We all know the Bible says to “fear God”, but what does that really mean? Some people say it simply means to show God reverence or respect but is that really what the Bible is talking about?
People fear all sorts of things. Right now people are living in fear of things such as disease, the rising cost of living, losing their jobs, and government overreach. I want to start off by looking at something Isaiah said concerning the fear of God. He contrasts it with the fear of men and uses some very strong words to describe this fear.
“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your FEAR, And let Him be your DREAD.“ – Isaiah 8:12-13
Focusing on conspiracies and human threats is misplaced fear, we should not fear anything but God.
Did you know that Christians were once known as God-fearing people, but we don’t really hear that phrase used anymore? In the Bible, a “god-fearer” was someone who was considered religious. A “God-fearer” can also mean a “God worshipper”. Cornelius was called one who feared God.
“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who FEARED GOD with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.” – Acts10:1-2
Cornelius was a devout follower of God, who was generous in his giving, and he always prayed. This is a good description of how a person who fears God will live. They will live a life of devotion to God, praying always, and giving to those in need.
The first mention of the fear of God is in Genesis.
“And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you FEAR GOD, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” – Genesis 22:12
Abraham feared God so much that he was willing to give up his only son to obey God, and Abraham is considered the father of our faith. He was the original God Fearer.
I’ve heard people try to downplay the word “fear”. They say the fear of God doesn’t mean you actually fear Him, and they argue it simply means to show Him reverence. Some Bible translations even replace the word Fear with the word “reverence”. But when the Bible describes the fear of God, it includes words such as trembling, dread, and terror.
Hosea compares the fear of God with trembling before a roaring lion.
“They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west; They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,” Says the Lord.” – Hosea 11:10-11
Can you imagine standing near a wild lion and hearing him roar? Would you describe your feeling at that moment as “reverence” … or “fear”? I know if I ever came face to face with a lion, I would definitely feel fear. Terror would best describe it.
I want to read a quote from C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and I believe this quote portrays the fear of God well.
“Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
People want a “safe god” not a dangerous and terrifying God. They want to remove his teeth and fangs and muzzle his roar. They want a pet they can cuddle with, but that’s NOT who God is. God is not safe or tame or weak. The Bible describes Him as the Almighty One.
These days Christians are more afraid of the devil than they are of God because they see satan as wild and dangerous, but they think God is tame and meek and basically a pushover. But the Bible says we should fear God (not satan).
God is dangerous, more dangerous than Satan, but God is good. God is terrifying, more terrifying than Satan, but God is Holy. And it’s because of God’s holiness that we should fear Him.
“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” – Psalm 96:9
Our sin should cause us to tremble before a Holy God. The Bible describes people who do not fear God as having no understanding, and says they have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. The Bible also says it is rebellion to not fear God.
“Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not: Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence… But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God…” – Jeremiah 5:21-24
The modern Church has emphasized the grace of God and neglected the judgment of God. We like to read Bible verses that emphasized the love of God and we ignored the verses that speak about the wrath of God. We have no problem saying that “God is Good”, but we don’t want to think about God punishing us for our sins.
The Bible says,
“My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.” – Psalm 119:120
Are we truly afraid of God’s judgment? I think not. If we lived in fear of God’s judgment, we would walk according to His commandments, and we wouldn’t stray from the Word at all. If we truly feared God, we would tremble at His feet begging for forgiveness every time we sin, and we would make it a priority to never do that thing again.
Paul encourages us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” – Philippians 2:12
The most popular verse in the Bible about the fear of God is Proverbs 9:10, which says,
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10
How is the fear of God the beginning of Wisdom? A wise person fears God, and when we fear God, we do things that are wise and pleasing to God. We don’t go around acting foolish and living in sin. Because we fear God, we do what is right and good.
The Bible defines the fear of God as hatred of sin.
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.” – Proverbs 8:13
To fear God is to hate sin because God hates sin. Thus the fear of God is the foundation of morality. We do what is right and moral because we fear God.
I want to make a strong statement here. If you don’t deal seriously with your own sin, then you don’t actually fear God.
We become holy when we fear God. The Bible says it is the fear of God that sanctifies us.
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” – 2 Corinthians 7:1
The fear of God sanctifies us, but when we don’t fear God, we live in sin. Proper fear of God causes us to draw closer to Him and gives us a desire to do what pleases Him. the Bible says the fear of God is loving God and obeying His commandments.
“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would FEAR Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” – Deuteronomy 5:29
The Bible tells us over and over to fear God, not men. Listen to what Yeshua said about it.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” – Matthew 10:28
We live in a world full of fear. People fear disease, they fear the government, they even fear being disliked on social media. But do we fear God more than anything else? We are told to fear God, not men, and the midwives in Egypt show us a good example of what this means.
“But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.” – Exodus 1:17
These midwives didn’t fear Pharaoh, which means they didn’t obey Pharaoh. Do you see how fear is linked with obedience? By disobeying Pharaoh, they showed that they did not fear him. And by obeying God, they showed that they did fear God. We are told to obey earthly authorities, but not when it means disobeying God. We must fear God more than anyone else.
So, how do we learn to fear God?
1. CONSIDER GOD’S POWER AND AUTHORITY
The first thing we need to do is consider God’s power and authority. When we realize how awesome He is, we fear Him. The Bible begins with the Creation account for a reason, because creation shows us His power and authority. He created all things with just the word of His mouth. He didn’t break a sweat, He didn’t lift a finger, He simply spoke the word “let there be… and there was…”
2. STUDY GOD’S LAW
The next thing we can do to learn to fear God is to read and study His Law because the Bible says we learn to fear God when we hear his Law.
“… you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.” – Deuteronomy 31:11-13
By studying His Law, we learn about holiness and righteousness. We learn what God loves and what He hates. By studying God’s Law, we learn to love holiness and righteousness and to hate sin.
3. MEDITATE ON GOD’S HOLINESS
The third thing we can do to learn to fear God is to meditate on His holiness because when we meditate on His holiness, we realize our own sinfulness, and seeing His holiness and our sinfulness causes us to fear God. This also causes us to truly appreciate His grace, because we are completely unworthy, and God should destroy us because of our sin. So, when we receive His grace and forgiveness, we should fear Him even more, knowing what we truly deserve.
“If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.” – Psalm 130:3-4
4. REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL JUDGE THE WICKED
We also need to remember that God will judge the wicked.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” – 2 Corinthians 5:10–11
The judgment of God should cause terror, and this terror should motivate us to share the gospel with others so they can escape judgment. Some people think they get away with sin because they’re not immediately punished, but the Bible tells us they haven’t gotten away with anything. They will be punished on the day of judgment.
“For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” – Hebrews 10:30-31
Do you want to face the wrath of God? I sure don’t. Listen to the conclusion the Bible gives on this topic.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
This is man’s all. This is our whole purpose. To fear God and obey His commandments. Why? Because God is going to judge everything we say, do, or even think about doing.
