One thing I've learned about God the Father in studying Him in the light of the word דּעת (da‛ath), or 'knowledge' in Proverbs is that, separating Him from Jesus (understanding) and the Spirit (wisdom) is nigh unto impossible. Just as the Lord Himself said...
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Nor can you separate Him from the plan He has had from the beginning for you- just as Paul told it to us...
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Eph 1:8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
Eph 1:9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
Eph 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
But what you CAN learn is how he deals with us. And that depends, as I said 2 weeks ago, on whether you value Him, or deny Him...
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
So the Father is Knowledge; and, to know Him requires reverence FIRST. And the first couple chapters in Proverbs describe in more detail the differing KINDS of people there are, in how they relate to God.
First, there is the fool, who has two components; First, in his thoughts, he hates God:
Pro 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
Pro 1:30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,
Pro 1:31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
And second, he lies to himself about this by denying there is a God...
Psa 14:1 To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
The counterpart to this in those who choose God is the effort to call upon the Lord...
Pro 2:1 My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you,
Pro 2:2 so that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding;
Pro 2:3 yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding;
Pro 2:4 if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures,
Pro 2:5 then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God.
Keep this passage in mind, because we'll keep coming back to it. The next type of person is the Scoffer. Unlike the fool, who has a definite thing against God, a scoffer has one attitude towards everything- and runs his mouth about it:
Pro 1:22 How long will you love simplicity, simple ones? And will scorners delight in their scorning? And will fools hate knowledge?
The scoffer is the hardest to turn from his ways, because it isn't so much their philosophy that drives them, but the action of being 'against' everything that comes their way. Thus, they'll have a answer- a wrong one- for everything:
Pro 29:20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
So where a fool might be convinced he is wrong, always being right is what defines a scoffer. The answer to this man comes in that same passage from before...
...and lift up your voice for understanding;
Where the scoffer will take no positive steps, one who values God will take that next step and call upon Jesus...
Rom 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Why is this confession- the speaking out towards God towards Christ, so important? Well, I kind of stumbled onto (read: was lead to) a passage that explains that:
Pro 11:9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
Peering into this passage, I found an interesting root to the word 'mouth':
A primitive root; to puff, that is, blow away: - scatter into corners.
Which put me in mind of Genesis and Adam...
Gen 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
God's blowing brings life; the blowing of man brings destruction. From chapter 5 on there are many references such as this:
Pro 5:1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
Pro 5:2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
Pro 5:3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
Pro 5:4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Where your "lips", your words, are the final barrier between yourself and sin. The word translated "guard" means also "protect, maintain, obey", so your words are the key to keeping God in your mind and heart. This is why we will be judged so strictly on them...
Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
So finally, we come to the last sinner's group, the simple. Remember what it said in our previous passage:
Pro 1:22 How long will you love simplicity, simple ones?
The simple are those who know nothing of God, and believe they are happier for it. They are neither directed, as the fool, nor malicious, as the scoffer. They are merely ignorant of God, and haven't been given a reason or motivation to learn anything. Maybe the motivation end of it is the key; because the answer to them, from our previous passage, is:
...if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures,
Pro 2:5 then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God.
Wisdom must be SOUGHT. I made that statement (parenthetically fixed) about 'stumbling onto' a bit of knowledge, but you never just stumble onto such things; you have to be looking.
With that, I have just 3 more quick points, and they basically are the key points to our journey to find God in Proverbs this week. First, as we have said, the journey begins with value. Do you value God? You have to understand WHY He is to be feared/reverenced in order to find Him.
Second, you have to be willing to be TAUGHT. And that means, you have to handle being corrected at times...
Pro 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
(This is a passage which, in different wordings, can be found throughout Proverbs).
And finally, if you want a God who will deliver you from problems, you HAVE TO have this kind of relationship with him:
Pro 2:10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
Pro 2:11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
Pro 2:12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech...
Another good read, that I liked
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