The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge, but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
8 sermons cite this verse
… and we want to lay the foundation again, church, and the theme of the very book is Proverbs 1, verse 7. If you have any doubts about the book of Proverbs, this one verse sums up the entire book. And that verse says, The fear of the Lord, the reverential awe of God, to meditate on the greatness of God and who he is, is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instructions. trinity there. And I'm going to ask you to pick out the trinity of truth here, knowledge, wisdom, and instruction. They're almost inseparable when you look at their Greek and Hebrew definitions. But can you just remember this? If you're taking notes, draw yourself a little picture. Do you know what a three-legged stool looks like? Yeah, listen, you can have a four-legged chair and lose a leg and you can still make it work. If you have a three-legged chair and you lose one of those three legs, it ain't going to work. A three-legged chair. The Bible talks to us about a strand, a rope. What is key for the strength of a rope? Is it having five strands? Six strands? …
… national sentiment changes? A non-Christian is more likely to abandon those Christian beliefs than a Christian who fears God. Proverbs 1.7 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. fools despise wisdom and instruction. A second benefit of having a Christian leader is that Christians experience the leading of God in their lives. Romans 8, 14 says, those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God. If you're a child of God, if you know Christ as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit of God leading you. And finally, Christian leaders who uphold Christian values enjoy the unique favor of God upon their lives. I mean, the Old Testament is clear about this. When a believing king was installed and he followed godly principles, God not only blessed the king, he blessed the people the king ruled over. In the same way, when there was an evil king. God not only judged that evil king, he judged the nation that he ruled over. Proverbs 29 verse 2 says, when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Is the candidate a Christian? That's the first question. Second question to ask, do the candidate's policies align with the Bible? …
… letter because wisdom is the overarching theme. Not only the the portrait of this excellent woman, but the entire book of Proverbs. Proverbs 1 7 sets the tone for the entire book when it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And later in that chapter and throughout the book, wisdom is even personified as a woman. Listen to Proverbs 1 20. Wisdom cries aloud in the street and the markets, she raises her voice. Proverbs 3.13, blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels. So that's how Proverbs starts out. So you get to the end of this book and the same words used for wisdom are now used for this woman. Verse 10, she is far more precious than jewels. Why? Verse 30, because she fears the Lord, which is the beginning of what? Wisdom. So the Christ-like woman has Christ-like wisdom because she fears God. …
… to us, gifted to us, frankly, by God himself. I want to always remind you, and it's probably going to happen a thousand times in this book, and that is Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7, is the overriding theme of the entire book. Don't forget it. And of course, it dovetails perfectly into our study today. The fear, that is the reverential awe of the Lord, is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. That's not a mistake. When it says knowledge, knowledge from the scripture is coupled, inseparably so, from wisdom and instruction. The wisdom of God is incorporated with knowledge and instruction. It's what is natural to it. A fish swims. Birds fly. And if you have God's wisdom, you will have knowledge and instruction. Does that make sense? It's very, very simple and yet profound. But bring in your mind back to the Greek or to the, I should say, the Hebrew words. the meaning of fear, because some of you are going to say, I don't want to be afraid of God. …
… We've been learning about this on Sundays with Pastor Jack in the book of Proverbs. These verses have been quoted recently and yet we will look at them again in Proverbs 1.7 and Proverbs 9.10. we see here that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And then in Proverbs 9, 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. You will never, and I repeat, you will never arrive at the point of wisdom nor knowledge if you do not properly regard God for who he is and live in awe of him. The second thing that the fear of the Lord does practically for you and I is it causes us, or it should cause us, to depart from evil. Proverbs 16.6 says, And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil. It's by the fear of the Lord that one departs from evil. And then in Job 28, 28, we read here, And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. …
… and then thirdly last time we ended this by knowing who we can become in christ in god in proverbs chapter 1 verse 7 and remember verse 7 is one of the great theme verses of the entire book for the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction and that is a defining rod like knife through butter in our world today there are those who are seeking to give their lives to God or seeking to do the right thing or seeking to pursue God or to find out even if there is a God. And then there are those who might even know that there is a God but reject him. There are those that will not learn a thing. They know everything. They're legends in their own mind. They are absolutely impressed with themselves. Everything about their world is narcissistic, where they are the theme and the center of everything. You can't teach them, they will not learn. And God says that that is a matter of the heart. I think that is a profound and clear observance of that. The Bible says regarding you and I in the transformation that as believers we have experienced. Now listen, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, you say, yeah, yeah, I know that. But let me ask you something. Is 2 Corinthians 5 17, can you say that this has really happened in your life, check out this verse. It's on the screen. By faith, you can see it. …
… To understand a proverb The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother. For they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come, let us lie in wait to shed blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like sheol. And the whole will sweep down to the pits. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path. For their feet run to evil. and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. But they lie in wait for their own blood. …
… To understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Lord, we pray that as we christen this book of yours, 3,000-year-old document that's before us, its wisdom, its knowledge, its instruction has never changed. It is more needed now than maybe ever before, at least in our lifetime. Father, we thank you today that we are a people that have come to the worship and to the knowledge and to the love of the living God. You are the living God. You are the Savior. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. You are the sum total of all that there is to know is known through you. You are truth. And we pray today, Father, that by your Holy Spirit being present, you would equip us both to proclaim your word and to ingest your word, that it might, Lord, trickle down to our feet, to the tips of our fingers, and our lips, that we might live out the Christian life in wisdom. …