Fear of Yahweh – Proverbs 1:7

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis weaves a tale of four children transported into another realm where Christ reigns as a lion, Aslan.  When the children are preparing to meet him, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver try to explain Aslan:

Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.”  “Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”  “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”  “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.  “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

This is equally our introduction to Yahweh.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7, ESV)

I was talking to a man who affirmed his belief is that there is no right or wrong.  In his view holding to absolute rights and wrongs leads only to blame and violence.  In essence, he was saying it is wrong to believe in right and wrong.  Do you see the trap he is in?  He believes blame and violence is wrong.  But it is wrong to hold that something is absolutely wrong.  His view is self-contradicting.

Though there are moral atheists, atheists who are moral, their morality can never rise above “this is right or wrong for me, and I wish it was for you, too.”  They may hold to absolute right and wrong but, logically, that is only permissible if there is a God whose very nature determines what right and wrong is.  If there is no God then there is no basis for saying anything is right or wrong except personal preference or reason.  The universe that supposedly just exists by itself can give no standard of righteousness or evil.  For the man who shot up the concert in Las Vegas there is no one who can authoritatively say that what he did was evil.

Fear of Yahweh is the only possible basis for knowing anything, especially knowing good and evil.  What Adam and Eve bought into was not simply knowing good and evil but that they could determine what is good and evil, like God does.  If I am the standard of what is good and evil, watch out world.

So should we fear God?  Yes.  But it is a good fear, a healthy fear.  God is the Creator and His standard is absolute.  Every disobedience must be punished (Hebrews 2:1-4; 10:26-31).  But it is this fearsome God whose love has provided us salvation.  So we love this God we fear.  It is not unlike the love and fear we have for a father who is for us but will discipline us, because he is for us.  Only a fool would despise his instruction.

For further study:  Proverbs 1:29; 2:5; 3:7; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:2,26,27; 15:16,33; 16:6; 19:23; 22:4; 23:17; 24:21; 28:14; 29:25; 31:30