We had a very good Bible study last night on the fear of the Lord. It's Halloween, so I thought a post about fear would be an apt one. :P Yet, the fear of the Lord is entirely different than the brand of fear generally attributed to Halloween. While monsters and goblins of today's holiday aim to instill a scary type of fear, the fear of the Lord is something quite different. The fear of the Lord really isn't a fear at all. It's a true reverence of His majesty. Recognizing how awesome God is and accepting His divine power as superior to our own is what the fear of the Lord is about. God is not our equal. Instead, He is our superior, and having a fear of the Lord is acknowledging that fact.
The Bible describes the fear of the Lord as wisdom and knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 says:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 9:10 says:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
These two verses encompass both knowledge and wisdom. The Bible gives more than sufficient account of heroes who had the fear of the Lord and obedience to His will. Abraham had the fear of the Lord to the point he would have sacrificed his son. Noah, in spite of doubt from his neighbors, built an ark out of the fear of the Lord (not to mention having never seen rain). Job demonstrated the fear of the Lord when He trusted God despite severe persecution. In the end, his reverence to God allowed God's omnipotence to be shown. All of these men exhibited the fear of the Lord by their actions. There is no doubt the fear of the Lord and our faith in His ability rather than our own is helpful. Conversely, there are plenty of other examples which manifest the fate that comes to those who do not fear God. Jezebel is a fitting example of someone who did not give the Lord respect or reverence. Her end was surely undesirable. Saul eventually neglected to revere the Lord in his latter days and his consequence was equally severe.
Uncle Clifford also briefly mentioned an analogy about the fear of the Lord in relation to cars. Not having a proper fear of the Lord is like driving on the wrong side of the road. You're out of line with His command of the law, and place yourself and others in danger. You're still a car either way, but you're much more vulnerable if you aren't in the right lane. We are still humans whether we fear God or not, but we can be much more safe if we keep following God.
He also mentioned a verse that really stuck out to me. Isaiah 33:6 says:
"And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure."
Wisdom and knowledge, as the study already brought out, referred to the fear of the Lord. In other words, the fear of the Lord shall be the stability (or security, safety, etc.) of thy times. "Thy times" makes the verse timeless. There is strength, and stability, in the salvation of the Lord. Our personal treasure can be the fear or the Lord. Reverence to God is will undoubtedly be favorable to the Lord. It can be our treasure of immeasurable value if we keep Him first. We'll be able to weather the storms of life by the stability service to God provides.
Keep encouraged!
