The Fear of the Lord - What it Really Means

The Fear of the LORD

Many modern churches pastors and teachers have so watered down, minimized and/or misconstrued the biblical concepts of: fearing God, sin, repentance, suffering, and the cost of discipleship that the biblical authors would rise up (if they could) in denunciation of such liberal rubbish. Rather than discuss all of these topics, we will look at just one of these concepts – what Proverbs 1:7 means when it refers to “The fear of the LORD.”

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fear of the LORD is much more than just a sense of awe, and much more than a sense of respect. The “fear of the LORD” that Proverbs speaks of refers to that sense of genuine fear experienced by sinful man when he recognizes the reality of the God of absolute holiness power and judgment.

When a sinful man stands trembling before the presence of GOD who is infinitely more holy than he then he experiences “the fear of the LORD”. When such a man is confronted by the presence power and reality of GOD Himself then he quivers with anticipation of his own demise. And when sinful man sees just how filthy and worthy of judgment his own righteousness is in the face of absolute holiness then he shakes in the fear of a just judgment.

Such a man is at the beginning of real knowledge; he has taken the first step into truth, and has turned onto the path of genuine wisdom. But brutish proud willful unrepentant fools despise such wisdom and understanding.

We see something of this same kind of fear when the angels of GOD appear to men throughout scripture.

Do they experience awe and wonder and respect? Of course they do, but they also experience the uncertain anxiety and fearful anticipation of being confronted by a heavenly being who could easily and justly destroy them if they wanted.

That is the meaning of “the fear of the LORD” and it stands behind all the other verses using this expression: 1Sa 11:7; 2Ch 14:14; 2Ch 17:10; 2Ch 19:7; 2Ch 19:9; Job 28:28; Psa 19:9; Psa 34:11; Psa 111:10; Pro 1:7; Pro 1:29; Pro 2:5; Pro 8:13; Pro 9:10; Pro 10:27; Pro 14:26; Pro 14:27; Pro 15:16; Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17; Isa 2:10; Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21; Isa 11:2; Isa 11:3; Isa 33:6; Act 9:31.

Those who try to water down the meaning of “fear” have obviously not stood in the presence of such a holy GOD.

Those who argue against this understanding of fear often appeal to the following verse in second Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

What Paul is saying is that God has not given us a spirit of fearful cowardice, on the contrary, He has give us a boldness that is produced by power, love and a sound mind.

Again, the words of Jesus illustrated a proper understanding of what fear means:

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Please note that Jesus is saying believers need not fear martyrdom at the hands of God’s enemies – implying that heaven and the resurrection to life eternal await those who remain faithful to God. But if a believer should seek to save his or her own physical temporal life by siding with God’s opponents then that person should indeed be living in fear of God’s divine judgment when God casts all of his opponents both body and soul into an eternal hell.

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (27) But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

The fear is quite real in both cases, but our greater fear of eternal destruction in hell should outweigh the fear of any transitory losses, temporary pains, physical harm, persecution or even martyrdom. Siding with and serving God is therefore preferable to siding with and serving the ungodly.

The Church, down through the centuries, has known times of great opposition suffering persecution and martyrdom. Being a Christian came at a great cost, but they did not love their lives unto death.

In more recent times, however, many believers have lived sheltered privileged lives in a society largely based on Judeo/Christian beliefs and values. In relatively prosperous peaceful times the idea of persecution and suffering for ones faith is not only foreign but unthinkable. Comfort and complacency create a sense of false security and a spirit of casual laxness.

In such a time and place there is very little opposition or threat. The cost of discipleship is practically nil, repentance is uncalled for and almost unheard of, personal sacrifice and responsibility belongs to someone else, shallow immaturity is the norm, ignorance reigns supreme, and a false sense of unjustified smug security prevails. As a result, there is a casual laxness about ones faith; little appreciation, little depth, and little insight or maturity. Life is easy and a spirit of easy-believism becomes commonplace.

For most of these shallow nominal believers, Christianity is more about fitting in, feeling reassured and being blessed both emotionally and materially once or twice a week. For them, faith is more about themselves than about a holy God. They have placed themselves at the center of the universe and God revolves around them. God is there to serve them more than they are here to serve Him. They do not have a biblical concept of sin, and do not take judgment day seriously. In short, they do not fear God – but they SHOULD.

They have deluded themselves. Their lukewarm worldly ways do not pose much of a threat to the forces of Satan and do not give much offense to those who reject the Lordship of God. They look pretty much like the world, act like the world, sound like the world, have adopted most of the world’s values attitudes methods and priorities and they have worldly self-centered motives. As a result, they possess little fear of men and even less of God. Why should they fear anything or anyone? After all, God is on “THEIR side”. Grace has been turned into license and mercy is taken for granted since they consider themselves to be the children of God – deserving of all these blessings and more. They do not take seriously the passage where God says:

Revelation 3:15-19 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

This kind of ignorant immature self-centered worldliness and self-assured complacency assumes that they are somehow safe and immune and “saved” without ever bearing the responsibility to obey God’s righteous holy commands.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (24) He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

Pastors are sometimes too desirous to appear trendy and hip to mention something so old-fashioned and legalistic and constraining as sin and the need to repent. Other pastors are too afraid to rock their parishioner’s boat by mentioning specific sins and the need to repent for fear of losing both their parishioners and their financial and social support.

And on the other side, the pew warming laity is often too lazy and ignorant and/or unconcerned to even consider what it might be they need to repent of. Nevertheless, God will indeed hold them all accountable on that great and terrible day of His Second Coming in fiery judgment. And for many “there will be hell to pay”.

Sure, God is merciful:

Exodus 34:6-7 … The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,

But they ignore the rest of the verse:

“and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

If you have never served God as your Lord and Master but have chosen to ignore Him so you can do as you please then you will be as one of those that Jesus described:

Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

God is not duty bound to always exhibit grace and mercy no matter what we do. We can never expect to be blessed by God if we continue to live like the devil. God is all-knowing all-powerful and sovereign and holy and just and it would not be wise to second guess what He will do in any situation.

Exodus 33:19 … I will … be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God may allow the consequences weight and punishment of our sins to overtake us in this life, or He may choose to spare us. It is up to Him alone and he owes us no explanation or reason or justification for doing either.

Instead, we are to commit our lives to Him, striving to know Him and His will and striving to serve Him to the best of our ability and then implicitly trust Him as our true Lord and Master to do what is right – whatever that may be. In doing so, we must not rely upon our own limited theological and situational and historical understanding of what God may or may not do or casually assume we will get away with every sin we commit. Instead, we must repent, return to God and (like Job) we should trust God to do what is right. Job’s attitude should be our attitude:

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

And again, our faith in times of danger suffering and threat of death or martyrdom should resemble that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Daniel 3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. (18) But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

So, when persecutions begin to hit closer to home, impacting faithful fellow believers in this time and place, we should remember:

2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11) Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. (12) Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” C.S. Lewis tells the story of four siblings who find their way into the land of Narnia through a magical wardrobe where they encounter the Christ-like figure – Aslan the lion, the king of Narnia.

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy first learn of Aslan through Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Lucy assumes Aslan is a man. Upon discovering he is really a lion, the question is asked, “’Then he isn’t safe?’ said Lucy. ‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver; ‘don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you’”.

And in “The Last Battle” the character Tirian says: ‘Who am I that I could make Aslan appear at my bidding? He’s not a tame lion’. … Likewise, the “Lion of Judah” is no tame lion either.

Lastly, we must all remember that a Day of Judgment is coming:

Luke 12:45-48 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; (46) The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. (47) And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. (48) But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Romans 2:4-11 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (5) But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; (6) Who will render to every man according to his deeds: (7) To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: (8) But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, (9) Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; (10) But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: (11) For there is no respect of persons with God.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

1 Peter 4:5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

If the reality of that great and terrible Day of Judgment does not give you a sense of the fear of God then something inside of you may be very lacking or may have already died.

About the Author:

The author is 65 years of age, has earned both a B.A. (1975) and M.A. (1977) in Biblical Literature/ Theology, has lived in Israel for well over a year, and has been researching many issues related to the “end times” for well over 22 years. Married with 3 children and 5 grandchildren, he lives a relatively quiet retired life in Oklahoma, caring for his 92 year old Father-in-law and attends a cowboy church not far away.