is the fear of the Lord (reverence, not panic!), which the Bible sees as the beginning and indeed the essence of wisdom (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). Heart-loyalty is the soil out of which holy living grows. What other gods could one “have” beside the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature-gods whose worship, as we know from archaeology and Scriptures like Hosea 4:11–14, was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution.