As I have been reading the Bible more often (just finished Acts, ½ way through Proverbs), I have noticed a phrase that is used a lot, “Fear of the Lord” and iterations of that (Fear of God, etc.). The first time it was mentioned was in Genesis 22:12 (NKJV), “…for now I know that you fear God…” Across the whole Bible a similar phrase is stated 144 times! So, one would assume it is important, right?
Yes, but honestly, I really didn’t know what it meant. It really started nagging at me after reading Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV), that declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” That was a few days ago, and today, I read Proverbs 15:33 (NKJV), which states, “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility.” The entire point of me purchasing and reading a Bible, especially a study Bible, is to have wisdom and understanding, so I finally broke down and searched on Google to find out what it meant. (God was probably all like *ugh* “Finally!” 😀 )
POV (point of view): The Unbeliever
This was explained that the Unbeliever fears God’s judgement & wrath, along with the eternal separation from God’s love. As a Believer myself, that definition makes sense to me and I understand the word association used with “Fear” in this context.
POV: The Believer
Through my internet research, it was explained with the word “fear” being replaced with “reverence”. Well, I am not on my grammatical game today. What is reverence? It is a deep respect for someone or something. Well, I am still confused. It is more than just a deep respect, it is also an understanding of how much God hates sin, and subsequently, understanding the punishment for sin that is stated in Romans 6:23 (NKJV), “For the wages of sin is death”. In my study Bible, it states that “’fear’ means to hold God in awe”. This annotation was for the first time it was mentioned in Genesis 22:12.
POV: A child
This was the piece of the puzzle I was really missing, grammatical game aside. As a kid, my dad (and mom) would teach me right from wrong. So, because I have that knowledge, I feared my dad (and mom), but not in a bad way, because there is love present there. If I did something wrong or I disobeyed, I was punished, as I should have been. As I got older and matured more, I knew and understood the difference between right and wrong, along with the punishment of wrong. Out of fear of receiving punishment and the fear of disappointing or disrespecting my dad (and mom), I feared my dad (and mom), but in love and understanding.
Note: I am emphasizing my dad to show the direct correlation to the next section.
POV: A child of God the Father!
As Christians, we have a similar relationship with our Heavenly Father and that is what it means to “Fear the Lord”.
- I know what right & wrong means because my Father told me in the Bible.
- I know God the Father hates it when I disobey and sin.
- I know sin has a very specific punishment. (Romans 6:23)
- I know that God the Father loves me and I Him. In John 3:16 (NKJV) it states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”.
- I also respect my Heavenly Father.
All of that combined brings us to “Fear of the Lord”. I fear the Lord because I don’t want to disappoint Him. I want Him to be proud of His son.
Now you still might be left with a feeling of negative connotation associated with “Fear the Lord”, but let me finish 2 of the verses mentioned.
- Romans 6:23 (NKJV), “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- John 3:16 (NKJV), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
And that my friends, is the “Good News”!
God bless & thank you for your time,
Volume 15 Issue 01 (63)
