“To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
(Proverbs 1:2–7, NKJV)
Often the Proverbs are quoted out of context and forced to fit into there worldly counter parts. One such proverb is that regarding the fear of the LORD.
Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…
How easily misunderstood the passages which speak about fear as a positive with regard to God Almighty. Think about it, fear is usually something we experience when we are faced with evil- and armed villain, someone determined to harm us, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes.
Such fear proceeds from a position of powerlessness. Anyone caught in a 6.0 earthquake near its center can speak to powerlessness. To be completely engulfed by a force outside oneself where surrender is not an option but has been imposed. This is a good description of powerlessness.
Now just to turn the tables a bit and be as clear as possible, God is such a force outside of humanity. He is the creator, the one responsible for all of creation and its ultimate interactions with and in eternity. God is eternal, and that is not a designation of His term of being. It is His essence, part of His being, or nature. However, it’s only part. As the passage above notes, the nature of God created, sustains, and communicates, wisdom, instruction, words of understanding, the imparting of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity.
In this study we will look at these elements as we look to the Word of God for direction, wisdom, and equity.
