A week or two ago I had one of those "aha!" moments, you know, with the little light bulb and everything.
As I pored over Proverbs 10, 11, and 12, looking for verses on the fruit of the tongue, I came across a gem contained in Proverbs 11 verse 2:
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."When I read that, my mind flashed back to an oft-quoted verse that said the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (cue light bulb). Perhaps there is a link between the fear of the LORD and humility. Hmmm...
This came at an interesting time, as I was trying to figure out exactly what wisdom is, and how to get more of it. For a while, there's always been something in the back of my mind that wisdom needs to be deep, something profound. That has been changing.
Then there is the whole 'fearing God' concept that I'd put on the shelf. I had been struggling on and off with considering God as a Father, and yet fearing him, being afraid of him as it were. Now that this verse popped up, I was able to take the concept off the shelf, dust it off, and examine it again.
The psalmist who wrote Psalm 111 tells us in the last verse that "
The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of wisdom" and "
all who follow his precepts have good understanding." King Solomon tells us in Proverbs 1:7 that "
The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge..."
I wanted to take a closer look at the word 'fear' to get a better grasp on what these verses mean, so I went to the original Hebrew. A vocational scholar I am not, but
e-sword I do have (and it's free!). The translation of the Hebrew word is: "
fear (also used as infinitive); morally
reverence" (strong).
So it seems the fear, or reverence, of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. And where would the fear or reverence of God come from? It would come from knowing how great he is and how finite we are (cue humility). What, then, is humility? Humility is knowing your limits, knowing who you are not,
as well as knowing who you
are.
Making the connection?
Let's go back to wisdom. I've been coming to realize that wisdom need not be deep to be wisdom, it can be simple and rather ordinary, it can even be known at times as 'common sense'. Here's a literal translation from the Webster Dictionary: "
The quality of being wise; knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it; knowledge of the best ends and the best means; discernment and judgment; discretion..."
Knowing God would mean knowing how great, how magnificent, how amazing he is, inspiring fear or reverence. Having humility would be looking at ourselves in sober judgment (see Romans 12). So fearing the LORD and having humility would mean that you understand how things are, giving you "the capacity to make due use of [knowledge]," aka wisdom, or at least the beginning of it.
Those are my thoughts on the matter. What do you think?
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Comments (18)
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Great post. Good examination of Scripture.
I think this is a great post...thanks:)
Wisdom comes from contemplation, the experience gained from doing things, and using the intellect.
Unfortunately, many Christians substitute Bible quoting for actual wisdom. For although the Bible is wisdom it is the disciple's responsibility to put herself on a path whereby wisdom enters the intellect and enlightens it.
Using the Bible as a database of fortune cookie quotes does not serve the purpose of attaining wisdom.
This begs the question, can nonbelievers be truly wise?
@LoBornlite@xanga - "Unfortunately, many Christians substitute Bible quoting for actual wisdom. "
Amen!
@SirNickDon@xanga - This begs the question, can nonbelievers be truly wise?
They can be wise in the ways of the world and in the ways of reason. But they cannot be wise in the ways of faith.
@SirNickDon@xanga - You generally spark thought with your comments and posts, but I'm wondering why you ask the question you do?
The Bible clearly states 4 different times in Proverbs that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom/knowledge. I just have to wonder how many times God has to say something before Christians accept?
Are there different kinds of wisdom? Yes, the Bible acknowledges that as well. What the Bible calls wisdom and what the world around us calls wisdom are two different things. Over and over in Scripture we are told that the fear of the LORD leads to life, honor, hope, and God's favor.
We could argue there is a type of wisdom; know how; understanding the ropes; that goes with running a Ponzi Scam. you could ask Bernie Madoff about that, and he'd be full of wisdom on the matter. God would not, however, call Bernie Madoff a wise man. Isn't what God thinks of greatest importance when considering matters such as these?
What kind of wisdom do you want?
@Such_Were_You@xanga - Yeah, I definitely agree with you. More than anything, I thought it was strange that the OP never made it to making that point.
VERY INTEREST COMMENTARY ON WISDOM:
IN ACTS CHAPTER 10 VERSES 34,35
THE BIBLE STATES THAT THERE IS NO PERSON ANY BETTER THAN ANY OTHER PERSON.
IN VERSE 35 WHEN IT SAYS FEARTH HIM, IT MEANS NOT TO BE SCARED OF GOD.
IT ONLY MEANS TO PUT GOD IN REVERANCE AND HOLD GOD IN HOLY AWE.
AND LIVING IN RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD.
Nicely pieced together, overly_toasted_bread.
Wow! Good stuff and I love the connections you are making. I am a teacher and one thing teachers live for is that "a-ha moment."....it sounds like you are a studier, I encourage you to do a study of the word "epiphany." I think youll be impressed by its origin and true meaning....and you are having one! Thanks fo sharing it with us. I have also been hearing a lot about wisdom and have had a desire to seek her out and become a better decision maker and grow in this area. I believe to FEAR God is to RESPECT His authority and reverence and defer to it and to Him. ( which you so eloquently noted). Isn't it amazing that although He is God of the Universe...omniscient and omnipresent, He calls us sons and daughters as well as friends....I am a friend of God...You are a FRIEND of God. I have a lot to say on this matter as I have been enlightened as to what my relationship with Him should look like, but will try to limit my words. As I anticipate marriage, I believe my husband is not only my protector, head of the home, the one who makes the final decisions, but is my best friend. So should it be with the Lord....Sarah called Abraham her Lord....and God is called "Ishi" or "husband" in the Old Testament. The bottom line is this, ( And we are all, male and female, the "Bride" of CHrist). God is the ultimate authority, but He listens and cares about our thoughts. He trusts us to do the things He asks us because His will always has our best interest at heart. It's a relationship. When He gives us liberty or grace to do something, He trusts that we will not then run away with it and take advantage of that liberty. I have come to learn the difference between friendship and familiarity. Familiarity condones sinful behavior as "love," but a true friend will gently call you on it ( which is very wise) trusting that you will recieve it in love so to make your life and you realtionship(s) stronger, trusting that you will not resent the correction and allow the correction to bring you into greater love, wisdom, and maturity.
I love the algebraic axiom if a=b, and b=c, then a=c. You are utilizing this axiom in your blog spot.It sort of acts like a domino effect. Let a=the Fear of the Lord (reverent obedience of His word) as the beginning of wisdom, and b=the knowledge that God is Love then a=b: Walking in or reverencing LOVE is the beginning of WISDOM. ( Remember that love is patient and kind and not self seeking, or based in selfish motives, etc....)SO as we as believers study the nature of God, which is Love as defined by Paul in I Corinthians 13, we begin to make our decisions based upon love. That is WISDOM!
I also believe it helps to recognize and remember that God is god of relationship. He is our Lord, but He is the Lord of LOVE, and a large aspect of love is discipline. Although He is our teacher and our Lord, He is the lover of our soul and our closest friend. He is not only restoring our life, but training us to be ministers and so part of that training is letting go and trusting us to do what He has taught us without fear of making mistakes....He gives great grace as our hearts are set on doing our best as He gives the grace to accomplish His will. It would then be WISE not to take that grace for granted.
Everything in the word is connected and can ultimately be traced all the way back to the most simplistic scripture in the Bible. God is LOVE...it is not what He does but who He IS! Wow! I was once a very selfish person (even as a Christian) and so my decisions were centered on my personal goals apart from God, my puruits, my wants and so I was not walking in wisdom, because I feared and only trusted in "ME" and not Him...so needless to say I kept bumping into walls and doors that were not opening for me, because I was either impatient (not an attribute of love), selfish, or void of the "epiphany" that God as my Heavenly Father ALWAYS wants the best for me and as I HUMBLE myself in proper submission to His will and His ways of being and doing to SERVE Him and not myself or the approval of men, I will make wise decisions that will lead to prosperity and success for HIS GLORY and the good of OTHERS!...and stay happy, blessed, fortunate and to be envied!
God is good!
Dear overly toasted bread,
I crack myself up sometimes. I did not check your web site before commenting on your blog above and had to smile and shake my head ( having read it abfter my post)....love when that happens. I see that we are very much on the same page or same wavelength....the same Holy Spirit....very cool! I can tell you are a lover of Truth and I support and applaud your endeavors. Keep publishing the Word! "....For how beautiful are the feet of those who publish good news...."
@SirNickDon@xanga - I think we all make a great many assumptions from our own particular world view. We have a sense that what we believe is "common knowledge", and that the "masses" ought to know. I must confess I am very guilty of this particular short sightedness. If I may offer a small defense: Its been done in total ignorance, and without malice....well, mostly without malice.
Much of what I appreciate about your blogs is how you challenge me to see beyond my assumptions of what is common knowledge. Whether we agree or not is of no importance to me. You make me think, and that is the highest praise I can offer anyone.
Blessings,
Lonnie
very good and inspiratinal post.. :)
glad that you were able to take it apart and find everything you needed. that's what we need to continually do with scripture. dissect it and understand it.
great post
@zimmer79 - just read your post. You are a very WISE and very blessed daughter of Christ. I am now blessed this morning by reading your reply about WISDOM.
Thanks you and God Bless!!Beth