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Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Proverbs 8:30
As we come to the close of this section of Proverbs that relates for us the viewpoint of wisdom as God created this world, we come to a description of this process that begs a very fundamental question. I will pose this question in scientific terms. Was the second law of thermodynamics a fundamental part of this world immediately after the fall - or did this law only come into place after our world had fully developed into what it is today? Why would I ask such a question? It is because those in the field of Physics (and honestly every other field except philosophy nowadays) tell us that there is a fundamental law at work in our world that says that things go from a state of order to disorder. Said another way - the world around us - and we ourselves - are gradually falling apart and getting into a more disoriented state every day. This is the second law of thermodynamics. The reason I say that this question begs to be asked - is because for evolutionary theory to be right as an explanation of origins of this world - this fundamental law would have to have been suspended for billions of years. Instead of things moving from order to disorder, evolutionary theory states that things are getting better and better. There is another reason why this question begs to be asked, and that is because of what God says about His work of creation - even here in Proverbs 8:30-3. Here we read that wisdom worked beside God as a "master workman." The term here means someone who is a master artificer - or a master builder. Thus this presents a very difficult problem for those who would like to fuse God with evolutionary theory for their understanding of origins. The fundamental problem is that God represents creation as a work of perfection. In Genesis we read that everything God made was good. He did not make something and then decide that it needed to be continually improved over billions of years. He said that the way He made it was good. This means that it was perfect - until the fall of man into sin. At that point we see that things begin to deteriorate quickly. There is a fundamental breakdown of what God made as good - as sin - and as death enters into our world. There is a fundamental breakdown of DNA so that diseases and problems result. God's version of origins is that things were made good - but sin has caused a systematic breakdown of all things as they move toward more death and more disorder. What I find fascinating about all this is that God's view of things fits perfectly with the second law of thermodynamics. Things are - and have pretty much always have been moving from tha state of order to disorder. God explains this by introducing us to the event where man sinned and grieved God - and death entered into our world. Under the description that wisdom gives us things fit quite well with the "laws" of the universe. But that should not really shock us all that much - because just one verse earlier we had learned that these laws were written by none other than our God Himself. Amazing how those things go together isn't it?
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When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Proverbs 8:29
Wisdom tells us that when God made the world, that He did so by making the sea with a boundary that the sea could not go past permanently. In Job 38:8-11 God spoke of this to Job saying, "Or Who shut in the seas with doors when it burst out from the wombn, when I made clouds its garment and a thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall yur proud waves be stayed.'" In Jeremiah 5 we read that God placed the sand as a perpetual barrier that the ocean would not pass - though it's waves toss and they roar. The scientist might scoff at this, saying that the height of the land mass determines whether it is above or below sea level. That is true - but how does this work on a planet that is spherical - where its flatness is not the measure of all things. Yet, were it not for gravity - the waters of the earth would run to the southern most parts of the earth - and honestly - would run out into space, making this planet utterly uninhabitable. Now, I can hear the scientific types laughing in the background as I state this - yet I have a question for them. Their laughter is because they would view me as a moron - who knew nothing about gravity. Therefore my question to them is this, "How did we get the basic law of gravity - or for that matter - any of the laws upon which our orderly planet functions? Here is my point. Wisdom tells us that God is the One who set the boundary for the waters. He told us earlier that He is the One who make our earth circular - and made it to where the waters would conform to that circular pattern. He did not use the word gravity - but that is what He is describing. In this same passage where God speaks of setting boundaries for the sea - God also speaks about marking out the "foundations of the earth." The word "mark" used here is the Hebrew word "haqaq" which means to inscribe or engrave something. The word was used of marking and stating decrees - writing them down. The idea here is not that God set up some kind of foundation for the world - like we would build a foundation for a house. For that a different world would need to be used. God says in Job that He hangs the world on nothing - describing gravity wonderfully. Here what God is telling us is that there are inscribed decrees that God has given that makes the world function like it does. This same word is useed to speak of the written decrees of God. Let us go back to the reality that there are "laws" written into the very fabric of the universe in which we live. Scientists did not write these laws - but their orderly experiments have allowed them to discover these laws. We even call them "laws" - with such names as the law of gravity - the first and second laws of thermodynamics - as well as numerous other laws by which the universe itself functions. In every world except that of the evolutionist, the idea of an orderly universe with remarkably orderly laws coming in a completelly random fashion with no author behimd them, is crazy. For there to be a law - there has to be a law-giver. For their to be a decree - someone has to have made that decree. And for the waters to obey laws of gravity - someone had to command that law - and therefore command that water adhere to such a law. The statement of wisdom therefore makes far more sense than that of the pseudo-scientist. It makes more sense because wisdom recognizes that behind the inscribed foundational statements of this world (which includes that which establishes gravity and the whole idea of "sea level") is the Master and Commander - who wrote them. He enforces them each and every day - simply by the exercise of His almighty will. What does NOT make sense is to ask someone to believe in an astoundingly ordered universe with laws and structure - that came from no one - using no intelligence - and yet forming a world in which genius level scientists find themselves completely blown away by its glorious wisdom and intelligently ordered ways. When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, Proverbs 8:28
Wisdom is telling us here what the early atmosphere of the earth was like at creation. We are also being told of springs that existed in the oceans - but they were held in place. Therefore, if truly the wisdom of God is being told to us - and this wisdom relfects the creation of God's world - then there should be some sort of evidence of this in the record of the earth. The atmosphere above us is a wonder, being made of seven layers - and consisting of various gases at varying pressures. The word that is used for this description is "amas" which means the skies were made strong, and that they would prevail. Our atmosphere is the result of water vapor and other elements that are in the skies above the land and water on the earth. They are held in place by gravity that keeps them in place around the earth. But the early atmosphere of earth most likely was even more "firm" with water - due to what we find in the fossil record on the earth. This record includes the amazing story of a planet that had a tropical climate pretty much worldwide. The Biblical record also records for us an aging process that enabled men to live far longer than they do now. The size of plants and animals was far greater than presently experienced. But there is evidence that some catastrophic event changed all this - and left us with the climate that we presently experience with temperate as well as frigid zones on earth - with the climate changing more drastically as we approach the poles of the earth. Wisdom presents an interesting picture of the early earth. This fits well with the Genesis account - as well as with the catastrophic flood of Noah. The pre-flood climate could easily have been due to a much more prolific water layer surrounding the earth. This canopy of water would have drastically affected the climate of earth making it far more like a tropical climate worldwide. This water canopy would have also severely limited the ultraviolet rays that bombarded the earth - which would have radically affected the aging process on earth. The catastrophic change for earth would have involved some kind of piercing or emptying of this water canopy around the earth. Such an event would have involved a tremendous anmount of rain happening over a long period of time (maybe like 40 days and nights?). The Bible records this in Genesis 10 as the Noahic flood. During this time additional water problems would have caused the earth to be innundated beyond the rains caused by the emptying of the water canopy. God reveals to us that during this time He also allowed the fountains of the deep to be broken up - and for a tremendous amount of water to be released from underneath the oceans. Such a combination of water canopy release and sub-crust water eruptions would have been sufficient to cover the earth in water. Of course, if that were true we would find sea creatures in the fossil records on mountains. Amazingly enough, that is what we have found - even finding sea creatures in the fossil records in the Himalayan Mountain range - and even on Mount Everest - the tallest peak on earth. Some will read this and say that such a view of things is obtained by having pre-conceived ideas of our world and its origin. I would answer such assertions with a resounding, "Yes!" I would only argue one point. These are not "my" preconceived ideas - they are more "biblically" conceived ideas that come from reading and seeking to understand God's revelation of what He has done - and is doing in the world. The evolutionist hides behind such attacks, because if the truth were to be fully revealed, he too has preconceived ideas upon which he bases his research. His ideas are that of a materialistic worldview that negates the concept of God or creation from the start. This is why his conclusions MUST support a world that simply exists due to no outside causes. He starts with no God - and must come to a conclusion that supports his presuppositions. At least I am honest about my biblical preconceptions. The evolutionist feigns pseudo-scientific objectivity - yet his quest is not for truth as much as it is for information that will allow him to continue to negate God - and therefore permit him to live his life according to his own wisdom - rather than the Wisdom of God. “When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, Proverbs 8:27
What does God's wisdom have to say about the heavens and the earth? What would God's wisdom have to say to even other issues - like say - gravity and the way our earth not only looks - but the way it functions? Some criticize the Bible because of statements and beliefs that churchmen of the past have held. Among these are the views that the earth was flat. What we might have to ask is whether these churchmen were coming to these conclusions due to a study of the Bible, or were they coming up with conclusions from their own imaginations and thinking? The wisdom that God created before He made the world testifies that God was the one who established the heavens. He was the one who set them in place. Elsewhere in the Bible we read that God states that He hung the world on nothing. This statement went against early scientists who did not yet understand the whole idea of gravity or how it worked with various gravitational pulls in the universe. Yet we find the Biblical record very consistent with how things actually are in our universe. The second half of this proverb states that God had "inscribed a circle on the face of the deep." This speaks of how the earth looks and functions - and amazingly - how gravity affects our planet. The word "inscribed" is actually a word that speaks of writing or carving words into something - and it spoke most often of the writing of laws and decrees. God wrote something into the very existence of the earth. There was a circle written into the waters of the earth - which was what this term, "the deep" meant when used in Scripture. According to the wisdom of God - the earth should take the form of a circle or sphere. This is because of what God had inscribed - or written into how the earth functions. What is spoken of here is the law of gravity. The gravity which functions all over our planet comes from the very cener of our planet - which tends to pull all things to that center. This is why when you look at our globe - all the water does not run off the bottom of the planet when it should rush there. Instead you see gravity pulling all things towards tthe center of the earth - thus making our earth a globe. The water responds to the law or inscribing of the Lord which holds all the waters in place. What I find fascinating is that long before earth's fallible scientists ever grapsed gravity - the wisdom of God spoke of a situation where a round planet would be able to have water all over it - all equally held as gravity pulls all things toward the center of this planet. Thus we have a circular world - with the ability to have things pulled toward it equally from every direction. This is what the wisdom of God tells us long before Newton ever propounded on gravity or any of its laws. The reason for this is because God, who created this world, spoke of something like gravity over a thousand years before man ever fully understood how this world works. It works - according to God's wisdom. The churchmen who postulated such preposterous theories as a flat earth - should have been better students of the wisdom of God. Then they would have gotten things right - or at least biblical - but to be honest they are both the same thing. "While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world."
Proverbs 8:26 Wisdom was also there before God made the earth, the fields, or the very first dust of our world. Here again the Lord reveals not just His wisdom, but also the truths that He created this world because of the facts that He lays down for us. This has to do not just with the mighty mountains and their formation, but also of the manifestation of something as simple and unnoticed as dust. If God made the world that we see and all that is in it by the Word of His power - by simply speaking it into existence - the earth would be relatively young. It would not have taken billions of years for all this to come together - it would have taken less than 10,000 years. And if God had created this world by His wisdom, which He made and manifested before He created all this - then the world around us would reflect that wisdom and understanding in what we find on this earth. Thus, we turn to the issue of dust. Dust comes from many sources - from erosion due to wind and also due to volcanic eruptions on the earth. Some of our dust even comes from the solar system and its doings - and we are told some is even from comets, meteorites and space dust. Altogether, scientists have measured the dust that we experience and have come up with a figure around 43 million tons of dust that fall on the United States alone. This measures our to about 40 lbs. of dust per home. The problem that this causes for us is that we don't have enough dust on the earth to account for billions of years. If the first dust of the earth came during creation only several thousand years ago - then we are right on target for dust accumulation. Scientists argued that other factors in our atmosphere and planetary history could account for our horrific lack of dust. But when we went to the moon, we went to a place where these factors would not be present. Thus as moon exploration was planned, one of the things that they were deeply concerned about was the depth of space dust that our astronauts would experience upon landing - and in navigating the moon. Concerns of literally feet of dust into which our lunar vehicle would sink were considered. When we landed though we found an embarrassing lack of dust once again. Actually, we who believe in a young earth creation were not embarrassed at all - because dust levels were consistent with a universe that is vastly younger than the billions of years concocted by the evolutionists. The dust levels testified of a world created by God only thousands of years ago - which His wisdom testified to in Proverbs to us quite plainly. It truly is a wonder to see the wisdom of God borne out again and again in what God has made - so that the world around us is without excuse in their rejection of God and of His truth in the Bible. It is almost as amazing as the efforts to which fallen man will go in trying to reject that same wonderful wisdom by thinking up ridiculous theories that will allow man to continue in his rebellion and lack of acknowledgement of God. "Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth. Proverbs 8:25
It is taught that the mountains that we now see are a result of tremendous forces equal to a thousand times the power of earthquakes that we experience today. Consider for a moment the power necessary to shoot Everest over 29,000 feet into the atmosphere. When the mountains were being formed there had to be upheaval unlike anything we can imagine - and yet wisdom was there when it happened and when the mountains themselves settled and found their current place. Often at the base of these giants there are hills that arose as well - some saying that they were the wrinkling of the earth from the shock of the mountains themselves. One of the interesting problems that old earth evolutionists (and old earth creationists too) have is the amazing lack of erosion on the major mountain ranges of the world. If these massive formations were as old as evolutionary theory suggests, there should be far more wind and weather related erosion on them. From what we actually see, these major ranges are honestly . . . rather young. Some say they may be as young as 7000-10,000 years old. This would put them within the age range of biblical creation if we accept a young earth version of creation like the Bible depicts. Even more amazing is the way that the Scriptures portray the flood - with one of the final events being the covering of the mountains with the flood waters. Once again, the wisdom of God is either going to be clearly refuted by what we see on these mountains - or God will be seen as true. What we find is truly amazing. There seems to be indicators even at the highest levels of our mountains of a worldwide flood. But there are also other indications of real problems with an old earth (meaning billions of years) view of our world. That has to do with "dust." But that will be a topic for tomorrow's Proverb of the day. Wisdom was born before these mountains were settled and the hills brought forth. God's wisdom was there to direct all this activity as the topography of the world was first formed. I know this may shock some, but the account of God's Word and the timing and way these wonderful giants were made - is amazingly consistent. Why it is almost as if the wisdom of the One who gave us the biblical account is as if an eyewitness were there. Hmmm - maybe He was . . . just maybe He was. "When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. Proverbs 8:24
Wisdom existed before the depths. When there were no springs that abounded with water - wisdom was there. What we have before us in Proverbs 8 is a treasure trove filled with information about creation itself. We also have a situation where God has in effect thrown down the gauntlet and challenged the psuedo-scientists who say that the world was not created by an outside intelligence or power - to do a better job of explaining things on our planet than wisdom does. The term "depths" here is the Hebrew word "tehom" which refers to a depth or a deep place. In scripture it is most often used to speak of the primeval ocean like in Genesis 1:2. Later in the flood narrative it refers to the depths of the oceans as the fountains and springs there burst open to aid in the rising flood waters. If therefore the Bible is true - and accurate about scientific matters - there should be very deep recesses in the oceans of the earth where there are fountains and springs that can put forth tremendous amounts of water. If these representations of the ocean depths are accurate - it would tend to make us think that God created the earth in accordance with the wisdom that He "brought forth" before this world was brought forth itself. Most of what we know (which by the way is not that much) about the ocean depths has been learned in the last 50 years. Due to the tremendous pressure at the deepest levels of the ocean, man has not been able to explore these regions. Also the development of sonic exploration devices that bounce waves of sound off the bottom of the ocean, we've been able to do far more mapping of the depths than ever before. What have we learned? Well . . . scientists should blush to admit - but the ocean depths pretty much look like what God describes for us in Scripture. There are tremendous depths to the ocean upon which there are entire underwater mountain ranges. There is volcanic activity - and massive fountains and springs that are pumping amazing amounts of water into the ocean itself. If this is embarassing enough, scientists have also been amazed that the sentiment at the bottom of the ocean is so . . . little. Their estimates of billions of years for the age of the earth should have been verified by a tremendously deep amount of sediment on the bottom of the ocean. What they have found instead is that the sediment is only consistent with an earth that is far younger than they estimate. The sediment would reveal an earth only thousands of years old rather than billions. Why should we listen to God's wisdom? One reason to do so is because God makes some pretty outrageous statements about the ocean floor. For thousands of years we had no real scientific way of verifying these statements. These statements could only be verified recently because it took man that long to catch up to what God already knew. What we've found is that God, who calls Himself a God of truth, is true. That is no shocker to me - but might be to many whose tendency is to doubt and dishonor Him. What all this does for me is remind me why I should pay much closer attention to everything He says and commands. He is wise - and He has created wisdom itself. Therefore I need to listen, obey, and honor Him. "From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. Proverbs 8:23
What were things like before the beginning - and even in the very beginning of time, space, and creation? The world would have us believe that all things were chaos - with a huge universe originating explosion followed by nothing more than random events that came together to form life (even though this completely contradicts the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics). What is interesting is that this particular passage in Proverbs 8 definitely contradicts the world's view of things. We read that wisdom was established from everlasting. The terminology used here speaks of a time before time itself. We read first that it was from everlasting - and then again it was from the beginning - and from the earliest times of the earth. All these phrases point us to Genesis chapter 1 and the creation account. Thus God "established" wisdom from before time itself or at least as time itself began. This tends to directly contradict the whole idea of a huge explosion followed by a random, unintelligent, and if you will "unwise" period of billions of years - with nothing driving the world but mere chance. What we have instead is that there was glorious intelligence and wisdom that was present from the very beginning of creation itself. We also read that this marvellous wisdom was "established" from the very beginning. The word used here means to consecrate. There is a two-fold idea presented here. First is that God poured out wisdom as one would pour out anointing oil - thus pouring out the glorious wisdom and super-genius level intelligence that is seen in the design of nature itself. Second, we have the idea that as God created wisdom - it was set apart - it was different because it came from God Himself. It was not random and unintelligable. It was radically distinct and clearly seen as something that had been set in place. What are we left with then as we look at the beginnings of wisdom? We are left with the realization that if this world around us seems to have an intelligence behind it. If there is an apparent design in our universe - that would fit the Biblical narrative like a hand in a glove. God said that as He began all things, the first thing He made was wisdom itself. Then all that came forth as He made time, space, and all of creation mirrors His glorious wisdom and understanding. But, if we simply see randomness - with no real purpose, no real design, no real structure for our universe or even our own highly complex bodies - well, then that would resemble a random universe that came together purely by chance. What we see in the universe - and in creation and our bodies screams to us that there is an intelligence - an intelligence of super-abounding, infinite genius that is behind what we see in the world and in the universe. The precision of the stars and of all that is in space could never have come about randomly. The astounding complexity of every aspect of nature - from the microscopic complexity of a single cell, the the mind-boggling complexity of the human body with its myriad of systems all functioning perfectly together - leaves no doubt in our minds. The only way one could doubt is if they rejected God outright and therefore had to come up with the most unplausible of concepts of a random universe which winds up with an incredibly complex, ordered system at every level of life. The truth is God made wisdom - at the very onset of His creative work in making the universe around us. That wisdom is then seen in even the minutest of details of life at the nuclear level. But then again that is what we would expect if there was a God - and if God chose to reveal Himself to us in nature first - and then through His Word - and ultimately in His Son. "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. Proverbs 8:22
We are about to enter one of the coolest passages of Scripture in all the Bible. For the next 10 verses we will be allowed to have an interview of sorts with wisdom. Several times we have seen wisdom personified so that we might learn more about wisdom. This time we are allowed into the very intimate counsel of God - before and during creation itself. Wisdom first tells us, "Jehovah possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old." So the first thing we learn is that wisdom is a possession of God. He did not have to learn it or be taught wisdom by someone greater because there is no one greater. He is absolute and the ultimate over everything and everyone. The word "possessed" is the Hebrew word "qanah" which in this context means to create or to bring forth. Thus we see that before creation ever was - God created wisdom. This brings me to an interesting thought. I hope you will tolerate me getting a little weird here, and yet I think this exercise may benefit all of us. God doesn't have wisdom - He IS wisdom. There was no need for a knowledge of wisdom up until God created the world, because all there was before this was the eternal fellowship of the Godhead. Being eternal and infinite - they knew all and had known it for all time. To try to express it to anyone would be foolish for they all knew from all time all there was to know and all that will ever be known. But God was about to create the world - and was going to reveal Himself through and to His creation. We read the following in Psalm 19:1-4, "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world." Since the heavens and the world was the creation of God - since the moment of their origin at His Word they have been telling of God's glory. Morning, noon, and night they do not cease to shout out His praises. Each new day the speak of God - they pour forth speech - and reveal knowledge of God. Yet prior to this - there was no need for these things - for the perfect eternal fellowship of the Godhead knew them perfectly. With the creation of the earth, God was about to begin revealing Himself first through His creation - and then, with the creation of man - to His creation. This required a way to know God - a knowledge about God that was not inherent within His infinite knowing of Himself. Therefore God created wisdom. Wisdom is seeing God and knowing Him. Wisdom is learning to see all of life as God sees it. Wisdom comes from God - and if grasped correctly - leads us back to Him. So, before God ever revealed Himself through and to His creation - He first had to create or bring forth a way of comprehending Himself to what He was about to create. I know that this is a little wild to consider - but I believe in the end, it only causes us to think higher thoughts of God Himself - and to worship Him for Who He is. Over the next several days we will take a look at the creation of wisdom - and how wisdom was with God as the earth was created. During our look at these 10 verses in Proverbs we will also have cause to consider how the creation itself is actually infused with the wisdom of God as well. Join us . . . it should be quite a journey! |
 Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. 
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