Proverbs 3 – Tree of Life

Here is an interesting question.  Can we link the “tree of life” in Proverbs 3:18 to the Tree of Life in Genesis 2:9 and 3:22?  Then can it be tied to the “tree of life” found in Revelation 22?

They share the vocabulary of the creation account: v. 13 “the one” is “adam”, v. 14 “gain” is the word used in Genesis for “it is good” (tob), heaven and earth in v. 19,20.  Verses 19 and 2o are linking Wisdom to Creation.

So then the Tree of Life is equated to Wisdom (the metaphorical woman Wisdom of Proverbs 1-9)

See Proverbs 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4; Genesis 2:9,14; 3:22-24; Revelation 2:7; 7:14; 22:1,2,14,19.

Proverbs 2:1-5 – Colossians 1:9-11

Proverbs 2 calls the reader to seek wisdom avidly, with the promised result that we would understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God.  This struck a chord, in that the prayer in Colossians 1 seeks a movement from knowing God’s will (similar to wisdom) and results in “increasing in the knowledge of God.” 

Knowledge is a broad concept in English, but we can distinguish between knowing about someone (i.e. his will, his attributes, his history) and knowing someone personally.  Spanish uses saber for knowing things and conocer for knowing people.

Compare these two texts for yourself.

Proverbs 2:1-5 - ESV
    My son, if you receive my words
        and treasure up my commandments with you,
    [2] making your ear attentive to wisdom
        and inclining your heart to understanding;
    [3] yes, if you call out for insight
        and raise your voice for understanding,
    [4] if you seek it like silver
        and search for it as for hidden treasures,
    [5] then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.

Col. 1:9-11 – ESV
    And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, [10] so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. [11] May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…

Proverbs 2 – One Sentence!

So my kids know that when I edit their essays, it will be to bust up sentences and to kill any passive verbs.  Now I come to find that Pv 2 is one sentence in Hebrew.  Of course this is a bit subjective, in that the punctuation is a later addition to the text.  But, lets go with the idea that the Masorites knew biblical Hebrew better than we do.

The form is 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 3.  this makes 22 verses, the same number as letters in the Hebrew Alphabet.  This is not an acrostic, but the sections in the first 11 verses start with a particle “if” which is formed with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph), and the second 11 verses has a conjunction at the start of each section starting with the letter lamed, from the middle of the alphabet.

V. 1-11 advocates with 8 verbs the searching out and valuing of Wisdom’s words (nice turn of the tables on Wisdom searching the streets in the close of chapter 1).  The result is fear of the lord and knowlege of God.  (reverence/awe and relationship/faith) as well as protection.

V. 12-22 delineates how wisdom protects from a deceitful man and a smooth tongued seductress, ending with a 3 verse conclusion.

To my eye, v. 1-5 parallel the process found in Colossians 1:5ff where knowledge of God’s will and obedience moves toward knowledge of God.  that is informational knowledge becomes relational knowledge.  (like the difference in Spanish between saber and conocer).

Another interesting NT echo is v. 21 and Jesus’ “the meek shall inherit the earth.” in the Beatitudes.

Pursue Wisdom intensely and She will guard you immensely.

Smart Birds? Proverbs 1:17

Proverbs 1:17 is an interesting case where there was some disagreement over it’s meaning.  Would a bird avoid getting caught in the trap and thus be a positive example, or would a bird obviously stumble into the net because it is, after all, a bird brain? 

So a little education in bird biology was needed.  From Sunday’s message….

The Father illustrated his warning with a proverb about a bird. Most commentators read it one way – that is if a bird sees you laying out a net, he will not get trapped by it. However, one commentator found that hard to believe, because he thinks all birds are basically dumb.

I went to the Biology Library at the University to see what I could discover about bird intelligence. It tunes out some birds are dumb. The Dodo bird had no fear of humans, and was soon hunted to extinction. However, I discovered some amazing indications that birds do have intelligence:

• The oldest human sport is probably Falconry, where these birds of pray are taught to hunt by their human trainers.

• Crows and parrots are as smart as dogs, and smarter than cats. There are crows in Japan who walk out into traffic during a red light, drop nuts in front of stopped cars, walk back and wait for the cars to crush the hard shells for them while they wait on the sidewalk.

• A Raven learned how to pull up a long string using its beak and foot in order to retrieve a piece of good tied to the end. Some crows use sticks to catch bugs in crevices. One bird even was able to bend a hook in a wire to make a tool to retrieve food.

• House sparrows have learned how to open grocery store doors by flying in front of the electric eye. Once inside they feast.

Proverbs 1:7

We like M. Fox for his careful analysis of the text of Proverbs 1-9 and we also like the balance of the more conservative approach of B. Waltke.  It is interesting that both, and everyone else that we know of, agrees that Prov 1:1-7 is a purpose statement for the book of Proverbs, and that verse 7 in particular is the key to the interpretation.

Proverbs 1:7
    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
        fools despise wisdom and instruction.   (ESV)

 This is a good case of parallelism. 

The first half verse is in contrast to the second.  Fools are contrasted with those who have “the fear of the Lord.”  So there is a moral/spiritual basis to Wisdom and Knowledge, not just an intellectual base. 

We see that wisdom and instruction is thereby mostly synonymous with knowledge.  The kind of knowledge that this verse is talking about is not merely informational – even the Bible would agree that mathematicians do not need to fear the Lord to know that 2+2=4.   In this verse the second half moves forward the definition of “knowledge” with the pair of words “wisdom and instruction.”

So then, since neither wisdom nor foolishness is about mere intelligence, this book is talking about an ability to lead a successful life based upon the premise that a life without the Lord’s approval and blessing is NOT all it can be.

D. Garrett makes an interesting comment, that the Wisdom literature of the nations is brought into Proverbs, but that it is screened and placed under the idea of “the fear of the Lord.”  M. Fox makes a similar comment, that this is unique to Israelite (biblical) wisdom in comparison to its ancient near eastern cousins.

Sermon On the Mount Outline

Once after a long sermon series a member wondered why there was not a summary at the end.  So this week, at the end of the SOM, here is a summary.  It also fits the final verses of the text which call the reader not only to be aware of the words of Jesus, but to listen to them.

Sermon on the Mount Outline  is here: summary-of-the-sermon-on-the-mount   The texts of the sermons are available at www.bethanyfreechurch.org under “recent sermons”.

What I am now going to work on is a 50day study, suggested by the comments of U. Luz that the Lord’s Prayer is the center of the sermon.  It would see that a study of the 7 parts of the prayer by means of the various parts of the sermon would be a good spiritual exercise.  Stay tuned.  An outline of that idea is here:  lprayerdiagram

Ephesians

So, to follow up the idea of reading in another language.  I found that in this passage, that the movement is from the eternal, heavenly realm to the earthly.  I noticed that there is an internal logic to the effects: redeemed AND forgiven (so not merely a change of slave ownership).  Informed (so as to be agents no objects) and Sealed by the Spirit (so as to be marked in the terrestrial with the celestial).  It reminds us of the title “Redemption: Accomplished and Applied” that we read in Seminary.  It was accomplished in eternity and applied in time. 

Ephes. 1:3-14
    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
    [5] he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
    [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
    [11] In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12] so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Second Language

For Lent, FR decided to keep a diary of the book of James in Spanish.  Having been working on Spanish for a few years, it seemed like a good idea.  What I have noticed is that reading a familiar text in another language forces you to notice what you might otherwise skim over.

If you know another language, consider reading the text in that language.

Que Dios te bendiga.

Coming soon – Proverbs 1-9

After the current studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Fresh Read will turn his attention to the first nine chapters of Proverbs.  This is the most crafted portion of the book, where other sections are small clusters of proverbs related by topic, word play and other means of connection.

We have already noticed that Proverbs 1-9 is as is the great Mosaic speeches found in Deuteronomy are re-cast in the language of Wisdom.  There are the same concerns for following the right path, for choosing life or death, prosperity or destruction. 

So get an little ahead and start reading.

FR

Matthew echoed in James

H. Shepherd* claims that there is a strong connection between James and Matthew – especially the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are his 8 divisions of James (key verse in italics) and the passages from the Sermon.   

James 1:1-18 –        Matthew 5:11,12

   v.12                          Matthew 6:13

“Trials”                         Matthew 7:7

 

James 1:19-27 –     Matthew 5:23

   v. 25                         Matthew 7:21

“Listening & Doing”     Matthew 7:26

 

James 2:1-13 –        Matthew 5:1-16

   v. 5 or 10                  Matthew 5:17-20

“Favoritism”

 

James 2:14-26 –     Matthew 7:21,26

   v. 20 or 26

“Faith & Works”

 

James 3:1-12 —       Matthew 7:16-20

   v. 2

“The Tongue”

 

James 3:13-4:12 – Matthew 5:1-12

   v. 4                           Matthew 6:24

“Humility”                     Matthew 7:1-5

                                    Matthew 7:7

 

James 4:13-5:6 –    Matthew 6:19-24

   v. 17

“Money”

 

James 5:7-20    –    Matthew 5:33-37

   v. 20-24

“Patience”

*H. R. Shepherd,”Epistle of James and the Gospel of Matthew” JBL (75) p. 40-51