The Fear of God
The fear of God is an important, yet little studied topic. Let’s start by
examining Acts 2:41-47, using the New King James (NKJ):
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day
about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,
and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and
signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together,
and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and
divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their
food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were
being saved.
You may ask, in light of their joy of being a new creation in Christ, being
happily together quite regularly, and being able to see incredible miracles, why
do they experience "fear?" One might argue that they were
afraid of miracles, but that doesn't make sense--seeing a miracle of healing
would make them rejoice; "this is the right group to be in," I would
say. I maintain that this is a fear of the superpower of God instead. We
will study how that connects. Also, we ask, in light of the tremendous power
the church had, being close to God, sharing their assets compassionately with
one another, and “having favor with all the people”—were these wonderful things
caused by their fear of God? It wouldn’t seem possible—such a negative emotion as
fear connecting to their joy and upright behavior. Let’s explore this mystery
together.
The Greek translated “fear” is phobos—from which we
get phobia, defined as “a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing.”
But Greek lexicons give phobos a range: Fear, dread, terror, to reverence, respect, or awe.
Awe is “the astonished, weighty sense of God’s power and presence.” Vine’s is
my favorite (not because of this); for one meaning, the “bad” definition of
fear was when Jesus spoke: “dread, terror,
always with this
significance in the four Gospels.” If Jesus spoke harshly
when He used the term, why wouldn’t we?
I have heard "fear" downgraded by so many pastors to
"reverence" (which few know what that is, so they can dismiss the
whole thing.) The other meaning of phobos in Vine’s is less intimidating but is
still weighty (not the weak “awe)”:
“reverential fear of God as a controlling motive of the
life; in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere fear of His power and
righteous retribution, but a dread of displeasing Him.” It's
not like just saying, "God, sorry I did that." Think hard on
the real meaning of "dread."
Examine your hearts: when you're thinking of sinning, do you have a real
dread of displeasing Him, and that completely removes the impulse of desire? Is
your fear of what He might do, enough to make you stop cold? Is the fear of God
a controlling motive in your life? I suspect the only thing keeping us
back from many sins is the fear of being discovered by our friends or family
and losing our reputations. The serious dread of displeasing God is much worse,
but...often it's just not there; we just don’t think about Him.
Many sermons are expounded on God’s love, few on His hate--of sin. Of course,
we assume God hates the sin but loves the sinner. If that’s true, why do so
many people end up there? Many sermons on “God is love,” few on fearing Him.
This paper will attempt to show how many verses there are on how fear of God is
good for you, and show you that it is a desirable attribute. Hopefully after
reading it you can introspect on His holiness and get to know His “dark side”
more. Like medicine, it will seem unpleasant—but it’s good for you.
Let's begin with two verses from Proverbs, 9:10:
The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
And Proverbs 10:27:
The fear of the Lord
prolongs days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened
I could end this blog right here; If God says it, I believe it.
Do you, though? You want to
be truly smart? You want to live longer? Read God's Word with fear. I
think of Judah’s king Josiah. His priest, upon digging around the former Temple
(looking for money), found a copy of the Torah. II Kings 22:11ff tell the
story:
Now it
happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore
his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the
priest, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all
Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for
great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because
our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that
is written concerning us.”
Do you feel that His Word is not
"wisdom;" it's comfort? Well, God's purpose is not to make you
feel good; it is in pruning, in sanctifying you. Another statement in
Proverbs says we should never owe anybody--you that are under a mountain of
debt, do you believe that? That's just one of the many, many ways to gain
wisdom. Consider the stories (I hate that word--these events all happened
exactly as written) of the giants of the faith--they had their weaknesses, too
(except Jesus). How did they handle such weaknesses? We see, in
Scripture, the results of pride, and of humility; of rich people, of poor
people. Scripture tells the whole story, like no other.
Let’s begin with Genesis 20:11, 17 and 18, where Abraham sees the good side
of men fearing God: They would be less likely to murder him and take his
beautiful wife:
And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in
this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife...So Abraham prayed to God; and
God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they
bore children; 18 for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the
house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
He knew that God loves him, that following Him regardless, will all turn out
well. Have we developed that trait? Note that his comment on how fear of God
would prevent sin is agreed to by God, since He backed him up by healing a
family.
In Genesis 31:42a, Jacob has a name for God: The Fear of Isaac. Nowhere does
God disapprove of this name. Note how Jacob appreciates this-named God as his
God, connecting it with His protection for him. Thus, the three patriarchs of
Israel, giants in the faith, are all given to fearing God. If Laban had
that quality, he would not have twisted Jacob inside out:
Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,
had been with me, surely now you (Laban) would have sent me away empty-handed.
In Exodus 1:17, the children of Israel are slaves in Egypt. The pharaoh,
fearing for their numerical advantage, has instructed the Hebrew midwives to
kill the boy babies as soon as they arrive out of the womb. But the midwives
refuse to do it—even though disobeying pharaoh endangers their own
lives—because of their fear of God (fear of His judgement for murder). Note His
blessing on them because their fear of God was greater than their fear of the
pharaoh.
But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the male children alive... because the midwives
feared God…He provided households for them.
Maybe we’d have fewer abortions, if the mothers or attending nurses had a
real fear of God today. In the 60 million abortions in the U.S. since Roe v
Wade, these women (and some attending men) did not have enough fear of God to
dread His ultimate punishment for murder. How many have read Galatians 5:21,
which says that (unrepentant) murderers “will not inherit the kingdom of God,”
and would spend an eternity in hell? (PS: the end of Roe v. Wade has not
dropped the number of abortions.)
In Exodus 14:31, after God’s great plagues, after the exodus, and His
killing the pursuing Egyptians, then
the children of Israel finally feared God. After that they really believed
Moses and God. So, a real belief in God, with obedience following, results from
a fear of God.
Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so
the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.
In Exodus 18:21, Moses is to select men as judges, an extremely important
function. The first requirement for such men? You guessed it; they need to have
a fear of God.
Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear
God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers
of thousands, rulers of hundreds…
In Exodus 20:20b, the Ten Commandments are given. The very first words that
Moses says at this momentous occasion include the following:
God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so
that you may not sin.”
The Ten Commandments is supposed to show how much our sins have offended
Him, and awaken the soul to a proper fear of God as Judge for our sin. The
Commandments are His original rules--but it still took a fear of God to see
that it was impossible to obey God and live without sin--so we were in
Judgment.
There are plenty more in the Old Testament, but to make this paper short
enough to be readable, let’s skip ahead to the New Testament; what did Jesus
say about fear? Matthew 10:28:
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
People give the wrong answer when you ask them Who to fear here—we’re to
fear God. Only God can destroy both soul and body in hell. People experience
“peer pressure;” they shrink back from declaring for Christ, particularly in
public. And so it was for the Jews, who did not want to go against the
Pharisees, who could be a genuine threat to your reputation if you followed
Jesus. But Jesus was unsympathetic for those feelings; He has a stark word (one
of many—He talked a lot about hell): basically, "it’s them or me, you
can't have both. Fear God, enough to follow Jesus' commands, and you might lose
your life, but keep your soul (in heaven); but if you fear Man, thus denying
God (You can't have both), and while you save your skin currently, He can Judge
you to Hell." Fear can make us more sanctified as we dread to earn His
anger if we continue to sin..
Don’t forget, we said in the two definitions of “fear” that the meaning in
the Gospels, in Jesus' words, is “dread, terror.” Jesus was blunt. Your terror
of what God can do to you should be greater than your terror of what people can
do. People can take your lives, but God can take your eternity.
We definitely need an injection of fear for God in this sin-attractive
world, to keep us out of hell. You want mercy from God? We all should, because
the depth and frequency of our sin means we need lots of mercy. Luke 1:50 tells
us how to get mercy:
And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.
Luke 5:26 gives the peoples’ reaction when they see Jesus healing: Fear.
Why? Of His supernaturalism, of things which they do not know.
And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with
fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” In a modern world,
we would be more cynical and sophisticated about healings. Which is the better
reaction? Note how their fear didn’t stop their glorifying God. Another good
result from a supposedly negative emotion (The same thing happens in Luke
7:16).
In Luke 23:40-41, one criminal on a cross next to Jesus rebukes the other.
The one who feared God admitted his execution was proper punishment for his
deeds, a good thought--but something few criminals do. He also judged Jesus as
innocent, something the people and the Pharisees couldn’t do. Fear of God
allows you to judge people properly, and to be humble. Also, wonderfully, the
one who feared God got saved. The other one was going to hell.
But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear
God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for
we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Now we go to the book of Acts. God’s stamp of approval was definitely on the
man who was the first Gentile to whom they evangelized the Gospel. Cornelius
was that man. How did he get to be first in line for such a wonderful event?
Because he feared God, among other positive features. A description of him is
in Acts 10:2:
…a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave
alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
Note that fear of God is listed ahead of his giving to the poor, and ahead
of his passion for prayer. I’ve heard lots of sermons on giving and the power
of prayer, but none on the power of fearing God.
Once again, for brevity, we have to skip lots of verses, and move on to the
Epistles. In Romans 3, Paul is enumerating the horrible sins of those bound for
hell…” Their throat is an open tomb,” etc. He then describes sin that gets
worse and worse as men get farther away from Him. And how does he end it with,
what phrase did he use as the worst, the source of all this defiant sin and
rebellion? It’s in Romans 3:18 (just before the gospel is explained):
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In Romans 11:20-22:
Because of unbelief they (Jews) were broken off, and you (Gentiles)
stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but FEAR. 21 For if God did not spare the
natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the
goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you,
goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Paul is justifying why he is bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles—it was
because the Jews (the natural branches of Jesus, the Vine) rejected it and got
“broken off” the Vine. So God turned to the Gentiles. But the Gentiles might
get haughty (“we’re smarter than the Jews”). His solution for that? They needed
to fear God, or else He could cut them off too (God hates pride). Further, note
that God is called “severe.” Haven’t heard any sermons on God’s severe
qualities. Does God sound antagonistic there? Well, deal with it; change your
definition of God’s love. He is in charge of the universe, and makes the rules.
We should be grateful that He reveals Himself to us so we know what to do to
get on His good side, and what gets on His bad side.
In II Corinthians 7:1, Paul summarizes the method to be holy: namely, Fear
God; it goes a long way to perfecting holiness.
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.
In Ephesians 5:21-22:
21 Submitting yourselves one
to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands, as unto the Lord
Women are going to dislike me for this, but Paul has a solution for women
who can’t submit to their husbands because they don’t trust him. Fear of God is
the key in submitting to your husband—sorry, that’s what God’s Word says above.
I’m reminded of Abraham, who was ready to do something illogical (move his 65-year-old
wife 1,000 miles from comfort to live in tents, because, as I assume he said to
her “God told me to.” And it worked out,
because God honored his fear of Him--He made sure all was well. Women, take a
hint—trusting your husband is really trusting God, because you’re obeying His
commandment to submit. He will honor your trust in Him and make it all work out.
The verses are then broadened to include all of us acting unselfishly and
trusting all the brothers and sisters. One more time--What makes us take a
chance and submit to others? Fear of God. I have never heard a sermon on this
angle of wives submitting to husbands--it is simply “context.”
Once again, brevity demands a stop.
I’m sure I missed some great verses. All you need to do is go to biblegate.com
and “google” the word “fear.” But I think you’ve gotten the message. Fear of
God is absolutely necessary to reduce sin and to be more holy, to obey God. A
lot more people would be saved if they had this attribute. The only question
is, how do we develop this fine characteristic? Here’s a few suggestions: (1)
Read more of the Old Testament. Lots of judgment and hellfire for disobedience,
from not fearing God. Not pleasant, but you need to see how much God hated sin.
Don’t fall for the argument, “God was different then.” If you believe that, you
haven’t gotten the right message about Jesus, either, so that leads to
suggestion (2) Read the Gospels just to study exactly what Jesus said. Do you
notice how much He talked about judgment? Well, there you go. God doesn’t
change, after all, in how much He hates sin, between Old and New Testaments.
Write down everything that suggests what it really takes to be saved (or read
my blog on initial and final salvation for a quickie summary). When you’re
reading, be careful to “update” Biblical words like “idols.” Maybe you think
that’s just for primitive folk, statues of wood and stone. So it doesn't apply
to me, you say. But read a Biblical definition of idolatry, then spend some
time asking yourself if you’ve been into idolatry, in its modern applications.
In other words, spend some time asking yourself about the sins you’ve done, and
the effects on the family, trying to place yourself above God (that’s idolatry
too). And then think about God, who loves you more than you can imagine,
watching you sin. You (and everyone) could do much more with your life if you
dedicate yourself 100% to Him. He would make you so happy. So why don’t you?
Examine that—is it simple selfishness? Greed? Fear of being laughed at? Then
imagine yourself at the judgment seat—we will all be there—when you give your
reasons, your lame reasons. What are your Scriptural gifts? You don’t know?
Have they been given to God? Do you know what your fruits are? How about your
time with God? A person you’re in love with, you talk to daily—how much time do
you spend during the week talking with God? Maybe you conclude that you don’t
really love Him? That’s not good; read I John when it separates saved vs
unsaved, measured by the love you show.
Last but not least: Most people will go to hell. Jesus said in Matthew
7:13-14:
narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Most people are clueless about their status and believe God is a good guy, so
they’ll pass.
It’s never too late to change faulty beliefs.
As you can see, lots of Scripture reading and introspection are needed.
Please, take time for this. Most people’s mind goes ten different ways when
trying to be quiet and meditate on Scripture. Or they sink into this, “I’m just
a worm and can’t do anything.” (Maybe appealing for sympathy to get out of
being judged always worked when you were a kid; it doesn’t work with God).
Developing a fear of God would be frowned at by most ministers today, but who
cares what they think? Their “moral leadership” is why we’re in a mess in the
U.S. Better to read Scripture like the above to get the real truth about
qualities God loves to see. Like fearing Him.
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