What Is the Fear of the Lord?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

A range of meaning: awe first — the frightened sense is not the primary one

• The host's frame, carried from the verbatim layer: repeatedly throughout the Bible, the phrase the fear of the Lord appears. Does that mean we are supposed to be afraid of God? The host reads the verse put to him, from Proverbs: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Our modern understanding of fear would take that to mean we're supposed to be terrified of God. Is that what the scripture is trying to say? And if so, wouldn't it contradict other passages that talk about God being love?
• The word fear — even in English, but even more so in the biblical languages — has a range of meaning, so you have to depend on the context to know exactly what it's talking about. When the Bible is talking about the fear of the Lord, the primary meaning, the connotation, is not being afraid of somebody: it's awe, reverence, and respect. Now, there is an element: when you think of someone or something truly awesome — not in our colloquial modern sense, but awe-inspiring, magnificent — often there is an element of danger, and therefore fear. If you see a majestic mountain, or you're in the midst of a hurricane, or at the edge of a cliff, or at the edge of the ocean — all that is awe-inspiring, but part of it is: if that mountain crumbles, I'm dead; if that avalanche happens, I'm dead; if I fall into that sea, I'm dead. So there is a close connection — I don't think it's coincidental. But the primary focus, when the Book of Proverbs repeatedly says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, is this: we have to start with a proper awe, reverence, and respect. God is omnipotent — all-powerful; omniscient — all-knowing; omnipresent — everywhere present. He's our creator, he's our father, he's the giver of life. And yes, there is an element of fear, because of someone that magnificent and that powerful: if you disobey him, there are consequences. The book of Hebrews does talk about it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God — but that being frightened is not the primary connotation.

Scriptures: Proverbs 9:10; Hebrews (book-only)

A reverence our culture has lost — the precious vase illustration

• He does think it's important for us, especially in our Western culture: we seem to have lost a sense of reverence, and that's what we need to recapture. Even going into a church, we can be so casual, treat it so cavalierly — no respect for this place where we're meeting with God, no respect for when the spirit of God moves, no respect for leaders God has chosen — not that they're perfect. We seem to have lost, in our culture, a respect for any kind of authority, and any sense of sacredness: everything is a joke, everything is casual, everything can be made fun of. Well, that's dangerous — because God is the author of our salvation, and ultimately he will be our judge. To just treat him as our good buddy, and make jokes about God, and curse using God, and use sexually promiscuous language including God — that is horrible, because you're degrading what is sacred, and what is your hope of salvation. So we need to recapture that reverence.
• Philippians 2, verses 12 through 13, talks about this: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who's working in you. Verse 12 highlights something important, and he's used this illustration many times: if someone were to hand you a precious antique vase, or crystal, or a stack of precious jewels — say you're responsible for transporting it somewhere — how would you treat it? Are you going to just take off running, throwing it up and down from hand to hand, juggling as you go? Are you going to drag it along behind you? Are you going to throw it at somebody? No — you're going to take extreme care. Not that you're afraid of it, but you value it so much you don't want it destroyed; you have a respect for it. If it's an antique, or an heirloom that comes from your ancestors, or maybe a fragile book — you don't just flip through the pages, or give it to a baby; you treat it very carefully. Why? You're trying to preserve it; you're valuing it; you're respecting it. So you're treating it with fear and trembling — not as 'I'm scared that God's going to kill me', but: I have such a precious gift from God that I don't want to lose it, I don't want to destroy it, I don't want to harm it, I don't want to make it trivial, where it means nothing to me anymore. It's that reverential awe of the things of God.
• We Pentecostals are used to feeling God's presence every time we pray, when we come to church — we're used to feeling his presence — and we should never take that for granted. There needs to be a sense of sacredness, and awesomeness; we need to protect that. The building itself is not sacred, but there's something about having a reverential attitude towards the things God uses — whether it's a building, or songs, or ministers — because these are vehicles through which God is working. And if we trivialize that, or make light of that, or disrespect that — then what means is God going to use? If God really wants to get our attention, how is he going to do it, if we've made a mockery of everything God would ever use?

Scriptures: Philippians 2:12-13

The significance, restated

• So that's what it's talking about. If you really want to be wise spiritually — if you really want to be smart spiritually — start with a proper respect for God and the things of God. And that's the significance: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Scripture index: Proverbs 9:10; Hebrews (book-only); Philippians 2:12-13.