Fear of God

One need not attend any church very long to realize that God is compassionate, loving, and gracious. Of course this is an accurate and biblical description of God and these qualities are rightly to be emphasized. However, it is not a complete picture of God, but a partial picture of His nature and character. The same person, after attending any church for a short time, and drawing a conclusion that God is love, would very likely not have heard any teaching that God is holy, awesome, and transcendent. He most likely will not have heard any teaching on fearing God. A fear of God comes only after having a right knowledge of God, and a right knowledge of God means a complete, or balanced, picture of God. This is crucial because having only a partial picture of God means that we are worshiping an idol and not worshiping the true God. We must not let the prevailing winds and whims of the larger society determine our view of God. God’s character and nature do not change. Our view of Him must be informed by the Bible; a bulwark against the persistent forces that constantly batter our beliefs, and by extension, how we live out those beliefs.

The fear of God is no outdated concept just as the sovereignty of God is not. It is tragic, and to the church’s detriment, that the fear of God is not taught in the church today. This is no exaggeration or hyperbole. We are dangerously close to the precipice of idolatry in our omission of teaching reverence and the fear of God. This is not some obscure principle in the Old Testament. Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament, the concept of fearing God and the command to fear God is prominent. Though teaching on the fear of God and on His awesomeness is largely absent in the American church today, these concepts permeate the Scriptures. A sampling is listed below.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. (Job 2:3)

Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. (Ps 25:12-13)

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. (Ps 128:1)

Who is among you who fears the Lord, Who obeys the voice of His servant, Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. (Is 50:10)

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. ¹² “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.” (Gen 22:12-12)

So God treated the midwives well, and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, He made households for them. (Ex 1:20)

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will go well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. (Ecc 8:12)

But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.
They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its season,
Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.” (Jer 5:23-24)

Fearing the Lord is the beginning of discernment, but fools have despised wisdom and moral instruction. (Prov 1:7)

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; (1Pet 1:17)

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure. (Ph 2:12-13)

God seeks those who fear Him and blesses those who do. You cannot know God if you do not fear Him. Having a proper knowledge of God must lead to a fear of God. Paul exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It’s not possible to be a disciple of Jesus or to know God without fear, i.e. reverence for Him. Our obedience is motivated by both our love for Him and our reverence for Him.

What precisely is fearing God? Why should we fear Him?

It starts with God’s identity. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He spoke into existence the universe. He created all matter, both living and non-living things. He created man (people). Because He is the Creator and we are His creatures, we are subject and accountable to Him. He is Lord over us. He is the only uncreated Entity in this universe and stands outside of the universe. By virtue of this fact, He is sovereign over all and accountable to no one.

Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales?Who comprehends the mind of the Lord, or gives him instruction as his counselor?From whom does he receive directions?Who teaches him the correct way to do things,or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design?Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust. . . “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?” says the Holy One.Look up at the sky!Who created all these heavenly lights?He is the one who leads out their ranks;he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing. (Is 40)

Because He is Almighty God, unlimited in power, infinite, and all matter is subject to Him, God alone is awesome. In its correct usage, awesome means “causing or inducing awe.” Awe is defined as “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, dread, terror, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like.” Imagine yourself in a warehouse full of thermonuclear warheads armed and ready to detonate. Would this inspire fear and terror? This scenario is merely a drop in bucket compared to the power of Almighty God. I’m reminded of C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the story, Susan fears to meet Aslan the lion (symbol for Jesus) and asked if He’s safe, to which Mr. Beaver replies, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” God is not safe. Jesus tells us in Matthew 10 that we are not to fear those can kill the body, but fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul.

Israel experienced the awe of God after leaving Egypt and meeting Him at Mount Sinai. Israel was chosen by God, and He entered into a unique covenant relationship with them.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and make them wash their clothesand be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You must set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death! No hand will touch him—but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; he must not live. . .

On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Moses was speaking and God was answering him with a voice. . .

All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking—and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you will not sin.” The people kept their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. (Ex 19, 20)

Note that the people trembled with fear and were terrified to face God. Instead of hearing from God directly, the people wanted Moses to be their intermediary. The Israelites were intimately acquainted with the power of God, seeing firsthand His power as He delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh and his army. They experienced God – His power and deliverance. One who comes so close to God will naturally and rightly experience awe. Paul references this Exodus incident in Hebrews 12. Instead of Mount Sinai, Paul writes, under the new covenant, we come to Mount Zion, the city of the Living God. We come to Jesus, the mediator of that new covenant. As Mount Sinai shook violently in the Exodus account, Paul writes in Hebrews,

I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.”Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. For our God is indeed a devouring fire. (Heb 12:26-28)

This was a warning to the Hebrew believers, and a warning to us today, not to refuse Him who speaks to us. It’s both a warning and exhortation to faithfully follow Jesus. Note that a pleasing worship of God is one that is offered with devotion and awe. Worship is not merely about how we feel or what it does for us. Primarily, the aim of worship is God, i.e. glorifying and pleasing Him. Is there awe in our worship of the Almighty God? Prior to this, in Hebrews 10, Paul warned the Hebrew church the consequences of deliberate and continual rejection of the gospel, “a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. . . It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.”

For the believer, those who have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son, we should worship Him with devotion and awe. Yet, we should not be afraid. As the Israelites were trembling at Mount Sinai, Moses said to them, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.” We need not be afraid of God because He is on our side. He will discipline us, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In fact, Paul writes in Hebrews 4, “Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” In the olden days, no one can approach a king without being invited; doing so could mean death. Not so with our King. We can approach Him confidently, but not flippantly nor casually. We can address Him as “Abba Father,” but we must remember that He is also the Lord of Heaven’s armies. This confidence is made possible by Jesus who made a way for us to enter within the veil.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith . . . (Heb 10:19-21)

Another passage that balances the fear of God without being afraid of Him is Malachi 3:6, “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not been consumed.” In verse 5, God says that He will come in judgment of those who sin because they have no fear of God. Even though Israel may be judged, she will not be destroyed because of God’s character; specifically that He does not change, but is faithful to His promise – the covenant He made with Israel. So yes, He is awesome and we should fear Him, but we can also rest in His faithful and unchanging nature.

Fearing God also has a practical benefit. Note in the Exodus passage the result of fearing God, “so that you will not sin.” The prophet Malachi wrote in chapter 3,

“I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination; those who commit adultery; those who break promises; and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the resident foreigner and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (Mal 3:5)

The fear of God is a restraint on our tendency to sin. Without this fear and having only a view of God as One who is gracious and compassionate, sin becomes a trivial thing. We may still acknowledge our sins today and that we are sinners by nature, but our attitude toward sin is casual and cavalier. Our pernicious view of sin does not bode well for us. We are called to be holy because He is holy. Holiness, just as fearing God, is lost on the church today. No doubt there is a one to one correlation between fearing God and one’s attitude toward sin. 

In summary, our fear of God is based on His identity, specifically, 1) His absolute power and 2) His authority over us, and 3) His moral purity.

It seems today fear is all around us. We fear for our jobs, fear for our health, fear crime, fear the Democrats, fear the Republicans, fear for our future security, fear earthly authorities, fear death. But where is the fear of God? Oswald Chambers wrote, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”