The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
The statement above from the book of Proverbs is not only counter-cultural. It’s the kind of proclamation that would cause many intelligent, up-to-the-minute modern thinkers to cock their heads in baffled wonder before dismissing the ancient precept altogether. We’ve lost the beauty and joy that comes with the right kind of fear. In its place, well I don’t have to tell you. History tells the tale.
Indeed, in many ways it has been ever thus.
That modern classic movie Jurassic Park nails it with that unforgettable quote by Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man, man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs."
When man ceases to fear God, the fictional disaster depicted in Jurassic Park becomes a metaphor for the reality of chaos in a world where “everyone does what is right in his own eyes.”
I’ve grappled with the fear of God lo these many years of stumbling and stammering in my life as a follower of Christ. Can you love Someone you fear? Should you fear Someone who calls Himself your Father? What do I fear? His wrath? His discipline?
The Proverbs call the fear of the Lord the BEGINNING of knowledge. In this context, it seems to mean the foundation that sets the wheels in motion on the path to right understanding– and right application of what is understood. Like the foundation of a house holds it up, like the bread won’t be bread without leaven, like a car isn’t a car without an engine.
To fear God is to grasp the non-negotiable, binding, perfect and just authority He has in His ownership of this world and everyone and everything in it. Even the wrath of God, a very unpopular subject of discussion, is good and right. God’s absolute hatred of sin and what it has done to His creation is good.
Fear is a powerful mindset. Like mighty rushing water, it can destroy what is good when it runs amok without a path and a purpose. Hence the Bible’s plentiful commands to “fear not.” But when fear is rightly understood it becomes a catalyst for what is important and valuable. The Hoover Dam harnesses the power of water to provide electricity to millions of people. It’s a fearful force that tourists visit with awestruck wonder but-wouldn’t want to carelessly paddle their canoes under…
The tension between the right kind of fear of God and the destructive kind is something I’ve grappled with for a long time. Different temperaments and different times and places approach the fear of God in varying ways. In general, our culture is on the dismissive end of the pendulum, taking lightly those moral bedrocks that have weathered the battering storms of time. Past cultures have often gone to the other extreme, being so afraid of God they fell into the trap of superstition and horrifying sacrificial practices. As usual, neither of these poles make for a fruitful, relational life with God.
Since we live in a time when the fear of God is mostly absent, we are in the dangerous flow of a river where human wisdom = folly. Right now, murderers are being released on bail. Authority is mocked. The smallest and weakest among us are destroyed and buildings are lit up in celebration. Commitments are shallow, entitlement abounds…man creates dinosaur…
I cannot say where the healthy fear of God finds its sweet spot. It’s something I think must be prayed for, sought, learned from scripture, wrestled with and considered every day. This I do know. The knee must be bent, the cross of Christ always kept at the forefront, a heart of gratitude the cornerstone.
“Fools despise wisdom and instruction”. Maybe there is one thing today you can do to energize the right kind of fear of God in your life. Consider the changing leaves, and all the intricacies of how that happens. Take a walk in a cemetery and remember your mortality. Light a bonfire in the backyard andlift your heart to the God who made fire to burn and to comfort. Stand in awe of all these things. And, remember always, that everything, everything He does, is ultimately right and good.
Your friend on the pilgrim road,
Loriann
