I thank the Lord for bringing me to this study on the attributes of God. He has opened my eyes to see God more as He is and not as I thought Him to be. After studying the Holiness of God and the Justice of God, I considered what should be the next attribute of God I to study.
I took my oldest son out for a special boy’s night out (just the two of us) and we went to a local J.V. baseball game. We were running late and only made the last inning. The sad thing is I can’t take my son to a sporting event because there are usually some “fans” who are vulgar, wicked, evil, wretched…lost and undone. In the time it took to play one inning I heard language that angered me…language my son should never hear. Some may argue that I am being overly protective and eventually he will grow up and live in this world and hear that language often. I say to those who feel that way, “No!” I am not being overly protective. I am doing what God has called me to do as his father.
Why do men (and women for that matter) curse? Why do men take the Lord’s name in vain? I can tell you why. It is because they do not fear God. I thought about what it means to fear God. For years I have believed that to fear God simply meant to have a reverence, respect, and honor for God…to hold Him in awe. I remember teaching a Sunday school class on the fear of the Lord and saying something along the lines that the word “fear” does not mean being afraid or terrified, it simply means holding God in reverence.
Recently, I got out my concordance and looked up the word “fear.” I quickly came to find out I was half right in my teaching. Yes, to fear God means to hold Him in high regard, reverence Him, honor Him. Something I did not know is that when I said “fear” didn’t mean being afraid or terrified, I was absolutely wrong.
1 Chronicles 16:29-30
29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring and offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
30 Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
As I said, I took my Strong’s concordance and looked up the word “Fear” used in verse 30. This is what it had to say…
Fear (2342) translated from Hebrew word Chuwl (pronounced: Khool). It means to twist or whirl to dance, to writhe in pain or fear. Four times it means to bring forth pained. Four times to tremble. Four times it means to travail. Twice it means to grieve. Twice it means grievous. Twice it means wounded and twice it means shake.
This definition of “fear” is one we do not hear in our day. It is one that I did not use in my teaching. Yes we are to honor and reverence the Lord, but knowing His attributes and who He is should cause us to tremble in terror.
James 2:19 Thou believest there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
How is it that demons or devils tremble before God, but we humans have no fear of Him? Why do the majority of people in America say they believe in God, yet are not afraid of Him as they continue to live in sin?
2 Chronicles 6:30-31 (Solomon’s prayer)
30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
In verse 31, the word “fear” is translated from the Hebrew word “Yare” (pronounced: yaw-ray). It means to fear; to revere; cause to frighten; afraid; terrible; dreadful.
This word connotes the psychological reaction to fear. It indicates being afraid of someone or something. It means more than mere psychological fear it is being in absolute terror. In Exodus 20:18-20, the children of Israel experienced God as they never had before and they were afraid.
Exodus 20:18-20
18 And all the people saw the thundering, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
How many times have we heard or even said, “God came and visited us…we felt the presence of the Lord?” When those times happened did those present tremble and shake in fear? Did they fall on their faces like Moses, Isaiah, John, Peter, James and all others who found themselves in the presence of God?
One of man’s greatest problems today is he has no fear of God. He has no reverence for God, neither is he terrified of God.
Romans 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
The word “fear” in this verse is translated from the Greek word “Phobos.” It means to be put in fear, alarm or fright; terror; to be exceedingly afraid; to be put in flight caused by being scared.
Does that sound like us? Do we really fear God? If not, why not? I thought about it and this came to my mind. The reason there is no fear of God before their eyes is because men of God have not put it there. Think about the days of Jonathan Edwards when men preached sermons like “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” Preaching like that has all but died out. Very few are the men that preach on the wrath of God.
It seems like in the 70’s there came out a “version” of the Bible called “Good news for modern man.” All that is said of God is that God is love…Good news, God loves you. God has a wonderful plan for your life. I know in the past 40 years and probably even longer than that, preachers have gotten away from preaching on God’s wrath, Holiness and justice, to name a few. Today all that is preached about is the love of God, the mercy of God, the goodness of God, the gentleness of God, the kindness of God. Yes, these are all attributes of God, yet without proper understanding of all His attributes such as wrath and justice, preachers have not preached the whole counsel of God. They pick and choose what they want to preach on…and it is usually those attributes that are most easy on the consciences of men.
God is love, but His love is a holy love and He loves only those things that are right with Him. He hates those things that are opposed to Him. God is just. God has wrath against sin and men should fear him in every sense of the word.
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
No doubt he came to this conclusion after reading Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
Wake up, you who profess belief in Christ, yet live like the world! Fear Him!
Wake up lost man, undone and outside of Christ! Fear Him!
Wake up child of God! Fear Him!
…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing the truth and wisdom is knowing how to apply that truth.
FEAR HIM!
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