WE find Christ in the book of Proverbs. In the eighth chapter He is spoken of as “wisdom,” “the wisdom of God,” “set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was... daily Jehovah’s delight, rejoicing always before Him, whose delights were with the sons of men.” (12-36.) Again, who else but God and His beloved Son could be referred to in such questions as, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if thou canst tell?” (30:4.) But further; who can read such detached sentences as, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity,” and not think of Jesus? (17:17.) Or, “A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it; whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth” (17:6), without being reminded of “the unspeakable gift?” There are many other such allusions in this blessed book.
There are many quotations from the book of Proverbs in the New Testament which thus attest its divine authorship. Our Lord seems to have referred to this book in His ministry. Compare Matthew 15:44For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. (Matthew 15:4) with Proverbs 20:20,20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. (Proverbs 20:20) and Luke 14:88When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; (Luke 14:8) with Proverbs 25:6, 7,6Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: 7For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. (Proverbs 25:6‑7) and John 7:3838He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38) with Proverbs 18:4,4The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. (Proverbs 18:4) and verse 16. The apostle Paul also quoted from Proverbs. Compare Romans 12:20, 2120Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20‑21) with Proverbs 25:21, 22,21If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 22For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee. (Proverbs 25:21‑22) and Hebrews 12:5, 65And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:5‑6) with Proverbs 3:11, 1211My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: 12For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Proverbs 3:11‑12).
Proverbs is a peculiar book. We do not find the work of redemption in it, nor dispensational truth, nor the history of God’s people, or of God’s ways with them, as in many other parts of Scripture. But it is full of instruction as to wisdom, the wise way of walking through the earth, and of managing many of its daily details. It is emphatically the children’s book—instruction to those who have to walk here as being in relation to God. The apostle teaches us this in Hebrews 12, “Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children,” and then quotes from Proverbs 3:11, 1211My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: 12For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Proverbs 3:11‑12). Hence the repeated use of the words “my son” in the earlier chapters.
The first nine chapters give us general principles, beginning with the object of the book “to know wisdom and instruction.” It shows us that what especially marks “a wise man” is that he will “hear,” that the foolish refuse to hear, that “the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge,” and that such should practically be separate from “sinners.” The second chapter shows that the fear of the Lord and knowledge of God—true wisdom—is found by those who receive His words, hide them, incline their ear, apply the heart, cry after knowledge, lift up the voice for understanding, seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasure. Such too will be kept from the two prominent evils “the evil man”— rebellion, the spirit of the antichrist, and “the strange woman”— the corruptions of the truth and ways of God. In the third chapter we are taught the blessedness of wisdom’s ways. The fourth that we should cling to wisdom as the principal thing, enter not into the path of the wicked, keep in the straight path, setting a watch on our heart, our tongues, and our feet. The fifth chapter shows the sorrow and distress connected with having to do with the “strange woman.” The sixth gives still further warnings against slothfulness, and the corruptness, setting also before us the six things which the Lord hateth, and the blessed peace and security enjoyed by those who bind the words of God upon their heart. In the seventh chapter we learn the absolute need of keeping the words of God, laying them up, being so familiar with them as to have them as it were bound upon the fingers, so as to be kept from the fatal seductions of the enemy. The eighth chapter tells us who wisdom is, and the ninth the two voices round about us; the glad tidings of the grace of God—wisdom’s voice; and the seducing voice of the corruptress— “the foolish woman”— whose guests are in the depths of hell.
From the tenth chapter onward, we have a series of brief, pointed, detached sentences, no doubt deeply important as marking out the wise way of meeting the daily matters of life, some of them giving remarkable allusions to Christ, His ways, and throne. Chapters 25 to 29. are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah King of Judah copied out. Chapter 30 are the words of Agur, and Chapter 31 The words which the mother of King Lemuel taught him.