"From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth"
This is a section that is establishing the antiquity of wisdom. It is quite an impressive section. God, through Solomon, is declaring that the quality or attribute of wisdom is an aspect of God and, therefore, did not begin with the creation of the world. Wisdom existed in eternity before there was a universe and space and time. In fact, wisdom is that which allowed God to "choose" among the various options that were available to Him about this coming universe. This passage suggests that of all the possibilities that presented themselves to His limitless mind, He chose to use, employ, and direct those which would be for His glory and our benefit. This is exactly what the scientists are finding – that the universe has been fine-tuned for our existence and benefit. They call this the anthropic principle.
Within the last thirty years the scientists have been astounded at various fixed values that have been hardwired into the universe because they all are specifically designed to sustain and provide for our form of life. Some astrophysicists have suggested that it looks as though someone has been monkeying with the physics. I would suggest that you could read Mere Creation by Dembsinki or The Creation Hypothesis by Moreland.
What this passage tells us is that God – from outside our dimensionality – planned the universe for our arrival and specifically chose to provide for us in what He created. It is an amazing thing and deserving of great worship to God. As the various avenues of scientific research pour their information on us, we are continually reduced to shock and awe and stunned worshipful silence. God did design the universe with us in mind. He exists and brought the universe into being after having planned every detail of it for our arrival and existence.
Solomon's argument in this whole section is that wisdom predates the universe, our world, the mountains, the sea, and resides in the presence – if not essence – of God. It is the way that God acts and it should be the way that we act. If you want to be like God and live as you were intended to live, then live out a life of wisdom. Wisdom is not just a technique that God invented for living in this world; it predates the world and is the way that He acts. Get in step with wisdom or you will be out of step with God.
The other side of this argument that is not mentioned here in this section is that foolishness is not at all like God. If you are selfish and possessive, you will destroy yourself and move against God's nature and His will. The world was His perfect creation, and it has been infected through the Devil and Adam and Eve with a virus called selfishness (sin). This contagion has spread throughout our world and is why we no longer live in a good and beneficent world. The world has gone wrong because of the foolishness of the Devil and the foolishness of mankind.
God allowed – in His wisdom – angelic beings and mankind to have the power of choice. They have used that choice to rebel against wisdom, generosity, and love and instead have embraced selfishness, impulsiveness, and rebellion. He gave us the power of choice to give us the power of true love. We would do well to fight back against those who choose the path of selfishness with wisdom and generosity and love. At some point God will end this experiment and collect those who have embraced His love and wisdom. He will eliminate the foolishness and set up a world without the contagion for those whom He loves and who loved Him. Every day you embrace wisdom you make yourself more fit for heaven.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz