Fear of the Lord – still today?
Series: Holy – Holy – Holy | Bible text: Proverbs 9:10; 15:33
Is the fear of the Lord a shelf warmer with an expiry date or is it still relevant today? The normal reaction of a person who encounters God in His holiness is awe and respect. Where this fear of God is lacking, God becomes the means rather than the centre of life. Such faith, however, is neither crisis-proof nor does it lead to a fulfilled life. Therefore, our great endeavour should be to encounter this God in His majesty, greatness and glory.
In the last Worship in the evening we were given an insight into the unspeakable story of suffering of Andreas H. For me, a few statements were very impressive: «Healing is possible. It did not happen for me. God knows why.» Or: «I am his creature. Complaining against my Creator is far from my mind.» A person can only speak like this in suffering if God is not a means but the centre of his life..
A normal reaction
In the Book of Revelation, John describes how he is transported to heaven from one moment to the next. In a vision he sees the 24 elders, the representatives of all the people who follow Jesus, fall down before the holy God, worship Him, lay down their crowns and say: «You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things; because you willed it, they are here and were created.»(Revelation 4:11 NLB). We observe something similar in other encounters with God described in the Bible. God is too beautiful, too terrible, too exalted on His throne for anyone to remain serene and not prostrate before Him. «[…] around God is awesome glory.»(Job 37:22 EU). The response to the holiness, majesty and beauty of God can only be the fear of the Lord. Awe, respect, silence, amazement, falling down are expressions of this fear. Is this still in demand today or merely a shelf warmer with an expiry date?
What image do we have in mind when we think of the throne of God? Is the holy God still sitting there? When we lose holiness, we lose reverence. How fascinating it is that we are allowed to approach God in spite of his holiness, although that should actually be impossible. He is too holy, man is too unholy.
I remember a Dutch woman during my internship in Pratteln 25 years ago telling me how she still addressed her parents by Sie. Also in Switzerland, a few decades ago, children still used the «your» (2nd person plural). Children were in awe of their parents and hardly dared to make a sound at the dinner table. This unhealthy attitude has sometimes changed to one of almost too much familiarity. A similar pendulum movement happened in our churches. A stern, judging, aloof God became the loving Father who is hardly outlined any more.
A new basic attitude
Fear of God, unlike fear, is not a feeling but an attitude. Fear is out of place in the encounter with God. Awe and wonder towards Him, on the other hand, is not. God is the only being who has the power to create a world full of beauty and life. HE is perfect, the source of all life. HE is the Creator, we are His beloved creatures. HE is the centre and not the means.
Out of reverence we lay down our crowns before God. HE is the LORD, we are His servants. The fear of the Lord reflects an attitude of service and humility. This connection is described by Solomon: «Reverence for the LORD teaches men wisdom; honour is preceded by humility»(Proverbs 15:33 NLB). With the model God is means our ego sits on the throne, we worship it. The focus is on the human being and that he or she is doing as well as possible. Jesus is responsible that I have no more problems. HE becomes the life insurance that takes effect immediately in case of damage. The ego system does not lead to life and, at the latest in difficult experiences of unhappiness, to shipwreck. One cause of this model is the reduction of God to his love and the degradation of God to an avuncular super-good-man. The Bible calls this folly. Folly means not being in touch with reality.
In Job’s deepest sorrow, his wife advised him that he should renounce God. Because Job lived with God as the centre, he answered his wife: «You speak like a woman who is stupid and godless. Shall we take the good from God’s hand, but reject the bad?»(Job 2:10 NLB). Such a sentence can only be said by one who fears God. The definition of Fear of the Lord is know who you are dealing with. We express this attitude in worship, for we worship that which is on our throne. Fear of God is an expression of God sitting on my life throne.
A fulfilled life
Proverbs 9:10 says: «The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to know the Holy One is understanding.»(LUT). The fear of God is thus called the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom has nothing to do with knowledge and intelligence, but with the competence of living life to the full. All other truths about life inevitably stand on this foundation. Therefore, does the commandment «You shall have no other gods but me»(Exodus 20:3 NLB) in the first place of the Ten Words because it is the frame of reference for everything else in life? If you seek the wise life, God must be the centre. That doesn’t necessarily mean enough, healthy, successful. But it does mean: loved, chosen, called. That is unspeakably more!
Our ancestors referred to attending church services as «going under the Word of God». Without the reverence of God, we do not do that, but go above the Word. We are the standard and the Word must serve our sensibilities and egos. God’s instructions are now only taken as binding if they do not go against the grain of my aspirations and feelings. If we want to understand God’s word for our lives, it is not possible without reverence for God. The fear of the Lord makes us not seek our own interests and comforts, but become willing to follow a greater purpose.
King David puts two verbs in an interesting context in one of his Psalms: «HIS agreement is of those who fear Him (jare), His covenant is to make them know (jada).»(Psalm 25:14 Buber-Rosenzweig). In Hebrew parallelism, two lines express the same thing in different words. Fearing God and knowing God belong inseparably together. Jada is the word for the most intimate form of communion. From intimacy with God comes fear of Him, and in reverence for God we know Him more deeply. New Life translates: «Friendship with the Lord is due to those who take him seriously. […].» A holy life comes from intimacy with God, but we must choose and seek it – just as Jesus did. It is not the recognition of our self-made image of God that leads to awe, but the direct encounter with the very Other.
Those who fear God pray differently. In the film «Shadowland», the professor’s colleagues say to C.S. Lewis: «Now, finally, God has heard their prayers.«To which Lewis replies: «But that’s not why I pray. I pray because I don’t know what to do. I pray because I am helpless. I pray because the need simply overwhelms me, whether I am awake or asleep. It doesn’t change God, it only changes me.» Those who fear God no longer pray to achieve their goals, but to immerse themselves more and more in God’s mystery. Incidentally, Lewis made his statement in a situation in which his newly married wife had a life-threatening cancer. Those who have put God at the centre of their lives become crisis-resistant.
The stream of life that brings the fullness of life springs from the Holy of Holies of the temple. The call to holiness is the call to fullness of life. Nowhere else can you find such vitality, such fulfilment, such happiness, such wonder at the beauty of God. Are you looking for a fulfilled life? You will only find it if you seek God’s holiness!
A TV series is called «Bares für Rares». Old junk or noble rarity? The Fear of the Lord is not a shop hand, but a rarity of incredible value.
How can the fear of the Lord grow among us? When we take God’s holiness seriously and recognise Him in it! We want to marvel at this unavailable mystery in our worship services and thus make His holiness visible to us every week. Worship is an encounter with the very other. This has to be considered and celebrated – and distinguishes a worship service from any evening of entertainment.
In Revelation 5, John sees in a vision two animals: a lamb and a lion. Both animals are symbols of Jesus Christ. The lamb reminds us of the many lambs that were sacrificed at the temple only so that people would not have to die in view of God’s holiness. Jesus laid down his life for us once and for all for this purpose. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and makes Him the centre of his life does not have to perish in God’s presence, but may firmly count on His grace. But Jesus is also the lion. The awareness of His holiness makes us marvel all the more at His redemption and makes it enormously valuable.
Possible questions for the small group
Read the Bible text: Proverbs 9:10
- What associations do you make with the term Fear of the Lord off?
- Does the fear of God belong to the times of the Middle Ages, when the church needed a strict judge for its claims to power, or does it still have a meaning today?
- What is the difference between fear and the fear of the Lord? Describe the fear of the Lord.
- God – means or centre? What does this slogan have to do with fear of God?
- What are the fruits of the fear of the Lord?
- What happens in the life of a Christian when the fear of God is missing?
