So Do We Fear God or Not?

Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." - Exodus 20:20

Often I have ran into people who misunderstand the fear of the Lord. On one hand, we see that God loves us and we don't understand why He would tell us that fearing Him is the beginning of wisdom. Why would God want even believers to be scared of Him? The other extreme is to suppose that fear means to respect God, sort of like I respect a loved one, pastor or role model. The fear of the Lord seems to be an important theme throughout the Bible and a key principle to understanding the fear of God, so it would be 'wise' to seek a proper understanding of what the fear of the Lord means.

In Exodus 20:20 when Moses addresses Israel, He uses the word 'fear' twice. The first time he says to not fear God because He hadn't come to bring evil against them but rather to test them. Then he says the reason for the test is that Israel would fear the Lord so that they wouldn't sin. So which is it?

I'm so glad that God gave us the difference in one passage so that we can understand what it means to fear the Lord. First, those who understand that God loves His people are exactly right in the sense that we shouldn't fear that God would bring any sort of malicious evil against His children; especially in light of our faith in the great intercessor Jesus Christ. This is what is communicated in the first part of Exodus 20:20. However, we see God's goal is that mankind 'would' fear Him as seen in the latter part of the passage.

You see, a person that has no fear of God is foolish. They either deny His existence or they are apathetic toward the acknowledgment that He does exist. I fear for such individuals. God is GOD! He is not our earthly father, our earthly pastor or simply a role model. He is the Lord of all creation; the great I AM; the self existent One! He deserves much more than just our respect. He deserves our devotion, worship and adoration! He is the God that came upon Mount Sinai in a thick cloud of thunder and lightning causing the earth to tremble! Even at a glimpse of God's glory we would all fall to our faces.

But we are not at Mount Sinai. Christ changed that and God came to dwell in the believer at Pentecost. The believer now has total peace with our Heavenly Father. Grace and mercy will follow the believer forever! What a blessing! But just because we have been reconciled back to God as followers of Christ does not mean that God is a different God than the One who descended upon Mount Sinai. We just have peace with that same Holy God through the blood of Jesus Christ and now God is able and willing to walk with us once again. He also loves us just as He loved the people of Israel that Moses spoke to.

God is awesome and as believers we should all stand before Him, not just in respect, but in awe! He is Holy, Holy, Holy! That God, the great I AM, loves you Christian! Doesn't that truth floor you? When you grasp that, then you grasp what the fear of the Lord is and why it is the beginning of wisdom. When we grasp that, we desire not the things of this world, not the sin in this world, but we desire God and His commandment to walk in love toward Him and others.

The fear of the Lord however is not something we can bring about in ourselves. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. If you desire this passion for God, He is already beginning to work. Ask Him to fill you with the fear of the Lord. Ask Him to fill you with love and awe. That is a prayer that He will definitely answer (Luke 11:13).

You see, unbelievers would be wise to fear God, for without Him all one can expect is judgment. However for the believer, though there is no fear of judgment, our source of wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).