).
      • The Word is God and was never begotten, generated, created, or made (Joh 1:1-3).
      • The Son of God, not the Word, was made of a woman (Gal 4:4).
      • Jesus Christ is the Son of God because God the Father and the Holy Ghost caused His conception in Mary’s womb (Luk 1:35).
      • See sermons on “The Sonship of Jesus Christ” for proof of the incarnational sonship of Christ and for a refutation of the theory of eternal sonship: pastorwagner.com/sonship.
   2. Wisdom is being spoken of in Proverbs 8 and is personified as a woman (Pro 8:1-3).
      • Jesus Christ is a man, not a woman.
      • Therefore, Proverbs 8:22-31 is not referring to Jesus Christ.
      • Christ is called the wisdom of God (1Co 1:24), because God’s wisdom dwells in Him (Col 2:3, 9).
      • God’s wisdom was manifested in Jesus Christ when God was manifest in the flesh in the person of Christ (1Ti 3:16).
      • The scriptures are also a manifestation of God’s wisdom (Ezr 7:14 c/w 25).
      • Pro 8:22-31 is referring to God’s wisdom, not Jesus Christ or the scriptures specifically, even though His wisdom would in due time be manifest in both of them.
   3. The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way,
      1. “Me” in this passage is wisdom personified (Pro 8:1, 12).
      2. God possessed wisdom from the beginning.

• Possess v. – 1. trans. Of a person or body of persons: To hold, occupy (a place or territory); to reside or be stationed in; to inhabit (with or without ownership). Obs. (or merged in 2).  2. a. To hold as property; to have belonging to one, as wealth or material objects; to own.

1. God created the heaven and the earth in the beginning (Gen 1:1).
   1. The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and the heavens by understanding (Pro 3:19).
   2. God established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His discretion (Jer 10:12).
   3. Wisdom n. – The quality or character of being wise, or something in which this is exhibited. a. Capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends; sometimes, less strictly, sound sense, esp. in practical affairs: opp. to folly.
   4. Therefore, the LORD possessed wisdom in the beginning of His way which He used to create the heaven and the earth.
   5. To create our incredibly vast and complex universe would require sound judgment in the choice of means and ends, would it not?
2. before his works of old.
   1. God possessed wisdom prior to doing His work of creation.
   2. By the word of God the heavens were of old (2Pe 3:5).

• The LORD made His works in wisdom (Psa 104:24), so therefore He possessed wisdom before His works of old.
• Of old the LORD created the earth and the heavens which are the work of His hands (Psa 102:25).