What Does It Mean To Fear The Lord?
I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs the past few weeks. There’s a phrase that is used throughout the whole book, especially in the first few chapters “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7)
Should we fear the lord?
If you have heard people talk about this phrase “to fear the Lord” you may be confused, I often am. Isn’t being fearful of something wrong? Would God want me to be fearful of Him? If so, why does He often tell people (and have his angels tell people) “be not afraid” when He encounters them?
Many say that to “fear the Lord” means to have reverence and awe of Him. But if this is all the word means, why did the translation committees choose the word fear? Consider how some of todays most popular bible translations render this verse:
if this image is too small, zoom in
The difference is marginal and they all translate the verse with “fear” the Lord. So what does it mean? Here’s my way of saying it:
There is a proper fear of God that leads us to Him, not away from Him in submission because of his authority, his power, and his transcendence. God is not small. God does not fit inside our pocket. God is supreme over all things. He created the world, He created us, and He could destroy it all in a moments notice. There is a proper posture that we should have towards God. Perhaps we could say that to fear God is to respect God, if by that we mean the type of respect we have towards Niagara Falls. That it is in control, not us. That it could kill us.
Do you remember how Israel responded when they encountered God?
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
- Exodus 20:18-19
That is not mere reverence. Perhaps in our recent culture we have swung the pendulum too far away from healthy fear of God. God is the Empire State Building, we are the ant. God is not our genie or maid. We fear God when we see our smallness in relation to His greatness.
The Tension
I am a firm believer that balance is key in all doctrines. Take a true thought of God too far into the extreme and you get away from what the Bible teaches. Take grace too far, to the exclusion of holiness and you get cheap-grace. If you take holiness to far, to the exclusion of grace, you get legalism. And if you take reverence and fear too far, to the exclusion of approachability, you get a warped view of God. One that is not of the Bible. The Bible tells us to fear God, but it also tells us that:
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; (Isaiah 42:3)The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
“…I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)
We must always consider the whole of biblical data when we ask “Who is God”? So that what seems polarizing to us can bring us into the healthy middle. Yes, God is to be feared because of his perfect holiness, unmatched power, authority, and wisdom. But how does God wield these attributes of His? Often for our good.
Consider the cross. All of God’s holiness, power, authority, and wisdom culminates in a single moment, sending His son to die on the cross for our sins so that we could have peace with God. At the cross we both experience fear and love. Fear, because God takes sin so seriously that it costs His son His life. Love, because “God showed his love for us that While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 6:8)
The Space Between
Gentle Jesus’, my elbow! The most striking thing about Our Lord is the union of great ferocity with extreme tenderness. (Remember Pascal? ‘I do not admire the extreme of one virtue unless you show me at the same time the extreme of the opposite virtue. One shows one’s greatness not by being at an extremity but by being simultaneously at two extremities and filling all the space between.’)
Add to this that He is also a supreme ironist, dialectician, and (occasionally) humourist. So go on! You are on the right track now: getting to the real Man behind all the plaster dolls that have been substituted for Him. This is the appearance in Human form of the God who made the Tiger and the Lamb, the avalanche and the rose. He’ll frighten and puzzle you: but the real Christ can be loved and admired as the doll can’t.
- C.S. Lewis in a letter to a friend, 1959
Lewis is onto something. Could we actually stand in awe and reverence to something that didn’t scare us a little bit? That didn’t puzzle our minds? We all make “dolls” that we think God is like. But the Bible wants us to set those aside and embrace the real God.
Perhaps the reason we can fear the Lord is because we see him as He is at His two extremes. That may sound strange, but remember. God has never abused his power and authority. He has only ever used it for our good and His glory.
Is This How You Relate To God?
What are the implications of this for us?
We rightly see God as transcendent, this leads us to trust Him more in our lives.
We rightly see God as holy, this leads us to desire obedience more. We do what God asks of us.
We rightly see God as multifaceted, both as a King and a Father.
We rightly see God which leads to worship.
We rightly see God and don’t put Him into a box that makes Him easy to understand.
May the Bible inform who we believe God to be, not our imaginations.
Finding the balance of who God with you,
Josh.