Those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord
[Proverbs 1:20-33]
I remember what my wife said to me one day: ‘The church should be more church-like because the world will become more and more evil. Therefore, the church must shine the light of Jesus in this evil world. However, for some reason, it seems that the church loves darkness more than light because the church’s deeds is evil (Jn. 3:19). The church is now sick with hurts, wounds and pains because there is quarrels, strife, fights and dissensions in the church. And now, I think the church is preaching our folly (Prov. 12:23) rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ and His love. Obviously, even though the church is the church of God (1 Cor. 1:2), and one of the characteristics of that church is unity, it is difficult for us to see such a church. For some reason, even though the church is the church of God, if we look at Korean churches in Korea these days or immigrant churches in the United States here, the churches look like churches of people. Although the church must be the church that belongs to God, it seems to have been degenerated to the church that belongs to people. What should we do? By fearing God, we must repent our sins, turn away from our sins, and obey the word of God. In that case, the church has hope. Then, the church is no longer the church of people, but the church of the Lord that He builds (Mt. 16:18).
We meditated on Proverbs 1:8-10 under the heading “The young people who fear God” during the last two Wednesday prayer meetings. At the same time, we were taught three things about the young people who fear God: (1) The young people who fear God obey their parents’ words (v. 8), (2) The young people who fear God don’t consent if sinners entice them (v. 10), and (3) The young people who fear God don’t walk in the way with the wicked (v. 15). Today, I would like to meditate on Proverbs 1:20-33 under the heading “Those who didn’t choose the fear of the Lord”. Look at verse 29: “Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.” I would like to receive the lessons God gives us by meditating on what kind of people don’t choose the fear of the Lord, and what their consequences are.
Who are those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord?
First, those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord love their simple ways, delight in mockery, and hate knowledge.
Look at Proverbs 1:22 – “"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?” Here, the writer of the Book of Proverbs King Solomon is talking about three kinds of people who need wisdom. They are none other than ‘the simple ones’, ‘the mockers’ and ‘the fools’. Who are the fools? They are the ones who can’t discern right and wrong and don’t have a consistent point of view. So they are prone to get caught up in the evil movement. The fools spoken in verse 22 are those who are simples ones who love their simple ways and are already swept away by sins. The mockers are those who despise the wisdom of God because they are extremely evil, and the fools are the ones who have been hardened by evil and are morally foolish (Park). These people, who don’t choose the fear of the Lord love their simple ways, delight in mockery and hate knowledge. Therefore, King Solomon exhorts these simple ones, mockers, and fools “How long?” they will love their simple ways, delight in mockery and hate knowledge (v. 22)
One of the reasons the church isn’t shining the light of Jesus is because the church doesn’t have the knowledge of God (Hos 4:6). And the reason why the church doesn’t have the knowledge of God is because the pastors have rejected knowledge of God and have forgotten the commands of their God (v. 6). Therefore, in the end, the church faced a famine of not hearing the word of God (Am 8:11). As a result, we aren’t choosing the fear of the Lord. We love the simple ways, delight in mockery, and hate knowledge. We have become fools and despise wisdom and discipline (Prov. 1:7). Therefore, we are sinning against God by forsaking God's instruction and teaching (v. 8) and by giving in to the sinners’ enticement (v. 10). When we sin habitually, our hearts become hardened. Then not only we don’t fear the Lord, but also we cannot. In this way, we not only don’t fear the Lord, we become fools who cannot fear Him. And we don’t even have heart to regret our sins. What is the reason? The reason is because our hearts are hardened by sins (Park). We must be wary of hardening our hearts. And we must work hard not to become fools who have no heart to regret our sins due to our hardened hearts. How is this possible? It is possible by loving wisdom. We must hate foolishness and love knowledge. Then we can escape from hardening our hearts and, as a result, we will not sin against God. Therefore, we must hear God's word and attain wisdom and discipline (v. 2). Then we will be able to glorify God and shine the light of Jesus in this world by acting wisely, righteously, justly and fairly (v. 3).
Second, those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord ignore His advice and will not accept His rebuke.
Look at Proverbs 1:25 – “since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke.” Those who don’t’ choose the fear of the Lord and who hate knowledge and love the simple ways don’t hear the voice of the wise. In other words, the fools who don’t choose the fear of the Lord turn away from the voice of wisdom. They reject God (v. 24), even though wisdom calls aloud in the streets, and raises her voice in public squares (v. 21), and cries out in the gateways of the city (v. 22). Although God is telling them to response to His rebuke (v. 23), those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord reject Him (v. 24). Also they don’t give heed to His voice (v. 24). Rather, they ignore all His advice (v. 25). After all, the fools don’t receive God's instruction and rebuke, so they expose their foolishness to everyone. They expose how foolish and arrogant they are. Why don’t these fools receive God's instruction and rebuke? It’s because they hate knowledge and don’t choose the fear of the Lord (v. 29). So the Bible says, “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words” (23:9). However, the wise who fear the Lord listen to the words of His instruction and add to their learning (v. 5). What is the reason? The reason is because they love knowledge. The wise who fear the Lord are instructed and receive knowledge (21:11) and become wiser (19:20).
The listening ears are beautiful. The ears that hear God's voice is a blessing. And the ears that hear even the reproofs of those who love me with the love of God are truly precious. We must listen to God's instruction and reproof. In particular, we must listen to the reproof of the wise who fear the Lord, believing that the reproof of the wise is like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold (25:12). Therefore, I hope and pray that we can add knowledge and become wiser so that we can be used as God's precious tools.
Third and last, those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord backslide.
Look at Proverbs 1:32 – “For the backsliding of the naïve will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them” (Tree of Life Version). What does it mean? It means that the fools who don’t choose the fear of the Lord turn their backs on God's love and leave Him (Park). If we like the simple ways, delight in mockery, hate knowledge, instruction, and reproof, then in the end our faith is bound to backslide. That means that eventually we will turn our backs on God and leave Him. This backsliding in faith will eventually kill us and destroy us. Therefore, we must listen to Joshua 23:12-13: “For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.” Joshua gave this warning message to the Israelites: So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God” (v. 11).
Then what are the consequences of those who don’t choose the fear of the Lord?
(1) The first consequence is that calamity and disaster will overtake them.
Look at Proverbs 1:27 – “when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.” What does it mean? It means that God’s judgment will come upon the fools, who don’t choose the fear of the Lord, who despise His instruction, reproof, who don’t listen to Him and who hate knowledge. God will judge the fools who don’t choose the fear of the Lord, hate knowledge, and don’t receive His instruction and reproof. The Bible says that God will bring disaster upon them like a whirlwind, so that fools will be deeply overwhelmed in distress and trouble (v. 27). But what is God's judgment more terrifying than this? I think it is God’s derision. Look at verse 26: “I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes.” Can you imagine being derided by God rather than being derided by people (44:13, 119:51)?
(2) The second consequence is that the Lord disregards them.
Look at Proverbs 1:28 – “"Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me.” There are times when we cry out to God when we eventually encounter disaster and calamity due to our foolishness in despising the God’s instructions and reproofs. Only then we ask God to deliver us from calamity and disaster amidst sorrow and tears. However, there are times when we feel that the answer to our prayer isn’t coming for some reason. It is because the Lord is disregarding us. In other words, when we encounter calamity and disaster due to our unrepented sins, there are times when God doesn’t answer our prayers and remains silent. It is because the Lord is disregarding us. Why is the Lord disregarding us? The reason is because we have first disregarded the Lord. If I said like this, some of you may ask, ‘When did I disregard the Lord?’ If we look at Proverbs 1, the simple ones and the mockers and the fools disregarded knowledge (v. 22), the fear of the Lord (vv. 7-9) and God’s counsel and reproof (vv. 23. 25) (MacArthur). Like the Israelites who committed sin by turning their backs against God's word and committing sins, even though God diligently spoke to them through the prophet Jeremiah, I think there are so many times we are diligently turning our back on God who speaks to us diligently and just go on our own ways. This is the sin of disregarding the Lord. Therefore, we have nothing to say even if we are judged by God for our sins and are disregarded by God in the midst of disaster and calamity. Can you imagine being disregarded by the Lord? Can you really endure the Lord's disregard?
(3) The third consequence is that they shall eat of the fruit of their own way.
Look at Proverbs 1:31 – “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices.” This is God's final judgment. Here, the Bible says that God will make those who don’t choose the fear of God to eat the fruit of their own way, which means that God will judge the simple ones, the mockers, and the fools who don’t fear Him God. It means that God will punish them for their sins by giving them over to their sins (MacArthur). For example, when we look at Romans 1:24-28 God’s punishment is “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (v. 24), “God gave them over to degrading passions” (v. 26), and “God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper” (v. 28). I think this is truly a terrifying judgment of God. I think it is a more terrifying judgment than a disaster for God to let us live by our sinful nature. The reason is, at least, when we encounter disasters, we seek God and cry out to Him. Even though God disregards us, there is still a possibility that God will pity us and deliver us from our sins and calamities. But if God just give us over to our sinful nature, then we have no chance of being delivered from our sins. In Ezekiel 12:21, God is also speaking to us like this: “But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads," declares the Lord GOD.” Our God is a God who repays us for our deeds. If we refuse to fear the Lord, hate knowledge, and disregard His instructions and reproofs, God will give us over to the consequences of our sins.
What should we do? We must repent. We must repent of our sins. We must repent of our sins of not choosing the fear of God. And we must repent of our sins of hating knowledge and not listening to (receiving) God's instruction and reproof. We must bear fruits in keeping with repentance (Lk. 3:8). We should choose the fear of the Lord. We should love the knowledge of knowing God, listen to His instruction, and humbly receive His reproof. God promises us in Proverbs 1:33 – “"But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.” I hope and pray that all of us choose the fear of God and listen to God's word so that we may live without fear of disaster and calamity and enjoy the peace that God gives us.