Creator God, Creation and the Wisdom of Solomon
Author: Bobby Valentine | Filed under: Apocrypha, Christian hope, Culture, Environment, Jewish Backgrounds, Love, Paul, Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon
In the “Middle Testament” there is a book called the “Wisdom of Solomon.” Wisdom, or Sophia Salomonos, is contained in all the ancient Bibles like Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Sinaiticus and part of manuscript Bibles till the invention of the printing press in Europe. In Reformation Bibles (Luther, Zurich, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, Geneva, Bishop’s, KJV) it was included though placed between the Testaments (an practice introduced by Martin Luther). (For a general introduction see my article: Wisdom of Solomon, The Righteous Live Forever).
Scholars are divided on exactly when Wisdom was written but it was before the time of Jesus. Some place it as early as 200 BC and others within the century before Messiah. At any rate, it is one of the inherited treasures from the for Septuagint to the church. And it is a treasure. Most of the church fathers quote the book as Scripture (even Athanasius). Its influence is readily seen in the NT writings especially Romans and Hebrews and is quoted countless times by the Church Fathers (and Mothers). Of the many wonderful themes in this book is its witness to God the Creator and the goodness of Creation.
I want to highlight four texts that speak of God the Creators love exhibited in Creation; how Creation mirrors the beauty of the Creator; how Creation is the servant of the Lord even as humanity continues to rebel against the Creator; and finally how all Creation is presented in the Temple because it hangs (literally) on the High Priest. All of this sheds light on New Testament teaching on Creation.
God’s Love Exhibited in Caring for Creation
“For it is always in your power to show great strength,
and who can withstand the might of your arm?
Because the whole world before you is like a speck
that tips the scales,
and like a drop of morning dew that falls to the ground.
But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,
For you love everything that exist; you do not despise
anything that you have made.
If you did not like it, you would not have made it
in the first place.
How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth
by you have been preserved?
You spare all things, for they are yours,
O Lord, you who love the living”
(Wisdom 11.21-26)
Creation Mirrors the Beauty of the Creator
“For from the greatness and beauty of created things
comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.
Yet these people {idolaters} are little to be blamed,
for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and
desiring to find him. For while they live among
his works, they keep searching, and they trust
what they see, because the things that are
seen are beautiful. Yet again, not even they
are to be excused; for they had the power to
know so much that they could investigate
the world, how did they fail to find sooner
the Lord of all these things …”
(Wisdom 13.5-9, whole chapter is illuminating. This language should resonate with any reader of Romans)
Creation Serves the Creator God
“For creation, serving you who made it,
exerts itself to punish the unrighteous and evil,
and in kindness relaxes on behalf of
those who trust in you.
Therefore at that time also, changed
into all forms,
it served your all-nourishing bounty,
according to the desire of those who had need,
So that your children, whom you loved,
O Lord, might learn
that it is not the production of crops that
feeds humanity
but that your word sustains those
who trust in you.”
(Wisdom 16.24-26)
All Creation is in the Temple Hanging on the High Priest
“For when the dead had already fallen
one one anther in heaps,
He [God] intervened and held back the wrath,
and cut off its way to the living.
For on his long robe [i.e. High Priest] the whole
world was depicted,
and the glories of the ancestors were
engraved on four rows of stones,
and your [God’s] was on the diadem
upon his [High Priest] head.
To these the destroyer yielded,
these he feared …”
(Wisdom 18.23-25)
Reflections
In Wisdom, Creation is the production of God’s infinite love. The existence of the cosmos is the expression of love of the God of Israel. Creation serves the Creator in both holding human sin in check and while providing for all God has made. Creation itself proclaims the glory of the Creator (it is after all an expression of God’s infinite love!) so beautifully that some even mistake the cosmos itself as divine. And finally Creation is preserved from death by being in God’s presence in the Holy of Holies as the High Priest represents all the world to God but also has God’s “diadem” on his head. The Priest holds, seemingly, Creation and Creator together and banishes death.
Everyone of these themes saturate both the “Old” and “New” Testaments. Wisdom gives us eyes to see the world of Jesus, Paul and Revelation. God really does love the whole world and in our High Priest he does hold Creation and Creator TOGETHER.
October 28th, 2022 at 9:32 am
“Infinite love”! Infinite!! Love!! We humans can’t fully understand the words. It’s difficult to understand either word separately, let alone coupled together – as “infinite love”. God’s word helps us in that endeavor. Revealing to mankind who and what he is does help us begin to understand “infinite” and “love”.
We gaze at and ponder the world we live in, read about the creation, and gain a little more understanding about infinite love.
God’s Law, which existed long before it was presented in writing, is as representative of “infinite love” as is Creation. It is “not a list of rules or do’s and don’ts” as some have reduced it to!
And, the Lord will be the diadem of his people, Isaiah 28.5. Is that not the Priest, holding Creation and Creator together, through his infinite love, and banishing death?
Shalom,
JT