Proverbs: A Jungle Gym for your mind

I love the book of Proverbs. There are seven collections within the book. The first collection goes from chapters 1-9 and acts as an introduction to the rest.The main point of the introduction is to persuade us of the great value of wisdom.

7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

             and whatever you get, get insight.

8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

             she will honour you if you embrace her.

9 She will place on your head a graceful garland;

             she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

(Prov. 4:7-9)

 Wisdom is skill for living. It involves understanding the world that we live in and being able to act accordingly. In the book of Exodus, for instance, it’s all the skilled craftsman who make Aaron’s garments and decorate the tabernacle, who are said to be filled with God’s Spirit and with wisdom. Likewise, a master musician, or a skilled sportsman could be described as wise in their respective fields – because they both understand their craft and are able to execute proficiently.

But of course, the book of Proverbs is not primarily about helping us nail woodwork, master an instrument or succeed in sport. It’s about teaching us how to live the whole of our lives skilfully. It’s designed to make us wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15) by showing us not only how the world works – what the rules are etc. – but even more importantly who the ruler is, and how we can craft a life that is significant and worthy and beautiful in his sight. Hence,

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

             fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Prov. 1:7)

Now, the first nine chapters of Proverbs are a relatively straightforward, easy read. The argument seems to flow logically and coherently. Then in chapter 10 it’s as if we are thrown into the jungle. Suddenly, proverbs are flying at us thick and fast - on all manner of subjects. There seems to be no coherence to the material or connections between the sayings. At first, this can be a rather daunting and exhausting experience. If your bible’s anything like mine, you’ll notice that the publishers usually give up at this point and stop putting in headings. But this is where we see the real genius of the book. I call it the ‘Jungle Gym’ approach. And the proverbs are arranged in this way I think for at least three reasons:

First, because it deliberately excludes fools. The book of proverbs is self-consciously not for everyone. It’s for the wise to help them increase their knowledge, and it’s for the simple/youth to help them learn prudence etc. but it’s not for fools – for in their arrogance they will never learn (Prov. 1:1-7). So while chapters 1-9 are simple and accessible to everyone, in chapter 10 the fools are weeded out. The increased difficulty here will whittle down the readers to those who really believe in the value of wisdom. For those who remain unpersuaded by the previous chapters (i.e. the fools), this is the point at which they will check out. Like parables, Proverbs are designed deliberately to exclude such people (cf. Mark 4:10-12). They refuse to reward the lazy sluggard. In this way, the book of proverbs is a bit like a gym. The value of a gym is clear for all to see from the outside, but in the end, it’s only the people who put in the hard work who will get the reward.

Moreover (secondly) it is precisely the hardness of the work that makes the gym effective. For our muscles to grow and strengthen, we need to push them through resistance and struggle. Just so, the book of Proverbs is designed like a gym for the mind. It’s meant to be tough. You’re meant to put your back into it. You’re meant to struggle and strain through the complexity because you know the great prize that awaits you.

In particular, it is the complex arrangement of the book that makes it so difficult – rather than the individual proverbs themselves. Imagine, for instance, if it had all been arranged simply - one topic after another (as it is often preached). This would be like removing the weights from a gym and still expecting people to grow strong. They wouldn’t. The point is that you can’t “get wisdom” in three easy steps. A simple arrangement would only perpetuate simplistic thinking. That’s why it’s not a simple book, it’s a complex book, that forces us to learn wisdom by its very arrangement. It teaches us patience, discernment, hard work, good listening, careful thinking, precisely as we engage in its complexity.

Thirdly, of course the gym is meant to prepare us for the world. And the book of proverbs reflects how the world is. It’s a jungle out there! The world is a complex ecosystem. It’s not simple or neat – like an excel spreadsheet or a machine, it’s complicated and organic like a rainforest or the human body. Each part of the ecosystem feeds into and effects another part. It can look messy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not ordered, or that the arrangement doesn’t matter. You might not know how algae effects gorilla numbers, or how lies and lust and laziness are all connected but they are. And wisdom is to be found in knowing the connections. Knowing what will happen if you turn this knob or pull that lever. For instance, did you know that the Sahara Desert is essential for all the life in the Amazon Rainforest? Up until a few years ago, I would not have thought that the two places were connected at all. I mean they could not be more different - Life and Death, Rain and Drought. You couldn’t get two more different environments. They’re on two different continents, thousands of miles of away from each other. But apparently – all credit to the kind folks at NASA who enlightened me on this – each year the strong winds in the Sahara Desert pick up millions of tons of dust, carry it across the Atlantic Ocean and dump it on the Amazon basin, fertilizing the whole rainforest with nutrients. Who would have thought?

And just as we inhabit a physical ecosystem, we also inhabit a moral and social and spiritual ecosystem – with hidden connections to be found there as well. The reason our world is in such a mess, is because having rejected God, we no longer have the wisdom required to rule his world – the environment, the economy etc. We know there is an orderliness to the creation, that can be mapped with mathematical precision and taxonomy and ecology, but as long as we keep on resisting God’s revelation, our sin and his judgment will continue to frustrate our understanding of it.

The book of proverbs is designed to show us the intricacies of God’s good design, and the connections that underpin the moral and relational structure of his world. Just like a jungle there is a hidden orderliness behind the apparent chaos. The proverbs have been carefully arranged and are deeply connected – usually by catchwords, bookends and otherpatterns of repetition. The job of the reader is to patiently study these patterns (like a good botanist!) and discern the hidden connections. This will take lots of hard work, but in the process of learning about the book, we will also be learning about the world the book is designed to reflect. We will find God’s word (through both its message and medium) shaping the way we perceive and understand God’s world. So next time you read through the book of Proverbs, ask yourself, not just what does this or that particular proverb mean? But also, why have the proverbs been placed in this arrangement and what does that teach me about the way God’s world is arranged?