The Fear Of The Lord

The Journal of Biblical Accuracy http://www.jba.gr/

Article • “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”

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«The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge» As title of the present article I borrowed this phrase of God's Word from Proverbs 1:7, that will also be our starting point today. «The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge» In other words, in order for someone to know the Lord, he should FEAR HIM. Or to say it differently, IF SOMEONE DOES NOT FEAR THE LORD, HE HASN'T EVEN STARTED TO KNOW HIM. He may know the Scriptures very well, he may have accurate and detailed knowledge of its doctrines, yet if he doesn't fear the Lord, though he may know the Scriptures, he doesn't know the Lord that wrote the Scriptures. Knowledge of the Scriptures without fear of God is not knowledge of God. This becomes knowledge of God only when it passes from the mind to the heart. As Proverbs 2:1-5 tells us: Proverbs 2:1-5 «My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply YOUR HEART to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF THE LORD, AND FIND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.» It is the heart that needs to apply understanding. It is the heart that needs to bow to the Lord and it is the hearts that should open, admitting Christ to reign in them. Only if the Word of God enters our heart, only if the spirit joins the letter, we «will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God».

1. The fear of the Lord: not just a simple respect The fear of the Lord is many times understood as a respect. However, it is not just a simple respect. The respect there may be between equals is not the same with the respect towards a higher one. A subject of a kingdom, does not respect his king, as he may respect his colleagues. Even if he has full boldness before the throne, as we, through the blood of Christ, have before the throne of God, he continues to be a subject before the King, and the one that sits on the throne continues to be the King. Fear of the Lord means that our hearts fully sense who we are, who is He that sits on the throne and how much higher is He from us. As Jeremiah 10:6-7 says: Jeremiah 10:6-7 «Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord. You are great, and Your name is great in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?» and Revelation 15:4 «Who shall not fear You, O Lord and glorify Your name?» Also Malachi 1:6 «A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father where is my honor? And if I am a Master, where is my fear? Says the Lord of hosts» (NKJV-KJV) and Jeremiah 5:22-24 «Do you not fear Me? Says the Lord. Will you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, Let us now fear the

Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.» Psalms 33:6-9 «By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.» Really who will not fear the Lord? Who will not bow before Him. HE MADE US AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. EVERYTHING, SEEN OR UNSEEN, WAS MADE BY HIS OWN HAND. Knowledge of the Scriptures without fear of God will definitely lead to pride (I Corinthians 8:1) and the one that just knows that he has full boldness before the throne, without fearing the One that sits on the throne, he will go to Him, like the Pharisee of Luke 18: Luke 18:9-14 «Also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: «Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. «God, I thank you that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.» And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, «God, be merciful to me a sinner!» I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.»» It is the spirit that gives life. It is the pure in the heart that will see God (Matthew 5:8) and it is those that fear the Lord the ones to whom He is pleased (Psalms 147:11).

2. Boldness and the fear of the Lord in the New Testament A view that many, implicitly or explicitly, hold about the fear of God is that it has been somehow ceased by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They probably confuse the boldness that Christ gave us before the throne with the fear towards the One that is on the throne. However it is one thing to have, as we have, boldness before the King and entirely another to not fear the King. As Isaiah 33:6 tells us: Isaiah 33:6 «The fear of the Lord is His treasure» The fear of the Lord is a TREASURE whose absence makes any boldness before the throne, arrogance. Turning to the work of Jesus Christ, the boldness he obtained, not only did not abolish the fear of God but also I believe it cannot work without it. Without it, it becomes arrogance, Pharisaism. That's why the fear of the Lord has its own position both in the New and the Old Testament. Really, starting from Acts 9:31 we read: Acts 9:31 «Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD and in the comfort of the holy spirit, they were multiplied.» I Peter 2:17 «Honor all. Love the brotherhood. FEAR GOD. Honor the king.» II Corinthians 7:1 «Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness IN THE FEAR OF GOD.»

Colossians 3:22 «Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, FEARING GOD.» Cornelious, the first Gentile at whose home the gospel was preached, was a man that feared God. As Acts 10:1-2 tells us: Acts 10:1-2 «There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one WHO FEARED GOD with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.» and as Peter said in Acts 10:34-35 Acts 10:34-35 «Then Peter opened his mouth and said: «In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. BUT IN EVERY NATION WHOEVER FEARS HIM AND WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ACCEPTED BY HIM»» The fear of the Lord is not the reverse of boldness before the throne. What is the reverse is cowardice and it is this that the Lord removed. We are no longer coming before God's throne being afraid, cowardly, but with boldness and fear of God.

3. The fear of the Lord: A fountain of blessings and life The fear of the Lord is a topic of special emphasis in God's Word as the many times is referred there show. Also it is a topic that is connected with many blessings and promises, as it can be seen from the passages that we give below, and which we would suggest that the reader studies carefully one by one.

So starting from Psalms we read: Psalms 34:9 «Oh fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him» Psalms 34:7 «Angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them» Psalms 112:1-2 «Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth;» Psalms 25:12 «Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he should choose. (NKJV-RSV) Psalms 25:14 «The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant» Psalms 31:19 «Oh, how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men!» Psalms 33:18 «Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy»

Psalms 85:9 «Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land» Psalms 103:11 «For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;» Psalms 103:13 «As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him» Psalms 103:17 «But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children.» Psalms 111:4-5 «He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant.»

Psalms 115:13 «He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great» Psalms 128:1-4 «Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house; Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.»

Psalms 145:19 «He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.» Proverbs 10:27 «The fear of the Lord prolongs days» Proverbs 14:26 «In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge» Proverbs 14:27 «The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.» Proverbs 15:33 «The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility.» Proverbs 16:6 «In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.» Proverbs 19:23 «The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.» Proverbs 22:4 «By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.» Proverbs 23:17 «Be in the fear of the Lord all the day»

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 «Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.» Really I don't know of any other topic that is connected with so many promises in God's Word as the fear of God. Of course we should not fear Him only for the promises. Our relationship with Him is not a trading transaction, but a fellowship of love whose aim is to know Him through the door that is called Jesus Christ. It is he that prepared everything that was required for our entrance to the throne.

4. Conclusion Concluding this article I have to confess that I feel it is too little for such a broad and great topic. Though it is not possible an issue like this to cover such a topic extensively, I hope it helped us to understand its rarely mentioned importance. We do not want to be people that know about God but only theoretically. We do not want to be accurate in everything in the letters, yet not knowing the Lord that wrote the letters. Our sole aim should be to know the Lord, and as we read, the fear of the Lord is the beginning, the prerequisite for such knowledge. Concluding: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 «Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all.»

Tassos Kioulachoglou