Proverbs 1.7 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
It should be noted here that the knowledge that is spoken of in this passage is not referring to mental brilliance or educational intelligence. There are many people whose god is their education or their brilliance, and if and when that is mixed with a fear of The Lord it is a beautiful thing, but apart from the fear of The Lord it is vanity. Emptiness. Lacking substance.
The beginning of real knowledge about life and eternity comes from the fear of The Lord. The fear of The Lord teaches us to love our Redeemer supremely and serve Him with all of our hearts, souls, mind and strength.
14 times in the book of Proverbs we read about the fear of The Lord and the blessed benefits that go along with the person who walks in it. In chapter 9 we will see that the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Hebrew word for beginning in our passage means, the first and controlling principle. The fear of The Lord is both the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. It should be noted that the fear of The Lord is not just reverential trust for Hebrews 12.28 tells us about reverence and godly fear. Reverence is affection for Him and godly fear is an aversion for sin.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (8:13). In other words, we can not walk in the fear of The Lord and knowingly hang on to our sins at one and the same time.
What are some of the qualities that describe the man or woman who fear God? (1) are afraid to displease God (2) are aware and conscious of God (3) include God in their thoughts & plans (4) respect and honor God because of who He is (5) take God’s Word seriously. (6) has a high regard for the glory of God.
Now, what are some of the qualities that describe the man or woman who do not fear God? (1) care only about pleasing self (2) ignore God (3) leave God out of their thoughts & plans (4) try to pretend that God does not exist (5) care nothing for God’s Word. (6) has no regard at all for the glory of God. Reader, which of the two describes you?
