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Blog - Proverbs 2:5
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Proverbs 2:5
"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." (Pro 2:5)
In the first four verses of Proverbs chapter two, Solomon gave eight specific requirements necessary for finding the knowledge of God (Pro 2:1-4). The LORD stressed the conditional nature of the acquisition of His knowledge by thrice repeating the word if. Thus there are three general requisites which are essential for a man to extricate himself from his ignorance of the knowledge of God; if thou wilt (Pro 2:1): he must be willing to have it; if thou criest (Pro 2:3): he must ask for it earnestly; if thou seekest (Pro 2:4): he must search for it diligently. If all these prerequisites are fulfilled, then, and only then, the seeker of truth shall understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God (Pro 2:5). The LORD declared that the man who desires, asks, and seeks in the manner prescribed shall find the knowledge of God. To this agree the words of the apostle James.
Jam 1:5-7 - If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
The LORD didn't say that such a man might, could, or will possibly find the knowledge of God, but that he shall find it. This means that the person who has not found the knowledge of God has not earnestly desired it, asked for it, and sought for it. Thus the reason that most people (including many that profess to be Christians) never find the truth is solely owing to the fact that they don't want it badly enough and are not willing to exert the effort required, and forsake whatever is necessary, to attain it. Therefore, the man who claims that he sincerely desires to find and understand the truth and is willing to do whatever is necessary to obtain it, but never finds it, is a liar; for God has said that it shall be given to such an one. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD. Though the knowledge of God is the primary object of the seeker of truth (Pro 2:3), it is first necessary to understand "the fear of the LORD [which] is the beginning of knowledge" (Pro 1:7). The fear of the LORD is not only an emotion, but is also a concept that can be understood when it is taught to a man with the spiritual capacity to receive it.Psa 34:9-11 - O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. 11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
"There is no fear of God before [the] eyes" of natural men who are spiritually dead in their sins (Rom 3:18); but for the righteous, the fear of the LORD, which is "a fountain of life" (Pro 14:27), can be chosen (Pro 1:29) and is "the beginning of wisdom" (Pro 9:10) and "the instruction of wisdom" (Pro 15:33) which teaches them "to hate evil" (Pro 8:13) and to depart from it (Pro 16:6). Thus, when a man truly desires the knowledge of God, the Almighty first makes him to understand the fear of the LORD which enables him to clean up his heart in preparation for seeking and finding the truth. And find the knowledge of God. The Almighty, having first granted the understanding of the fear of the LORD to the man who sincerely desired, asked, and sought for it, at last opens up his mind and eyes allowing him to find what he so earnestly applied his will and energy to: the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God's truth is the key which opens the door to a rich Christian life, and should therefore be highly preferred by every believer. Desiring "the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hos 6:6), the LORD judged His people Israel "because there [was] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land" (Hos 4:1). The God who "change[s] not" (Mal 3:6) and is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb 13:8) still chastens His people in the New Testament for their ignorance of His truth.1Co 15:34 - Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
The knowledge of God is deep and rich; so much so that it is unsearchable and past finding out in its entirety, which is why a Christian's pursuit of it should never end.Rom 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
The apostle Paul "count[ed] all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phi 3:8) and devoted his life to "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2Co 10:5), praying that the saints "might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10). All Christians should do likewise, crying after knowledge and lifting up their voice for understanding, esteeming the knowledge of God's truth more highly than any earthly pursuit; and when they do "grace and peace [shall] be multiplied unto [them] through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" (2Pe 1:2).