The phrase, “the fear of the Lord,” occurs fourteen times in the book of Proverbs (1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:26, 27; 15:16, 33; 16:6; 19:23; 22:4; 23:17). Fearing God is one of the great themes of the book. While terror at the prospect of God’s punishment is highlighted in the Bible (1 Sam. 11:7; 2 Kgs. 17:24-28; 1 Chr. 14:17; Mt. 10:28; Acts 5:1-11; 2 Cor. 5:10-11), “fear” in the book of Proverbs most often refers to respecting God through obedience to His statutes and principles.

Knowledge and wisdom are attained by fearing the Lord. The beginning of knowledge is to look to the Lord who is the source of truth (Prov. 1:7). Wisdom is the application of knowledge to the various situations of life. Wisdom includes morality, but also goes beyond right and wrong to knowing the best option in a list of several morally right choices. God gave Solomon an understanding heart, wisdom beyond measure (1 Kgs. 3:9-12; 4:29-32). Solomon is the chief author of the book of Proverbs (Prov. 10:1; 25:1); God-inspired wisdom was given to him and a few others that penned this book (30:1; 31:1). The fear of the Lord is key to the beginning of wisdom and continued instruction in wisdom (Prov. 9:10; 15:33). Having wisdom means one’s days will not be wasted in useless suffering for foolishness.

Fearing the Lord gives one strong confidence; the Lord guides and protects those who seek after Him, delivering them from the snares of death (Prov. 14:26-27). As Psalm 19:9-13 says:

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Fearing the Lord involves hating evil (Prov. 8:13). We are called to align ourselves with our Lord and  hate the arrogant ways of men that exalt themselves in opposition to Him (Psa. 31:6; 45:7; 97:10; 101:3; 119:104, 113, 128, 163; 139:19-22). One of the problems of our time is wickedness is not hated the way it should be. The fear of man overrules the fear of God in the hearts of many; however, we should put our trust in God, knowing that He is greater than any enemies that come our way (Prov. 29:25). God in His perfect holiness hates evil (Prov. 6:16-19). We should adopt His values.

Fearing God is the great lesson of our lives here on earth. As Solomon summarizes, “ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecc. 12:13-14).

To his sons in the faith, Timothy and Titus, Paul warned of men of corrupt minds who would be adversaries to the truth. Some evil men use religion as a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:5). Jesus warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing whom one can detect by their fruits (Mt. 7:15-20). Instead of using God’s word for its intended purpose of producing godliness (1 Tim. 1:5; 6:3), false teachers, from their proud and covetous hearts, are intent on fleecing the sheep (2 Pet. 2:1-3).

Of such men Paul wrote, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:15-16).

These individuals openly declared they were Christians, but their actions refuted their verbal claims and showed the reality: they denied the Lord. God regards such individuals as abominable, a word which means that which is detestable and disgusting to God. Paul had encountered such individuals who were disobedient to apostolic authority, and thus, to the truth of the Gospel. Merely professing to know God is not enough; obedience to His will shows whether one truly knows God (Hos. 4:1-6; 1 Jn. 2:3). These rebellious individuals were unfit for doing any good deed. The word reprobate means they were disqualified or not standing the test that determines what one is really made of. Those who are reprobate do not prove to be what they ought to be. Some individuals get so hardened by sin that God gives them up to a reprobate mind (Rom. 1:28).

Titus had to deal with such individuals and sadly so do we. This is part of what characterizes some men in this final dispensation of time in which Timothy, Titus and we today live (2 Tim. 3:1-8). We must make sure we do not go down the path of sin that leads to this horrific end of a seared, calloused conscience (1 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 3:13; Eph. 4:18-20). Instead of being arrogant (1 Tim. 6:4; 2 Tim. 3:4), let us walk humbly before our God (Mic. 6:8). Instead of loving pleasure (2 Tim. 3:4), let us love God with all our hearts (Deut. 6:5; Mk. 12:30). Instead of being heartless, let us have tender compassion from hearts made pure by God’s love (Eph. 4:32; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Jn. 3:14-19). Lord, deliver us from ungodly men who cause your truth to be blasphemed! Help us to know your love and be filled with your goodness!

An individual who is baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27) is at the same time baptized into the church/body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Acts 2:41, 47). God’s intention is for those who have submitted to Christ’s Lordship to find their place among other Christians. When we join with other children of God in worship, service, benevolence, evangelism and fellowship all parties involved are benefited. This is God’s intention; He did not intend for a Christian to live in isolation.

A Christian’s character changes from the ways of the world to the ways of God. We may have an individualistic, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps mentality regarding how we go about accomplishing various endeavors in life. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul appealed to members of the church to not be conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Paul then immediately moved to the explanation of regarding oneself in the right way and using one’s gifts to help the body of Christ (Rom. 12:3-8). While some of the gifts listed, (e. g. prophecy), are miraculous and had an expiration date, others, such as exhorting, giving, and showing mercy, seem to be a fixture of the church of Christ throughout the ages. Ultimately, the principle taught in this passage holds true for the church even today. Becoming more like Jesus involves using our gifts to serve the body of Christ. The gifts you possess were not earned, nor are they a mere luck of the draw (1 Cor. 4:7). They were dealt to you by God; thus, you should use what you have been given to glorify God in His church (Eph. 3:20-21).

The temptation to become conceited is a threat to maturing in Christ; the man who thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think (Rom. 12:3) forgets that the body is not one member but many (1 Cor. 12:14). On the other hand, some say they cannot contribute much to the church (1 Cor. 12:15-17). Whether it is because of wrongheaded priorities, laziness, or a lack of self-esteem, they excuse themselves from service. The devil is also delighted when an individual falls into this trap as much as the arrogance trap. The one-talent man—who was given the money according to his ability—was not expected to make five, or even two, more talents, but doing nothing was condemned as wicked (Mt. 25:14-30).

The spiritual reality God is communicating through the body-model for the church is that the whole is greater than merely a collection of individual parts. Automotive engineers design the numerous parts of a car to work together. A working car cannot be made by any random pile of parts from a junkyard. All the various parts are manufactured to be compatible as part of a particular model. The parts working together is a result of intention. Likewise, God has designed the church to work together (1 Cor. 12:18). The church is not a mistake (Mt. 16:17-19); it was eternally purposed by God (Eph. 3:11). The corporate body of Christ is not a dispensable facet of Christianity that one may take or leave. Working and worshiping together with fellow Christians is essential, not optional (Heb. 10:24-25).

Joppa is a small port town that lies on the Israeli coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and on several occasions this small town makes an appearance in Biblical history as a symbolic departure point for world evangelism. In the Old Testament, Joppa was a place of Gentile exclusion. Jonah 1:1-3 depicts for us an instance of God reaching out to the nations with the message of repentance. He determines to send His prophet Jonah to the wicked city of Nineveh, the main city of the mighty nation of Assyria. At this time, Assyria was a dominant political entity, and they were fearsome foes of the nation of Israel. Yet, God demonstrated through Jonah that He is a God for all nations.

At this point in history the Gentiles were welcome to come to redemption, but they had to come to Israel, as the Queen of Sheba did. The evangelistic message of Old Testament Judaism was an invitation to “come and see,” not a command to “go and tell” as we have under the New Testament. However, with Jonah 1 we begin to see a shift, a foreshadowing of sorts, that depicts for us God’s New Testament model for global evangelism. With Jonah, we see the message of God being intentionally carried across geopolitical borders to a pagan nation. However, Jonah was not in agreement with God regarding this model for global evangelism. Jonah was extremely prejudiced against the enemy nation, and as we see in the first chapter of the book of Jonah the prophet attempts to flee his missionary call. From whence does he flee? He travels to Joppa to flee to the other side of the world. Jonah attempts to exclude the Gentiles from the message of God.

In the New Testament, Joppa was a place of Gentile inclusion. Nearly 800 years following the events in the book of Jonah, we read in Acts 10 about another resistant missionary to the Gentiles. The apostle Peter receives his vision from the Lord, a missionary call to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time since the establishment of the church. Again, 800 years later, the prejudice against the “unclean” Gentiles was still present. Peter should have known better considering Jesus himself had already told his followers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15), and this included every nation, not just the Jewish nation (Mt. 28:18-20). By Acts 10 the church had existed for about a decade, but they had yet to truly cross over and evangelize the Gentile world. However, just as with Jonah, God would not be dissuaded from accomplishing His missionary goal. Where is he sent? To the Gentiles in Joppa. This was the first place the New Testament church truly began to spread to include “all nations.”

Chris Anderson writes in Gospel Meditations for Missions, “The lack of concern of Jonah for the lost – the utter hatred – is shocking. However, it is no less shocking when we who have been so lavishly forgiven ignore the needs of fellow “Ninevites” around the world…we, like Jonah, are reluctant to share that same message of saving grace outside our own borders.” Let us not be lax in our efforts to reach those around us. Let us not have the attitude of the earliest prejudiced Christians who withheld the Gospel from those they deemed “unclean,” but let us recognize the grace that has been given to us so that we might share it with the world. Let Joppa serve as an example of God’s inclusionary Gospel for all creatures.