I recently spoke with Sidney Greidanus about preaching Christ properly from the Old Testament and we came to the issue of preaching Christ from Wisdom Literature. He thinks that Wisdom Literature is the most difficult type of biblical literature to preach Christ from because there is no real connection in it to the Person of Christ or the Work of Christ (the two categories that are typically used to get to Christ from the Old Testament). He suggested that it is legitimate to create another category from which we may get to Christ from Wisdom Literature, namely, the wisdom of Christ, that is, the teachings of Christ.

I didn´t have much time to work more of his thoughts from him, but I´ll have more from him on this subject on tape soon.

What do you guys think?

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Marcos Peters
Twynholm Baptist Church (FIEC)
London England

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:18-24

...which is Christ,
Col 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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Chris Rhoades -33
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (PCA) Nashville, TN-Under Care

Vera theologia non theoretica, sed practica est; Finis siquidem eius agere est hoc est vitam vivere deiformem. - Martin Bucer
""True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

"Christ... the wisdom of God." 1 Cor. 1:24

This doesn't make preaching OT wisdom any easier, but it is the starting point, I think. I also think that it is precisely here that the most radical redemptive-historical proponents (the ones who actually condemn practical application) are truly at a loss. Can Proverbs--that surely puts on paper the lived-out wisdom of not only Solomon, who frequently erred, but preeminently Christ, who was "greater than Solomon"--can it be preached without a "go and do likewise" motif everywhere and always?

In addition, Proverbs 8 is quite arguably about none other than Christ (the feminine gender notwithstanding, "wisdom" is simply a "feminine" term in Hebrew, just like in Greek, but without old-gnostic/modern-feministic connotations).

Job has a similar passage on wisdom, ch. 28. And a standard NT interpretation of the manifested Jehovah of the OT (whenever, wherever, however, every "thus saith the Lord," every single Word in fact) is theophany of Christ, so n.b. God in the tempest, chs. 39-41.

Song of Solomon has a long history of Christological interpretation.

Ecclesiastes is admittedly difficult (the first, and only, true "apologetic" treatise in Scripture). Its subject is so much the 'negation' of human philosophy. God's wisdom is played up in contrast.

I'm assuming the Psalms are excepted from the question, being so devotional, and obviously Christological. Even in the NT the inner spiritual (emotional and devotional) life of our Savior is not as fulsomely disclosed. This is beside the Messianic indicators, of which the Psalms are replete.

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


When posting friends, kindly bear those words of earthly wisdom in mind:
Oh, that God the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us.
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Well said, Bruce.

The whole of Scripture is about Christ and given that Christ is the wisdom of God, the wisdom literature quite naturally is full of Christ.

As Augustine said, the voice of Christ and his church is well-nigh the only voice to be heard in the Psalms.

Proverbs 8 is most definitely about Christ. I commend Matthew Henry's commentary on this chapter.

And here is James Durham's commentary on the Song of Songs, in which he sees Christ and the church.

Christ said of himself in relation to Solomon, the wisest of men: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. (Matt. 12.42)

Christ expounded upon himself in the scriptures with his disciples on the road to Emmaus with Moses and the prophets, but most certainly all of scripture speaks to us of Christ, including the wisdom literature.

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

I think it would be helpful to understand the Wisdom literature within the framework of the OT worldview. The theology of these texts are assumed, not necessarily propounded. They are thus commands for practical living for God's redeemed people. They are not just pithy sayings that apply to any religion. You cannot isolate them from the redemptive culture in which they were written and for whom they were written. From there we can extrapolate and apply the text to ourselves today.

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Patrick
OPC
MDiv, RTS Jackson.

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.

I think it was Waltke who said about the Proverbs: "Taken one at a time, they are not true." His point was that they are all about Christ and must be understood from a Christological perspective. Now, how he actually did that is another matter.

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Scott Roberts
Ruling Elder, Lakeside Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Southlake, Texas