The first thing that must be made clear is that fearing God is not equal to being afraid of God. Certainly, being afraid may be part of one's proper response to God. Consider the prophet Isaiah's response (Is. 6) or the disciples' response at the realization of who Jesus really was after calming the storm (Mk. 4:35-41). This kind of fear is the natural response of the finite in the presence of the infinite, the response of the sinful in the presence of the holy. But being afraid is not the sum of fearing God. In fact, I would suggest that the greater part of the biblical concept of fearing the Lord has nothing to do with being afraid (this would explain why God and the angels so often had to begin their messages with the phrase "Fear not"). Thus when God calls us to fear him, he is calling us to much more than being scared and faint-hearted.
In 2 Kings 17, God explains why he has sent the nation of Israel into exile. And it begins with this:
And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.Are we to take this as meaning that the Israelites spent sleepless nights huddled in the corner with their swords for fear that the their little household idols might turn homicidal? Of course not. In fact, this passage makes little or no sense if we force our simplistic, modern meaning of "fear" on the text. But the author doesn't leave us guessing. The rest of 2 Kings 17 details the nature of their fear of other gods, and in doing so fleshes out the the biblical idea of fear.
(2 Kings 17:7-8 ESV, emphasis added)
- Worship - "They built high places", "they set up for themselves pillars", "they used divination and omens". We only worship those things that we believe have power over us or power to benefit us, those things that are in some sense greater and "other" than us.
- Sacrifice - "There they made offerings", "they burned their sons and daughters as offerings". Every sacrifice is, by definition, something that costs us. Whether it be our time, money, family, or lives, when we make a sacrifice, we are deeming the recipient of our sacrifice as worthy of the cost we bear.
- Obedience - "They served idols", "they sold themselves to do evil". Of course, obedience is the natural response to the things we worship. Everything that we worship makes some sort of demand on our lives, and the things that we obey reflect what we truly worship.
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?"
(Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV)
For further reflection: Acts 9:31, 1 John 4:18, Hebrews 12:28-29, Deuteronomy 6:1-2
I'm not attacking your write up. I thought it was very well written. When I got done reading it I could not help but think perhaps there is another concept of "Fear" that might pose as a stumbling block making it difficult to "Fear God in the Biblical sense." That is the mind set of "Fear of disappointing God" being so ashamed of our sin that we hold on to it, allowing it to interfere with our worship, sacrifice and follow in disobedience.
ReplyDeleteSure we believe that Jesus died to allow us to seek forgiveness for our sin, but when we seek forgiveness time and time again for the same sin or maybe just "One Big One" that has a stronghold on our life, do we start to wonder if the scolding is coming the same way we would expect from our earthly father? Does this mindset make us want to run and hide from God in the same way Adam and Eve hid in the bushes after eating from the tree of knowledge because they felt God would be disappointed in them?
Chris,
ReplyDeleteSure, there's no doubt that sort of fear can be found both in the Bible and in our own lives. But your question actually proves the point that it is important to make distinctions between different kinds of fear.
There are different kinds of fear all motivated out of self-interest and self-preservation. I wanted to differentiate between that and the sort of healthy reverence that God commands of his followers motivated out of worship and love.
I agree with what you are saying whole hearted. I just know that from personal experience it is "Fear" that keeps us from the greater good. Fear can also be a great motivation that allows us to look back and see what God has accomplished through us...then realizing how He has brought us closer to Him.
DeleteI often hear the term "Alpha and Omega" being used to describe the basic attribute or perhaps set of attributes of God. The term actually refers to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. So it contains the idea of God's presence and influence from the beginning to the end of mankind's existence, as well as that there are many aspects or attributes of God even when, at the same time, most religious people intuitively perceive God as having "Oneness" or "Unity". No doubt, the God of the Old Testament is very different than the God of the New Testament. The God of the Old Testament can certainly engender a degree of fear, anxiety, and dread. The Jews believed that the "wrath" of God was upon them after they had been conquered and subjugated by the Babylonians. They feared that continued Jewish curiosity, idolarity, or yes, even worship of other competing "gods" or religions would certainly doom their race at the hands of their God. This is, unquestionably, raw basic fear. It can also be seen as a desire to cling to what was lost. Artifacts discovered in Jewish ruins before the Babylonian Exile contain many objects and writings demonstrating Jewish interest in other gods/religions, while artifacts found in Jewish settlements post-dating the Exile show none at all. Clearly "Fear of God" in this sorrowful time meant "watch your step". During the ministry of Jesus, the idea of overthrowing occupiers of the Holy Land had already been tried a few times by earlier "messiahs" with disastrous results. That is why the ministry of Jesus focused on "love" of God and was much more introspective. Heaven, an after-life, and a joining or companionship with a loving, much more humanistic god was the focus. But, juxtaposed with this sentiment was the "God is gonna get you" revengeful idea that is theme of Revelation and the coming of the "End Times". On a personal level, Christians like to think of themselves a "God-fearing" believers, meaning that they know or understand God and are in-tune with his teachings, etc., but contained within this idea is that there is yet plenty of reason to "fear" God in the traditional meaning of the word "fear" if you are a non-believer. After all, where do those people wind up?
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