The Fear of the Lord
Ξ January 2nd, 2008 | → | ∇ Theology, Christian Living |
And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent
1 Samuel 11:7
And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.
And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.
And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)
Acts 5:11-14
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18
There seems to be a prevailing sentiment in many places in Christianity today that would make fear something totally antithetical to God. It would not be difficult to find someone who considers fear to be a totally negative thing - or at least someone who makes it something to be avoided at all costs. Yet we find, in scripture, the very thing enjoined which men would reject.
To look at this admittedly heavy topic, it seems useful to me to examine just a couple of instances where the Fear of the Lord is applied.
In the first instance, we find Saul - newly anointed King over Israel - getting angry over a possible treaty with another people - the Ammonites. It is really an interesting read (1 Samuel 10 and 11, especially) in which Saul is radically changed by God so that he becomes presentable to God and able to bear the responsibilities of a King. He prophesies and is so incredibly changed that a proverb emerges “Is Saul among the prophets?”. His first major action after being anointed involves a group of Israelites who have lost a battle with the Ammonites. A treaty is proposed in which the Israelites involved are to give allegiance to the Ammonites. They are given 7 days to send messengers out to see if any will come to their aid. And if no one will, the Israelites agree to surrender. When Saul finds out, we are told that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he can’t contain his anger. He takes a yoke of oxen, cuts them up, and sends the pieces to the ends of all the land where Israel dwells. The message is clearly conveyed - anyone who does not follow Saul (and Samuel) will end up as the oxen - torn to bits. The result? The fear of the Lord falls on the Israelites, they all follow Saul as one man, and the Ammonites were obliterated “in the heat of the day”.
The second occurrence is probably a little more familiar to us. Pentecost has just fallen in Jerusalem and the church is busting at the seams with new believers as they are added “daily”. Miracles are commonplace and the witness of God’s people is great. People are so changed that all the church has “all things in common”. They haven’t adopted communism but do no longer count those things they own as anything but things to be used for the work God directs. They give freely as others need (they aren’t lorded over by some tyrant who takes from them). Almost as if to underscore this difference between free giving of all things and an oppressive, systematic disavowal of private property, we are presented the case of Ananias and Sapphirah who, clearly, were under no obligation to give all that they had. They present part of the proceeds of the sale of some land. But in so doing, they are lying about presenting it all. It’s not clear as to whether they were obliged to present either ALL or NONE of it (i.e. not just part of it) or that they were free to give what they wished and simply lied about how much they did give. What Peter said to Sapphirah leads me to believe both of them lied to God about giving all the proceeds when they only gave some. But, again, that’s not clear. What IS clear is that they lied to God about their gift. The result is that they both died on the spot at the time of their lie. This seems like harsh treatment, but the result? Fear falls upon the church and it continues to grow as the message brought by the apostles is strengthened by this judgment.
I have heard some say that the deaths of Ananias and Sapphirah had a negative effect on the church because of the fear - but I believe scripture is clear that it only unified the church more, strenthened her ranks and focused her vision. It may have caused some to leave, but Jesus (who builds the church) did that in His own ministry. He has never wanted anything other than men and women who hold His Life in and through them to be of infinitely greater value than anything in or of their own natural life. In short, those who will settle for nothing less than the “word of eternal life” - WHATEVER the cost to themselves. There is no inkling anywhere in scripture that this action did anything to dampen the truth or curtail God’s work in the church. He was the one who cut down Ananias and Sapphirah.He was also the one that added to the church daily such as should be saved. He was the one who continued to use the apostles to work miracles. Even AFTER this fearful occurrence. Just as in the case with Saul unifying the people, the Fear of the Lord in the New Testament brought unity to the church and vetted those that were pretenders.
It has been pointed out that one of the marks of God’s presence with Israel is that the closer He was to them, the harsher their treatment. In other words, the consequences for breaking God’s Law - when He was near - was huge. But when Israel strayed and God withdrew His presence, they were able (for a time) to sin with seeming immunity from consequence. Granted, ultimately there was great consequence, but when God was near and Israel was supposedly walking with Him, the consequence of sin was immediate and severe. Thus, the fear of the Lord was great. So great, that at one point they tell Moses that they don’t want Him near when He is to give the Law - otherwise they would die. The psalmist seems to echo that when he laments that the wicked prosper while those that seek God seem to suffer. Psalm 73 is one example:
Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
Psalm 73:1-14
And Jesus’ message to any that follow Him is right in line with the seeming inversion of justice. He promises persecution, trial and trouble to those that TRULY follow Him and does not deny riches to any man. But warns of the day that comes as a thief in the night that will find those that trust in riches sleeping. They that trust in riches will not pass the judgment but will be condemned. As the Psalmist goes on to say in Psalm 73:17, he understood the end of the wicked once he went down to the sanctuary.
If we are honest with ourselves, we will see the truth in this. When we are furthest from the Lord, our punishment is (at least for a while) seemingly non-existent. But when we walk closely with Him, we are deeply convicted about even the smallest sin. And if we continue in the easy (broad) way where we have a relatively easy existence and little trouble, we can be sure that the day of trouble is approaching. But if we walk the narrow way where much is demanded of us, we will find all of our natural man assailed by our own failures. As we are closer to the Lord, we are more aware of our own sinfulness. But we must seek after this. For without the chastisement of God on a constant basis (for the influence of the flesh is persistent and does not die easily), we will inevitably go our own way (the way of destruction). And without the Fear of God present, we have nothing telling us where we lack. So if we don’t have that Fear of God, we can be assured we are walking our own way.
I don’t mean a paralyzing terror. We all know that. That is what John speaks of when he says “fear hath torment”. But we are also familiar with the fear that comes when we know something about us is wrong. It is a piercing fear that makes a man fearful of going the wrong way. It cleanses a man internally. Those that fear the Lord don’t have to worry about making themselves humble because the fearful presence of the Lord does it for them continually. And they aren’t cowering in fear, but are able to walk in such humility because they recognize that there is NO good thing in THEIR FLESH. So the reproach of the Lord is welcomed. Partly because they no longer have to trust in themselves or follow their own sinful desires, but also because the fear of the Lord, when present, instructs them in the right way. They are directed in the way everlasting and have an innate assurance of life eternal. They are “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). And that same fear that brings the flesh into total subjection and instructs man in the Way also brings out of the inner man rivers of living water. Like a well grown grape brings forth a full, satisfying drop of wine, so does the man constantly instructed in the Fear of the Lord bring forth praise and adoration that is clean and recognized to be heavenly.
This fear is good. The best analogy I have is of someone who is instructed to carry around a sealed container of an explosive, radioactive material. Dropping it will cause an explosion and opening it will contaminate himself and those around him. But proper care of the vessel yields great benefits. There are three types of men who could carry the device around.
First, the man who is terrified of what will happen if he drops it and is preoccupied with the consequences of failure. He is unfit to carry it around because he is so fearful that he is liable to drop it (from shaking like a leaf) or run into something because he isn’t paying attention to what he is doing or what is going on around him. This man is fearful and tormented. He is like the fearful and unbelieving who are cast into the Lake of Fire.
Second, there’s the man who is confident and does not show any fear and walks around with the vessel almost carelessly. He is confident in himself. He can’t be confident in what he is carrying because he has no clue. He doesn’t even think about what it is he has but is more concerned about what he is doing and how he does it - driven by his own confidence. He may think the confidence is good, but it is misplaced. He has an understanding (however full) that he is carrying something volatile, but no appreciation of it. To my mind, this is the most common type of person today. I’m afraid I fall into this category most of the time.
Finally, there’s the man who knows what he is carrying around. He is fully aware of what he has - and, as such, has a fear of misusing or abusing or damaging what he has. But by the same token, he is not preoccupied with the disastrous. He is fully aware that it is a possibility and even fully admits and warns about it, but his focus is not on it. It is on handling the vessel properly. Why? Because he knows its potential (good AND bad) and that produces in him a fear, but not a crippling fear. It is a fear that includes a respect for the vessel’s capabilities and a fear of its power (because it isn’t his - it is far beyond his own power). He doesn’t handle the vessel flippantly, but neither does his focus simply rest on it alone. It is on the vessel, his handling of it, his other actions (and how they affect the vessel) and his surroundings (and how best to maneuver through them while maintaining the vessel properly). Yes, he does walk in fear, but it is a fear that positively instructs EVERYTHING he does.
That last man is obviously the one paralleling the man who walks in the Fear of the Lord. I’m sure many of us have experienced it, even if briefly. We know the fear and how it cleanses (purifies) our intents to where we don’t WANT to do other than what God says (see, again, the two stories I referenced as well as other references throughout scripture). It is a fear that is fully fear but absolutely not paralyzing. It limits severely what we are “allowed” to do (but in no way is that “allowance” a legal, external enforcement - it is something that is in the heart), but shows us the path of liberty in Christ. We do fear, above all things, not obeying God - but at the same time, that fear is something of overwhelming reverence and awe of God. So great is that awe that when we meet Him, we (like John on Patmos, for example) can do nothing but fall in the dust on our faces in fear and trembling and worship. We become like Isaiah who, in the presence of God declares:
Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5
We (and I speak from experience) want to make that humiliation our glory when that humiliation is not our glory (neither is it our abasement) but it is our token of liberty. Our glory is in our reward for faithful service. Our joy is in His glorification and exaltation.
But for that, we must be operating in the very real and effectual Fear of the Lord.
