I came to my favorite Chapter in my walk with my friend John through Proverbs.

I don't know how widely known it is to folks who haven't read a Bible much or often, but there are many linkages between Old and New Testaments that strongly tie and correlate the two parts to each other.

Christians believe that God, speaking through his prophets, foretold the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was with God from the beginning of time and would reign with Him eternally. These prophesies are recorded in the Old Testament, for Jews the Torah, which consist of the 5 books of Moses, chronicles of the Hebrew Kings and Judges, and the major and minor Prophets who led God's chosen people.

There are many books in the Old Testament that carry fragments of the foretelling of Messiah, but none speak so clearly of the Messiah's eternal and divine character as this startling passage in Proverbs Chapter 8:

22"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
27When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

Scripture speaks of God's first creation, of this presence or being who was there as witness of all God's later creations. This witness shares God's divinity, is part of God yet separate, and at the same time is part of all creation.

30Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,

Does this not sound like a son, an heir? And what interesting chosen words, Master Craftsman. Henrik Ibsen wrote a play, The Master Craftsman. If my memory serves, the title describes a man overconfident in his own abilities and importance who in the way of the world, is brought to destruction. But here in Proverbs, this is truly a Master Craftsmen, who is described as residing alongside God, Lord of Heaven and Earth.

31Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.

This speaks of the Son who will come down to earth in lowly form, and in celebration of the lives of men, become Man and dwell with men on earth. Who lived that life fully, and yet scripture says was without sin.

32"Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
33Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.

This prophesy carries admonition, instruction, and warning.

34Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD;

These prophesies are echoed in the New Testament, which describe the Savior as the bread of life, that He who seeks the Son of God, though he may lose his life, will find it.

36But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death."

And also warns us that we ignore His invitation to our harm and at our peril.

I pray clarity and understanding into your lives.