Part one:
Do you agree with this view of the Book of Proverbs? Explain your point of view.
While reading the Book of Proverbs, it becomes clear to us that this book is largely concerned with the law, and is related to it in some way in terms of the ritual, moral, and civil law. Hence, we need to research the meaning of the law in terms of the immediate meaning (the law in the Torah) and the distant meaning (practical behavior, application of wisdom, and fear of the Lord). Through this, the relationship between the Book of Proverbs and the law becomes clear to us, not only in terms of the legal or ritual form, but in terms of the moral spirit that unites wisdom and the law. The Book of Proverbs does not present itself as a “second law,” but rather as a practical teaching that addresses and directs the individual to a successful and upright life within the framework of the fear of the Lord. This confirms to us that the basis of wisdom is not limited to external adherence to Sharia law, but rather the relationship with God that is evident in our daily behavior.
The Book of Proverbs is also concerned with the individual’s life and behaviors and how to apply God’s law to his daily life. We find that it gives a lot of wisdom and advice on how the individual chooses his friends, manages his money, protects himself from foreign women, controls his tongue, and a lot of advice and warnings that help him in his daily life. It does not address the covenant group as a people and convey prophecies to them, but rather it addresses the individual specifically to live according to the law of God that God gave in his covenant with Moses to be within the covenant group. This does not mean that it is separate from the covenant, but rather it focuses on applying the covenant on a personal level.
Therefore, I agree to some extent that one of the main themes of this book is the people’s commitment to and focus on the law, as the people of the covenant. We cannot ignore that the Book of Proverbs does not focus on the law as a set of laws only, but also on the wise life that stems from the fear of the Lord, because “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7), and this is the beginning of the book. In addition, the covenant people are called to adhere to the Sharia, not only in theory, but also with practical living behavior that embodies the fear of God in all aspects of life. Hence, we can say that the Book of Proverbs embodies the spirit of the law in the life of the individual believer, more than it recounts its texts. In this way, he completes the Torah and the Prophets.
Part Two:
Based on this point of view, explain how the Book of Proverbs relates to Christ.
Although the Book of Proverbs does not mention Christ directly, and does not contain explicit messianic prophecies like the Books of the Prophets, we cannot ignore the fact that Christ is the divine wisdom to which the book refers. We find that what Solomon spoke in the Book of Proverbs about the person of wisdom is a reference to Christ, the Word of God incarnated in the New Testament, where the wisdom of God is Christ, the hypostasis of the Word, equal to the Father in His nature and eternal, uncreated essence. We find the eternity of wisdom and His existence before creation in “The Lord created me in His way from the beginning, before His works from of old. From everlasting I was anointed, from the beginning, from the beginnings of the earth” (Mr 8:22-23) And wisdom is the Creator: “I was a craftsman with him, and daily was his delight, always rejoicing in his sight” (Proverbs 8:30). Wisdom is life, “For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 8:35). In the eighth chapter of the book, we find many different references to the person of Christ, which confirms to us how the Book of Proverbs is connected to Christ.
In addition, Christ himself in the New Testament relied heavily in his teachings with his disciples on the use of proverbs to bring the aforementioned meaning closer to them. This is very similar to what King Solomon presents to us in the book of applying Sharia law to life behaviors that reflect the fear of God. We also find in the Book of Proverbs a prophecy about the incarnation to show us how God’s descent from the heavens and His incarnation is a wondrous matter: “Who ascended into the heavens and descended? The ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if you knew? (Proverbs 4:30) From here we discover how the Book of Proverbs is connected to Christ through his being wisdom and the incarnate Son.