Fear God

This Theme raises the central question: What role does fear play in our worship of God? A more literal translation of the passage reads: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man.” In the original text, wholeness is left undefined. The passage is emphasizing, therefore, that the guiding principle for our life and existence should be the fear of God and the keeping of His command­ments.

Some background

At the one end of the scale, some would say perhaps that there is now no room for fear, with love overriding all. Others would wish to place much greater emphasis on fear, defined certainly as awe, but also as terror and dread. What then is the Bible teaching about the fear of God? How do we balance dread on the one hand, and love removing all fear at the other — and where does fear as reverence fit in this context?

The concept of fear in the Bible is related to a wide range of emotions, extending from simple apprehension to utter terror or dread, caused by an impending peril, known or unknown. Most broadly, the word “fear” and its synonyms (including dismay, dread, distress, trouble, horror, reverence, and awe) occur several hundred times in the English versions of the OT and more than one hundred times in those of the NT, rendering many Hebrew and Greek words and their derivatives.

The Old Testament on fear

A Biblical example of the fear of God focusing more on terror and dread than on awe and reverence is found in the record of the burning bush (Ex. 3:6). We are told that: “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” Acts 7:32, elaborating on this event, says that “Moses trembled and did not dare to look.” Also, in the account of the encounter at Sinai, we are told that “Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder” (Ex. 19:19 NASB). The record in Hebrews 12:21 goes further than the OT account, saying: “Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear (or ‘I exceedingly fear and quake’ NIV).”

This passage, as well as many others in the Bible, indicates that there is indeed a mystery in divine holiness which can produce in man a sense of terror. Note Exodus 15:11-13, for example, which shows that the terror, indeed dread, of the Lord can often be linked closely to the concept of God’s “steadfast love.” Dread can therefore be accompanied, as for Moses, by emotions of exultation and joy at the discovery of God’s intense concern and love for man. While Moses is terrified to look upon God, he is exhilarated by the disclosure of the name of Yahweh and of the divine purpose in history.

By contrast, consider the reaction of the children of Israel to the theophany at the mount (Ex. 19 and 20). Moses had sought to prepare Israel for this momentous encounter with God. “And the Lord said to Moses: Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever” (Ex. 19: 9). The children of Israel, as indicated in Exodus 19:16, 20:18, reacted with great terror at this experience at Mount Sinai. “Now when all the people perceived the thundering and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled.”

The response of the children of Israel to fear as terror, quite the opposite to that of Moses, was to distance themselves from God. “You (Moses) speak to us, and we will hear: but let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19). Again, the NT elaborates on the OT record, noting that “they could not endure the order that was given,” and exhorting the reader that “if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven” (Heb. 12:19-20, 25). Hence, for Moses, the fear of God led to faithful response and service, but for the children of Israel it led to rebellion and refusal to hear.

Fear to lead to obedience

In Exodus 20:20, Moses said: “Do not fear; for God has come to prove you, and that the fear of Him may be before your eyes, that you may not sin.” Their initial fear as dread was to lead them forward to fear as awe and service. Notice the key development of the concept of fear, moving from “terror and dread” to “reverence and awe,” and a call to obey His commandments. The fear of God (whether terror or reverence) in the OT relates therefore specifically to obedience to God and, as some commentators note, is almost synonymous with it. Thus, our theme passage reads: “Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13), followed by the concluding verse of the book: “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

The OT repeatedly associates the emotion of fear with the complex of faith, trust, love, and communion. It is because there is a kind of fear which is indeed compatible with faith that the Psalmist is able to exclaim: “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psalm 130:4). Accordingly, if we respond to God’s commandments, then dread turns to awe and reverence, leading on in turn to the full love of God. Fear is therefore always present, but whether it be dread or reverence reflects the response of the disciple to the divine commands. This seems to be the kernel of an understanding of the biblical concept of the fear of God.

A remarkable, and initially difficult passage, addresses this point. Isaiah 8:12-13 states: “Do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall regard as holy; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” Peter is surely alluding to this passage in I Peter 3:14-15, where he writes: “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts sanctify (reverence) the Lord.” This NT interpretation of the Isaiah passage observes that the emotion of terror is indeed replaced by the emotion of awe and reverence for God in the life of the faithful disciple.

The New Testament on fear

In the NT, the particular aspect of fear being considered in a given context depends on whether the focus is on those who sin deliberately against God (who become essentially apostate), or on those who walk in faith. Hebrews 10: 26-31 gives a graphic account of the fear or dread which will envelop us at the judgment day if we continue deliberately in sin and flout the grace of our Lord. “For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

What a contrast with the attitude of the faithful and penitent, as exampled by David: “I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man” (II Sam. 24:14). If we do not keep God’s commandments, then fear retrogresses from awe to dread, with the prospect of severe judgment at the last day.

The faithful

For those who are faithful, the situation is totally different. They have come to “grace and mercy” and all the wondrous benefits of the new covenant (Heb. 12:18-24). It is not dread or terror to which they have come, but to the boundless blessings in prospect (and already in part being realized) for the faithful. We have come to the wonder of the new covenant — the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant. Surely this situation in which we are now placed, if faithful, fills us with the greatest awe and reverence for God. We have entered the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, which he opened for us through the curtain (Heb. 10:19-25). We walk on the most holy and sacred ground.

Consistent with this, Paul states in Romans 8:15: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of son ship, whereby we cry ‘Abba, Father.'” Again, we can see that the terror of God is replaced by awe and reverence for Him, but certainly not by a casual over-familiarity.

The new covenant is therefore not a substitute of a friendly God for the terror of Sinai, but rather a gracious message of an open access to the same God, whose presence calls forth awe and reverence. This awe and reverence before His holiness are surely compatible with grateful trust and love in response to His mercy. The living God to whom believers come is indeed the refuge and strength of His people, but the intimacy of their covenant-union with Him is doubtless mixed with awe before His pure holiness. The NT, as indeed the OT, knows so acutely the awe of the divine presence that it proposes to man no other prospect than the service of God “with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

Perfect love casts out fear

The role of fear, however, is taken further in the NT. Consider I John 4:17-19:

In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because he first loved us.

Without love, we return in this passage to fear as dread, rather than as reverential awe. But notice the inference that love needs to be perfect, or certainly well developed, to cast out the fear of judgment and punishment for the faithful disciple. This accents again the link between fear and a genuine response to keeping the commandments of the Lord.

Fear and the cross of Christ

How do we see this issue, as we must see all such issues, in the context of the ministry of Jesus and the cross itself? Frequently, in the gospels, when men encounter Jesus and are overcome with awe in his presence, he responds with “Fear not,” akin to the language of theophany in the OT — for example, at the birth of Jesus, at the transfiguration, and most especially at the cross and resurrection (Matt. 27:54, 28:4). Notice that, as in the OT, the reaction of fear is compatible with elation, trust, and certainty. For example, the women at the empty tomb, aware of the victory of Christ over death, “departed quickly….with fear and great joy” (Matt. 28:8).

As for Jesus himself, when he approached the cross, did he fear or dread? Yes, the impending cross was dreaded by the Lord. “He sweat great drops of blood” — But was he afraid of his Father? Absolutely not. He was at one with Him. There was no terror, but the serenity of unity with His Father – for him, truly, perfect love cast out fear. This will always be the ideal to which we aspire.

Yet the world — Jews and Gentiles — were terrified at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:45-54). The darkness covered the land, the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom, and people came out of their tombs. ” When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with terror, and said: ‘Truly this was the Son of God.'”

It will surely be thus at the second coming of the Lord. Men filled with fear — but the true saints filled with faith, hope, joy, and awe. This will indeed be the assurance that comes from fearing God and keeping His commandments as our whole, and reasonable, duty.