Proverbs 2 - Introduction

Discourse 2. The Source Of True Wisdom Is YHWH, And Those Who Truly Seek Wisdom Will Find YHWH Himself, And He Will Then Reveal His Wisdom To Them. And This Wisdom That God Gives Them Will Deliver Them From All Who Are Evil (Proverbs 2:1).

We now learn that those who receive Solomon's words and seek for true wisdom, will come to the place where they understand the fear of YHWH and find the knowledge of God. For it is God Who gives such wisdom, and it is He Who, whilst showing the upright (His holy ones) the way to walk, will also act as a shield on their behalf. And this He partly does through the impartation of His wisdom. Thus he makes clear that we are to see in the teaching which follows the words of a Father (the One Who is to be ‘feared', Proverbs 2:5 compare Proverbs 3:12) Who is giving guidance to His children, although the idea of fatherhood as regards God is implicit rather than explicit.

So there are three stages by which truth comes to the young man. Firstly it comes from God Himself (Proverbs 2:6). Secondly it is communicated through Solomon as father of the nation under God (Proverbs 1:1). And thirdly it is communicated through a man's own godly father and mother (Proverbs 1:8). This last is, of course, the ideal. But sadly not all parents give good teaching to their children. Nevertheless, overriding this chain is the fact that God Himself also communicates with the young man (Proverbs 2:6). Neither Solomon nor parents would prevail were it not for the voice of God in the heart.

We should note that in this passage there are three conflicting voices which call to the young Man 1:1) the voice of his mentor urging him in the upright path, 2) the voice of the one who speaks perverse things who seeks to led him astray (Proverbs 2:12), and 3) the voice of the foreign woman who flatters with her word and seeks to ruin him sexually (Proverbs 2:16), and we might add a fourth, the voice of Him from Whose mouth comes knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6). In a clamorous world it is important to heed the voice of God's wisdom.

A feature of this chapter is the emphasis on two ways in which a man can walk, one the way of life and righteousness (Proverbs 2:7 b, Proverbs 2:19; Proverbs 2:20), and the other the way of sin, darkness and death (Proverbs 2:12; Proverbs 2:15; Proverbs 2:18). A major emphasis in Solomon's teaching is the need to walk in the right way.