Wednesday Bible Study: A Deep Dig Into Proverbs III

Today I'm going to take on Part 2 of that look at the "Fear of the Lord" verses we find in Proverbs- 8 of them, plus an overarching 9th verse.  To review, here's the core of last week's study:

 Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, and knowledge of God is understanding.  Understanding = wisdom plus instruction- a heart that doesn't scoff, and a mind that is willing to learn.  And that also starts with the fear of God.  Thus, you HAVE to start with the sacred reverence towards God.  That sets you on a twofold path: wisdom, to be open to learning the more about Him, and knowledge, the instruction itself.  Both of these are "despised" by fools...

This week we take on the second thing I noticed about these verses- they all have either an "and" attached to them- whether it be in the verse itself, the verses surrounding it, or implied by the passage.  What I will do is re-post the verse, with whatever added section is needed to show this idea.

First verse: Prov. 1:7:

Pro 1:7  The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. 
Pro 1:8  My son, hear your father's instruction, and do not forsake the law of your mother; 
Pro 1:9  for they shall be an ornament of grace to your head, and chains for your neck. 

"Chains" of course meaning "a necklace", or perhaps an "Olympic medal"?  An 'ornament of grace' is better worded 'a wreath'; What we have here is a facet of what Paul said in both 1 Corinthians 9 about running to win the race, and in Philippians 3 about not having yet attained...

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The prize is the upward call of Christ; the reward awaits; and it is won through seeking out knowledge of God.

Second verse: 8:13:

Pro 8:13  The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; I hate pride and loftiness, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth. 

Pro 8:14  Counsel and sound wisdom are mine; I am understanding; I have strength. 

Pro 8:15  By me kings reign, and leaders decree righteousness. 

Pro 8:16  Rulers and nobles rule by me, and all the judges of the earth. 

Pro 8:17  I love those who love me, and those who seek me early find me. 

We will, Lord willing, dig deeper into this chapter one day, and there I will point out that, to me, Wisdom (the speaker here) is actually the Holy Spirit.  Hating evil and reverencing God leads to the Spirit's blessing in many areas: Being able to advise, the support of the truth (for so do counsel and sound wisdom translate), understanding, and His power.  Last week, I mentioned this is an 'action' verse; as you set yourself against evil, understanding of God will increase.  If you have any doubt of this, ask yourself:  How many of our current leaders do this, and how many of them 'rule righteously'?  But notice something deeper here:  v14 speaks to one's character; then goes in 15 and 16 to what even the world might consider success;and finally in 17 to a deep, loving relationship with God.  It is a progression, and it REQUIRES the progression of reverence-knowledge-action.

 Third Verse: 9:10:

Pro 9:10  The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 

Pro 9:11  For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased. 

Pretty self-explanatory, and common sense.  Even our media grasps this one:

Fourth verse: 10:27:

Pro 10:27  The fear of Jehovah prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be cut short. 

Pro 10:28  The expectation of the righteous is joyful, but the hope of the wicked shall perish. 

See, this explains the apparent contradiction of "but Chris, even good people die young..."  Our expectation, our HOPE is what extends life, because our hope is in the home Christ said He is making for us in heaven.  Our extended life is not only joyful, but unlike the cut-off condition of the wicked, it is PERMANENT.

Fifth verse:  14:26:

Pro 14:26  In the fear of Jehovah is strong trust, and His sons shall have a hiding place. 

Let's common sense this one.  What do we need to hide from?  The things that make us fear (human fear).  If we reverence God through the steps of reverence-knowledge-action, we develop that love, that trust bond, and the mere knowledge of God is enough to shield us from anxiety.  We will be safe in Him, if we GROW in Him.

Sixth verse: 14:27:

Pro 14:27  The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, to turn away from snares of death. 

Sin brings death, and they both set snares throughout our lives.  With all the death I've seen this summer, I can attest to that:  snares of depression, sorrow, despair; turning to sinful distractions, reacting in anger.  Anything to get us to say, "Damn you, God, it isn't fair!"  But to REFUSE that attitude and reverence God, God reveals that HE is that source of life, Christ is that living water.  He says to us, as He said to Martha:

Joh 11:25  Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one believing into Me, though he die, he shall live. 

Joh 11:26  And everyone living and believing into Me shall not die to the age, never! Do you believe this? 

Seventh verse: 15:33:

Pro 15:33  The fear of Jehovah is instruction in wisdom, and before honor is humility. 

If you remember last time, we said this verse makes perfect sense when linked to 8:13.  You're not going to make step #1 of the journey with pride and loftiness, thinking only of yourself.  God returned Job's blessing only when he humbled himself...

Job 42:5  I have heard of You by hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You; 

Job 42:6  Therefore, I despise myself, and I have repented on dust and ashes. 

Hey, look at that- Job went through our PROGRESSION:  he reverenced God, he learned of God, and then God manifested Himself to Job!  And then he did THIS progression- he humbled himself before God, and received honor.  Have you begun to understand- we are looking at a bunch of facets to ONE path?

Eighth verse: 19:23:

Pro 19:23  The fear of Jehovah tends to life, and he shall rest satisfied, he shall not be visited with evil. 

All I can do here is picture the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, and the final state of the poor beggar:

Luk 16:22  And it happened, the poor one died and was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. And the rich one also died and was buried. 

Luk 16:23  And being in torments in hell, lifting up his eyes, he sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. 

Finally, our overarching verse, 23:17:

Pro 23:17  Do not let your heart envy sinners, but only be in the fear of Jehovah all the day. 

Pro 23:18  For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off. 

Let me just ask you this:  If you have been open to following all this, then you recognize this book has a LOT of wisdom and common sense in it.  Do you think the phrase, "Surely there is a hereafter" is anomalous?  If the wisdom is there, surely that statement is true; and if that statement is true, do YOU want to be with Lazarus, or with the rich man?  And you can laugh, and say, "Well, I'm not rich, and I have never treated someone as he did Lazarus."  Well and good, but there's a point you MIGHT not be considering:

Luk 13:1  And some were present at the same time reporting to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. 

Luk 13:2  And answering, Jesus said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? 

Luk 13:3  No, I say to you, But if you do not repent, you will all perish likewise. 

Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, do you think that these were sinners beyond all men who lived in Jerusalem? 

Luk 13:5  No, I say to you, But if you do not repent, you will all perish likewise. 

And what is that repentance?  Jesus was talking to the Pharisees mere moments before, about their refusal to see Himself as Messiah.  He told them:

Luk 12:56  Hypocrites! You know to discern the face of the earth and of the heaven, but how is it you do not discern this time? 

This time- His time.  The repentance they needed was to see what was right in front of their faces- that Jesus was the Son of God.  And that is where our progression leads.  Next time, we look at the "buts" in these verses.