“My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. — Malachi 1:11

One evening several weeks ago, my daughter came to me with a question. She had just read the story of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3).  When God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush we’re told that “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:6)  My daughter didn’t understand why Moses would’ve been afraid.  Since our God is a loving God (Jeremiah 31:3, one who is merciful and gracious (Psalm 86:15), who treats us with tenderness (Luke 1:78) and gentleness (1 Kings 19:12), why would we be afraid of Him?

I think a lot of us approach God in a similar manner.  We have heard so much about the love and grace of God that fear has fallen by the wayside.  After all, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7)  But I think we are misunderstanding how the Bible is using the word “fear” when it comes to our relationship with God.  There is “fear” in the sense of terror and fright (which is what most of us think of), but there is also “fear” in the sense of awe and reverence.  As the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery explains, “The fear of God is distinct from the terror of him that is also a biblical motif. Encompassing and building on attitudes of awe and reverence, it is the proper and elemental response of a person to God… The very frequency of the references signals that the fear of God is central to biblical faith, and the relative absence of this ancient way of thinking in our culture should give us pause.”  

If we do not have a proper awe and reverence for God, then we lose just how radical and powerful His grace, mercy and love truly are.  The God we serve is an all-powerful, almighty, glorious, holy, righteous God.  He spoke, and stars and planets burst forth (Genesis 1:14).  He moves His hand, and waters part (Exodus 14:21-25).  He measures galaxies with the width of His hand (Isaiah 40:12).  He binds the Pleiades and looses the cords of Orion (Job 38:31).  He gives orders to the morning (Job 38:12), and maintains the storehouses of snow and lightning (Job 38:22-30).  He is a God who rides thunderstorms to rescue His children (Psalm 18, specifically verses 6-15).  When God says “My name will be great among the nations,” (Malachi 1:11) He does not do so as a braggart but as the only One who can rightly claim and demand such greatness.  When we think of our God, a fearful awe and reverence is an essential component.  “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31)

The warning to fear God echoes in both the Old and New Testaments.  “Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” (Jer. 2:19)  When we think of God’s goodness, fearing Him should be included: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.” (Jer. 32:40) And Jesus Himself, God incarnate, says, “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:5)  We focus so much on Jesus as “gentle, meek and mild” that we forget the disciples quaked in terror of Him after He calmed the storm (Mark 4:35-41).  Even at the end of history, when Jesus returns in power and glory and evil is destroyed forever, when everything sad comes untrue and every broken thing is made whole, we are told, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Rev. 14:7)

It is because our God is very much a God to be feared (first in awe and reverence, but also with a dose of terror and fright) that the good news of His grace and mercy is so very good indeed.  That, for those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, there is no longer need to fear God’s righteous judgment.  All of the things the Bible says of God’s gentleness and tenderness, His kindness and His mercy, His steadfast lovingkindness, are all true, and made all the more awe-ful and awe-some because of His might, power and majesty.  Grace is all the more amazing when we maintain a healthy and appropriate fear of the Lord.  As we continue to draw ever closer to the darkness of Good Friday and the triumph of Easter Sunday, may the fear of the Lord deepen your gratitude and faith this Lenten season.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline. — Proverbs 1:7

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison