Begin Knowledge

Proverbs 1:7-33

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
⁸ My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
⁹ For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³ We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴ Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
¹⁶ For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
²² “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
²³ Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,

I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
²⁵ Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
²⁷ When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
³² For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

 

True sound wisdom can only come from our Bibles.  It will expose man’s deeds and actions.  God says I will make the simple wise.  But we have to admit to ourselves we are simple in the ways of God.  God runs our world no matter how we may feel He doesn’t.  He also tells us our ways are not His ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.  God is fighting a war against Satan, a spiritual war that has His children bound and under the influence of darkness.  No matter how bright our smiles, or how large our bank accounts, darkness is all around us.   If we are not building our lives and empires on the word of God, speaking His name everywhere we go, we are living a lie and deceiving ourselves.  Psalms 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house they build in vain.”  God states that our world’s wisdom is foolishness to Him.  He asks us to not be worried about what we are going to wear or eat, but receive His word, wisdom, and knowledge, and all these things shall be added to us.  God blew His breath into us royalty, so He knows our desires and wants.  However, He has desires and wants also, so one hand washes the other.  Adam and Eve set us up for spiritual death, and Father God is executing vengeance on that ordeal with or without us.  Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image - any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them or serve them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.”  We are designing and building images in mass production making them our place of rest in all industries, and God’s name is not on the letterheads or marquees.  The beginning of knowledge must start now. 

 

Blessings to all who seek knowledge in our God,

 

Vincent Young, Christian Analyst