PROVERBS

What is the central theme of the book?

The central theme to the book of Proverbs can be linked to Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This theme of centrality of the knowledge of God runs through the entirety of the book. The instructions that are given, although they are for everyday circumstances, allude to humankind’s uprightness before God. The thought pattern that the reverence and respect for God in all circumstances brings true knowledge is encouraged in this book through its basic instructions in all situations pertinent to humankind. The book centers on the willingness to learn as important. The book demonstrates these teachings through right and wrong action and how one is to deal with the given situations. The desire of the book was to associate the ideas of the covenant relationship with God to the everyday lives of those who were reading the wisdom literature, as many of the proverbs may have been familiar simply through culture as mentioned earlier. God’s people were brought into the belief that God’s law is something that is part of life and is a duty, and this required obedience. Proverbs calls this kind of obedience the fear of the Lord. This obligation, which is similar to the knowledge of God that they had from the prophetic books, involves reverence, gratitude, and commitment to do the will of God in every circumstance. The main goal of proverbs is to define clearly what it means to be fully devoted to God’s will and seeing his will accomplished in this world.

WORDS OF WISDOM!