Stump Matt 4/9/2017

What does Solomon mean by “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out seven pillars”?

So let’s look at Proverbs 9:1,

Proverbs 9:1 HCSB

Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.

The seven pillars thing has had people curious. The main suggestion I’ve seen is that the seven pillars correspond to the seven days of Creation. This is more likely because in Wisdom is being described as a person who was around during Creation. So this could possibly be referring to that.

But honestly, I don’t think so. There are times in the Bible where numbers are extremely important, and intentionally telling us something about the story. But I think sometimes people overblow it. Sometimes numbers are just numbers. In this situation, I would say that, like the Book of Revelation, seven suggests perfection. But I wouldn’t go further than that for the number seven. So what does this text mean? Looking at the context, I would say this.

At this point in the book of Proverbs, Solomon is contrasting wisdom and foolishness. He does this by personifying them as women. We see Wisdom as a beautiful woman, the pinnacle of stability and the source of happiness. Foolishness, or usually translated Folly, is the exact opposite. Listen to part of the description of Folly and Wisdom.

Proverbs 9:13–18 HCSB

The woman Folly is rowdy; she is gullible and knows nothing. She sits by the doorway of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling to those who pass by, who go straight ahead on their paths: “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!” To the one who lacks sense, she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten secretly is tasty!” But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverbs 9:13

Proverbs 9:1–6 HCSB

Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her female servants; she calls out from the highest points of the city: “Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!” To the one who lacks sense, she says, “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave inexperience behind, and you will live; pursue the way of understanding.

Proverbs 9:1-

The idea is that being foolish is inherently unstable, and that wisdom is stable. Her house is stable. It is secured with seven (again, number of perfection) pillars.

It may be that Jesus had this passage in mind when He spoke of the two men who built houses, one upon the rock and the other upon the sand.

Could there be an angelic redemption plan God created but He didn’t tell us that?

The simple answer is: No.

It’s easy to see how it could be possible. We know that angels sinned. We know that there are good angels in the Book of Revelation. And we know that we don’t know everything! Couldn’t God have withheld it from us? While that is technically possible, the doctrine of the Atonement makes it extremely unlikely, enough that I can comfortable say: No.

Think about what the Atonement is. What the Incarnation is. The whole Jesus story. Sin kills. We who have sinned are damned to Hell. And so the Second Person of the Trinity comes down and takes on human flesh. He incarnates Himself not as an angel, but as a man. He may have appeared in the Old Testament as an angel, but in the beginning of the New Testament the Son of God becomes man. The Son of God, of infinite value, is then slaughtered and killed. For us. He takes on the punishment for us. And then He is Resurrected three days later, and to this day and forevermore is the God-man.

My question is: If the Father created us as sons and daughters (cf. ), the Son became man, and the Spirit was given to us as a down payment, what is left to redeem angels with? The very nature of the Atonement suggests that only one race could be redeemed, and that God redeemed mankind.

Why is it important that we hold to a six-day Creation?

Before we talk about holding to a six-day creation, we have to realize that there are two groups of people who deny a literal Creation week, and we shouldn’t lump all of them together.

First, there’s the group of people who believe that the account is using poetry to organize creation. These people are not denying a supernatural creation by God. In fact, the majority of them aren’t even saying that God couldn’t have created in six days! But this group of people would say that Scripture isn’t make the explicit claim that God created the universe in six days. They are saying that Scripture is inerrant, but that Scripture doesn’t demand a six-day creation.

The second group is the one we are probably more used to. This group says that the writer of Genesis did not have our modern scientific knowledge, and so we have to ignore what was written in lieu of modern scientific knowledge. This group is willing to say that Scripture demands a six-day creation, but they say that Scripture is wrong. These are two very different groups.

I believe that someone can be in the first group and be godly biblical Christians. That said, I think they’re wrong. Those in the second group are probably not going to be godly biblical Christians. But here’s the thing. How long it took to create the universe has been debated for thousands of years. But until about 200 years ago, the question was not “How could God create the entire universe in only six days?” but rather, “Why would it take such a powerful God six whole days to create the universe?” The question being asked says much about our view of God.

I also want to say this. There are some who say, “Well, I’m going to believe the Bible, but I can’t ignore science and scientists.” Fair enough, but realize that science is ever-growing and ever-correcting. And the scientists that some theologians want to placate by changing their views on creation and evolution simply won’t be satisfied. If your desire to conform to modern science leads you to believe that God created the universe over a period of billions of years and that Adam and Eve were our first parents, but that they had evolved, you are still holding to a belief of the beginning of the world that secular science will absolutely reject! The correct response isn’t to bow to modern science, but to recognize that modern scientists have some seriously flawed presuppositions that distort their results. The best course of action, the safest, and I believe the most accurate, is to take the view of the Jewish rabbis and the Christian Church for the last 2,500 years up to Darwin. God created the universe in six literal days.

What does the Bible say about church authority (not like the Pope, but also not like nothing Pastor says matters)