The Beginning of Knowledge

Proverbs 1:1-7

Proverbs 1:1-7, “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The Point of the Book of Proverbs

I love how the beginning of the book literally says why we should read this book. It’s book primarily written by King Solomon to teach us about wisdom and instruction. Keep in mind that King Solomon wasn’t just a really smart king. He is known as the smartest king that has ever existed because his knowledge came from God himself. It was the gift that King Solomon asked for when God asked him what he wanted as a gift. The book of proverbs is a book that not only teaches us about wisdom and instruction, it also helps us learn how to apply all of those tiny details to our lives.

What does the King Solomon mean by wisdom and instruction?

Proverbs is the kind of book that isn’t necessarily written in words that everyone will understand, but you’ll understand the words if you have the desire to follow them. For example, the first verse simply says, “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,”. That may sound a little broad to some people, but that’s because the Bible has more things that we can learn than we realize. Why does God want us to know His words to us? It’s because God’s words to us are full of wisdom and instruction.

How to Recieve Instruction

Verse 3 in Proverbs 1 says, “to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;”. Verse 2 lets us know that God wants us to know his Word. Verse 3 goes on to tell us that, if we know God’s Word, we will be able to recieve God’s instructions to us. Whereas verse 2 is describing to us that we need to know God’s Word, verse 3 is describing to us a wonderful benefit to knowing God’s Word.

Why should we want to recieve instruction?

King Solomon tells us why we should want to recieve instruction in verses 4 and 5. Verses 4 tell us, “to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—”. This verse is telling us that one of the reasons we should aim to recieve instruction is because God’s instructions have a strong meaning behind them that will be very useful for you to teach other people.

Verse 5 says to us, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,”. This verse likely sounds pretty straight forward, which it primarily is. Understanding God’s Word will help us to have guidance throughout our lives. That’s the straightforward part of the verse. Thankfully, this verse isn’t just letting us know that we will gain guidance; it is also letting us know that as time goes on, our knowledge will continue to grow through God’s guidance to us.

Verse 6 is simply going on by explaining to us that most men will not understand God’s wisdom and instruction. Gaining God’s wisdom and instruction is a very intentional process. Verse 7 helps us to understand what that process is.

Why do some people want God’s knowledge and others don’t?

Verse 7 begins by saying, “The fear of the Lord”. Those alone are very powerful words. These words alone are helping us to understand that we have to have a strong desire to learn and apply the wisdom and knowledge that God is willing to freely give us. Sadly, most people don’t have that desire. They simply have no desire to follow God. Whereas the first part of the verse is explaining what causes us to gain knowledge, the second part of the verse helps us to understand that those who despise wisdom and instruction are seen as fools.

Something interesting I want to bring up real quick in case it comes into anybody’s mind is that verse 1:7 sounds a lot like verse 9:10. Verse 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”. Verse 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”. I just want to point out real quick that the difference between these verses has to do with the Hebrew word being used for “beginning”. Verse 1:7 is telling us that the fear of the Lord is the first step to gaining knowledge and instruction. Verse 9:10 is sort of like an adjective. It’s describing to us that the fear of the Lord is the primary step. You could basically say that verse 1:7 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the first step while verse 9:10 is letting us know that it’s impossible to gain wisdom and instruction without taking that step. There’s no way of getting around it. The only possible first step to take is to fear the Lord.

Present Day

Sadly, these verses are being very ignored these days. Some people don’t want God’s knowledge and instructions. Some people do want God’s wisdom and instructions, but they won’t take the steps needed. Some people do want God’s wisdom and instructions, but don’t realize the benefits that come with His wisdom and instructions. Just in general, a lot of people these days don’t even know the difference between what’s good and what’s bad. A lot of people these days don’t really care much about the difference between what’s good and what’s bad.

I hope that you have the desire to gain God’s wisdom and instructions. Not only will it benefit you, but it will benefit those around you. The world definitely needs people who have gained God’s wisdom and instruction. If you feel like God wants you to share His wisdom and instruction, feel free to do so. The world may not be on your side with things, but at least God will be on your side. It’ll definitely be worth it. You have the possibility to make a very meaningful difference in people’s lives. Simply fear the Lord, gain His knowledge and instructions, then let the Holy Spirit use you to teach other people.