THE BEGINNING OFKNOWLEDGE
Adapted from sermonpreached on evening of 23 July 2000
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdomand instruction” (Prov 1:7).
What is the beginning of knowledge? Some say the beginning of knowledge is inthe mother’s womb, and so they “hot house” the baby. Others think that it isthe nursery or kindergarten, and so they object to teaching a child too early.Some purists would say that the beginning of true knowledge is found only inthe university where there is independent thinking. The idealist may say: thebeginning of knowledge is to know where to find it; or to know who to learn itfrom; and to know how to ask questions. The pragmatist may say: the beginningof knowledge is to do it. These are the philosophical sentiments of the worldon the beginning of knowledge. There may be some subjective truth in each ofthese statements. We say subjective truth because the knowledge referred to inthese statements are all subjective and significant only in a limited sense.
But what about knowledge that is perpetually and universally true andmeaningful? The knowledge that the world talks about changes with time, orchanges in value over time. But unlike the world, we know that we will liveforever, and so we should be concerned with knowledge that will last not just alifetime, but knowledge that we will still find useful in eternity.
What is the beginning or foundation of this knowledge? The wisest man, who everlive in this world, wrote under inspiration from God: “The fear of the LORD isthe beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7a).
The fear of the LORD does not necessarily refer to being afraid of God, thoughthe impenitent sinner ought to be afraid of Him. In any case, considered apartfrom the feeling of dread, it refers to having: (1) a steadfast assurance thatGod exists and that He is a holy God; (2) an abiding and reverent sense of thepresence of God in our lives; and (3) a sense of accountability towards God anda desire to please Him. To fear God is to live coram Deo, i.e., tolive before the face of God. To fear God is to live with the apprehension thatGod is watching over us in everything we think, do or say; and that He isintimately concerned with our lives, and will bring all things to judgment.
What then, are the implications of Solomon’s assertion: “The fear of the LORDis the beginning of knowledge?” Let me suggest three:
The Fear of the LORD is the Beginning
of Useful Knowledge
Useful knowledge is simply knowledge that translatesto life. Knowledge that does not eventually translate to life is ultimatelyuseless. Let me illustrate: Most of us spent some years in school: some spentmore years, some spent less. Some of us are still in school. What usefulknowledge do you or did you acquire in school? If you are in school, it may behard for you to answer because everything taught is important: you need to knowthem to pass your examinations. But ask someone who has been out working for awhile: “How much of what you learned in school is directly applicable to yourwork?” You will quickly realise that, for most people, the percentage of usefulknowledge acquired in school is actually very small. Most of us know this factby experience. How many of us even remember the theories of Calculus we learnedin school? When we were learning them, they were useful for training our mindsand for passing examinations. But how many of us have clean forgotten all thatwe learned simply because they are no longer useful?
Now, we know that the knowledge of religion or divinity is very important. Buthow useful is it by itself? Knowledge of spiritual things that does nottranslate into life is the same as dead faith. Dead faith is simply headknowledge. The Scripture describes dead faith thus: “Thou believest that thereis one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wiltthou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (Jas 2:19–20). Deadfaith, or mere head knowledge, is simply faith without works. Knowledge that isnot based on genuine, reverential fear of God would only remain in the head,and not translate to genuine faith. The devils know much more than we do, yetthe knowledge is useless for them because they have no loving fear for God.
Unless our minds are possessed with a holy reverence of God, and every of ourthoughts are brought into captive obedience to God, we will have knowledge thatremains in the head only. Unless we fear God, all the knowledge that we haveabout theology will be useless for us, except to condemn us: “For untowhomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men havecommitted much, of him they will ask the more” (Lk 12:48).
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of useful knowledge. Beloved, are youincreasing in knowledge without a fear of the LORD? Realise that that is, infact, practical atheism: knowing and believing, but not being transformed bythe renewing of your mind. What is the use of knowing much theology, but havingno fear of God?
Beloved? Do you have a fear of God? Let me give you a simple test: If you areunsure if a certain thing in your life is pleasing to God, do you seek to erron the safe side or do you rather err on the convenient side? Let me give youan example. If you are not sure whether God would be pleased with you for goingto a wedding dinner on the Sabbath day so that you have to miss the eveningworship, then would you go for the dinner any way? If you fear the Lord, youwill take seriously the words of the Apostle Paul, that whatever is not offaith is sin.
The Fear of the LORD is the Beginning of
Knowing Yourself and Knowing Christ
Let me show you three instances in the Scripture to prove this to be thecase.
First, take the case of Moses whenhe met God in the bush that burned but was not consumed. It was there that Godrevealed to Moses that His name is “I AM;” for when Moses asked Him for Hisname so that he could tell the children of Israel who sent him, He said: “I AMTHAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AMhath sent me unto you” (Ex 3:14).
Now, notice that the word ‘LORD’ in Proverbs 1:7 is all in capitals. This meansthat in the Hebrew, in which this proverb was originally written, the word usedis not the word adonai which means ‘ruler’ or ‘master.’ It israther, the name of God—Yahweh or Jehovah (Hebrew, yhwh). This nameof God has a meaning. It means “HE IS.” It is the third person form of “I AM.”It is a name which tells us that Jehovah is the alone self-existent Creator andGovernor of all things. Everything in the world is created by God. God alone isnot created.
What was the first thing that God taught Moses when He met him at the burningbush? It was the fear of the LORD: for He told Moses, “Draw not nigh hither:put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest isholy ground” (Ex 3:5). Moses was being taught that God is holy and is to befeared and reverenced because He is holy.
What was Moses’ first response to God when He instructed him to lead His peopleout? It was “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bringforth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex 3:11). Of course, Moses wasn’texactly asking the Lord who he was. He was acknowledging his weakness andnothingness. Moses, who was once a proud and powerful Egyptian prince, had cometo see how worthless he was by himself.
But it was when he knew his weakness that the power of Christ could rest uponhim. The words of the Apostle Paul would apply to Moses too: “For when I amweak, then am I strong” (2 Cor 12:10). For Moses, the fear of the LORD was thebeginning of knowing himself and knowing Christ, so that he esteemed thereproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (Heb11:26).
Secondly, take the case ofIsaiah. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah was in the temple, and he sawa vision of Jehovah sitting on the throne. He saw the seraphims ministeringunto the Lord and crying to one another: “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD ofhosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:3).
What was Isaiah’s first response to this awesome vision? It was: “Woe is me!for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midstof a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”(Isa 6:5). Do you not see how the fear of Jehovah gave way to Isaiah’s knowinghimself to be a vile sinner? It was then that one of the seraphims took a livecoal and touched his lips with it and said: “thine iniquity is taken away, andthy sin purged” (Isa 6:7). What is this act symbolic of, but Christ taking hissin away. In fact, in John 12:41, we are told that the prophet Isaiah saw theglory of Christ in that vision. For Isaiah, then, the fear of the LORD was alsothe beginning of knowing himself and knowing Christ.
Thirdly, take the case of Peterin Luke 5, in the New Testament. Now, take note that the “I AM” or Jehovah inthe Old Testament is the Christ of the New Testament. When the Old Testamentwas translated to Greek before Christ was born, what word did the Alexandrianscholars use to translate the word Jehovah? It was kurios, which istranslated ‘Lord’ in the English. When Christ was born and the Gospel accountwas written, what word did they use to describe Christ? Again, it was kurios!The Lord Jesus, moreover, affirmed that He is the “I AM.” On one occasion, whenHe was speaking to the Jews, He told them: “Verily, verily, I say unto you,Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:58). Immediately the Jews tried to stone Himfor blasphemy because they knew that He was claiming to be Jehovah.
Now, in our account in Luke 5, the Lord Jesus told Peter to launch out into thedeep. Peter was obviously sceptical. He told the Lord: “Master (Greek,epistatês),we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy wordI will let down the net” (Lk 5:5). What happened when the net was lowered? Theyinclosed such a great multitude of fishes that the net began to break and whenthey loaded the fishes on the boats, the two boats almost sank! Peter wasastounded. He knew then that the Lord Jesus was no ordinary leader or rabbi.“He fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, OLord (kurios)” (Lk 5:8). What kind of statement is this? It is astatement of one who knows the fear of the LORD. Peter saw there and then thatJesus is the Lord God Omnipotent. And for the first time since he met the LordJesus, he experienced the fear of the LORD. He saw his nakedness and sin, andan awesome fear pierced his soul as he crumbled to his knees: “Depart from me;for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For the Apostle Peter, then, the fear of theLORD was the beginning of knowing himself and knowing Christ.
Beloved, do you have a fear of the LORD? You will never know yourself or knowChrist until you know the fear of the LORD. You cannot know Christ but that youknow yourself to be a horrible sinner having nothing, and deserving nothing butdamnation. You cannot know Christ unless you know that you are hopeless withoutHim. But how can you know yourself to be hopeless but that you must get it intoyour mind that if God be God, then He must be perfectly holy and perfectlyjust, and that one day He will call you to account for your sin. Think aboutthat. You do not really believe that God exists until you understand that Hemust be holy and just.
The Fear of the LORD is the Beginning
of Life Eternal
Since the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowing self and knowingChrist, the fear of the LORD must also be the beginning of life eternal. Why? Becausethe Lord defined eternal life this way: “And this is life eternal, that theymight know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Jn17:3). Let me put it this way: The fear of the LORD is the beginning ofknowledge that will never loose its currency and that is helpful forever. Ifyou do not have the fear of the LORD, you will not know Christ, and all theknowledge you acquire in a lifetime will not be of any use to you. Yes, yoursoul will live on, but in eternal torment. Yes, you will remember whatknowledge you acquired while on earth. But no, your memory and knowledge is notgoing to help you when you are in hell. Rather, they will cause your conscienceto burn ever so painfully. But if you have the fear of the LORD and know Christ,then you will have life everlasting and life eternal, and the things that youremember from your earthly sojourn will give you occasions to praise the Lord.
With this in mind, let me address myself particularly now to you if you are nota Christian. If you are not a Christian, you may not understand what it is tolove God. But to some extent you can fear the Lord. And I would suggest to youthat your only hope is to fear the Lord. Why? Because unless you fear the Lord,you will continue to live your life as you like. You will continue to headhappily on the broad road that leads to damnation. But let me appeal to youwith four reasons why you should fear the Lord.
Firstly, you should fear theLord because God is a holy and just God. He hates sin, and He will punish everysin. This was the reason why Christ came to live and to die. He came torepresent His children, to take away their sin by being punished on theirbehalf. God punished Him for the sin of those who trust in Him, that they mayhave life everlasting. If you persist in unbelief, one day you will have to payfor your sin. The Bible tells us that if you have to pay for your own sin, ithas to be eternal death in hell.
Secondly, you should fear theLord because your life is in the hand of God. Do you not know that God mayrequire your life today? I am not trying to scare you, but this is a fact. Noneof us know how long more we will live. None of us know when we will die. Ourlives are in the hand of God. He can require it of us at any time. If you donot fear the Lord today, you will fear Him in that day when you die because youwill have to answer for your life. And woe are you if you have to face Godwithout Christ. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God(cf. Heb 10:31). Yes, whatever you may think, if you do not know Jesus Christ,you will not have a happy feeling when you stand before God to be judged. Youwill cringe with fear. You may fall down to your knees and beg for pardon, butit would be too late, because you have chosen to ignore Him and refused tobelieve Him when you still have the opportunity to do so.
Thirdly, you should fear Godbecause commonsense tells you that you should fear Him. Commonsense would tellyou that there is nothing for you to loose if you live according to the fear ofGod. You see, if ultimately there is no God, then life is absolutelymeaningless, and it makes absolutely no difference how you lived it. Then,there is nothing to loose since it would make no difference whether you existedat all. What difference would there be between an earthworm and man if God doesnot exist? Earthworm and man are made of exactly the same substance. If youbelieve that there is no God, you will probably believe that there is no soul,and when you die you rot in the earth the same way as a dead earthworm. But ifGod exists,—and no doubt He does,— then you have everything to loose if you donot know Him or fear Him. For if that is the case, the minute you die you willface the wrath of the righteous and holy God forever. It is foolish to livewithout a fear of God. This is why the Proverbs 1:7 ends with “but foolsdespise wisdom and instruction.” The fool says in his heart that there is noGod (Ps 14:1).
Fourthly, you should fear Godbecause there is hope for those who fear the Lord. The fear of the LORD is thebeginning of knowledge. It is the beginning of knowing yourself and knowingChrist. If you remain proud and think that you know what to do without theinstruction from the Word of God, then there will be no hope for you. If youfear God and humble yourself and seek to know Christ more and more by readingthe Bible and hearing sermons, and repenting of your sin, and believing andembracing Christ as your Saviour and Lord, then you have great hope of trulyknowing Christ and being found with Him in Paradise one day.
Conclusion
Do you have the fear of the LORD? If you truly fearthe Lord, you will no longer live as you like, but you will live according towhat the Word of God teaches. You will want to learn more and more aboutChrist, whether you know yourself to be a Christian or not. You will not allowany opportunity to know Christ better slip by because you are afraid to loosethe blessing that might be installed for you: the blessing of knowing Christ.
—JJ Lim
