The Fear of the LORD Through the Scriptures
"And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." Deut 6:24
Notice that the children of Israel were commanded to fear God for their good always, and that the fear of the LORD is linked to obedience to all His statutes. In other words, the fear of the LORD makes us obedient to God and this obedience results in our good.
"Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD." Lev 19:14
The deaf man cannot hear what you are saying, and the blind man cannot see who made him trip and fall, but the LORD sees and hears and is displeased by this cruel and mocking behaviour, as He is kind, even to the unthankful and the evil. So this behaviour is tempting God to reward the one doing it with what he deserves, and someone who fears God does not tempt God to punish them. So again we see that the fear of God makes a person avoid acting in a way that is contrary to God's own nature. Since God is kind, the fear of God makes us shy away from acting cruelly, because those things that are contrary to God's nature are offensive to Him. And fundamentally, a person who fears God is afraid to offend Him. And that is why the scripture says that the fear of the LORD is "clean". It is clean and it can keep us clean.
"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever" Psalm 19:9a
And notice also that it "endures for ever". Some people would like to say that the fear of the LORD is only for the Old Testament, but since Jesus has come, we don't need to fear God anymore because we know He is kind and good and gentle. But the Word of God says the fear of the LORD lasts FOR EVER, so we know that it is still right and necessary to fear the LORD. Moreover, the Lord Jesus Himself commanded us directly to fear God.
"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But
I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath
killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:4-7
Notice that Jesus says, "I will forewarn you whom ye SHALL fear", not "whom ye SHOULD fear." Jesus is telling us, HIS FRIENDS, that we WILL fear God when all is said and done. Every saved person will fear God when they are perfected, and are being changed in that direction as they grow in Christ.
Also, Jesus says to fear God and then reiterates His point, as if speaking to people who want to disagree: "YES, I SAY UNTO YOU, FEAR HIM."
But then look at verse 7! He tells us to "fear not" because God cares even for sparrows, and you are of much more value than a sparrow. So are we to fear or are we not to fear? Well, we are to fear God because He can cast people into hell; in other words, we see the fear of God once again making us obedient. But we are not to fear being overlooked or "slipping through the cracks" as though God did not care for us or value us. No, God cares for us, and we do not need to fear being forgotten about.
The first step of obedience for a human being is repenting and believing the Gospel. This saves from sin and death and hell. This is why believing the Gospel is also called obeying the Gospel. The Gospel is a message, that God has made salvation freely available to the whole world by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. To obey this message is firstly to believe it and so to receive Jesus Christ. And subsequently, obedience to the Gospel is to live according to it. To live as one who has been forgiven their sins and cleansed and made a new creature with Christ in their heart, enabled to walk in love and do what is right.
So fearing God and how He might cast one into hell is indeed the beginning of wisdom because it leads one to seek the way of being reconciled to God, which leads to belief of the Gospel.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." Psalm 111:10
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Prov 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." Prov 9:10
And after that, the fear of God remains wisdom because it keeps us living in Gospel faith, which is the essence of obedience. We continue in the grace of God by continuing to live as the new people the Gospel says we are. If we slide back to living as the people we used to be before we knew the Lord, we have stopped walking by faith and fearing the Lord. We have begun to disobey and offend against God because whatever is not of faith is sin.
"And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28
The fear of the LORD is also linked to praise. God is "fearful in praises", which means that when God is praised for Who He Is, the praises themselves become frightening, because God Himself inhabits those praises! Who is like God? He is great, and greatly to be praised!
"Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11
"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods." 1 Chron 16:25||Psalm 96:4
When people fear God, they trust in God. We fear what we perceive to be greatest, and we want to be on the same side as that which is greatest, for surely that side wins in the end. :)
"In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence:
and his children shall have a place of refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death." Proverbs 14:26-27
"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30
God bless you, Karen!
One other thing: the fear of the LORD is a spirit, as revealed in Isaiah 11:1-4. The true fear of the LORD is something one receives through faith in Christ; it is the Holy Spirit. The LORD through the prophet Isaiah condemned a fear of God that was merely taught by men (Isaiah 29:13-14). In other words, the fear of the LORD is not properly something that you try to feel because you are told that you should. The genuine fear comes from the Holy Spirit, which we have through faith in Christ.
