Bill Johnson - The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom
The people have said you can’t have an intimate relationship with God and fear Him at the same time, and whoever made that up obviously isn’t married. I have an intimate relationship with my wife, but I do respect her tremendously. I fear her, if you will, and the Bible talks about the fear of the Lord in this sense. There are two kinds of fear, and the one we need to stay away from is the fear that drives people away. Well, hi there, welcome back! Today we’re going to take a look at chapter nine of Proverbs, and this is in all of our quests to learn what wisdom looks like. It’s an expression of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life and enables us to reign in life. In case you’ve forgotten, when we talk about reigning in life, we’re not talking about ruling over people; we’re not talking about lording it over people. We’re talking about money not controlling us; we control it. Relationships don’t govern our lives; we manage them for the glory of God. All these aspects of life are to be reigned over by people who live in divine wisdom.
So here’s the first thing I want to start with regarding chapter nine, and it’s really just the first verse I want to take a moment to discuss. Verse one of chapter nine says, «Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars.» I don’t know if that stands out to you, but it stands out to me in this sense: it is the nature of wisdom to build. This is fascinating to me because the Lord is always looking for productivity. It’s not like He’s a workaholic; it’s not like He’s trying to inspire us to get something done. It’s that we were designed to create, to produce, and to bring increase. If you remember the parables of the talents and the minas, both of those are sums of money, and in both cases, the people who were entrusted with something and did not bring any increase were judged. Everyone else was rewarded according to their productivity, and the interesting part of those stories is the reward was not two weeks' vacation on the beach in Hawaii. As much as that would be nice, the reward was greater responsibility. The Lord thinks differently than we do.
So, wisdom has built her house. When we look at «house» in Scripture, a house can represent a family line, like the House of David. It can represent a nation, like the House of Israel. It can refer to the House of God, the place where we meet together to worship, but it can also represent a family or our occupation and ministry. There is a household mandate given to a particular family, so when the Bible talks about a house, it’s discussing multiple things, and wisdom is what builds it. The reason that’s significant is that things wisdom builds are not easily torn down. When shaking comes, wisdom brings stability to anything it builds.
Let’s move on down to a probably controversial part of this subject, at least for some, and it’s verse 10. It says, «The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.» I don’t know why the fear of the Lord has fallen out of importance; people seem to think the fear of the Lord is no longer relevant. The verse they’ll quote is from John: where there is love, there is no fear. Yeah, I get what they’re trying to say, but the people have also said you can’t have an intimate relationship with God and fear Him at the same time. Whoever made that up clearly isn’t married, because I have an intimate relationship with my wife, yet I do respect her tremendously. I fear her, if you will, and the Bible talks about the fear of the Lord in this sense. There are two kinds of fear, and the one we need to avoid is the fear that drives people away. It causes them to run and shut down.
But here’s a fascinating thing about the biblical fear of God: it endears us to Him. I fear Him; it endears me to Him. I draw near as a child. I draw near as one who is completely dependent upon Him. Bobby Conner told us this years ago; he said many of us have become way too familiar with a God we hardly know, and those who know Him well fear Him. It’s important that we maintain that, because that’s actually the beginning of wisdom. It’s like if you’re going to build something, you’ve got to have a strong foundation. Well, that foundation right here is the fear of God. If you want wisdom and wish to build a life that represents Him well, if you want a family legacy that continues generation after generation, it starts with the fear of God. It begins with how we converse and our language—the way we speak. We shouldn’t be careless in our descriptions of Him or of other people. It’s crucial that the fear of God be central to how we approach life.
There’s just one more thing I want to bring to your attention, and that’s back here in verse 13. A foolish woman is clamorous. Now remember, the previous chapter talked about the woman of wisdom and how she was used to build and construct, sitting at the gates of the city, shouting that there is a way of wisdom that helps to define the nature of city life, the way a city is built, a purpose for that community. Here in verse 13, it says, «A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple; she knows nothing.» She sits at the door of her house, listening to this, «on a seat by the highest places of the city.» In every city, there are elevated places where the voice of wisdom and the voice of foolishness can be heard. Unfortunately, as we look in city after city around the world, we see where so many leaders have been influenced by this woman right here—the woman of foolishness—who brings absolute chaos and disorder into community life. Often, it’s the way of the popular vote, and it has nothing to do with divine wisdom.
Divine wisdom builds something that cannot be torn down; it lasts for generations. What the Lord invites us into is to live, even in our homes—again, gates are places of authority. Even in our homes, businesses, or churches, there are places of authority in each of these environments. We have access to the voice of wisdom and the voice of foolishness. It’s important for you and me to make a distinction that says, «You know what? I’m choosing the fear of the Lord, which is the way of wisdom. This is where I’m going to start, and I’m going to anticipate God working in and through me to build something that lasts.» I bless you with that. I pray that the Lord would bring such clarity of heart and mind, and that the fear of the Lord would actually be a delightful part of life, not something we dread. Join us next week for chapter 10; it’ll be a great opportunity to explore wisdom again. Thanks!