Have you ever had situations in your childhood, where you feared your parents? I don’t know about you, but I had few of those experiences in my childhood. My father was the gentle one, whereas my mum was the one who would discipline me and my sister. When I disobeyed my mother, she would show me why it’s not a good idea to do this again. Of course, as any child I would do this again, just to make sure… however I was quickly reminded that any lie will come to light and I will be punished.
When you are a child, you don’t know the limits and boundaries of life. It is only through your parents and any household rules that you can find out what is acceptable and what is not. Children don’t like any rules, but without rules they walk in this dangerous world completely blindly and unaware of the danger. Their ignorance and lack of knowledge about the world is like a prey for the potential danger. If you are a parent, I am sure you would agree how important it is to set some rules with your child.
Our earthy parents are our shield until we grow up, however their presence, their knowledge about our whereabouts and abilities to foresee any situations are limited. However we do have someone who doesn’t have those limits , our Heavenly Father, who is omnipresent, all knowing and Almighty God that knows everything. He knows the past and the future and He is able to direct you in the path you should go. He is also a Father that disciplines due to disobedience and rewards and blesses those who are obedient. He is our shield and buckler, our delivered and a high tower.
“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 34:11
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord is presented as a God that people feared. Sin and idolatry were punished and people understanding of consequences of their actions was greater that what we see today. It was important to fear the Lord.
“Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.” Exodus 19:16
“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” Exodus 20:18-21
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good.” Deuteronomy 10:12-13
The concept of the fear of the Lord was to help people to obey His law, to serve Him with all their hearts and to be aware of the consequences if obedience wasn’t present. Just like any parent that can discipline or reward their children for good behavior, God was disciplining His children for disobedience and not following his commandments.
“The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:8 -10; 11
“Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Psalm 25:12-15
If we continue with the comparison of a parent as an analogy, now imagine if you came to your father and said: “Dad, I know you and mum have made me but I feel I want to call my neighbor my dad and from now on I will appreciate him more. I will give him gifts and call him my father because he is good to me.” I am sure that your father would not only be shocked but also hurt, all those years of bringing you up, paying for you, feeding you and you would just turn around and appreciate the neighbor that didn’t do anything for you? That is why God is so angry with idolatry and worshiping other gods. How can we not appreciate our Maker? How can we worship other gods that just take the credit but did nothing to create this world? How can we forget that we wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have what we have if it wasn’t for our God? That is why only God deserves the worship! God created us and everything in the world, He gave us dominion over everything and the only thing He asks from us is to worship Him only, be grateful for everything and follow his commandments that are not burdensome.
“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3
“The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.” Psalm 89:11
“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;” Psalm 103:11
The fear of the Lord was present among the people throughout Old Testament as a reminder that God also has His limits. God didn’t want to constantly punish His people, but He wanted them to obey Him and His laws so that He could bless them, however disobedience would be the result of curses.
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God”. Deuteronomy 28:1-3
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you”. Deuteronomy 28:15-16
“If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.” Psalm 89:31-33
“For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.” Psalm 90:7, 11
Why it is important to obey God?
Apart from the obvious, just like any parent want their children to obey them due to the danger that the child is not aware of, also God knows the dangers that are around us that we are not aware of and we have no understanding because we can’t see the spiritual world that affects us on a daily basis. Following the laws and obeying God means God’s protection. However disobedience towards God and breaking the Law means that this protection and covering over your life is gone. And Satan, our adversary, has a legal right to inflict you with diseases, with burden and oppression, accidents, financial struggles and premature death. Therefore obedience means protection. We are not able to see spiritual realities or understand them fully, we rely on God’s provision over our lives.
“He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of destruction among them.” Psalm 78:49
Let the earth stand in awe of Him
Fear of the Lord is not only in the sense of terror and punishment, but also in the aspect of standing in awe of Him and His creation. It’s a form of having a respect to Hi creation and appreciation to what is around us.
“Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:8-10
“Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Psalm 66:3-5
“God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.” Psalm 67:7
“The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;” Psalm 68:8
“The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.” Psalm 77:16-19
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works. He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke.” Psalm 104:31-33
This is just a rightful appreciation of God’s creation, when you stop and look around, you will see how amazingly and intelligently constructed everything is. Some of the mysteries of the earth hasn’t been discovered yet, nature and animals vividly presented in Planet Earth by captivating voice of David Attenborough and not to mention about human bodies that still amaze us. All this calls for worship and appreciation! Unfortunately, this worship is taken away from God as many nations have been deceived by other gods that convinced them that they in fact created specific aspects of the earth. And so we have Hindu gods, Greek and mythology gods, Chinese gods…and all has it roots from the Babylon times and Egyptian gods that just expanded over the centuries. Those gods just take the credit of creation by deceiving people and demanding worship, which only takes people to hell…
Some people would argue, why do I have to fear God? I am not a child anymore, I know what is right and what is not…
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;
Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-11
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Romans 7:18
And let’s just say we can’t argue with our Creator. It’s like if I made a toilet and someone would insist that this is sink. In some way it cold perhaps be used as a sink, however it wouldn’t be the same…so it’s better to accept that toilet is better to be used as a toilet and you should listen to me because I designed it that way. God knows our bodies, our hearts and our minds better that we know ourselves and by submitting to his instructions, we will have liberation rather than feeling restricted. Disobedience leads to oppression from demonic forces and that oppression is harder to break. And then suddenly you are bound to alcohol, you are bound to pornography, you are bound to drugs…
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:24 -25
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”
There is this widespread opinion among many Christians that after Jesus’ resurrection, Old Testament does not apply to us. However, everything that transpired in the New Testament was first prophesied in the Old Testament. New Testament is simply commentary for that which had already been established in the Old Testament. I have expanded on that topic more about my other post on legalism, however it is important to highlight that Old Testament scripture definitely still applies today and therefore God’s Law and His commandments are still very much valid and ought to be obeyed. It is in fact the secret to a happy and peaceful life!
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16
“The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Psalm 25:14
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” Psalm 111:10
“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.” Psalm 112:1
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” Psalm 128:1
“The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.” Psalm 147:11
“You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.” Psalm 115:11
What conclusions can we draw from this? The secret to life is to obey and to worship God. Through keeping his commandments, we receive wisdom and understanding. It’s like unlocking some secret level in a game and receiving the key – just follow the instructions that God has given us. There is no secret and no complicated formula, it’s just through following the commandments. Otherwise you will be given to your own desires, to your own confusing thoughts that can lead you astray, to unseen forces that will use you like their puppet and to your own “wisdom” that is foolishness to God:
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 1 Corinthians 3:19-21
And let’s not forget what Jesus reminded us in Matthew 10:28 “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 hell.”
By Dagmara Z.