Prov 8:23 [ESV] Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
There is this understanding that God has always been, and always will be. And, I guess that I am using “understanding”. In a fairly loose sense, as I don’t really understand this. I can say the words, and I know what they mean, but I can’t explain how this is possible. I don’t truly understand how anything can have no beginning and no end. Even the sun will eventually one day become cool and no longer heat the earth.
However, my eternal friend and God, Jesus, has introduced himself to me, in the middle of my fractured and broken life. He has introduced also some precepts, such as forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love, all of which are not bound by time. He has taken a life that was in trauma and headed for disaster, and has created a new heart, one full of gratitude and repentance, one that truly knows right from wrong, and sets out each day afresh to do what is right in His eyes.
He has recharted my temporal life and regrafted my eternal life, he has made a way that was impossible for me on my own, and has made a day that I can enjoy simply because He made it. These few aspects on their own have an echo of eternity.
KNOWLEDGE – There is a moment here when we read this scripture that the enormity of what is happening strikes at our heart. Here we are in the thick of the Old Testament, thousands of years before Jesus will appear on earth in the form of a man. And here he is – right in front of us – Jesus, eternal, all powerful, since before time (whatever that means) – no longer a picture of a humble rabi teaching crowds in the wilderness, mostly overlooked by the powers and authorities of the day.
Rather here we have the eternal God speaking directly to us through Solomon, foretelling the pouring out, and establishing an eternal authority. What a reverent moment it is as we reflect and consider this.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word used for “ages” is pronounced as “‘olam” in Hebrew, and carries the meaning of “everlasting, forever, eternity, from of old, lasting, for a duration”.
The LXX has “προ του αιώνος” [Before the eon] and the word for eon appears 165 times in the New Testament, with the translation of ” of the age; ever; eternity; forever; & from of old”
WISDOM
It’s a good practice to take time regularly and to remind ourselves of who Jesus is, before he came to earth in the form of a man.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Command as a Gallup Strength brings inspiration and words that carry weight and bring clarity. Be careful not to generate unnecessary confrontation.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – From before time, in eternity I was poured out in authority and position, from the origins of this world.
Ages ago – from before time, in eternity
I was set up – I was poured out
at the first, before – in authority and position
the beginning – from the origins
of the earth – of this world.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to position myself humbly at your feet, with reverence and awe.
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