Fear of the LORD

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)

I'd never really come at this verse from a philosophical perspective, but for some reason I did this morning. Why is the fear of the LORD the beginning of wisdom? How is knowledge of the Holy One understanding? What's going on here, anyway? I began to think...

If we fear the LORD, if we have knowledge of the Holy One, then we have begun at the proper place. We have started our search for wisdom and understanding with Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Those who fear the LORD find the foundation of their worldview rests on this statement. Whatever else that is deduced or induced comes from this fact.

Now a person can start at X and form a valid chain of arguments that lead to Y. The logic can be air-tight, and every counter-argument can be refuted soundly. But as we all know, if X itself is false, the rest of the argument is a moot point. If we start off with X = "In the beginning, God...", then we are not guaranteed to make it successfully to Y, but we are guaranteed that we have begun the journey well. We know that whatever wisdom or knowledge we desire, we cannot get it without first starting from "In the beginning, God..."

If, on the other hand, we start off with "In the beginning, God did not create the heavens and the earth", we have taken a wrong turn on the very first step of the journey. We base all our other knowledge on this statement that doesn't hold water, at least biblically speaking. We have started at the wrong X. This starting point may allow one to come very close to arriving at Y, but there will always be something...not quite right. There will be something lacking, something incomplete. The wisdom and understanding to be had from "In the beginning, God did not...", in the end, is not true wisdom, not true understanding. At best, it is an imitation, at worst, an abomination.

Not all paths lead up the mountain. It turns out this is because they don't all start at its base. They begin in the wrong place, and they lead in the wrong direction. A journey down these paths is doomed from the start. But there is one path that does start at the right place; it does lead in the right direction. And at the entrance of that path, a sign reads, "In the beginning, God..."