Knowledge vs Obedience & The Role of the Holy Spirit – Proverbs 8

Over the past few years, here and there, I’ve been chewing over the role of the Holy Spirit in “knowing” Christ and thus in salvation itself.

I believe God is perfect — that means in part his justice and righteousness is perfect.  To my human understanding, that means every individual soul that will be judged at the end of time will —– have had the opportunity to make a choice between acceptance of His salvation or reject it.  And since salvation is through knowledge and acceptance of Christ, then that is the choice each soul will be given. 

But how does that work for those born before Jesus?  That is a common, shallow question, because scripture says Jesus always was – before he became flesh and born of man…

Today, I read Proverbs 8, and it brought up a thought I had on Solomon’s choice of gift, and by the end of the proverb, pretty much every bit I’ve been chewing over concerning the Holy Spirit had been touched:

¹ Does not wisdom call out?
       Does not understanding raise her voice? ² On the heights along the way,
       where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

Here, Solomon is talking about “wisdom” – or so it is directly stated – but by the end of the proverb, my early doubts seem to have been born out — that he is talking about the Holy Spirit – from whom wisdom of spiritual things comes.

But first, look at Solomon and wisdom:  (1 Kings 3:)

3:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
3:6And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.
3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go out or come in.
3:8And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
3:10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
3:11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

Isn’t this the same choice Adam and Eve faced in the Garden of Eden before the fall?

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

 ⁴ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Now, obviously, God told Solomon that his choice of more knowledge and understanding was good, and he rewarded him greatly.  It is also clealy true — Solomon did not live the rest of his life as that of an Elijah or an Abraham.  He gave in to temptations of the flesh.  Everything he touched did not prosper throughout his lifetime.  He was not so righteous that God saved him the pain of death and took him to heaven in a whirlwind or on a flying chariot…

So, wouldn’t it have been even better to ask for — obedience?

The Devil was one of the early creations, right?  And he was the most glorified of all the host of heaven besides God, the Holy Spirit, and Christ – God in 3 -, right?   The Devil’s knowledge has been great, but it has failed him miserably and will continue to do so throughout his eternity of suffering…..Why?  Because he did not have the gift of obedience and subservience.

 Back to Proverbs 8:

⁷ My mouth speaks what is true,
       for my lips detest wickedness. ⁸ All the words of my mouth are just;
       none of them is crooked or perverse.

That could be wisdom…

¹⁷ I love those who love me,
       and those who seek me find me.

??? – Wisdom?  I don’t think so.  I think this is the Holy Spirit.  Seek and ye shall find?  That is used for God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, isn’t it?

  ¹⁹ My fruit is better than fine gold;
       what I yield surpasses choice silver.

 ²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
       along the paths of justice,

 ²¹ bestowing wealth on those who love me
       and making their treasuries full.

Again, fruits of the Holy Spirit.  And here we are talking about rewards too.  Who gives rewards (and punishment) other than God?  Is this really Solomon personifying wisdom?  or is it the Holy Spirit speaking through Solomon about His role in the Trinity?

 ²² “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, ^[b] , ^[c]
       before his deeds of old;

 ²³ I was appointed ^[d] from eternity,
       from the beginning, before the world began.

 ²⁴ When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
       when there were no springs abounding with water;

I think that pretty much settles it…

When God is speaking at the start of Genesis in the plural, as he creates the universe, He has this which Solomon labels “wisdom” with him – in what we know of as the Holy Spirit and the word & savior – Christ.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, ^[b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Wisdom can be personified, but in reality it has no image – unlike God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…

Sermon – John Wesley – On the Holy Spirit

A sermon on the Holy Spirit by John Wesley.