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.