Proverbs: Where do we begin?

As we begin our study of Proverbs, you might think that we would start at the very beginning. You'd almost be correct. I want to start just a little bit after the beginning.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7

Let's note two things quickly before starting to look at things in a little more depth.

• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." Fear here means proper reverence shown towards God. When you consider God's great power and holiness and compare it to our relative powerlessness and sinfulness and how we rightfully should be punished for our sin, you realize why it's called fear. the beginning means a starting point for or the best part of something. The word for knowledge here can be translated as knowledge or discernment or wisdom. In short, we could say that wisdom comes from having a proper respect of God.
• We also see here a constrast in the second part of this verse. "Fools despise wisdom and discipline." All through Proverbs you will notice a lot of contrasts. The second point that we can see here can be summed up as Proverbs not only shows us what wisdom is, it also shows us what foolishness is.

Discussion Questions

• Based on what we've looked at the last two days, how would you define wisdom?
• Do you desire wisdom?
• Can you think of a situation where you had two (or more) choices? What was the wise choice? What was the foolish choice? Which did you choose?
• If you desire wisdom, should you desire what fools despise (hate)?
• What doesn't the fool like that you should desire?