Fear This!

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Fearing the Lord, Solomon wrote, is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord occurs 11 times in Proverbs (and “fear the Lord” occurs 4 times). “Beginning” is the Hebrew rē’šîṯ which means “the start.” One cannot gain knowledge of spiritual things if he begins at the wrong point, refusing to fear the Lord (i.e., to recognize God’s character and respond by revering, trusting, worshiping, obeying, and serving Him). Rē’šîṯ also means the capstone or essence. The essence of true knowledge is fearing God. Apart from Him a person is ignorant of spiritual things (Rom. 1:22; Eph. 4:18; 1 Peter 1:14). The words of Proverbs 1:7a are repeated in 9:10 near the end of the first section (also cf. Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10). Bible Knowledge commentary

Fear is a funny thing. When we first hear the word there is a negative vibe. Did you fear the dark, boys, girls, your closet, under your bed, your father, mother, teacher, death. We fear so many things…why? Maybe because we don’t fear the one thing…or person who deserves to be feared…God. Recently, my son Ethan and I were working in the back yard. We were digging up weeds. He has a big fear of spiders. I told him to get into the weeds and start pulling. He told me no, because he was scared that a spider would bite him. I told him to get in there are start pulling. He again said, No. So I explained to him that while a spider is a scary thing, he should fear me more by obeying me and trusting me that he wouldn’t get bit.

Fear is directly linked to trust. If you fear someone, it’s because you trust they have a certain pattern, and they will do what they say. If you were fearful of your dad, it’s because you trusted that when he said you would get a belt on your behind, he meant it. Fearing God ultimately is a trust issue. If you love him, and trust him, then you also fear him. You know that when he says there is a consequence for your sin, you can take that to the bank. So don’t say that we live in a New Testament world where we no longer need to fear God, that’s just not true. Fear is a great thing when you understand it and fear the one who is worthy to be feared.

God, I pray that today you would remind me that fearing you is the beginning of knowledge.