The Beginning of Knowledge

Introduction:

Last Sunday morning, we considered the offensive claims of Proverbs’ introduction.

There is such a thing as a properly oriented human life.

Wisdom, knowledge, and instruction are all objective and not individually defined.

We can pass along God’s revelation of how a human life should be lived.

To be in possession of human life means we have been given a great responsibility for which we are accountable.

Life is not our own in a very real sense.

We did not make ourselves.

We did not randomly evolve.

If it is true that God made human beings to acknowledge his authority and to love him for who He is, then, a human life lived that does not do this is a human life lived outside of the purpose of humans.

We learned recently that Proverbs makes an audacious claim, namely, that there is a universal way all human beings should live life.

A universal perspective, a universal set of characteristics, and universal modes of behavior.

Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are more than “things we learn about life” as we live it.

Solomon writes of an objective knowledge for how every human being ought to orient his or her life.

The initial description of the wise is someone who hears.

There is a wilfulness to this.

It requires humility.

An Observation about the Text

In Hebrew, the text begins and ends with words that are antonyms.

Fear begins the sentence.

The verb translated “despise” ends the sentence.

Hopefully, it will be clear why that is happening by the end.

Fear of Jehovah

The term translated “fear” has two dominant senses.

It may refer to terror or being afraid.

It may also refer to reverence, respect, or awe of something or, more importantly, someone.

Exodus 20:20 illustrates both usages.

The Lord does not want us to be afraid of Him, although I suspect most are not as it is.

We have good reason to be because he will judge the physical earth some day, and he will judge every human being some day.

Facing his wrath is a real possibility.

What might begin as fear of his future wrath should, if it is healthy, end up being reverential awe.

We should respect Him. This means acknowledging his existence, his authority, and the authority of his word over us.

Remember the conclusion to Ecclesiastes in Ecclesiastes 12:12-14.

Beginning of Knowledge

Here is another audacious claim: knowledge begins with a healthy reverence for the Lord.

Without reverence for the Lord, we will not be open to his guidance and instruction through His Word.

Beginning can also have two senses:

It may mean the start or starting point for something.

It may also refer to the head or chief characteristic associated with something.

Either meaning will be true in this context.

Knowledge: The most common word for knowledge, daʿat, occurs 88 times in the ot. In its most basic meaning, daʿat refers to the data one has collected or observed regarding the world around oneself.

Fools Despise Wisdom and Discipline

Solomon establishes an important term here that contrasts with the wise from above.

A fool is someone who is more than unwise.

It is a person who is morally rebellious and therefore unwilling to listen to divine instruction or those who try to impart it.

It is a moral term.

We have already established that “despise” is the opposite, though it occurs as a verb, of “fear.”

The point seems to be that wisdom and instruction about how human beings should point or orient our lives requires the humility to acknowledge the Lord.

This is where knowledge begins.

The person who refuses to listen is a fool.

That person who refuses to listen to Mom and Dad is also likely to struggle to listen to God.