The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Proverbs 18:15
The search for knowledge is an interesting thing to look at in the Scriptures - as well as in the world. The world wants knowledge - but it is a different kind of knowledge from a different source. The knowledge that he world desires is what is called worldly knowledge. It is a knowledge that ignores God's Word - and is in opposition to it. It is knowledge that denies God's existance as creator - denies the moral realities of the world - and encourages man to continue to live independently from God. The knowledge that is encouraged here in Proverbs is that which is gained by not only knowing God and His Word, but also being able to take what you know and use it to guide you in making decisions and in pleasing God in every situation that you face in life. We see here that the mind of the prudent acquires knowledge. Mind here refers to our thinking and reasoning - but it affects the heart and the core values that guide our decision making. The wise man mentioned here is the one whose mind and heart is prudent. What is meant by this is that he is constantly seeking the ability to look at two things and see the difference between them. He is a discerning man who does not take everything at face value. He looks into things so that he may acquire knowledge before he makes decisions - or even decides how to view something in life. If there is any way that this man can get knowledge in this way - he is trying to acquire it. This word, acquire speaks of purchasing something in order to possess it. This man wants knowledge - and he will pay whatever cost there is to get it. When you read ths do not think of money - but think of time, study, and diligence in seeking and knowing the Word of God. It is often costly in time and effort to get the kind of knowledge that yields discernment as well. You just cannot open and book and get it. It comes by knowing the Word in a way that helps us to see things as God sees them. The wise man also tunes his ears to seek knowledge. Note here that we move from our minds to our ears. What is different about this word is that it is saying something far more than just listening with our physical hearing. The New Testament often uses the phrase, "hear what the Spirit is saying." That means being able to hear with far more than just our physical ears. It speaks of the ability to hear God. The word seek emphasizes it even more. This is the Hebrew Word that speaks of seeking God's presence. Daniel 9:3 speaks of this kind of seeking when we read of Daniel doing the following. "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." When we "seek" for knowledge we are giving our attention to it. We are praying and crying out to God to give us His knowledge and His heart for things. At times this involves even fasting and special concern for gaining the knowledge that God has for us. Knowledge is important for the man wanting to be wise. It will involve reading and study like all other forms of knowledge, but it will require more. It will require that we have a heart for God - and desire a spiritual knowledge that God gives us from His Word. But the reward for such a search is that we wil be able to walk through life being able to discern what to do and how to do it in a number of situations. We will have a discernment that will allow us to see beyond surface issues and get to the very heart of a decision or a response to others. the place you se this the best is in the life of Jesus. His knowledge of the Word and of His Father's heart gave Him the ability to cut through any kind of lie or misinformation. He truly could answer not just the question of a man - but the heart and motive behind it. That is the wonderful discernment that comes with the knowledge God gives us as we seek it and Him diligently.
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"Whoever is naive, let him turn in here," And to him who lacks understanding she says, Proverbs 9:16
We continue to look at the call of foolishness and how to discern it. So far we've primarily looked at the place where foolishness dwells - the company that she keeps, and the way that she is sitting on the spiritual sidelines calling out to those who desire to live godly lives - being a dangerous distraction to them. Today, we see what she says - we see the actual call of Folly to those who will make the mistake of listening to her. There are two things that foolishness says to us as she attempts to get us to turn our gaze from the path in front of us. The first is a simple call to come to where she is. "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here." We have seen this word "naive" (which is the Hebrew word "pethi") before. The thing that we need to see here is that the simple or naive is one who does not yet fully understand God's Word. They are deficient in seeing the world from God's perspective - and as a result their moral maturity is lacking. The call of foolishness to such a person would most likely involve a call to be open-minded to seeing things other than how God sees them. Foolishness does not usually say this outright - but the call nevertheless is for someone to listen to "another" view of morals and righteousness. Foolishness calls out to those who are lacking "understanding." The word here is "leb" and it means heart. The reason foolishness calls to such a one is because they lack a fundamental growth in their inner man. They are lacking a heart for God - and as a result - they lack a true devotion to the Lord and to what He teaches. This is why they are a prime target for the evil one. He knows that they have yet to fully embrace God's ways and God's Word - therefore they can be picked off easily by a call to be broad or open minded. This call for an open mind is one of the most dangerous things in the arsenal of the wicked one. It is not that God does not want us to think - but that He desires for us to first submit ourselves to His Lordship and His Word. The original sin in the garden was a rebellion that was centered in wanting to make up our own minds concerning the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam and Eve partook of that fruit - far more than just a new taste was in their mouths. God desired for them to partake of the tree of life and live according to the life that God would grant them in Him. But because they listened to the devil and believed his lie - they decided to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They wanted to decide for themselves what "living" was about - and it yielded to them and their posterity - death. This lie continues to this day - and is still effective among the sons of men. God has given us His Word - which shows us the way of life. It reveals to us all that we need to know to develop morally and spiritually. We can know life and life abundantly! The problem is that we hear another call - the call of foolishness. "Come on!" Folly says to us. "Have an open mind about these things." Folly would have us think that morality - righteousness - holiness is not just what God says. We should think for ourselves - determine our own right and wrong. God even knows that in the day that we determine these things for ourselves - we will be like Him knowing good and evil! But the lie kills - it killed in the past - and it will kill today. Hold fast to God's Word - and hold fast to how God defines life. Do not listen to the call of foolishness. Remember that the man is blessed who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scoffers. The man is blessed who meditates on the Word of the Lord - day and night - so that he may do all that is according to that Word. If we want to know Who to listen to in life - we should listen to God as He speaks by His Spirit through His Word. That is the way of life - and those who partake of this fruit will know life indeed. Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight: Proverbs 9:15
So far we've seen that Folly as personified in this passage is someone we do not want to heed. Yet still foolishness calls to us every day. Here in this verse we find that Folly is calling to us. The word "call" here has the idea of inviting, summoning, or calling by name. One thing we need to grasp in life is that while we live in a fallen world, sin is going to be calling out to us. A couple of insights from this passage, though, will be very profitable for our consideration today. First of all we see that Folly is calling to those who are passing by. Thus, we see that if we listen to a call to foolish living it will be a distraction from us following the way that God has us going in our lives. Elsewhere in the book of Proverbs we are warned to keep our eyes directly ahead - focusing on the next step - focusing on the direction that we are going as we follow the Lord. Thus the best thing we can do is to stay focused on the way the lord is leading us and ignore distractions immediately. Let what the Lord is saying and doing presently in your life consume your vision - and be quick to ignore or put away other voices and other messages that try to pull you away from a singular pursuit of His ways and His paths. Second, we see that the call of Folly comes as we are "making our paths straight." This speaks of someone who is actively wanting to walk in God's ways - in holiness and righteousness. This is when we can almost expect distractions and interruptions that try to call our attention away from a life dedicated to holy and godly living. It should be no real shock to us to remember that our lives are littered with signs, with noise, with everything that is trying to get our attention. Probably no other time in history had as many distractions as ours. This is why it is so important to learn to disregard the vast majority of them - and to disregard them altogether if they are interrupting your devotion to the Lord. The desire of Folly is to first get our attention. Then as we hear what she has to say we find not just our eyes, but our minds becoming distracted from God's Word and ways. If our attetion is successfully maintained, then our reasoning will be challenged - which can lead to sin if we continue focusing upon ahd listening to the wrong things. A wise man learns to maintain his focus and to push distractions and disturbances out of his mind. In doing this, he does much to protect himself from the pitfalls and traps set by the world, the flesh, and the devil. She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city, Proverbs 9:14
Where do we find foolishness calling to us - offering us an invitation to partake of her harmful food? We read here that she is sitting at the doorway of her house. If we remember the counsel of Psalm 1, this is not a good thing. Psalm 1 counsels us, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinners, not set in the seat of scoffers." This woman, folly, is among the scorners - those who scoff at the things of God and prefer a self-directed life rather than a life directed by the Spirit and the Word. We get an idea that Folly is a lazy woman from this as well. The wise woman of Proverbs 31 is not often sitting at the doorway of her own home calling out to others - but rather is working hard for her family. Those who call to us from sedentary lifestyles are probably calling us to a life that lacks diligence and hard work. This will not end well for us if we listen. Since this passage is directed to sons by their father, we would do well to consider our own society in this. One thing that I believe is robbing us of hours of our lives is our penchant for entertainment and games. Consider the hours daily devoted to television, movies, online gaming, and gaming on consoles like Xbox and other video outlets. I've seen young men waste not just hours, but days wanting to master games. I've known of young men who have wasted the better part of their teenage and young adult years laboring to be the best and have the highest score on these games. And since they produce new ones as well as update old ones - a young man can waste 10-15 years of his life doing little more than exercising his thumbs as his mind is numbed to the real world around him. Indeed foolishness calls to us from the lazy position of staying in the doorway of her home. The second place we see Folly is on a seat by the high places of the city. This is an interesting location because it corresponds to places of false worship. God warned about worshipping in the "high places" because they thought due to the height of the place they were closer to God. The problem with the "high place" worship, is that it was usually not guided by the Old Testament Law. They would worship various deities there - and often would mix the worship of Jehovah with these false deities. Often the high place would involve a grove of trees for privacy - but these would also be used for the purpose of hiding the immorality and ungodly sexual practices that would happen there. Therefore God commanded the people to stay away from such places - and worship Him at the temple He established or the Tabernacle when the temple was not yet built. This would ensure that God's priests would be there to guide their worship so that it would be scriptural. The "high places" of this present evil age are where Folly calls to us. These places do not honor God's Word or a proper worship of Him. They are filled with false teaching and errant theology. Folly sits there and calls to us to turn from the Word and from a lifestyle of worshipping God aright. Instead we are called to embrace a far more supposedly tolerant religious and moral life. God is presented as mean and oppressive in such places. We will find later in this passage that the counsel Folly gives is dangerous because it calls us to abandon God's ways and embrace worldly ones. When we look at Folly's call we see that where this call is issued should give us pause to listen. Bad company will corrupt good morals - and often the place where such counsel is given should serve as a severe warning to us to turn away from it before it is uttered. A wise man notices where ungodly counsel congregates and tends to avoid such places - unless he or she is going to witness to them there. As the fools sit in places of laziness and ungodly doctrine offering their advice there - we should prefer to be in places where we know godly men and women meet - and where the Word of God is honored and God is worshipped in Spirit and truth! The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing. Proverbs 9:13
For the next several days we will look at the call of the foolish. Solomon, inspired by God, gives us a fascinating look as he personifies the way that fools are called to the stupidity of following after their own lusts and the ways of this present evil time. He does this by making the call of the foolish into a person. Let's take a look at this portrait of the fool's call and seek to learn from it so that we will not be caught by her siren sounds and find our faith shipwreck on the rocks of flesh and the worldliness that it embraces. We see that our nemisis here is described as "the woman of folly." This term is less than flattering because the word folly here is the Hebrew word "kesiylut" which means foolishness or stupidity. Thus we have here a stupid, foolish woman who is going to call to us. The word kesiylut coes fro the adjective kesiyl which means "a fool." Kesiyl is a very descriptive word in that is speaks of soeont who is unable to deal with life in a successful or practical way. It is used in Proverbs 1:22,32 to describe soeone who lacks any spiritual understanding. The fool here hates knowledge - loves waywardness (in regard to God's commandments) and is utterly complacent when it comes to spiritual things and any sense of accountability to God. Ecclesiastes 2:14 speaks of one like this as being someone who walks in spiritual darkness with a haze preventing the from seeing truth or righteousness. Therefore, when we read that this woman of folly is boisterous, naive, and knows nothing, it is easy for us to agree with this assessment. Folly is boisterous. The word used here is "hamah" and it means to murmur, growl, roar, and howl. In this context we get several pictures of the one who will call us to a foolish lifestyle. They roar and howl as they live it up in their lifestyle. They see no consequences to their actions so they howl in their pleasures. I will probably sound too much like a puritan when I say this (but since I have great respect for the puritans, I would consider this a compliment) but they love their loud, rambunctious parties and revel in their wickedness. The one who loves his or her sin to the point of bathing themselves in it - is someone we should ignore. We see another picture with this word of how this one will react to righteousness and a call to a holy lifestyle. They murmur and growl at such things. We hear them complain and snarl at one who has the audacity to say that there is absolute truth - and that truth is God's Word. They hate it when the standards of God are lifted up - and even despise it more when those standards speak out against their chosen lifestyle of rebellion. We would be wise to recognize such things and keep our ears closed to the call of such people to "live it up" when the truth of their words is that they want us to "death it up" instead. Folly is naive. The word used here is "petayyut" which means to be simple or naive. It has the idea of one who really is not aware of that their actions have true implications and do impact their future. The reason for this is as was stated at the beginning of this post - they are foolish and stupid. They really don't want to be bothered with the facts of where their lifestyle is taking them. They are the proverbial ostrich with its head stuck in the sand. The problem is that as they naively pursue their ungodly, unscriptural choices, the consequences of their actions are piling up for them. They cannot escape the judgments of God - because He has set it up so that rebellion has consequences. Folly knows nothing. The statement here is about as plain as any made anywhere in Scripture. The word for know is "yada" and it is pretty much the basic word for knowledge in the Hebrew language. Folly is unable to learn, perceive, or discern. The call that is going to be issued to us - the call of the foolish - is one that is unable to discriminate between good and evil - between right and wrong. It is a deadly call because it is a spiritually ignorant call. Worse than that, it is a spiritually darkened and rebellious call. When we embrace the call of the foolish - we are embracing what is diametrically opposed to what God desires in our lives. Oh that we would learn to discern and recognize this call in all its various forms as it comes to us. This is what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 5 verses 13-14. We read there that there are those ". . . who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. If we turn from folly's call and turn instead to wisdom's call, we will be able to grow in such discernment. That should be our worthy goal. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:26-27
Watch means to weight out or to ponder. The idea here is that someone is pondering evil and then choosing to avoid it. It means to seriously think about the path your feet are going to take - and choose to take them in a direction pleasing to the Lord. Sometimes we don't think enough about the path of our feet. We just act and go along with our lives. We don't take the time to think about where we're going - what we're doing - and where it is going to lead when things reach a conclusion. We are told that if we will do this we will have all our ways established. Ways is "derek" which again is the Hebrew word that refers to our lifestyle - the way we're going in life. To have that way or that lifestyle established means to have it firm and fixed. It means our lifestyle is one that is upright and good. We will have a life that matters and just as important - one that will be steadfast in what pleases and honors the Lord. There is also a sense in which we are being told our lives will last - whereas the worldling and the wicked man will only be temporary. When we look at the way of our feet, we need to know not to turn to the right or the left. This is assuming that our feet are on God's paths and ways and not our own. When we turn to the right or the left, we are choosing to depart from God's paths and walk in our own, the world's ways, or those of the devil. Which ever of these three are true, we will find ourselves in a way that is wrong - and ultimately a way that will hurt and cost us. The only turn we should make in life is one away from evil. The word "turn" here is a Hebrew word that means to go away from something, to desert it, to quit, to keep far away. When we see evil we need to remove ourselves from it - depart - honesly - RUN! To hang around evil is to court its greater influence in our lives. When we see evil we should hide ourselves from it. The longer we remain in the presence of evil, the more likely we are to participate in it. Thus the wise man runs from evil. Think about where you're going. It is important to do this - to consider our lives and examine them from time to time. It is too easy to begin to wander from the ways of God - too easy to take a path that leads us away from the Lord. That is why this Proverb helps us so much - it encourages us to think through where our journey reaches its destination. We think about the end of things. When we do this - we will see the wisdom of turning away from evil and keeping clear of the wicked one and his ways. The fury of a king is like messengers of death, But a wise man will appease it. Proverbs 16:14
The knock on the door resembled more like someone trying to break it down. As he drew near to open, Daniel knew that this was no friendly visit by the sounds coming from the other side of the door. He could hear the sounds of a chariot - and the all too familiar sound of armor and swords striking each other. This was a military visit - and it did not sound as if it would be positive. As he reached for the handle of the door Daniel said to himself, "Calm Daniel, respond with calm and confidence in your Lord." As the handle moved to open the door a prayer also went up to heaven, "God, please help me respond wisely." As the door opened Daniel was astounded by what he met. It was a military escort - and it had come for him. Daniel knew things were bad when he saw Arioch, the commander of the king's bodyguard leading the way. "The king had commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be executed," was the announcement that Arioch made at Daniel's doorway. "I am sorry Daniel, but I must put you in chains and escort you to the executioner immediately." "Why is this decree so urgent, Arioch?" Daniel replied. "Have we done something wrong - for when I last knew - all was well with the king and the wise men." Arioch then told Daniel of the dream - and the command from the king that the one who interprets the dream must also be able to first tell the king what the dream was. When the wise men present balked at this - and tried to bide their time - the king became furious and commanded that this be done to all the wise men. Daniel sent a quick prayer to heaven again, "HELP LORD!" Then a passage from the writings of Solomon came to mind, the fury of the king is messengers of death, but a wise man will appease it. "Give me wisdom Lord to appease this request." "Arioch," Daniel spoke, "would you first take me to the king that I might request a time when I may come and declare the dream and the interpretation to him?" From the look on Arioch's face Daniel knew that he was wary of this request. "Daniel, my friend," the captain said, "He is furious right now - and not in any mood for delays or schemes. He is very disturbed about this dream and wants an interpretation." Daniel was amazed at his own boldness and faith as he answered, "Then that is what I shall give to him." As Arioch took him to the king Daniel continued to pray for favor and for God's power to appease a very angry king. He also knew that when he returned to his home, he would have to call Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah to prayer as well that God would grant him the ability to know the king's dream and its interpretation. "This will be a true test of our faith - and of our trust in Jehovah to protect and keep us here in Babylon," Daniel would say. "Yet He has been faithful so far to offer us His gracious protection." The king or whatever the supreme leadership position is called in any state - holds with it a tremendous amount of power and authority. When that person is furious - it is not a good thing for the ones at whom his anger and rage is directed. To approach him with respect, honor, and wisdom is absolutely necessary. Depending on the laws of the region - that anger could mean death. That is why examples like that of Daniel - where a gracious, submissive, appeal to authority and God's provision is definitely in order. We can thank God for this godly example, for it gives us hope in what otherwise might be a hopeless situation. The wise will learn from it - and repeat it as they go into every situation trusting God and relying on the wisdom of His Word to not only guide them - but also go before them to appease anger and wrath - and make a way for grace and peace to prevail. The rich man is wise in his own eyes, But the poor who has understanding sees through him. Proverbs 28:11
An interesting thing about men is that the wealthier that they are - the more that we tend to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to intelligence and wisdom. We assume that because they have accumulated wealth that a certain amount of wisdom and knowledge were used in doing so. This may be the case, but when a rich man begins to be "wise in his own eyes," his wealth is only a facade to cover his foolishness. The rich are often wise in their own eyes. This is because wealth can buy you a lot of things - including a group of well paid sycophants who will tell you that you are a genius. This is the age old "yes-man" who follows about his benefactor telling him how brilliant he is publically, even though privately he man consider the rich man a moron. But while on the dole, this person gives the rich man a sense that he is wise. Unless his wisdom is gained from Scripture - this is only wisdom in his own eyes. The problem with being wise in our own eyes is that one, we can easily impress ourselves - and two, once we have impressed ourselves our pride can shut out any other evaluation others may try to give. But this proverb tells us that the poor man who has understanding can see right through the foolish rich man. The word for understanding here means the ability to discern. The poor man examines the rich man wise in his own eyes. He discerns the difference between wisdom gained of experience and God, and that paid for with money. He discerns that those who praise the rich man are all paid patrons of his supposed wisdom. He also knows that if the money flow stops, the truth concerning this man's foolishness will not be tolerated - and he will be abandoned by his fair weather pals. Wisdom knows others who are wise. Since that wisdom comes from God, there is no need to brag about it. Since it comes from God, there is also no price that can be paid for it. Such wisdom is given by grace - and gained by the teaching of the Holy Spirit as we daily search the Scriptures and learn to listen to God. A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression. Proverbs 19:11
What is it that can give us the ability to be patient with others? What would we need to develop in our lives and our thinking that would make us someone who is quick to forgive and gracious to those who provoke us? That is actually what Solomon, through the Holy Spirit, is about to tell us. I don't know about you - but when I read this particular proverb, I get excited. Unbeknownst to everyone except all those who are around me - I can become impatient. When I get impatient, unfortunately other sins are soon to follow, like anger, resentment, and unforgiveness. Therefore knowing the thing that will allow me to be slow to anger and forgiving is vital to me. Let's take a look and see that that thing is. Discretion is what the Bible says will make us slow to anger. And of course our very next question is, "What is discretion - and how does someone have it in their lives. Discretion is the Hebrew word, "sekel" and it means discretion received due to intelligence and good sense. But Zhodiates goes further in his definition describing just what this is. He says, "This intellegence is more than just mere book knowledge or learning about a particular subject. It has a greater significance and means insight or understanding. It is having this intelligence and insight that gives a person that ability to have patience." (Complete Word Study Dictionary, Zhodiates) This intelligence and insight is ascribed to Abigail in the Word of God in 1 Samuel 25:3. She was said to be a beautiful women who had intelligence. That intelligence kept her entire family from being destroyed when her husband treated David with contempt. She found out about her husband's sin and lack of graciousness and quickly rode to meet David with a generous gift (which should have been given in the first place). David, for his part, was riding with a large group of valient men to avenge himself because of the anger that rose up within him when he was spited by Abigail's husband. It was Abigail's ability to discern what was about to happen to her family - that moved her to calm David's anger with a proper apology and gracious gift. Anger tends to make us not think about what we are doing. It is usually a reaction to the fact that we cannot control our own situation and the people around us - or - it is a reaction to how we view the way we have been treated by others. Discretion makes us slow to anger. There are still times when we should be angry about how we've been treated - or - how others have acted. But it is better when we are slow to anger. That way our anger is not a reaction (esepecially the ones where we blow up at someone) - but a clear decision that is guided by reason and understanding - not just passion and perceived slight. We take a moment or how many moments are necessary to step back and think through what we are about to say or do. We take time to consider the other person - and to consider their situation. The old addage of walking a mile in their shoes is appropriate here. The other thing that this understanding and knowledge will help us to consider is that it is a glory to overlook a transgression. Think for a moment what life would be like if everyone demanded instant justice on all matters where they think something wrong has been done to them. The world would be filled with vigilante justice everywhere. Life would consist of moving from one slight to another - demanding that there be payment for how we've been wronged. There would be no peace - and very few relationships would go well. Thus it is better for us to simply overlook a transgression (real or imagined). It is far better for most relationships to have a measure of grace and forgiveness (often the more the better!) than for them to demand instant justice at all times. Taking these two things - discretion when faced with a wrong done - and forgiveness and grace when we experience another's transgression - are key to productive, happy relationships. It is so helpful to remember the grace given to us when these things happen. God did not demand instant justice with reference to our transgressions. He chose to show mercy - and later to forgive when the payment had been made by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This has been to His everlasting glory for ages. How we need to see this - and seek to emulate it in all our relationships in life. That, dear saints, is wisdom - and it is to the glory of God. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
How can someone start on the road to becoming wise? If we asked that question of 100 people, we might get some similarity in their answers, but if we did not know this verse at the beginning of Proverbs, we probably would not choose fearing God as one of those answers. The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord. We will not gain any kind of true knowledge of ultimate reality until we do. There are a great number of truly smart men (in earthly terms) and yet many of them reject God - at least they reject the God of the Bible. Smart they may be - but when it comes to eternal matters - they are dumb as stumps. Their great learning in human endeavors has made them arrogant and unwilling to bend their knee before the One True God. The man who thinks he knows something - most likely does not yet know as he should. Human learning manifests itself in pride. Paul told us under the inspiriation of the Holy Spirit, "Knowledge puffs up . . . " That is something that is dangerous in the most deadly way. When we think we truly know something - we don't yet know anything. For all their supposed knowledge, these scholars are facing a horrific future. They will continue in this age as sage, wise men - only to learn that it is the fool who says there is no God. They will be praised as men of great insight - only to find that all their genius has done nothing to save them from the wrath of God. Never have they trembled before the majesty and glory of God. Never have they seen the universe rightly - as His creation and as a testiment to His vastness and infinite nature. Never have they considered that if we are moral beings, we must have been created by a moral Being - before Whom we will have to stand and to Whom we will have to give an account. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge becuase as creator, all things have their origin in Him. Without a healthy respect and fear of God, we will ultimately give ourselves over to our own foolish pride - and lift ourselves to an unhealthy level in our own thinking. That can end only in disaster at the throne of God's judgment. God is in heaven, we are on earth - therefore we should tremble in His presence. To fear God means that we recognize Him as supreme and absolute. If God is a mere concept - a thought - He is nothing more than a mere jump between synapses in our brain. But if He is real - then He is the most powerful, most wise, glorious being that ever has and ever will be. His power and glory are unexplainable - for they are incomprehensible. As such, we tremble before Him for He is ultimately in power and will remain so for all eternity. Until we know and grasp this - we are mere brutish fools walking upon the earth. Part of our problem with this word knowledge is that we've divorced it from the biblical context. We have come to view knowledge as the mere storing of facts as man sees them. This is not what God refers to when he says that the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge. The word used here is "daath" and it means not just a storing of facts, but an ability to know to where we can practice discernment, insight, and an experiential knowledge and experience of something - or in this case, Someone. Just knowing a bunch of facts and being able to manipulate them on earth so that it impresses other humans - is something akin to being able to juggle a set of balls well. Nice trick - but what exactly is it worth in the end? The knowledge we speak of in Proverbs 1 is that of knowing God - and being able to see things like He does so that we have a discernment that will aid us for eternity. That only comes when we see God accurately - and then in the light of His glory - see the world accurately for the first time in our lives. Until that moment arrives in a man's heart - he is and will always be a fool. We are told on the back-end of this proverb that fools despise wisdom and instruction. Here is the value of knowledge - it makes us wiser and teachable. The fool who rejects God despises His wisdom. Since God is all-knowing and all-encompassing, He is the ultimate source of knowledge. If one wants to get it right - go to Him. If one is unwilling to go to Him (as the wicked admit they are) that one is actually despising wisdom and instruction. He only wants to exalt his own thinking and the activity of his own mind. Since He is utterly limited compared to an infinite God - well - he is stupid. He hates seeing the full picture in favor of his utterly parochial view. He despises discerning the best since the only thing he considers best is his own view. He is unwilling to be instructed by the One will absolute knowledge - thus he rejects the greatest Teacher anyone can imagine. In every way - his lack of respect, honor, and fear toward God is evidenced by his unwillingness to sit at God's feet and learn from Him. So how do we grow in knowledge and wisdom? It is by first acknowledging that God is ultimate in knowledge, in wisdom, in everything! Then it is by humbling ourselves and learning to tremble in the presence of the One Who is Lord and God. Then and only then can our minds and hearts be opened to receive the wisdom, the instruction, and the knowledge of God. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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