The Bible is a book of wisdom. Now that does not mean that other kinds of literature don’t exist in the Bible, but it is to say that all of the Bible provides us wisdom or reveals to us the One who is Wisdom. Throughout the Bible, God is pictured as the source of all true wisdom. This is why James points us to God as the giver of wisdom (Jam 1:5; also Prov 2:6-8; Eph 1:17), why Paul states that all glory is due to the “only wise God” (Rom 16:27; see Rom 11:33-36), and why Jesus (indirectly) calls Himself “Wisdom” (Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34-35; also 1 Cor 1:24, 30; see Prov 8:22-31). Because God Himself is the source of wisdom, it is no surprise to find that the Scriptures are characterized as wisdom (Ps 119:97-104). What’s more, this book of wisdom contains a genre of wisdom. This wisdom literature is specifically devoted to providing the right perspective so that we as creatures can function properly in this world.
One of the best examples of wisdom literature, and probably the most known, is Proverbs (other wisdom literature books include Job and Ecclesiastes, and some include James). Proverbs is a book of proverbs, and a proverb is just a short memorable saying that teaches a general truth or gives general advice. This means that the wise sayings of Proverbs are not exhaustively true. They instead pick up on something that is normally the case. My favorite way of demonstrating this is by taking people to Prov 26:4-5, which reads “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you yourself also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” Some might say that these are contradictory sayings, but those people are not recognizing the nature of the genre. A proverb, by nature, does not have to be universally true; it instead gives general wisdom. In a sense, you need both v. 4 and v. 5 to get a full dose of wisdom on how to respond to fools. Sometimes engaging with a fool only brings you down to his level. Repaying a fool’s insult with an insult is sinful (1 Pet 3:9). But it would be unwise to allow fools to always go unchallenged. Fools need to be corrected; this should be done in such a way that points the fool to the all-wise God who reveals that the fool is, in fact, a fool. Verses 4 and 5 are complementary, not contradictory. The point is that you should be able to read a proverb like Prov 16:31 and recognize the wisdom in it. “Gray hair is a crown of beauty; it is found in the way of righteousness.” Yes, there are many evil people with gray hair, and there are plenty of godly people who don’t live to have gray hair. But to focus on these things would detract from the intended message of Prov 16:31. We need to recognize the nature of a proverb if we don’t want to get tripped up as we read the book of Proverbs.
I recall a lecture during my time at Cedarville when Dr. Randy McKinion said something like, “Proverbs is the one book of the Bible where you can ask yourself ‘What does this mean to me?’” His point was that the Bible is not a book where we get to make up our own personal meaning to each passage; each author has an intended meaning, and God wants us to recognize that meaning and apply ourselves to what is being said. But the short pithy sayings of Proverbs are meant to speak into our lives in a much more general fashion than the narratives of Genesis or the epistles of Paul do. These wise sayings tend not to be defined; they are simply stated, and then another is stated. This should cause us to slow down and reflect on how we can practically live in light of the wisdom provided to us before we move on to a different wise saying. And because a proverb is not always exhaustively true, and we all experience diverse situations in life, we are likely to walk away with different, yet actually valid, applications. You might wisely ignore a fool, while I might wisely engage with a fool. I want to share two stories with you of people who read a proverb, thought about it, considered their own lives, and decided to make a change in how they thought and lived so that they were living according to the wisdom of God.
The first story is about a friend of mine. Shortly after high school, he lost all hope of finding a wife. His previous girlfriend was just not a good fit for him. They had different views on children and hygiene, and she was just a bit too clingy for him. With the lack of success with women before her, and probably a number of us guys in his friend group also having disappointing dating experiences, he called off the search for a wife. What’s more, it probably did not help that American culture does not value marriage and that mainstream Evangelicalism during this time was pushing a distorted view of singleness. Yet, despite all of this, my friend kept reading his Bible.
At one point, the Lord led him to read Prov 18:22: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” I specifically remember my friend saying something like, “I want the Lord’s favor.” My friend had lost a biblical sense of marriage and the value of a spouse. He did not view a wife as a good thing because his personal experience with women up until that point was not good. But God drastically altered his view with this one proverb. Sure, Proverbs has many things to say about bad wives (Prov 11:22; 12:4; 14:1; 21:19; 27:15-16), but a godly wife is a wonderful blessing. My friend truly believed this proverb, and it radically altered his life.
Biblical wisdom is knowledge lived out. True belief alters life decisions. My friend truly believed that it was a blessing from the Lord to get married to a godly woman, and his life reflected this. He opened up to the idea of getting married, actively considered the available women in his circles, tried Christian dating websites, and eventually agreed to talk to a woman my wife (then fiancée) was living with in Ohio. He has married that woman, and I hope that today he can repeat the words of Prov 18:22 from a position of experience. My friend heard the wisdom of God in Prov 18:22, he believed it to be true, and he reoriented his life around the wisdom of the almighty Lord of life.
The second story is about my grandfather. As the story goes, he read Prov 13:22 and began saving for his grandkids. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (Prov 13:22). My grandfather wanted to be a good man in the eyes of the Lord. In Prov 13:22, a good man is a man who not only saves an inheritance for his children, but also for his grandchildren. God is promoting a more extreme version of generational wealth: not only passing assets from one generation to another, but passing assets from one generation to two other generations.
In order for my grandfather to pass on something to his five grandchildren he needed to live a life of diligence. He needed to work hard so that he could even have something to provide for his grandchildren (Prov 14:23; 28:19; Eph 4:28; 2 Thess 3:10-12). After working hard, he then needed to be a good steward of what God gave him so that after he went to be with the Lord, there was something there for grandchildren (Prov 21:5). And lastly, he had to choose what he would give to his grandchildren. My grandpa did this in two ways. Firstly, he began saving up quarters in a very big glass bottle, and this money would then be split between his five grandchildren. Secondly, he chose a relatively valuable possession to give to each of his grandchildren. I received a cedar chest that my grandpa had handmade. I hope you can see the point in me sharing all of these details. Namely, for most of us, it’s not that difficult to obey Prov 13:22. Saving change and allotting a few personal items for your grandchildren might seem insignificant, but it is not. A good man does these things. And this leaves a tangible impression on your descendants. It shows them just how much you love the Lord and want to please Him.
What you give to your grandchildren likely will be different than what my grandfather did, and how you go about finding a wife will certainly be different than what my friend did. But that is the point of these proverbs. They are supposed to stir each of us into wise actions, and those actions may look different depending on your life circumstances. So, the question is, how will you respond to Prov 13:22, 18:22, and the rest of Proverbs?