“The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom.”  Wisdom is knowing what to do with what one has.  In my opinion the best example of wisdom and its connection to fear is found in Genesis 22:1-12.  Here we find the Almighty speaking to Abraham in an audible voice, calling him by His name.  “Abraham,” the Lord called out from heaven.  Abraham’s reply indicated that he was ready to hear God’s Words and to do them.  Quite unexpectedly, God told him to do the incomprehensible–to kill his long-awaited, miraculously-conceived, loved and cherished son, Isaac.  This was the son through whom God promised to create a multitude of descendants for Abraham.  A great nation and many nations were to come from this child.  Kings were to come from him.  Now the Lord Who had made those promises was telling him to kill that very one through whom the promises would come.

Abraham’s response was quick and decisive.  Having traveled to the place where he was to sacrifice Isaac, he told the young men who were with him and Isaac to “wait here while the lad and I go yonder and worship.  Then we will RETURN TO YOU.”  Abraham had expressed the greatest faith found in the Holy Scriptures.  He was going to kill Isaac, but he and Isaac would RETURN TO WHERE THE MEN WOULD BE WAITING.  He knew that God had told him the truth–that Isaac would be the progenitor or multitudes of people.  Dead men can’t reproduce.  Therefore, GOD WOULD RAISE ISSAC FROM THE DEAD.  With that surety in mind, Abraham resumed his journey to Mount Moriah with his unwitting sacrifice at his side.

Having arrived at the place God had chosen for the sacrifice, Abraham prepared to kill Isaac.  At the last instant God stopped him.  In Genesis 22:12 we learn why God had chosen Abraham through whom to raise up the Israelites to be His chosen people.  He said to Abraham: “Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do any thing to him, FOR NOW I KNOW THAT YOU FEAR ME, SEEING THAT YOU WOULD NOT WITHHOLD YOUR SON FROM ME.”  By being willing to kill Isaac and preparing to do so, Abraham proved his faith in the Lord as well as his fear of Him.  Faith and fear go hand-in-hand in the spirit world where God’s true people live.  For God’s Very Elect, the physical world is secondary to the spiritual world.  The world in which God’s Holy Spirit operates in the hearts of His people is the real world.  The physical world is simply the “where” relative to this life.  The saint’s real world, the world that counts, is the spiritual world.  This was Abraham’s world.  Concerning faith and wisdom, Abraham proved himself worthy of God’s trust.

Notice that God said after having to prevent Abraham from killing Isaac: “NOW I KNOW that you FEAR ME.”  How did He know?  Because Abraham was preparing to OBEY HIM by killing Isaac without hesitation.  “Now” referred to Abraham’s obedience of His (God’s) command.  Here is THE lesson we must all learn: in order to spend eternity with God we must obey His Word with faith that it is His Truth, as Jesus declared in John 17:17.  As He said, it is through faith in that Word and obedience to it that we are SANCTIFIED–MADE SAINTS (HOLY ONES) WHO ARE SET ASIDE FOR HOLY WORKS.  Only sanctified saints will spend eternity with Christ in the Kingdom of God.

In Deuteronomy 5 we find Moses reciting the Ten Commandment Law.  In verse 29 the Lord said through him: “O that the people had a heart to FEAR ME and OBEY MY COMMANDMENTS ALWAYS, so that it would be well with them ….”  In 8:6 He tells those who seek God: “Therefore you must OBEY THE WORDS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, WALK IN HIS WAYS AND FEAR HIM.”  Moses repeats the FEAR-OBEDIENCE (“WALK”) combination again in 10:12 and 20.

This level and type of fear is called “godly fear” in Hebrews 12:28 where Paul reveals that serving (obeying) God and fearing Him are one and the same.  Fear without obedience is man-level fear that is no different than man’s fear of wild animals, serpents, etc.  Man doesn’t have to do anything to or for those animals in order to be harmed by them, he needs only to avoid them.  Those without godly fear feel no need to obey God; they need only to avoid Him, which they do by remaining ignorant of His Word, which is Him in written form.  When they are confronted with His Word they are forced to deal with Him personally.  They do so by denying the truth of His Word, thereby proving that they DESPISE HIM AND HIS SON (Lk. 10:16).  He reacts by leaving them to their own devices.  They then become low-hanging fruit for Satan who welcomes them into his Catholic/Protestant Church.

The lack of godly fear prompts the fearless to disregard His Word, the same Word that will judge them later (Jn. 12:48).  Incredibly, Luke 10:16 is ignored at best and summarily rejected at worst.  This is proved by the billions of professing Christians who call themselves “sinners saved by grace.”  There is no such thing as a saved sinner in that no one is saved in this life.  Read Hope and Salvation.  Key word–Hope.  Nor does there exist converted sinners who are in good standing with God.  Such people have no fear of God and therefore feel no need to obey Him.  This was not true of Jesus of Nazareth Whose prayers were heard (by God) “because He feared (Him) and desired to “… remain in His love” (Heb. 5:7/ Jn. 15:10).  Notice that His FEAR of God prompted him to OBEY His commandments, thereby proving His LOVE for Him (Jn. 15:10), which is the same way we prove our love for Him as stated in John 14:15,23.  Note that Jesus equates His COMMANDMENTS (vs 15) and His WORDS (vs 23).

WITHOUT GODLY FEAR MAN LACKS THE WISDOM TO OBEY GOD AND THEREFORE REMAIN IN HIS LOVE.  So-called Sinners Saved by Grace do not fear God.  Their sins have separated them from Him by causing Him to withhold His Holy Spirit from them.  The Spirit not being in their hearts (Jer. 31-33/ Heb. 12:8-12), it cannot lead them, which prevents them from being children of God (Rom. 8:14).  L.J.