My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
—Proverbs 2:1–5
The Bible calls us to search for wisdom like we would dig for buried treasure. But where do we find such wisdom? The false teachers in Colossae promised wisdom apart from Christ or in addition to Christ. But the Apostle Paul proclaimed Christ and Christ alone as the resevoir of all God’s wisdom:
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
—Colossians 2:1–3, emphasis mine
Biblical wisdom reveals the path that leads to flourishing. Thus, we must use it to develop ethics and to order our lives. As we consider the right use of OT wisdom literature in these endeavors, let’s remember that God has fully and finally revealed all—not some of or even most of but all—the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ alone. Anyone who would use any so-called “wisdom” to lead us away from Christ is merely seeking to enslave us (Col 2:8). The right use of OT wisdom literature always leads to Christ as the source and treasure trove of all wisdom (Col 2:3).
A Biblical Model of the Right Use of OT Wisdom Literature
Hebrews 12 calls us to run after Christ in the path Christ pioneered. This race involves suffering and sacrifice, but it leads to life. The author of Hebrews used a quotation from Proverbs to support his call for perseverance. Let’s take a closer look at how the author of Hebrews used OT wisdom literature in Hebrews 12:1-13:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
—Hebrews 12:1–13
The Right Use of OT Wisdom Literature
How does the Bible’s own use of wisdom literature guide us in its right use?
The Bible teaches us to use OT wisdom literature as a pathway for flourishing that reveals God, is fulfilled by Christ, and guides the church.
A Pathway for Flourishing
Wisdom literature reveals the path to life and flourishing (Prov 1:1–7; 2:1–2). When God and his word captivate us, we walk in his ways and find everlasting life. In our use of OT wisdom literature, we should use it as a guide to the good life that reveals how to walk rightly in this broken world.
Hebrews 12 models this for us. The author used Proverbs 3 to teach us how to walk well through suffering. As we walk through suffering, the life-giving path involves persevering faith and joy in Christ and not embittered weariness that eventually gives up. We can walk this path by remembering that such suffering marks us as God’s beloved children and produces holiness in our lives. As the author of Hebrews declares: “he disciplines us for our good.” (Heb 12:10, emphasis mine)
Reveals God
Like all Scripture, OT wisdom literature reveals God. We see the author of Hebrews uses Proverbs 3 to proclaim God’s character as a loving Father. When we suffer, it’s easy to lose sight of God and to doubt his goodness. But through Proverbs 3, the author of Hebrews reminds us that God is a loving Father, whom we should trust. Our suffering is a sign of his love.
Fulfilled by Christ
In the OT era, wisdom literature pointed God’s people to the Law as the deposit of his life-giving wisdom: “Blessed is that man...whose delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on the Law he meditates during the day and night.” (Psa 1:1–2) But now, just as the Law leads us to Christ, so too wisdom literature ought to lead us to Christ.¹ Christ is the wise man prophesied in Psalm 1. He is God’s kingly son, addressed in Proverbs. He is the culmination of the Law and the treasure trove of all God’s wisdom (Prov 2:4; Rom 10:4; Col 2:3). His gospel reveals the answers to the enigmas of life in this cursed world.² Christ alone reveals the Father and invites us to walk in his life-giving way (Matt 11:25–30).
We see the author of Hebrews uses Proverbs 3 as fulfilled by Christ in two ways. First, he considered Christ’s life as a life-giving pattern for our own (Heb 12:1–3). Note that the author calls us to “consider” Christ and his gospel story, particularly the opposition he endured, before introducing the quotation from Proverbs. During suffering, walking in Christ’s way requires persevering through suffering and leads to eternal flourishing. His gospel story becomes the pattern for wise living. Christ endured the cross and received glory. So too we must persevere through suffering in the hope of eternal rest. The author of Hebrews used Christ’s gospel story as the model for wise living.
Second, Hebrews uses Proverbs 3 as it comes to us through Christ. In Christ, the Father has become our own Father, and we have become his sons. Thus, as God addresses his royal son through Proverbs, he also addresses us in Christ.
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
Hebrews 12:5
Guides the Church
The Bible uses OT wisdom literature to guide the church. The author of Hebrews supported his call to persevere in Christ as we suffer by turning us to Proverbs 3. Further, he used Proverbs 3 to guide us in how we understand and endure suffering: as loving discipline, as a mark of our true status as the Father’s beloved children, and as a pathway to holiness! Finally, he used Proverbs 3 as a direct address from God to his children in Christ (Heb 12:5). We too should use wisdom literature as it comes to us in Christ to instruct the church regarding how to walk in wisdom’s life-giving way.