Proverbs 14:16

Proverbs 14:16 "A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident."

If a Bible-hater is looking for a verse to prove that there are contradictions in the Bible, this proverb might be one that the hater would point to.  It starts with the four words, “a wise man feareth” and yet the Bible speaks loudly and boldly against fear.  The phrase, “fear not” appears over seventy times in Scripture while the phrase, “be not afraid” can be read nearly thirty times in the Bible.  Paul also denounced fear and famously told Timothy that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7).  With that in mind, how can Solomon conclude a man wise if he “feareth?”  If the Bible is clearly against fear, how can Solomon commend a wise man for fearing?  He can do that because not all fear is unwise.  There is a wise fear and there is an unwise fear.  There is a healthy fear and there is an unhealthy fear.  A wise man knows this and he knows the difference.

As is often the case with the proverbs, this one is best understood by seeing both sides of the proverb with its corresponding person and behavior.  On one side, a wise man is fearing while on the other side, a fool is raging.  The wise man’s fear produces a change of direction while on the other side, the fool’s rage maintains a direction.  Because of fear, a wise man departs from evil while on the other side because of his rage, a fool confidently maintains his direction or position.  For the wise man, his fear moves his feet.  For the foolish man, his rage plants his feet.  The question then remains, “Who or what is the wise man fearing and to whom or what is the fool raging?”  Because the wise man is described as departing from evil, we can rightly conclude that both men are responding to anyone or anything that punishes evil.
 
Because Solomon doesn’t tell us specifically who or what the wise man fears, we should leave that open to anyone or anything that punishes evil.  Wisdom tells a man that he should fear a Holy God, if contemplating evil.  She tells a man that he should fear the consequences of choosing wickedness over righteousness.  She tells a man that he should fear any authority that has the power to punish wrongdoing.  This includes parents, teachers, coaches, employers, law enforcement and any governing body.  When applied by the wise to personal morality, fear is a healthy motivator.  The government, for example, is supposed to bear the sword of justice so that society fears the consequences of immorality and evil.  Romans 13:3-4, “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain.”  This healthy fear of consequences from the government is connected to and stems from a very healthy fear of God Himself.   Ecclesiastes 8:11-13, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked…because he feareth not before God.”

A wise man understands that there is a healthy fear and an unhealthy fear.  He understands that a general fear of man “bringeth a snare” (Proverbs 29:25) and that it can keep a man from doing right.  He understands however, that the specific fear of the authorities when considering evildoing is very healthy because it helps a man do right.  Fear itself isn’t bad.  It’s only bad when it turns someone from God instead of to God.  Fear that turns us to God is very healthy.   A fool doesn’t understand the difference and sees fear of anything or anyone as bad.  This is why the fool rages about rules, regulations, law and order.  Fools rage at their parents when household rules are communicated.  They rage at their employers when new company policies are established.  They rage at the government when laws are passed.  They refuse to let anyone tell them what they can and what they can’t do. They refuse to live in fear of consequences.  They hate the idea that someone, especially God, can punish them for doing what they want to do.  Sadly, fools find false assurance in their protests.  They find false confidence in their obnoxious and angry yelling.  They think that their aggressive and vocal resistance to authorities actually scares the authorities from punishing them.  They’re confident that their parent, employer or law enforcement will be too scared to actually follow through on their punishments.
 
The irony of this proverb is that a rejection of fear results in trying to create fear for others.  This effort to create fear in others is the basis for their false confidence.  They find false freedom from fear by instilling fear in others.  They think they’ll be free from fear because they think they’ve created fear in others.  This is why Solomon describes this group of people as foolish.  For the past five years, we’ve seen our fair share of protests in our democratic society.  In many of these protests, anarchists have threatened law enforcement with all kinds of illegal activity and behavior in order to feel confident about their unruly lives.  The instinct of the fool is to threaten violence when confronted and find false confidence in that threat of confidence.  What they don’t know is that real confidence is found by simply doing right.  We don’t need to fear our parents if we’re obeying our parents.  We obey our parents when we fear their just punishment.  We don’t need to fear our employers if we’re complying to their policies.   We comply in the workplace when we fear getting fired.  We don’t need to fear the IRS if we’re paying our taxes.  We don’t need to fear the State Trooper if we’re going the speed limit.  We don’t need to fear the Justice System if we’re obeying the law.  We obey the law when we fear facing prison time.

True confidence is found in wise fear, not in refusing to live with any fear.  Wise fear is not fearing the thoughts, feelings and opinions of people.  Wise fear is not fearing the rejection, abuse or dismissal of people.  It is not fearing the greed, mistakes or betrayal of people.  Wise fear is not fearing the past, present or future.  It is not fearing the unknown, the unseen or the unheard.  It is not fearing the uncontrollable, the unimaginable or the unpredictable.  Wise fear is the appreciation and respect for the responsibility authority has to punish evil.  Wise fear is only that fear that motivates righteousness and rejects evil.   Wise fear is only that fear that produces holiness, righteousness and goodness.  Any other fear is a foolish fear and it will eventually result in severe anxiety or a useless false confidence.

True confidence is found in wise fear as written in this chapter in ten verses, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence.”  We’re fools when we fail to fear the just consequences of evil by any authority over us.  We’re fools when we find confidence in our arrogant and aggressive resistant to the authorities in our lives.  Most won’t be intimidated and even if they are, the Highest Authority available will never be intimidated.  “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).