Pro 1:7 | KingComments | STEP | Fortunately, seeking God’s wisdom does not depend on our intellect. The wisdom God wants to give to His children when they seek it is hidden from the wise and intelligent of the world ( ). God’s wisdom is found by those who fear Him. To fear God means to acknowledge Him in Who He is and to trust Him, to have reverence for Him, to worship, obey and serve Him. “The beginning” means the essence, what it is all about in the deepest sense. Any “knowledge” must be acquired from the fear of the LORD, otherwise it is darkness. “The fear of the LORD” is worked in a man by the forgiveness he has received after confessing his sins ( ). Then we have become small before the great God, Whose wrath we fear and Whose love attracts us. When we truly know that our sins are forgiven, there will be a great and deep awe of Him and we will long to live to His glory. With this we hold the key to understanding this book. The wisdom of this book is not primarily for the purpose of making us behave better, but to make us more like Christ so that He becomes visible in our life. The fear of the LORD ( ; ; ) is what is exactly missing in all the wisdom proverbs of the pagan nations, for they do not know of repentance of their sins and conversion to God. The book of Proverbs is not only a book with a collection of beautiful, wise and practical advice, but all lessons of life are brought under one denominator, and that is the fear of the LORD. If that denominator is missing, with all your so-called wisdom you will still end up in hell, eternal pain. What matters is the desire to live by the Word of the Lord. That is the essence of true wisdom. The Lord Jesus lived on earth toward His God and Father according to this Word. This book is full of ‘discipline for the purpose of godliness’ ( ). This discipline continues throughout life. Without the fear of the LORD it is not possible for a person to live a life of Godliness. It is impossible to gain wisdom without that fear, just as it is impossible to read without knowing the alphabet or study math without knowing numbers. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” because they despise the fear of the LORD. Those are people who first were naive, but have become fools because they have despised the teaching of wisdom that has come to them. The fool thinks that he could make it on his own without any help. He thinks he can manage without teaching. This book uses three different words in Hebrew, all of which are translated in English as “fool”. The different words indicate that the fool is a thick-headed and headstrong person, one who refuses to accept anything from another because of laziness and shortsightedness. He lacks spiritual knowledge because he excludes God from his life. As a result, he is an arrogant, unrepentant man who stubbornly clings to his own way. The constitution of wisdom is the law of sowing and reaping. That is, of all the actions we perform (sowing), we must bear the consequences (reaping). If we want to avoid unpleasant consequences, we should not perform stupid actions. If we go out into the bitter cold without a coat, we will catch a cold and get sick. This is a law of nature in which we also see the actions of God. God rewards good actions and punishes bad actions. He who speaks and does evil will encounter evil in his path. It is important to note here, however, that the consequences are not always already seen on earth, but only later, after death. We will encounter this viewpoint again and again in this book. It is an established fact that God always punishes evil and rewards good. Sometimes He does so already on earth, but certainly after death ( ). Ultimately, the wicked end badly and the righteous end well.

‏ Proverbs 1:7

The Fear of the LORD

Fortunately, seeking God’s wisdom does not depend on our intellect. The wisdom God wants to give to His children when they seek it is hidden from the wise and intelligent of the world (Mt 11:25). God’s wisdom is found by those who fear Him. To fear God means to acknowledge Him in Who He is and to trust Him, to have reverence for Him, to worship, obey and serve Him. “The beginning” means the essence, what it is all about in the deepest sense. Any “knowledge” must be acquired from the fear of the LORD, otherwise it is darkness.

“The fear of the LORD” is worked in a man by the forgiveness he has received after confessing his sins (Psa 130:3-4). Then we have become small before the great God, Whose wrath we fear and Whose love attracts us. When we truly know that our sins are forgiven, there will be a great and deep awe of Him and we will long to live to His glory. With this we hold the key to understanding this book. The wisdom of this book is not primarily for the purpose of making us behave better, but to make us more like Christ so that He becomes visible in our life.

The fear of the LORD (Pro 9:10 ; Pro 15:33; Job 28:28; Psa 111:10) is what is exactly missing in all the wisdom proverbs of the pagan nations, for they do not know of repentance of their sins and conversion to God. The book of Proverbs is not only a book with a collection of beautiful, wise and practical advice, but all lessons of life are brought under one denominator, and that is the fear of the LORD. If that denominator is missing, with all your so-called wisdom you will still end up in hell, eternal pain. What matters is the desire to live by the Word of the Lord. That is the essence of true wisdom. The Lord Jesus lived on earth toward His God and Father according to this Word.

This book is full of ‘discipline for the purpose of godliness’ (1Tim 4:7). This discipline continues throughout life. Without the fear of the LORD it is not possible for a person to live a life of Godliness. It is impossible to gain wisdom without that fear, just as it is impossible to read without knowing the alphabet or study math without knowing numbers.

“Fools despise wisdom and instruction” because they despise the fear of the LORD. Those are people who first were naive, but have become fools because they have despised the teaching of wisdom that has come to them. The fool thinks that he could make it on his own without any help. He thinks he can manage without teaching.

This book uses three different words in Hebrew, all of which are translated in English as “fool”. The different words indicate that the fool is a thick-headed and headstrong person, one who refuses to accept anything from another because of laziness and shortsightedness. He lacks spiritual knowledge because he excludes God from his life. As a result, he is an arrogant, unrepentant man who stubbornly clings to his own way.

The constitution of wisdom is the law of sowing and reaping. That is, of all the actions we perform (sowing), we must bear the consequences (reaping). If we want to avoid unpleasant consequences, we should not perform stupid actions. If we go out into the bitter cold without a coat, we will catch a cold and get sick. This is a law of nature in which we also see the actions of God. God rewards good actions and punishes bad actions. He who speaks and does evil will encounter evil in his path.

It is important to note here, however, that the consequences are not always already seen on earth, but only later, after death. We will encounter this viewpoint again and again in this book. It is an established fact that God always punishes evil and rewards good. Sometimes He does so already on earth, but certainly after death (1Tim 5:24-25). Ultimately, the wicked end badly and the righteous end well.