NoHo Study, Friday July 26th at the Dandurands at 7PM

I hope you have all enjoyed the many events we have been able to enjoy this month. I certainly have and I look forward to the events in August as well.

Please remember to arrive in time to begin promptly at 7:30PM.

I hope to get through the rest of Proverbs 8 this Friday. That means, we will be focusing on Proverbs 8:17-36

Here are the questions for this Friday.

Proverbs 8.17 I love those who love me,

and those who seek me diligently find me. 

What does it mean to look for something diligently? 

 What principle can we learn about obtaining wisdom from this verse?

 What tension might this create with our theology?

 Can this tension be resolved? If so, how?

Prov. 8:18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.

Prov. 8:19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,

and my yield than choice silver.

Prov. 8:20 I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice,

Prov. 8:21 granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

18: What are those who receive wisdom promised in verse 18? Is this all spiritual or is there something more tangible involved?

19: If you think of fruit, just normal fruit, like peaches and oranges and apricots, what do you know about how it is grown? Take some time, 10 or 15 minutes, to learn a little bit, maybe look on google to find out what farmers do to increase the fruit yield of their crops. Also, how long does it take, roughly, to see these changes take effect? Fertilizing, pruning, watering, sun exposure, etc.

What principle can we learn about obtaining the fruit of wisdom from this verse?

Proverbs 8.20           I walk in the way of righteousness,

                        in the paths of justice,

Proverbs 8.21           granting an inheritance to those who love me,

                        and filling their treasuries.

Who are those who love wisdom?

Proverbs 8.22 ¶       “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,

                        the first of his acts of old.

Proverbs 8.23           Ages ago I was set up,

                        at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

If Wisdom was set up, was an act of God, was possessed by God, what can Wisom NOT be?

Remember from our previous lessons, we have learned that Wisdom is the way things are made, the manner in which they are made to accomplish the purpose of their creation. As that applies to man, it is living in accord with the purpose to which we were made, i.e. to glorify God with our lives. Consider that as you read this next large section. What does it mean that Wisdom was beside God as He began to create the earth and the Heavens?

Proverbs 8.24           When there were no depths I was brought forth,

                        when there were no springs abounding with water.

Proverbs 8.25           Before the mountains had been shaped,

                        before the hills, I was brought forth,

Proverbs 8.26           before he had made the earth with its fields,

                        or the first of the dust of the world.

Proverbs 8.27           When he established the heavens, I was there;

                        when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

Proverbs 8.28           when he made firm the skies above,

                        when he established the fountains of the deep,

Proverbs 8.29           when he assigned to the sea its limit,

                        so that the waters might not transgress his command,

             when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

Proverbs 8.30           then I was beside him, like a master workman,

             and I was daily his delight,

                        rejoicing before him always,

Proverbs 8.31           rejoicing in his inhabited world

                        and delighting in the children of man.

What principle can we learn about obtaining wisdom from these verses?

What other part of scripture, i.e. book, do verses 24-31 reference? Can you find at least one verse from that book which demonstrates the wisdom of God?

Proverbs 8.32 ¶       “And now, O sons, listen to me:

                        blessed are those who keep my ways.

Proverbs 8.33           Hear instruction and be wise,

                        and do not neglect it.

Proverbs 8.34           Blessed is the one who listens to me,

                        watching daily at my gates,

After wisdom establishes her primacy and importance she begins to instruct.

According to verses 32-34, what is our responsibility if we would be blessed and wise?

Proverbs 8.35           For whoever finds me finds life

                        and obtains favor from the LORD,

Proverbs 8.36           but he who fails to find me injures himself;

                        all who hate me love death.”

Verse 35 refers back to verse 17, "those who seek me diligently, find me." What else does the diligent seeker receive or find?

If we are promised wisdom if we seek her diligently, then who is it that doesn't find wisdom?

:36 - How else is this person described in verse 36?