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Fearing God
- Thread starter ml5363
- Start date
twin1954
Baptist by the Bible
It depends on the context. Believers have no need to fear God any longer as all His wrath has been extinguished on His Son at the cross. So that kind of fear is a trembling terror of the Lord because of His terrible wrath and power to destroy.
The believer fears the Lord in the context of reverence and worship knowing His greatness and infinite superiority over all things. We fear the Lord with reverence because of His wondrous love and mercy to chosen sinners.
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M5363 asked: "What does it mean to fear God?"
Some people replaced word “Fear” for the word “Respect,” but without question the right thing to do is to Fear the Lord, just like we fear those who have authority over us, and have power to decide who is going to live and who is going to die. Shall we not fear and GOD as well Who have much more authority and power over our souls than our earthly rulers?
Does respect goes far enough then it comes to the Lord? Respect sounds like, “He is OK”,, “He is fine”, and it minimizes the greatness of GOD to its minimum.
FEAR on the other hand generates not only terror and dread of GOD, but also and great respect for Him. And I think that without true FEAR of GOD no one can have and true respect for Him, because FEAR is a birthplace of respect. If you do not fear you cannot respect, and those whom we respect, we fear them most.
Below only few examples out of many what actually true FEAR means and what it does to the people.
FEAR of GOD is blessing for the family.
Exodus 1.17.21
17.But the midwives feared GOD, they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but the left the boys live.
21.And because the midwives feared GOD, He gave them families
FEAR of GOD is the source of believing in Him and generates Faith in Him.
Exodus 14.31
31.Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and His servant Moses.
FEAR of GOD provides justice.
Exodus 18.21-22
21.You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear GOD are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain, set such men over them as officers, over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
22.Let them sit as judges for the people at all times, let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you.
2Samuel 23.3-4
3.The GOD of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: 'One who rules over people justly, ruling in fear of GOD,
4.is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.'
FEAR of GOD prevents people from committing sin.
Exodus 20.20
20.Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, GOD has come only to test you and to put the fear of Him upon you so that you do not sin."
Proverbs 16.6
6.”By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.”
Is the love for the Lord or respect for Him will be enough to avoid evil and sin?
FEAR of GOD also prevents wars.
2Chronicles 20.29
29.”The fear of GOD came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”
And where the word “respect” would fit in this passage?
Nehemiah 6.16
After completion of the wall of Jerusalem by Nehemiah
16.And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our GOD.
And where such words as “love” and “respect” would fit in these passages?
FEAR of GOD is also and wisdom.
Job 28.28
Words of Job to Bildad
28.And He said to human kind, 'Truly, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding."
Psalms 111.10
10.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
In this case I don’t see how “respect” can bring any wisdom.
Proverbs 9.10
10.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Proverbs 15.16.33
33.The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.
FEAR of GOD is the beginning of knowledge.
Proverbs 1.7.28-29
7.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction.
28.Then they will call upon me but I will not answer, they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29.Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
FEAR of GOD in serves and worship.
Psalms 2.11
11.”Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling,”
Psalms 96.9
9.Worship the Lord in holy splendor, tremble before Him all the Earth.
FEAR of the Punishment of the Lord.
Psalms 119.120
120.”My flesh trembles for fear of You and I am afraid of Your judgments.”
Proverbs 24.21-22
21.My child fear the Lord and the king, and do not disobey either of them,
22.disaster comes from them suddenly and who knows the ruin that both can bring?
Isaiah 8.12-13
12."Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears or be in dread,
13.But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall regard as Holy, let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread.
Jeremiah 5.22
22.Do you not fear Me? Says the Lord. Do you not TREMBLE before Me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass, though the waters toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Proverbs 2.5
5.then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of GOD.
Acts 5.5-11
5.”Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.
11.And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.”
Whom you think people began to FEAR, apostle Peter or GOD, Who took both souls for cheating the Holy Spirit?
First Peter 1.17
17.If you invoke as Father the One Who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.
As this verse also specified, FEAR belongs to justice, discipline, and punishment
Revelation of John 14.6-7
6.Then I saw another angel flying in mid Heaven with an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who live on the Earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
7.He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear GOD and give Him glory, the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him Who made Heaven and Earth, the sea and the springs of water.’
Romans 13.3-4
3.”Rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval.
4.It is GOD’S servant for you good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of GOD to execute wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Some people presented this verse as an argument against fear.
1John 4.18
18.There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear, fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
Concerning love, indeed, if you have perfect love for the Lord and His Commandments, and obey all His Statutes and Laws word to word and do not sin, then you have no fear to be punished by Him.
So let examine ourselves truly and fairly, how much love we have for the Lord in order not to fear Him. In this case the question is, how many of us have such perfect love?
Some people replaced word “Fear” for the word “Respect,” but without question the right thing to do is to Fear the Lord, just like we fear those who have authority over us, and have power to decide who is going to live and who is going to die. Shall we not fear and GOD as well Who have much more authority and power over our souls than our earthly rulers?
Does respect goes far enough then it comes to the Lord? Respect sounds like, “He is OK”,, “He is fine”, and it minimizes the greatness of GOD to its minimum.
FEAR on the other hand generates not only terror and dread of GOD, but also and great respect for Him. And I think that without true FEAR of GOD no one can have and true respect for Him, because FEAR is a birthplace of respect. If you do not fear you cannot respect, and those whom we respect, we fear them most.
Below only few examples out of many what actually true FEAR means and what it does to the people.
FEAR of GOD is blessing for the family.
Exodus 1.17.21
17.But the midwives feared GOD, they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but the left the boys live.
21.And because the midwives feared GOD, He gave them families
FEAR of GOD is the source of believing in Him and generates Faith in Him.
Exodus 14.31
31.Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and His servant Moses.
FEAR of GOD provides justice.
Exodus 18.21-22
21.You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear GOD are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain, set such men over them as officers, over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
22.Let them sit as judges for the people at all times, let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you.
2Samuel 23.3-4
3.The GOD of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: 'One who rules over people justly, ruling in fear of GOD,
4.is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.'
FEAR of GOD prevents people from committing sin.
Exodus 20.20
20.Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, GOD has come only to test you and to put the fear of Him upon you so that you do not sin."
Proverbs 16.6
6.”By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.”
Is the love for the Lord or respect for Him will be enough to avoid evil and sin?
FEAR of GOD also prevents wars.
2Chronicles 20.29
29.”The fear of GOD came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”
And where the word “respect” would fit in this passage?
Nehemiah 6.16
After completion of the wall of Jerusalem by Nehemiah
16.And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our GOD.
And where such words as “love” and “respect” would fit in these passages?
FEAR of GOD is also and wisdom.
Job 28.28
Words of Job to Bildad
28.And He said to human kind, 'Truly, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding."
Psalms 111.10
10.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
In this case I don’t see how “respect” can bring any wisdom.
Proverbs 9.10
10.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Proverbs 15.16.33
33.The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.
FEAR of GOD is the beginning of knowledge.
Proverbs 1.7.28-29
7.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction.
28.Then they will call upon me but I will not answer, they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29.Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
FEAR of GOD in serves and worship.
Psalms 2.11
11.”Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling,”
Psalms 96.9
9.Worship the Lord in holy splendor, tremble before Him all the Earth.
FEAR of the Punishment of the Lord.
Psalms 119.120
120.”My flesh trembles for fear of You and I am afraid of Your judgments.”
Proverbs 24.21-22
21.My child fear the Lord and the king, and do not disobey either of them,
22.disaster comes from them suddenly and who knows the ruin that both can bring?
Isaiah 8.12-13
12."Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears or be in dread,
13.But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall regard as Holy, let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread.
Jeremiah 5.22
22.Do you not fear Me? Says the Lord. Do you not TREMBLE before Me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass, though the waters toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Proverbs 2.5
5.then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of GOD.
Acts 5.5-11
5.”Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.
11.And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.”
Whom you think people began to FEAR, apostle Peter or GOD, Who took both souls for cheating the Holy Spirit?
First Peter 1.17
17.If you invoke as Father the One Who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.
As this verse also specified, FEAR belongs to justice, discipline, and punishment
Revelation of John 14.6-7
6.Then I saw another angel flying in mid Heaven with an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who live on the Earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
7.He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear GOD and give Him glory, the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him Who made Heaven and Earth, the sea and the springs of water.’
Romans 13.3-4
3.”Rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval.
4.It is GOD’S servant for you good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of GOD to execute wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Some people presented this verse as an argument against fear.
1John 4.18
18.There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear, fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
Concerning love, indeed, if you have perfect love for the Lord and His Commandments, and obey all His Statutes and Laws word to word and do not sin, then you have no fear to be punished by Him.
So let examine ourselves truly and fairly, how much love we have for the Lord in order not to fear Him. In this case the question is, how many of us have such perfect love?
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Godfearers were jewish proselytes who respected the God of abaraham, isaac and jacob.
No doubt many heard about the great things God had done for the israelites. The ten plagues, parting the red sea. Etc.
Then you come to the NT and guess what, the angels and Jesus tells people to not be afraid. Why? BecauseGod is with us. In the person of Jesus. And we relate to Him as a son does to his Father. Its only when we are born againcan we cry 'abba' father!
As children of the most High, once we come into this relationship, where we can truly call God 'abba' or daddy/father, we then have no fear. Otherwise we just call him Sir or Lord and who calls their own dad that..well as a mark of respect we do, but in love we KNOW him as our own Father.
When the proverbs say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, its absolutely true because if we dont know that God is creator and maker of heaven of earth and respect that, that our lives are due to Him, then we go on in darkness and being fools.
No doubt many heard about the great things God had done for the israelites. The ten plagues, parting the red sea. Etc.
Then you come to the NT and guess what, the angels and Jesus tells people to not be afraid. Why? BecauseGod is with us. In the person of Jesus. And we relate to Him as a son does to his Father. Its only when we are born againcan we cry 'abba' father!
As children of the most High, once we come into this relationship, where we can truly call God 'abba' or daddy/father, we then have no fear. Otherwise we just call him Sir or Lord and who calls their own dad that..well as a mark of respect we do, but in love we KNOW him as our own Father.
When the proverbs say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, its absolutely true because if we dont know that God is creator and maker of heaven of earth and respect that, that our lives are due to Him, then we go on in darkness and being fools.
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