Proverbs - The Theme

Introduction

We have looked at the purpose of Proverbs before (open your bibles to Pro1:1) and let’s review quickly.

Pro1:1-3 “1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, 3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;”

pro1:4-6 “4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, 5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.”

To know wisdom, to discern/perceive understanding (v.2)

To receive instruction, righteousness, justice and equity (v.3)

To give prudence to naive, knowledge and discretion to the youthful (v.4)

To give increased learning and understanding to the wise man. (v.5)

And finally to understand and a figure (enigma) and words of the wise and their riddles (v.6)

So now today we want to look at the theme of the book. I know it is only one verse, but will be backed up by many other verses today so get ready, get set, and here we go.

Pro1:7 “7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

So we will only be looking at two things today, what the fear of the Lord is, and the way of fools (some versions say folly).

The Fear of the Lord is . . .

Q: It is the beginning of knowledge, but what does the “fear” mean?

In the O.T. and that is where we are there are three common word meanings used for it (yara’).

Dread, terror

jon1:10 “10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.”

To stand in awe (in reference to a king)

1Ki3:28 “28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.”

To revere, to respect (in regards to parents)

Lev19:3 “3 ‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.”

God displayed his infinite power and might on Mt. Sinai to Moses and to the people of Israel so to get them to turn, trust God and not sin. Moses told them do not fear for God was with them. You can read on that in (Exo20:18-20).

For the Christian, there is still a place of fear, of the power and might of God that we should have so that we do not sin against the Lord. Here are a few examples

Fear God not man

Mt10:28 “28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Q - What kind of fear do you think this is? Dread, awe, reverence?

Early church, well, they walked in the fear of the Lord.

Act9:31 “31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”

Q - What kind of fear do you think this is, dread, awe or reverence?

Here is another one to consider

Php2:12 “12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”

Q - What kind of fear is this?

Turn with me to book of Hebrews as we continue to look at fear, or being fearful.

Heb10:26-31 “26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now flip over one more page

Heb12:28-29 “28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”

The N.E.T. (New English Translation) bible says “the fear of the Lord is expressed in reverential submission to his will.”

Next, the fear of the Lord esteemed. Now turn back to Proverbs with me, we will bounce around a bunch, but I think you can keep up with me.

We already looked at the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (1:7)

Fear of the Lord causes us to hate evil

Pro8:13 “13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.”

Q - how is it to hate evil, why?

Fear of the Lord will prolong life

Pro10:27 “27 The fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.”

Q - How can the fear of the Lord prolong life?

Fear of the Lord provides confidence, strong confidence, well, it is also a fountain of life.

Pro14:26-27 “26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge. 27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.”

Q - How can fear of the Lord be a fountain of life according to (v.27)? - can avoid the snares of death

Stay with me, a couple more from Proverbs to consider.

Fear of the Lord prompts one to depart from evil.

Pro19:23 “23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.”

Fear of the Lord leads to satisfying life

Pro19:23 “23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.”

OK, one more

Fear of the Lord is the way to riches, honor and life

Pro22:4 “4 The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life.”

Are you getting the gist of it, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge?

When we do not have fear of the Lord we

Deprive ourselves of the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge

Make ourselves susceptible, to flirt with evil and to be corrupted by it.

It can shorten our lifespan due to poor choices and our refusal to accept godly wisdom.

We will not have confidence, assurance in our salvation

Then we will miss out on having the motivation to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

The fear of the Lord should be sought after and highly regarded as a trait worth knowing and developing so we can deploy it in our walk with Christ.

This now leads us to the 2nd half of the verse about fools!

Fools despise wisdom, Again from the NET bible it says this is a person who is characterized by moral folly.

TCWD says “it is an adjective meaning foolish in the sense of one who hates wisdom and walks in folly, despising wisdom and morality.”

Let me give just a couple of biblical examples.

Pro1:22 “22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?”

Or

Pro17:16 “16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense?”

To despise wisdom, the wisdom of God, as we find in God’s word made available to all, is truly foolish, so don’t be, don’t play a fool!

It is foolish to disregard godly instruction, direction. That is what the foolish do.

They are not interested in wise counsel of others

Pro1:25 “25 And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof;”

or

Pro1:30 “30 “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.”

lack of accepting godly wisdom, godly counsel, well check this out

Pro11:14 “14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.”

Oh, wait, better look at this one too. I told you there were going to be a lot of scriptures and most of them are coming from Proverbs

Pro12:15 “15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

We need godly wisdom and counsel

Pro19:20 “20 Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days.”

and

Pro27:9 “9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.”

Don’t play the fool, be willing to seek, listen and to apply godly wisdom from God’s word and godly people that live and teach from God’s word. Don’t play the fool by unwillingness or rebellion.

So, again this week has been focusing on the theme of the book of Proverbs, The fear of the Lord. So, here is the application.

Develop the fear of the Lord, it will help you to become truly wise

Don’t discount the godly wisdom of others, don’t play the fool.

God has given us His great and precious promises that we get to share in, consider this.

2Pt1:2-4 “2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

So, it would be wise, smart of us to be partakers of God’s wisdom as displayed through His word, today from Proverbs!