Proverbs' Wisdom as she progresses through Christ's ministry

Jesus Christ says in Matthew 12: [34] O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

He says in Matthew 24: [34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. [35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

"That generation talked about in Matthew 12 and 24, and in Luke 7 and 11, is the one in Proverbs 30 that epitomizes everything that God is going to destroy. Proverbs is where Wisdom speaks to Israel when that generation takes over," explains Jordan.

"When wisdom shows up in Israel, here's how wisdom's going to speak to the nation. First thing she does is she goes out into the streets of Israel crying to the leaders of the nation to repentance.

"Proverbs 1: [20] Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

[21] She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
[22] How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

[23] Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 

"You see, they're not Believers; they're rebels. 'Turn you at my reproof.' That's, 'Repent, turn around.'

"The passage goes on:

[24] Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
[25] But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
[26] I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
[27] When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

"Look at the terminology there. In verse 26 there's calamity, fear. In verse 27 is desolation, a whirlwind, distress, anguish. What do those words remind you of? Those are descriptions of the day of the Lord, the day of His wrath.

"In Zephaniah 1 the same terms are used to describe this great, gloomy, dreadful dark day of God's judgment on Israel. Proverbs is looking toward that end time.

"Verse 28: [28] Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

"That's the opposite of what Christ told the Believers. He said, 'Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be open to you.'

"This crowd has rejected Him but the Believing Remnant gets to ask and receive, seek and find, knock and its open. There's two different groups. Here's the rejecters:

[29] For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
[30] They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
[31] Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
[32] For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
[33] But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Proverbs 2:21-22: [21] For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

[22] But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. 

Proverbs 3:

[30] Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
[31] Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
[32] For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
[33] The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
[34] Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
[35] The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

"That title 'the oppressor' is a title used over and over in the Psalms and in the prophets for the Antichrist. Verse 33 takes place in the day of the Lord.

"Proverbs 8: 

[1] Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

[2] She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
[3] She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
[4] Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

"Now she's not just crying in the streets out in the city; she's gone outside of the city to the high places, to the hills around it. She's gone out into the highways and hedges to cry, 'Repent!' When that doesn't get a response . . . 

Proverbs 9:

[1] Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
[2] She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
[3] She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
[4] Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
[5] Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
[6] Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

"Now she's NOT out running; she's built her a house and out of that house she sends out her maidens, her messengers and they go out and cry, 'Hey, guys, dinner's ready. Come on in!'

"That progression of wisdom is exactly what happens in the earthly ministry of Christ. Matthew 11 and 12 is where a crisis point takes place in the ministry of Christ. The leaders of the nation Israel reject Him and won't have nothing to do with Him.

"Matthew 12:14: [14] Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

"That's the first time they come together to destroy Him. Notice His response: [15] But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

[16] And charged them that they should not make him known:

"Isn't that strange verse? That verse would kill evangelism if you tried to follow the Lord in Matthew. Why'd He do that?

"Matthew 16:15: [15] He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 

"Matthew 17:8-9: [8] And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

[9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

"The message to the apostles was, 'Don't go out and emphasize His messianic office as the Christ; His public office.' Jesus withdraws from a public ministry calling everybody and begins to focus on one group of people. He builds Him a house of Believers, the tabernacle of David. A tabernacle is a tent made out of skin.

"Notice the end of verse 6 in Matthew 12: 'That in this place is one greater than the temple.' The end of verse 41: 'Behold, a greater than Jonas is here.' The end of verse 42: 'Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.'

"There's the greater priest, the greater prophet, the greater king. He's the true prophet, priest and king in Israel and He's been rejected.

"He tells them in verses 31-32: [31] Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

[32] And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

"They're blaspheming against the Son of Man right there, rejecting Him, speaking evil of Him. They say He has a demon.

"Matthew 13 begins, [1] The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

[2] And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
[3] And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

"Why does He begin to teach them in parables? Jesus said it was so certain people could NOT understand. 

"Matthew 13:10-11: [10] And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

[11] He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

"Jesus answered them, 'I'm going to speak in parables to HIDE from them because, having eyes they don't see, and having ears they won't hear, and having a heart they won't believe. But I'm going to give it to you and I'll explain to you how to understand it. For them, they're just going to be left out.'

"He spends the rest of His ministry building that house; the Little Flock. He goes away and sends the messengers, the apostles and prophets, out of His house to call Israel to repentance again. You see how His earthly ministry follows that pattern of wisdom?

"In Luke 7, what He's talking about here is, [35] But wisdom is justified of all her children. He's saying, 'Hey, Wisdom is ministering in Israel just like she said she was going to minister.' And wisdom's children HEAR, but that crowd out there isn't wisdom's children because they aren't getting it; they refuse it.

"Where we are in Luke is basically the Matthew 11 setting. In fact, in verse 16 and following in Matthew 11, you'll find this same passage.

"It's right at the point in Israel's history when that wisdom is no longer going to be crying in the streets in the chief places of the city to the leaders, but she's going to go over here quietly and go out to the highways and the hedges to publicans and sinners; to the nobodies.

"Those people come, and out of that group of people He's going to build a house in which He's going to live, out of which He's going to send a message back to Israel to, 'Come and dine.' "

(new article tomorrow)