by Irene Davault

Created on: October 14, 2009   Last Updated: October 18, 2009

The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning Of Wisdom

Attention should be taken to differentiate between the two different uses of this word. When you first look at the word fear, an emotion surfaces in the mind of danger or apprehension, but the fear spoken of in the scriptures is an emotion of respect, learning, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is recognized partially as a duty to God. ( Psalms 111: 10; Eccl 12: 13; Isa 11: 2-3; Luke 1: 50) In these scriptures fear is spoken of as being equivalent to worship, reverence, and awe. It is also described as a godly fear (Heb 11: 28). It is an essential attitude of mind we must have to stand toward an All-Holy God. On the other hand we learn that fear is something that is unworthy of a child of God and perfect love casteth out (1 Jn 4: 18).

When Adam sinned, his first reaction was fear, he became afraid and wanted to hide from God (Gen 3: 10). The effects of sin is fear. Sin destroys the confidence a child of God should have toward a loving Heavenly Father, and generates a feeling of shame and guilt. Ever since the fall of Adam God has been teaching His children not to fear but to seek repentance and ask forgiveness with full confidence of receiving it. The effect of repentance draws a child of God back to the influence of a loving Heavenly Father.

Job was a perfect and upright man and feared God and hated evil. How did Job, who had lost all his wealth, his family, suffered physical illness, have his wife taunted him about remaining faithful to God, and his friends scorned him, but through it all Job testified to them of his faith in God. Job knew the Lord God he worshiped. He knew all the things he had were gifts given by the Lord. Job's knowledge of eternal life enabled him to suffer all things in mortal life, and because of his knowledge of God he grew in wisdom. Job's fear of the Lord gave him the wisdom to know what choices he needed to make under his circumstances. He chose to stay true to God and not blame or curse God for the trials of life he was experiencing. His blessing in the end was an increase of all he had lost.

We learn from the scriptures that knowledge leads to wisdom. Charles Lindbergh said that in his young manhood he thought science was more important than either man or God, and that without a highly developed science modern man lacks the power to survive. After World War II, however, he went to Germany and saw what bombing had done to that country, which had been a world leader in science. There,

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