Does God want us to fear Him?
Why does the Bible speak so often of fearing God?
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Asked February 18 2016
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Anonymous
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Shirley H.
Supporter
Leviticus 19:14, "Thou...shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." Deuteronomy 10:12, " And now Israel,what does the Lord require of the e, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God..." Fear in the sense used here, I believe, refers to an expression of awesome respect. An understanding (knowledge) of God imparts a wisdom to live righteously. Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Psalm 19:9, "The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Job is told in chapter 28 verse 28 that wisdom is fear of the Lord, and understanding departs man from evil. Proverbs chapter 8 verse 11 tells us that wisdom is better than rubies! Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the HOLY is understanding. Proverbs 14:27, fear of the Lord is the fountain of life. Wow! How about this - Psalm 25:14, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him..." Who of us can say that they sin not? Ecclesiastes 8:12, "Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God..." I think of the Great King David. Proverbs 10:27, "The fear of the Lord prolongs days: but the years of the wicked will be shortened." Malachi 3:16, "They that feared the Lord..." their names were written in a book of remembrance! I think this could be the book of life mentioned in Revelation 3:5. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said we should fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hades. I think that God wants us to "fear" him so that we learn to live in the way that leads to eternal life. This fear will also bless us with abundant life now. This is all because of his indescribable never exhausted love for each and every one of us. All we have to do is accept His offer. So, there are many more references...but I will close with Psalm 2:11, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." That is excitement. Does God want us to fear him? Yes!
Jennifer Maragatham
Supporter
There are two types of fear. First is a wrong type of fear, In this type we fear that GOD will punish us if we make a mistake. Example: I will meet with an accident if i don't read the Bible today. Second is the right type of fear. This type of fear thinks that I should not hurt my LORD who loves me and gave Himself as an offering to save me from hell and death, whose love is unconditional. If we have wrong type of fear, then we will go astray one day, we cannot stand for GOD in all circumstances. All His commandments will be very difficult to follow. However if we have the right type of fear His love will constrain us to do only good and pleasing things and we will automatically start to hate evil. This is the reason why Bible says 'To fear the LORD is to hate evil'. We are reminded of this verse, 'For this is the love of GOD, that we keep his commandments: and His commandments are not grievous' - 1 John 5:3. Yes GOD's commandments are not grievous for those who love Him. There is a true saying that 'If we fear GOD we need not fear any one but if we do not fear GOD then we will have to fear anything and everything'.
Blaine T. Goodwin
Supporter
Fear, in context with the LORD God is reverence, not a literal fear. As you'll notice Jesus, king of angels (Hebrews 1-2) and all the angels say" Do not fear "(throughout the bible), the reason for reverence is to recognize the power God holds to give you peace and understanding in love, (love) the essence of God.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
We have reason to fear and revere God because His word commands us to do so. The psalmist called us to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:1). Considering God’s nature and all that He’s done, we should have a reverence for God's anger (Deuteronomy 6:14-15; Psalm 2:11-12; Psalm 76:7). Jesus was blunt: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28) NAVE says “fear of God” is “reverence, and a motive for obedience. Matt. 10:28 Luke 12:4, 5. 2 Cor. 5:10, 11 The fear of the Lord is a holy fear, commanded also in the New Testament as a preventive of carelessness in religion, and as an incentive to penitence (Matt. 10:28; 2 Cor. 5:11; 7:1; Phil. 2:12; Eph. 5:21; Heb. 12:28, 29).—Easton’s Bible Dictionary
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