The fear of the LORD
Let’s start with the following Bible verse this time, and then we’ll dive into why we’re going to talk about it:
The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10
Phew, that’s a complicated verse. Let’s try to make it a little clearer with the following verse, again from Proverbs:
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 3:7
Now it’s becoming a little clearer. Or not? Because what about that “fearing” the Lord? Why do we have to do that because God is love after all? Well, no. If you have read the blog about “God is Love (full stop)?” have you been able to see that God is indeed love, but not just love. God is not only love, but also:
- Righteous (Deuteronomy 32:4)
- Merciful (Proverbs 28:13)
- Holy (Leviticus 20:26)
- Righteous (Psalm 145:17)
- Grace (John 1:14)
- Truth (John 1:14)
- Faithful (1 Corinthians 10:13)
- And so forth….
And that brings us to the following statement;
God is not just your “street buddy”, but is The Holy God.
A God who is also just when it comes to sin. What could that justice look like? Behold this, tremble and tremble:
For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
That doesn’t sound very cheerful, and that’s something that absolutely scares me when I think about it. That is not a place I want to go and when I really think about what that looks like, even for my greatest earthly enemy, it is something I would not wish on anyone… That fear is absolute and not just that. That also gives me the urge to tell as many people as possible the Good News of Christ because I try to save everyone and everything from that Divine justice.
Do you now understand what that verse from Proverbs 9:10 means with the “Fear of the LORD?” I just looked in the dictionary and it says this:
~fear: to be afraid of : have fear
So that fear must go further than just respect. Why?
If we do not understand how great God’s justice is… then we also do not understand how heavy his condemnation will be for everyone who does not believe in His Son. If we don’t understand that, is God really God, or have we lowered him to the level of your streetfriend? When we think we are good enough for God, why do we still need Jesus???? Not.
Only when we fear God (in the literal sense of the word) do we understand how HUGE His grace is that God wanted you in His flock. Let’s make that clear with the following verse:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
How did you get saved? By your faith in Christ alone? NO! Read that verse again:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
It is God who has given you Grace and sent you to Christ. He didn’t have to do that, that’s His choice. That’s THE beginning. Not your faith in Christ, but God’s grace is number 1 and that is a good thing. Because if we were saved by our faith alone, we would never be able to keep it up as weak people. We are never strong enough for that. That is also literally stated in that verse: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves” So your faith has been given to you by God and is therefore not even your faith. Do you now realize how small and insignificant we are? We cannot even believe through ourselves, even for that we need God’s grace. Wow… I suddenly feel very, very small… Let’s chop that verse into pieces:
- For by grace
- you have been saved through faith;
- and this is not of yourselves,
- it is the gift of God;
- not a result of works,
- so that no one may boast.
Only when we realize how small and insignificant we are… then we can also realize how GREAT God’s grace is for us. Wow! His Grace is HUGE!
Why did he even want me in His flock? I really have no idea. I definitely didn’t deserve that, on the contrary. How bad am I? If I had been Adam, I would not only have eaten that “apple” and blamed Eve, but I would also have cut down that tree and turned it into a barbecue on which I would have roasted that snake. Adam is holy compared to me. That’s how bad I am. (And then I won’t tell you anything I’ve done on this earth…)
So yes, I fear the Lord greatly. And the greater my fear of The Holy God, the greater my gratitude for His Grace…
And that brings us back to that Bible verse:
The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10
A slightly weaker translation puts it like this:
If you want to be wise in the way that you live, first you must respect the Lord with fear. If you know God, the Holy One, you will understand what is right.
Proverbs 9:10
In other words, do you fear God? Nothing wrong with that. That makes you wise. Then you understand how Holy God is and how small you are. And if you understand that, you will understand what is right.
If you understand that… you can always(!) praise God. Because whether things are good or bad for you, whether God gives you something today or not, it is not relevant at all. Jesus died for your sins, that is important. This means that God’s wrath no longer applies to you, and we can always praise Him for that. That’s huge! How great is God’s grace to you! Wow! ENORMOUS!
If we understand that, then the most beautiful Bible verse ever becomes even more beautiful:
For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, And their sins I will no longer remember.
Hebrews 8:12
If by God’s Grace you believe what Christ has done for you, then God has not only forgiven your sins, but He doesn’t remember them anymore. Wow! And if God no longer willingly(!) remembers… there is no more condemnation for you because God no longer remembers what you have done… That is grace. Wow.
Just because we can, let’s read that verse we began with one more time… and if you read it now… it has suddenly become a beautiful verse. No longer with uncontrollable fear, but with gratitude for God’s grace and with thanks for all the wisdom and understanding He has given you through that fear, which now suddenly gives gratitude and freedom through Christ.
The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10
If you understand that, there is fear of God, but no longer an uncontrollable fear, because it is precisely through that fear that you also understand how great His grace is for you! Then you also understand that there will still be an assessment for you, but by God’s grace NO condemnation. Thats GREAT news!
And if perhaps, in the middle of the night, you suffer from uncontrollable fear (so you go too far with that fear and forget the grace part…) then we have the following verse for you today as a conclusion:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him,
Proverbs 3:5-6
And He will make your paths straight.
Don’t trust what you think, don’t trust what you feel, but trust what God says in His word, the Bible, which with the explanation above, in context, has been VERY clear. Yes, we are to fear Him, but if we are sent to Christ by God’s grace, this (ok, ok, one more Bible verse then) is for you:
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:39-40
He NEVER lets go. Never.
And for that reason… on this side of the globe we work “around the clock” for that Holy God we fear. As long as we still can, with everything we can. Every, single, day…
