Fear of God? គំរូ

The Fear of the Lord: Is it Taught or Caught?

The Fear of the Lord Being Taught

This is why the teaching of the fear of God was so important in ancient Israel.

You shall fear your God: I am the LORD. — Leviticus 19:14, 32; 25:17

... Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so. — Deuteronomy 4:10

And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the people of the earth may know the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” — Joshua 4:21–24

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. —Psalm 2:11

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. —Psalm 19:9

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him. —Psalm 25:14

The LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. —Psalm 103:13

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him. —Psalm 145:19

The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him. —Psalm 147:11

The Fear of the Lord Being Caught

Strange as it may seem, one of the earliest references in the Bible to the fear of God being caught—that is, felt and experienced—refers not to those who are a part of the covenant of God but rather those who are outside of it. Yet this was owing entirely to Abraham’s presence. When Abraham went to Egypt and lied about Sarah, referring to her as his sister, it was because he hastily assumed there was “no fear of God at all in this place” (Gen. 20:11). But it turned out “God came to Abimelech [king of Gerar] in a dream” to warn him that Sarah was not only Abraham’s wife, but Abraham was a “prophet” (Gen. 20:3, 7). The fear of God was indeed there but only because of Abraham being there. Consequently, Abimelech, having experienced the fear of God, provided Abraham with great gifts (Gen. 20:14–18).

The second reference to the fear of God being caught is similar to the previous story. It happened to those outside the family of God! Jacob gathered his own family and said, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.” They gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and Jacob buried them. As they journeyed toward Bethel, “a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob” (Gen. 35:2, 4–5).

Imagine that! As the presence of Abraham in Egypt caused king Abimelech to fear God, the presence of the children of Israel did this to surrounding cities several years later. Abraham had to come clean and admit he had lied about Sarah in the former account. Jacob likewise ordered his family to come clean and get rid of false gods that were utterly out of place for the covenant people of God.

I see these two stories as examples we need to follow today. There is no fear of God in the nation. There is no fear of God in the church. The world thumbs their noses at the church or anything sacred. There is no shame, no sense of disgrace, no repentance! I am convinced if we, today, get right with God and become people of God who return to the fear of God, the world will be compelled to bow to the God of the Bible.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. —Proverbs 1:7