2. In course of time God purposed to become what, thereby bringing upon himself what responsibility?

² The time came when God purposed to become a Father. This did not mean to become the Creator of lifeless things, unintelligent things. It meant to give existence to living intelligences, to sons with some likeness to him their Father. Thus he purposed to take upon Himself the responsibility of a family of children. What kind of sons did He purpose to produce first? Not human sons, for in that case he would have had to produce first an earthly globe upon which they could live. Reasonably, God would produce sons who, like Himself, are heavenly, being spirit just as He is spirit. Thus they would be spirit sons, who could see him and have direct access into His presence and with whom he could communicate directly.

3. How is the existence of the heavenly sons of God, even before creation of our earth, called to our attention?

³ The existence of such spirit sons of God is no mere religious imagination. The writer of the Bible book of Job, likely the prophet Moses, speaks of these in the opening chapter of the book, saying: “Now it came to be the day when the sons of the true God entered to take their station before Jehovah.” (Job 1:6) A second meeting of those heavenly sons of the true God is called to our notice in Job 2:1. The fact that these spirit sons of God existed in the invisible heavens before the creation of our earth is emphasized when God speaks to the man Job out of the invisible and asks him: “Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth? . . . when the morning stars joyfully cried out together, and all the sons of God began shouting in applause?” Evidently those sons of God, brilliantly shining like morning stars in the heavens, were interested in God’s purpose in creating our earth and admired the way in which he created the earth, “stretching out the north over the empty place, hanging the earth upon nothing” in space.—Job 38:4-7; 26:7.

4. (a) What might God’s first created son rightly be called with relation to creation and God’s family? (b) How does “wisdom” speak of herself in Proverbs 8:22-31?

⁴ Who was the first spirit son of God whom He created? This one, by reason of his priority, would rightly be called the beginning of the creation by God. This one being the first member of God’s heavenly family, he could also be called the firstborn of all creation. Our thinking about this here reminds us of what is said in the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs, where divine wisdom is pictured as a person who talks about himself. Of course, in the original Hebrew text of Proverbs, the word “wisdom” (hhakh·mahʹ) is in the feminine and speaks of itself as a female person. (Proverbs 8:1-4) Of course, divine wisdom does not have any separate existence apart from God. Wisdom always existed in Him and so was not created. For this reason it is interesting to hear how wisdom speaks of herself as a feminine person, especially when she goes on to say:

“The Lord [Hebrew: JHVH, יהוה] created me as the beginning of his way, the first of his works from the commencement. From eternity was I appointed chief, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were yet no depths, was I brought forth; when there were yet no springs laden heavily with water. Before the mountains were yet sunk down, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the land and open fields, nor the chief of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle over the face of the deep; when he fastened the skies above; when the springs of the deep became strong; when he assigned to the sea his decree, that the waters should not transgress his order; when he established firmly the foundations of the earth: then was I near him, as a nursling; and I was day by day his delights, playing before him at all times; playing [feminine participle] in the world, his earth; and having my delights with the sons of men.”—Proverbs 8:22-31, Rabbi Isaac Leeser’s translation, of 1853.

5. Why are Jewish leaders concerned about how those words of Proverbs have been applied in our Common Era?

⁵ Jewish leaders are concerned about the application that may be made of the above Bible verses. In the Soncino Press edition of Proverbs, of 1945, we read in the footnote on this section: “For the Jewish reader this interpretation is of much importance in view of the Christological use made of this section by the early Church Fathers.”a At any rate, Proverbs 8:22 speaks of something as being created as the beginning of the way of Jehovah God, as “the first of his works from the commencement.” A “created” wisdom!