The Foundations of Wisdom

Chapter 1:1-7 is the introduction to the book of Proverbs. The first major section of Proverbs covers the next nine chapters. Proverbs 1:8 – 9:18 is one long teaching proverb. After chapter nine the remainder of the book comes to us as short, to the point, sayings that are full of wisdom and instruction.

This long section is divided into shorter segments that comprise various practicalities of wisdom. The first of these subsections is Proverbs 1:8-19 and it deals with wisdom in choosing companions/ friends. (This is not dealing with choosing a mate. That will come later.)

The Bible has a lot to say about the kind of people with whom we choose to affiliate and Proverbs makes it a priority of the highest degree. Why is that? Well II Cor. 15:33 says, “Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character.” Few people have more influence in our lives than our peers. So the friends we choose may contribute greatly to the kind of life we live.

Proverbs 1:8 “Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.” First of all notice that this is not just information that Solomon is throwing out there to whoever will listen. It is very important to the King that this instruction be accurate because this is Solomon speaking to his son.

Notice the authoritative nature of the verse. Solomon speaks in imperatives. “Listen, my son…” “do not forsake…” Solomon intends to influence his son. So we need to take note as well. We MUST make it a priority to influence our children.

Also notice the inclusion of both parents. Both are responsible for providing instruction, not just one or the other. Parents are responsible for learning wisdom themselves and then for passing it on to their children. Parents, we are wise when we seize teaching moments and make the application of biblical truth or even life experience into the lives of our children.

Some of the highlights of my life are when my children acknowledge contributions that we have made to their spiritual lives and growth and wisdom. When I hear them say, something like, “I’m so glad I was raised in a home where my mom and dad taught us God’s Word…”

I echo the words of the apostle John who said in III John :4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” It’s the number one goal that we’ve spent the last 30 years of our lives trying to achieve.

The primary place for children to be educated in the Word is the home, and the first – best teachers are the parents. Often parents blame the church if their children are not following the Lord. And a good children’s ministry and youth ministry can add a lot to the spiritual development of a child or youth but it is not first the responsibility of the church to make godly children and youth. It is the foremost responsibility of parents to rear their children in the Lord and to instruct them in the Word.

1:9 “They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” Remember that the fool despises instruction, but we are reminded here that these instructions are not a burden but a blessing.

They are not a weight around your neck to force you into submission; instead they are like beautiful jewelry that make you a more attractive person. (These days I think they call it “bling”.)

Solomon uses a comparison here and says, like “bling” will make you beautiful or “eye catching”, which is the real motivation, this teaching will enhance your character and make you a more likeable person. Who wouldn’t like that? Who doesn’t want that?

Millions of dollars have been made on self help books that help people “Win friends and influence people”. They are supposed to help you improve your self-esteem and to become more popular. Proverbs will do exactly that by teaching you wisdom.

Ok, now Solomon offers a contrast. Remember these verses provide instructions about choosing your friends, and particularly the kinds of people to avoid.

1:10 “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.”
“if sinners entice you” is a vivid way of describing how innocent people fall into bad company. “entice” means to temp.

Now there is an important distinction here that I want you to be aware of. Solomon says, “Son, you’re going to be tempted”, then notice what he says is to be our response. “do not give in to them.” You have a choice.

Did you ever hear someone say something like, “I was tempted so
since I had already sinned, I just went ahead and did it?” Listen to me! That’s wrong theology. There is a difference between temptation and sin. It’s not sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted but he didn’t sin.

People don’t fall into sin or fall in with the wrong crowd because they are tempted. They fall in because they yield to temptation. And here’s the lesson that we need to learn. The devil may tempt us but we don’t have to yield to the temptation. We have a choice and we can choose not to fall.

Verses :11-12 describe the crimes of these “sinners” who “entice”.

“If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;”

Notice the low regard for human life and property. Isn’t it amazing how current and relevant the Bible is? This could have been written in the morning paper. It was written 3000 years ago in Israel, but it sounds like modern America – or any other place and time in the history of the world, because sin always manifests itself in the same way. Satan always uses the same methods. And we can see that in the following verses.

In verses :13-14 we see the bait. What did the devil use to temp people in 1000 BC? The same things he uses today. “we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse”.

It’s also amazing to me that some people what to say that the Bible is unsophisticated and out of date. Not so. If the sin is still the same then the solutions are still the same. So what were the temptations used to allure people into sinful associations three thousand years ago?

Look at the text.

:13 - Money, prosperity, easy wealth.

:14 - “throw in your lot with us” – What is that? Peer pressure. “we will share a common purse” – a communal social structure. (That’s just another name for a gang.)

Sound familiar. Evidently not much has changed in 3000 years. So if the temptation and the sin is the same, then the solutions and the council that Solomon gave to his son then, should be the same for us today also.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Verse seven is somewhat of an independent verse and serves as the motto of the entire book of Proverbs. That is that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge”.

The word fear is sometimes used to mean simply “reverence and awe”. And that can be right. For the Christian there is a certain familiarity with God that comes via the fact that we are born into God’s family. We are the children of God and the Bible tells us that we can address Him with the intimate title “Abba Father”, meaning “Daddy”.

And yet as I have mentioned before, we must never allow intimacy become irreverence. The old saying, “Familiarity breads contempt” is fitting here. It is possible for Christians to become so comfortable with our relationship to God that we become disrespectful. I have had on occasion to remind Christians, that it is probably not appropriate to use God as a character in a joke.

And that’s not to say that God is some kind of cosmic killjoy. You don’t have to read very far in the Bible to see that God has a sense of humor. God created humor. He gave us a sense of humor. And the Bible even tells us that God expresses that humor. Psalm 2:4 says, “He who sits in the heavens laughs”.

So it’s possible that because of that knowledge, it might be possible for believers to forget that God is indeed to be feared in the genuine sense of the word. And the word translated “fear” in this verse carries that meaning. To be afraid. Matt. 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

That’s not as some might think, a reference to the devil, but to God. Satan doesn’t have that authority, as scripture tells us in Rev. 20:1 that God will one day cast the devil himself into the lake of fire.

II Cor. 5:11 speaks of the “terror of the Lord” and it uses the Greek word “phobos” which is where we get our English word, “phobia”.

The verse which precedes this one, (verse 10), speaks of the Judgment seat of Christ, which is the judgment before which believers will stand to give account of the lives we have lived as Christians.

That’s right. It’s not only unbelievers who will face judgment for their sins. But we will stand in judgment for our salvation. It’s not a judgment to determine whether or not we will go to heaven. That’s already determined.

If you are born again, you’re going to heaven, but the question is, will you be embarrassed before the Lord by how you lived as a Christian? Now that adds a whole new dimension to the phrase “the fear of the Lord” doesn’t it?

You see, there are some Christians who are going to be embarrassed at the coming of Christ. Because they have not lived their Christian lives in wisdom. So the "fear of the Lord" is strong motivation for us to obey the Lord and to serve him with a pure heart.

OK we could go on about this phrase but we need to move on.

“Beginning” This is the starting point. It’s the same word as used in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This is the Genesis of knowledge. The point from which true knowledge is created. Now here’s the point, the principle. No one can understand truth unless they fear God. (We saw that last week.)

Verse seven also introduces a contrast that is seen throughout the book. Not only are we encouraged – challenged to attain wisdom through the fear of God, but we are confronted with the sad reality that many will reject wisdom. The verse concludes with these words, “but fools despise wisdom and discipline”. Unfortunately as we seek God and His wisdom we will always be surrounded by those who are going the opposite direction.

Of course part of our responsibility is to turn some of them around. Some of them are going the wrong way because they are fools who will immediately reject any attempt to instruct them. But some are going the wrong way because they are simple and just need to be taught wisdom. Of course they are all going the wrong way because of sin and so the place to start is by sharing the gospel.

You see, you don’t scold a blind man for walking the wrong way. Instead you show him the way, or restore his sight and then he can see the right way. The Bible says “The (g)od of this age has blinded the minds of those who believe not.” Unbelievers don’t see the truth because they are spiritually blind. So we must pray that God will give them spiritual vision. Then we can instruct them in wisdom.

However as we mentioned some people have self imposed blindness. The fool has better things to do than listen to wisdom and instruction.