We remember that Joseph told his brothers, "I fear God" (Genesis 42:18). We remember as well that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Job goes a little further and says that the fear of the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28).
It can be argued that the first time Scripture mentions fearing God is Genesis 3:10. Adam heard God walking in the garden, and he was afraid and hid.
The second time would be Genesis 20:11, where Abraham says, "Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake." We'll come back to this story, but for now let's note that Abraham's assessment of Gerar echoes the description in Romans, "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18).
Just two chapters later Abraham is commended because he feared God and did not withhold his son (Genesis 22:12).
So we can think about the fear of God in two different ways. Maybe we could say there are two different kinds of fear of God. (Or, if you will, we can think of two different ways to fear God.) On the one hand there is a fear of God that Adam had. James tells us the demons have this sort of fear (James 2:19). Hebrews talks about this sense of fear: "a certain fearful expectation of judgment" (Hebrews 10:26–27). And we might consider John's words here: "he that fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).
On the other hand, there is the fear of God that Abraham had (Genesis 22:12). That seems to be the sort of fear that Joseph had (Genesis 42:18). That sort of fear is the beginning of wisdom. That sort of fear is not only commended (Genesis 22:12), it's also worthy of pursuit (Proverbs 2:1–5). We ought to be working hard to learn to fear the Lord.
Years ago I read through Luther's Small Catechism. I expect still have that volume around here somewhere. I haven't looked at it in forever, so I won't make any comment on it except to say the one thing I remember is how the phrase "We should love and fear God" is repeated in that book over and over again. That combination is important: it means we're fearing God in an Abraham-ish way, not an Adam-ish way.
So it's possible to fear and hate God. That's exactly what James tells us the demons do. And it's possible to love and fear God, that's what Proverbs urges us to do.
With that distinction in mind, what can we say about this second kind of fear? What can we say about Abraham's fear of God, as opposed to Adam's?
First, I think it's a mistake to try and soften the word "fear." I have heard many, many Christians try to do exactly that: they tell us that "fear of the Lord" really means "reverential awe." I understand why they do that: they're trying to avoid Adam-ish fear. But it's difficult to reconcile that with everything Scripture says.
The Lord Jesus said, "be not afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Notice the context here: He's not addressing the crowds, He's addressing the disciples (Matthew 10:2–5), and He refers to God as "your Father" in the very next verse (Matthew 10:29). He's not pronouncing judgment on sinners here, but He connects fearing God with God's ability to destroy the soul as well as the body.
In other words, this isn't just a "reverential awe," this is real fear.
Second, we might point out that everyone will fear God eventually. Whether we fear God Adam's way or Abraham's, we'll eventually fear God. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess (Philippians 2:9–11). There's real fear in that: not all those knees want to bow, and not all those tongues want to confess, but they will.
So if we're all going to fear God eventually, we might want to consider whether we should fear Him like Adam did, or like Abraham did. Do we want 1 John 4:18 fear, or do we want Proverbs 9:10 fear?
Scripture insists the the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. While I'm sure there's more to it than this, at a minimum that seems to mean that it's very wise to fear God. Knowing what to do in any given situation (wisdom) starts with knowing God sees all and judges all (Proverbs 5:21, Proverbs 15:3).
That same idea comes out in the New Testament too: "we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things [done] in the body, according to those he has done, whether [it be] good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10). And the consequence of that knowledge is in the very next verse, "knowing therefore the terror of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:11). So at least as far as the Apostles were concerned, there is a "terror" of the Lord. We would do well to remember this.
Romans 3:10–18 is a lengthy quote from Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. The next verse (Romans 3:19) makes the chilling statement that what the Law says, it says to those under it. So we might read Romans 3:10–18 as the condemnation of the nations, but Paul reads it as the condemnation of those who had the Law. And what does he say? He says there is no fear of God before their eyes. Paul says the same thing about those who had the Scriptures that Abraham says about Gerar.
I'm afraid it's very easy for us to look at the Gospels and see ourselves in the disciples, when we should be seeing ourselves in the Pharisees and the Sadducees. It's very possible for us to miss that we, like they, have the revelation of God (the Scriptures), and we, like they, use it as a sort of a shield from God Himself. We use the Scriptures to excuse our sins, hide them, and make excuses for ourselves. We're awfully like the Pharisees that way.
That's not fearing God.
Now, we naturally think that if we love God, we won't fear Him. I don't think that's true at all. It might be worth giving an illustration here. I live on a homestead in the middle of nowhere. Part of living in the middle of nowhere is that I get to use axes, chainsaws, and guns all pretty frequently. I truly enjoy using all three, but I also have a healthy fear of all three. To be honest, I fear the chainsaw a whole lot more than I fear the guns, but that's a whole other discussion.
And it's not just some vague sense of "respect" or "reverential awe." I fear the chainsaw because I could very easily lose a hand. I fear the guns for similar reasons. But the effect of fearing those things isn't that I avoid them, or cower in fear. I love all three of those things, and I revel in every chance I get to use them.
But I don't use them wantonly or carelessly. I fear them too much for that.
That's not a perfect illustration of the fear of the Lord, but it might help us fumble toward a better understanding. We're not called to fear God and hide from Him: we're called to fear God and love Him. The fear is real, but so is the love.
I truly believe that it's possible for us to love God (or to think we love God) without fearing Him. But I believe just as firmly it's not possible for us to know God without fearing Him. This is worth contemplating.
This isn't exactly what Job did – we're told right in the first verse that Job feared God (Job 1:1). Nevertheless when Job actually met God – actually talked to God – he came away from that conversation a changed man, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor [myself], and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5–6). It's striking that Scripture doesn't tell us any sin Job commits, but Job's response to seeing God is repentance.
If I say I love God but don't fear Him, then it's perfectly right for you to ask, "have you ever actually met God?" because without exception, everyone in Scripture who meets God experiences fear.
And that's the point I guess I've been stumbling towards. If we fear God, it's evident in our words and our actions. If we don't, then we should really ask ourselves how close we've gotten to Him.
