Goal and Process
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10
Beginning – Proverbs 9:10 looks like a exact repetition of Proverbs 1:7. Do you suppose Solomon just forgot that he already said this? If we relied on English, we would have to conclude that either he suffered from Alzheimer’s or he just wanted to reiterate the point. But if we knew the Hebrew, we would see exactly why Solomon has it twice. He uses two different words for “beginning.” The difference is critically important.
In Proverbs 1:7 the word for “beginning” is re’shiyth. This is the word used in Genesis 1:1. It is derived from a word that means, “head.” Re’shiyth refers to a beginning of something that has a definite goal in mind. It is the start of something that will come to an end. But in Proverbs 9:10, the word is tehillah. This is also a “beginning”, but it is the beginning of a process that will continue without an expected end. This is the start of a chain that goes on and on. Now we can see why Solomon includes both of these verses. There are two aspects to the connection between reverential fear of God and wisdom. The first tells us that yir’at yhwh (the fear of the LORD) implies a perfect state of wisdom that we should seek to achieve. Knowing God is an end in itself. The second verse tells us the seeking wisdom is connected to the on-going and never-ending process of reverence for God. Of His Kingdom there will be no end. Wisdom, the concomitant of worship, will go on and on forever.
Your life needs both forms of “beginning.” You must have a beginning with God that has a perfect goal in mind. The day will come when you will know as you are known; when the window pane will no longer be clouded and smudged. That perfect day is the goal that begins with re’shiyth. But there is another “beginning,” one that will never end. Entering into worship of God starts a process that has eternal consequences. One without the other is truncated wisdom.
Alpha and omega, beginning and end, tells only part of the story. There is also the great “I AM,” the God Who was and is and is to be. Do you know both “beginnings?”
