THE book begins with the foundation principle of the fear of God, but this in the special relation established with His people Israel. It is therefore “the fear of Jehovah.” For as He deigned thus to be made known to them; so were they called to prize that name as their special privilege. Jehovah was God in Israel, though alone the true God, and Lord of all the earth. As Jehovah was God, Who spoke through the prophets, and wrought wonders according to His word; so the people at a great crisis with heathenism cried (1 Kings 18), Jehovah, He is God; Jehovah, He is God. The usage of the abstract term, and of the relational name, has nothing in the least to do with imaginary legends or various writers; it is most instructive for the twofold truth that is set out.
“The fear of Jehovah (is) the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law [or teaching] of thy mother; for they (shall be) a garland of grace for thy head, and chains about thy neck” (vers. 7-9).
In Psa. 106:1010And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. (Psalm 106:10) the fear of Jehovah is declared to be the beginning of wisdom, as here of knowledge. Both are equally true, and each important in its place, though wisdom be the higher of the two as built on the experience of the divine word and ways, which “knowledge” does not necessarily presuppose. He who wrote for the reader's instruction was pre-eminent in both, though in his case there was extraordinary divine favor in the communication, and the keenest ardor in improving opportunities without parallel. In this general part of the book we have “wisdom” introduced (chap. 9:10), “the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.” This gives the moral side its just prominence in both; and so it is in Job 28:2828And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28), where that chapter, full of interest throughout, closes with “unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord [Adonai, not Jehovah as such], that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” He is feared as the Sovereign Master, Who cannot look on evil with the least allowance.
But even where external knowledge is pursued, what a safeguard is in the fear of God! Assuredly the Creator would be remembered, not only in the days of youth but in those of age. Who that had the least real knowledge of God could confound the creature with Him Who created it? To him the heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse shows the work of His hands. If he beheld the light when it shone or the moon walking in brightness, it was but to own and adore the God Who is above, unless a deceived heart had turned him aside, that he could not deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? How, with Him before the mind, deny creation for an eternal matter under Fate or Chance? for a desolating Pantheism, where all men and things are god, and none is really God, where is neither sin nor its judgment, nor grace and truth with its blessedness in Christ for faith to life eternal? where all that appears to our senses is Maya [illusion], and the diabolical substitute, but real death of hope, is Nirvana [extinction]? How true it is that the foolish “despise wisdom and instruction!”
What again were his last words to his judges, of whom Westerners boast. “It is now time to depart—for me to die, for you to live; but which of us is going to a better state is unknown to everyone but God.” What a contrast with the apostle! “To me to live is Christ, and to die gain.” Certainty on divine warrant, and the deepest enjoyment everywhere and always, the beginning of which is the fear of God in Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.
This funadmental deliverance is followed up by the usual appeal of affection, “my son.” For here the relationships God has made and sanctions are of as great value where His fear reigns, as they perpetuate sin and misery where it is not so. Parents are to be honored and heard, the instruction of the father and the teaching of the mother. This the son first knows to form and direct obedience, if self-will oppose not; and they are his graceful ornament. How early they act on the heart, and how influential on the conduct and even character, many a son can testify. Alas, that men have forgotten the word of the wisest, and proved their folly, parents and children! And to this sad side we are now introduced.
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole as those that go down into the pit. We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: cast in thy lot among us; we will have all one purse. My son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path. For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is the net spread in the eyes of a bird; and they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So (are) the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its owners” (vers. 10-19).
Here we have the soul warned against listening to the voice of enticement. For Satan has instruments not a few zealous to draw others into evil; and companionship is as natural as dangerous. “For also we were aforetime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another” (Titus 3:33For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)). And in this the least scrupulous lead: their mouth full of cursing and bitterness; their feet swift to shed blood. The word is, Walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path. Covetousness, and robbery to gratify it, are vividly drawn: violence follows lust, and one's own life the forfeit. The day comes for judgment without mercy, the judgment of flesh. Listen, for in vain is the net spread in the eyes of any bird. In reality they wait for their own blood, as surely as God knows how to deliver. How many a one that is plotted against escapes, while those greedy of gain lose their own lives, the end in this world of their wicked schemes!