The Bible has a lot to say about the fear of the Lord. It’s understandable that the world that rejects God should have “fear” of the Lord. The unbelieving world has rejected the God that created them and has chosen to reject Him and His salvation. That should cause people to fear, but what about the believer in God? The Israelites were told to fear the Lord in Deuteronomy 10:12, “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” The Hebrew word used for “fear” is, yare, and can mean, “to be afraid”, but can also mean, “to show reverence.” For the unbeliever, the first would apply, but for the believer, the second would apply. So, what does the Bibe say about the fear of the Lord? Let’s explore that a little.
Proverbs 9:10
Reverence for the Lord begins with wisdom, and knowledge of God is understanding. We will first look at wisdom then turn our attention to understanding. Jesus defines wisdom for us during His public ministry.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:24-27
Here Jesus is comparing a wise man and a foolish man to people who were building houses. The foolish man he built his house on the sand, something that anybody who’s tried to build anything knows is very unstable. On the other hand, Jesus compares the wise man to someone who builds on a firm foundation, a foundation of rock. The difference between the two men, besides where they chose to build, was their behavior towards the Lord. The foolish man hears the words of God and decides to disobey them, the wise man hears the words of God and puts them into practice. What we can conclude from this is that wisdom is the application of knowledge, in other words, it’s hearing the teachings of Christ and actually following them. We get wisdom two different ways, the first one is found in the book of James.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5
This is James’s answer to the question of trials and tribulations in our lives, the times in our life when obedience and disobedience comes to the forefront of our existence. He tells us that if we lack wisdom all we need to do is ask for it and God will give it in great measure. The 1st way that we have the power to obey the Lord, to activate the wisdom in our life, is to ask him for the power to obey. In 1 Corinthians Chapter ten, we are told that God will not give us tests and trials that we are not able to handle, and that he will give us the power to make it through those tests and trials. This begins with a powerful prayer life, asking God for the wisdom and the obedience needed to pass the tests. I mentioned earlier that we would talk about knowledge later on and we’re going to turn our attention to that topic right now because that’s the 2nd way that we get wisdom. Proverbs gives us some more insight into knowledge as well.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7
This verse could very well be the foundation for Jesus story of the wise man and the foolish man. Here we see that the fear of the Lord it begins with knowledge, and the love for wisdom and instruction. In other words knowledge of God is an understanding that wisdom and instruction are important, with wisdom being obedience, we find out that obedience is what gives us more knowledge of God. Colossians chapter one speaks of knowledge, and how growing in that knowledge through obedience grant you more knowledge of God. The more you obey God the more power you receive to continue to obey God as your knowledge of him continues to increase. And that’s where our reverence of God leads us. Our knowledge and understanding of God leads us to salvation through Jesus Christ, and obedience to him is the wisdom that we need and require. Through that we received the Kingdom of God.
Hebrews 12:28-29
Through the salvation we received through Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God is unshakable in our lives. When it speaks of God as a consuming fire it leads us back to a section in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 4:24
God being a consuming fire, a jealous God, means that he demands worship from all of his creation. Which is where our two definitions of fear come into play. For the unbeliever, the consuming fire happens when we reject the Lord and spend an eternity in hell. But for the believer, the one who has repented of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation, that consuming fire consumes the sacrifice of your life. Put the Chrome and this gives us a great understanding of what the sacrifice of our life should look like, as we give our lives completely to the Lord.
Romans 12:1-2
As we offer ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice to God we continue to gain the wisdom and knowledge needed to correctly fear and show reverence to the God who not only created us but provided a way for salvation. We do this by continuing to allow the Lord to conform our mind, to renew our mind into his way of thinking. To not go with the flow and follow what the world does, but to turn to the Lord and allow him to sanctify your life, transform your life and there’s something better. Then we can echo the words from Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 10:20-21