Proverbs 12 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

The wisdom of Proverbs is given to the people of God at the very pinnacle of Israel’s history as it is recorded in the Old Testament. Finally, God’s people are in God’s place, the Promised Land, living under God’s rule and blessing and being led by God’s king, the Son of David, who is the wisest man to have ever lived at that time. Although not all of the proverbs in this book were written by Solomon the vast majority were, and, here, we see his overarching concern that the people of God learn to live according to God’s wisdom under God’s law in order that they might not lose the privilege of living in God’s place in the land of blessing.

Notice, for instance, this theme in v.3 when Solomon says, “No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.” By this, he means that no one will be established in the land of Israel for long if he continues to despise God’s counsel, for the wicked will be removed from the land. He infers the same point in v.7 saying, “The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.” And we see this literally fulfilled later on when the house of Israel is overthrown first in the 8th century and then the house of Judah is overthrown in the 6th century. This idea of walking in wisdom as a means to stay within the land of promise recurs again and again in the wisdom literature of the Bible (see Ps. 37.9; 37.11; Prov. 2.21-22; 10.30; Ecc. 10.16-17 for just a few examples).

But with Christ’s death opening the way for both Jews and Gentiles to come into the heavenly courts of the Lord by faith, there is now no particular place on earth in which God’s presence is said to abide. Instead, the Lord promises to be wherever two or three are gathered together in his name. Thus, it is not the United States that is to be compared today to Israel, but, rather, the Church of Christ. And once someone has been admitted into the church (God’s place) as a Christian (God’s people) he or she will also come under the ministry of the Word (God’s law and gospel) and enjoy much of the fruit of the Spirit along with a wide variety of other benefits that flow out of one’s union with Christ (God’s blessing).

However, if one does not walk in wisdom, or in the light, or in step with Christ, he or she can lose the blessings of assurance along with many other spiritual blessings as well. And if one gets to the point of stubborn rebellion and unrepentant wickedness, he or she can also be cut off from the church in the same manner as Israel was cut off from the land. This doesn’t necessarily or permanently seal anyone’s fate, though, for through repentance, one can be restored to the church just as the remnant was restored to the land. But it is still a very dangerous position to be in to find oneself outside of the realm of God’s blessing, thus the same warnings that Solomon gives to his sons, Christ now gives to his Church.

Because Christ is wisdom personified, his words are the very essence of wisdom. So Paul says to all believers in the Church today in Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,” so that you might “walk in wisdom” (Col 4.5). Anyone who seeks to walk in the wisdom of Christ will find much comfort and assurance in their faith, but those who neglect God’s Word and commands, will be cut off from those same blessings. So as you read God’s Word, be sure to pray for the wisdom to receive it as well as to enjoy the many blessings of faith and obedience to Christ.