Good morning you guys. Deuteronomy chapter 5.
At one point in this chapter God said that he wished that their hearts would be inclined to fear Him and keep his commands. I see God talking about fear which results into obedience. I have heard it said that we should not fear God because he is a loving God and when you see the word fear it really means a deep respect. In the context of this passage, the people heard the voice of God in Fire and thunder and they were afraid and told Moses that he should talk to God and then tell them what God said because they were afraid if they heard God's voice they would die. They said tell us what God Said and we will do it. They had a fear which drove them to desire to obey him. I try and make meaning out of this word fear.
You may have your own insight but here I go:
I can't help but feel we should fear God as in a sense of being afraid of him as a means of driving us to obedience. In the past God told the Israelites to be holy for he is Holy. To step and walk outside of holiness is a terrible place to be. To continue to walk in unholiness is to walk in the path of death. Eventually one will face the wrath of God. The fear of a holy God, to me, is healthy for it helps us in the following areas:
- It helps us recognize how serious God really is about following his word.
- Fearing God helps us to desire holiness. To want to be obedient to God!
- To fear God is to have a great respect and love for Him for we see him as a majestic and mighty God.
I say all this out of the context that God is a loving and compassionate and forgiving God. But I personally feel a healthy fear of a great God helps us stay focused on his word.
Thank you, Pastor Blair, for your insight and for stirring up a desire in me to dig deeper into God’s Word once again.
The Bible has so much to say about fear. It can get confusing sometimes because there are moments when fear is treated as being the wrong emotion to have while other times it seems to be exactly correct. I thought that I would share some passages today that involve fear. I know that there are many more that could be looked at.
Chapter 5 seems to match up well with what we see in Psalm 119:33-40.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in Your ways. Confirm to Your servant Your promise, that You may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for Your rules are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; in Your righteousness give me life!
I think that it should be normal and appropriate to have a healthy level of fear when approaching the Creator of the universe. That makes sense to me, but I guess the question becomes what level is healthy? Whatever that level is, our level of fear of God should always be higher than our fear of people or the things of this world. Here’s what we read in Matthew 10:28-33.
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. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven.
God didn’t create us as mindless robots, but He gave us freewill and He loves us so much that He gave Jesus to rescue us from our sin. If that weren’t the case then we would have no hope, but instead only have fear for the future. I don’t think that God wants us to be afraid of Him to the point where we only respond to Him out of fear, but rather He wants us to respond to His faithfulness and love out of faith and love. Check out Proverbs 16:6. By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.
God is love and He has no fear. I think of how He can take away our fears as we read in 1 John 4:18.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
I think fear ultimately comes as a result of sin and it can be used to either turn us away from the punishment of our sin or turn us further away from God. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear as we read in 2 Timothy 1:6-8.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
May our fear not pull us away from God, but bring us closer to Him and His Word as He gives us all that we need to make our faith and love grow.
Thanks Jim for all the insight and with the many Scripture verses! PB
Thank you both Jim and Pastor Blair! Jim I really loved the additional scriptures you found, and feel like they fit pretty perfectly with today’s reading.
When I think of the way the word fear is used when talking about Fearing God, I also see it as a level of respecting God and His commandments. I also see think it is used to emphasize was a serious matter it is to obey God. The choices we make in this life have SERIOUS consequences, whether those be good or bad. We all want to live in eternity with God and our loved ones, but if we do not take our faith seriously, if we are wishy washy or Luke warm we will not make it into the kingdom of Heaven.
In Revelations 3:15-16 we read, “15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
God does not want us to live only half for Him. He doesn’t want us to attend church on Sundays and then live in sin Monday-Friday. That amount of fear we feel is really a gift, that helps us live a life free from sin and closer to God.
Our God is a loving and forgiving God and while forgiveness will always be there, we must repent and be honest with ourselves to turn away from our sin. We cannot continue to sin knowing we are sinning and settle with the fact God will forgive us… that is not respecting God and it will not get us through Heavens gate. We must consider each decision and action with serious thought, making the deliberate choice to obey God in all that we say and do. When we fall short, we must repent, learn, and grow!
Thanks Sarah for the added great insight!
Thank you. My greatest desire is to see people walking faithfully with the Lord Jesus.
I could not refrain from commenting. Well written!