The Beginning of Knowledge

Title: 知识的开端
Date: 15-May-2022
Preacher: Ps Zhang Li

Wisdom is a word we are familiar with, actually we use it very often:
When there’s a conflict, say it to be at home, such as conflict between mother and daughter in law; or in the market place, 2 colleagues with opposite opinion. If one party is able to ease the tension, turn the conflict into a win-win situation, we say, this person is really wise.
After a baby was born, we congratulate the young parents, pray that God gives them wisdom, love, and patience, so that they can raise up the child in a Godly way.
When students are studying for their exams, we pray, God please give them wisdom…
When our friends or family members are seriously ill, we pray that the medical team have wisdom and ability to heal our beloved brother or sister.
Many times during the pandemic, the governments in different countries had to make tough decisions. We constantly ask God to guide and grant wisdom to the leaders, so that they are able to make sound decisions which can be the best for the entire nation.
In all of these scenarios, there’re different types of wisdoms. Some of which are the wisdoms covered in Proverbs, some are not. Today we’re going to focus mainly on verse 2-7 of Chap 1, verse 8-19 will also be talked about briefly. We will have a taste of the wisdoms in Proverbs, 3 parts will be covered:
The purpose of proverbs, piety and wisdom, and the target audience of Proverbs.

1. Purpose of Proverbs - Wisdom
Verse 2-7 is the introduction of Proverbs; it tells us the purpose of the entire book. Verse 2 is an all-inclusive statement: the purpose of Proverbs is to know wisdom and instruction, to develop the intellect and the capacity to understand those words or sayings of the sages. The sayings of the sages offer insight into the character and action of God, the operation of the world, and the proper and just functioning of human society.
Wisdom enables us to cope with life, knowing the relationship of behaviour and consequence. It entails all the other virtues listed here: insight, prudence, knowledge, discretion, learning and guidance.
Verse 2-7 is also an invitation, an invitation to a full and complete life, or a flourishing life. It emphasizes on the value of present human life, on the desire to experience the fullness of it. Existence is a value of incomparable worth, if lived wisely and well.
When we study further on Proverbs, we will learn more about this flourishing life, a life offered by wisdom. Longevity, health, meaningful work, significant human relationships, love and charity, access to the essential goods for survival and even wealth, honour and respect, are all important elements of it.
Verse 3 tells us, wisdom is exercised with righteousness, justice and equity. In Proverbs, wisdom is not a neutral word, it has a moral dimension. Proverbs has been the foundation of ethical teachings of the church, it provides guidance for moral life. The sayings and teachings in Proverbs are not ethical absolute, instead they encourage critical inquiring spirit, with the virtues of prudence, insight and knowledge.
At the same time, moral guidance does not mean a set of strict rules for the church to follow, moral life is the fruit of true wisdom, the natural outcome of new life brought forth by the Gospel. Moral life leads to a harmony with God, with one’s community, and the order of creation.
Moral training and character education is indeed very important. Obviously the wisdom in Proverbs is not the ability to excel academically, or how good your science or technology are.
Stability and health of a society does not only depend on economy, technology, and medical competency, but also depends on the values and ethical conduct of individuals.
Singapore is very famous about its elitism, lots of parents have deep concerns about children’s academic performance. Children are sent to tuition centers from very young, not only those who have difficulties to cope with school load, but those who are in the best classes, or even those in the GEP programs. Children and parents are under huge pressure.
Some parents woke up from this unnecessary stress and competition, they stopped pushing children very hard, switched parenting goal to children’s health and happiness. But without building up their characters and discipline, if happiness and health is the ultimate goal of parenting, the outcome will be self-centeredness and difficulties to connect with others.
Chinese Kindergarten started SED (social and emotional education) lesson in 2018, teaching children values such as kindness, obedience, thankfulness, honesty, acceptance and resilience. The school told parents, “As we have noticed that our society has become more and more complex, our young children were influenced by inconsistent values promoted in the media. We are concerned and hope to cultivate pre-school children with the values of KOTCHAR competencies.”

 
2. The Beginning and best of wisdom – the Fear of the Lord
This leads us to the key verse of the introduction, the foundation of Proverbs, verse 7. The beginning to this wisdom, is the fear of the Lord.
To pursue the wisdom of life, to know the skill of living, one must confess that God is the creator and sustainer of life, and the source and provider of all wisdom.
“Fear of the Lord” involves two aspects at the same time: the rational aspect and the non-rational aspect. Its rational aspect contains God’s revelation that can be taught and memorized, such as the law, statutes, commands, and ordinances of God. Fear of the Lord motivates people to right behaviours, the moral conduct accepted in society.
The nonrational aspect entails an emotional response of fear, love and trust. In the act of creation, God uses divine wisdom to design and order a cosmos of justice, to shape and regulate human institutions. God has established orders for life, which make existence possible and worthwhile. God is the Lord of justice, which enables the well-being and harmonious existence of creation, society and individuals.
Karl Barth once said that “there exists a false, a merely apparent, fear of the Lord, ... We are afraid of God because he is so great and mighty, and we are so small and weak . We are afraid that he will accuse us like an oversized giant prosecutor, and that he will judge us like some sky-scraping chief justice. We may also be afraid of God because he might send us forever to hell at the end of our days.” “When the right fear of the Lord takes possession of our hearts, we are both lost in amazement and struck by awe, even terror. For we discover that God, since the beginning of time, has not hated or threatened you and me, but has loved and chosen us, has made a covenant with us, has been our helper long before we knew it and will continue this relationship”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Beginning suggests that God is the source of wisdom, the pursuit of wisdom through study of proverbs is founded on the reverence of God. At the same time, the fear of the Lord is also the ultimate goal of wisdom. In the journey of study or deepening of wisdom, the most valued and important virtue is reverence for the Creator and Sustainer of all.

3. Target audience of wisdom
So far, we discussed the purpose of Proverbs, moral dimension of wisdom, the key and ultimate goal of pursuit of wisdom. Now let’s look at the target audience of this book.
Verses 4 and 5 mention 2 groups of people, the simple and young, the wise and mature.
The simple and young are those who lack sense. They are not good at reasoned thinking, making prudent judgments and engaging in moral actions. If they are not trained in the way of wisdom, the simple are easily deceived by the evil-doers, and end up with disastrous fruits.
The simple need to be taught 3 things: prudence, knowledge and discretion. Prudence enables one to make sound decisions, to speak wisely, and to take proper actions. Knowledge is information about moral values for proper and ethical conduct, character and workings of God, and about the world, society and human beings. Discretion is the ability to know when and how to speak and behave in upright ways, so that the speech and action can be beneficial to the individual and to the community.
Followed the introduction, verses 8-19 gives the first direct example of teaching the simple and young. The parents called their son to listen to their instruction, which is a warning against the enticement of sinners who obtain unjust gain by violence. The three “Do Not” clearly and directly prohibit the young from joining them, because this is a path leading to death and destruction.
The basic moral training is to tell children right and wrong. If we parents don’t give them instructions and guidance, they will surely make lots of mistakes. I teach values in Chinese Kindergarten, such as kindness, obedience, honesty, thankfulness, etc… Once I asked them why do you need to obey your parents and teachers? One boy…
Two weeks ago, my family joined an outing to Seletar Wetland… Lunch, the mum told her son, the 10-year old was very hungry, but he waited…
Surprisingly the 2nd group of target audience are the wise and mature. Proverbs offer an opportunity to the wise and mature to study further, to add to their learning, to acquire the knowledge and skill. Wisdom is not obtained once and for all, pursuit of wisdom is a life long journey. Prayer, meditation, church rituals and reflection on the nature and activity of God, are the spiritual disciplines we should engage day after day, month after month, year after year.
As for all of us who is listening to this sermon, either you are here or watching livestream at home, simple and young, or wise and mature, we all are the target audience of proverbs. May this study, not only increase our head knowledge, but also bring us closer to God, and change our hearts to be the right soil for His wisdom. Amen!

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