What does it mean to fear God?

[Metadyjital]

What does it mean to fear God?

Am I suppose to be afraid of the Lord? If so how can I love God, live in the grace of God - if I am suppose to be afraid of God?

(Psalms 111:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.

[traveller]

Well - I have to tell you - I AM afraid of the Lord. I mean, if He were to physically present Himself in front of me right now - I'd be sore afraid. OT term That doesn't mean I don't love Him, but His power and His Holiness is tremendous. Don't get me wrong - I'm not afraid of punishment - but of stepping out of line.

It's like when I do something that I know my parents are wanting and hoping for me - I hope to do a good job partly because they want it for me. I'm not afraid of messing up because of punishment or disapproval - becasuse I know they love me and will love me regardless - but I want to do a good job because I know they want this thing for me. Like back when I was in school and I had a big test coming up. I wanted to do good and I wanted to be able to know they thought I did good.

But I am afraid of the Lord. I am afraid of myself doing that which is wrong in His sight. I am afraid of short-changing myself, and of falling short of the goal He sets for me. I am afraid of not seeing what He would have me become, or of not walking down the path He wants for me. This is becasue I know that His plans and His will is far more superior to mine, and if I miss that mark, take that wrong turn, that though He will still love me, I will not become all that He has in store for me.

Well - that and the fact that He can throw fireballs.

[Metadyjital]

I guess I am grappling with the acceptanc of God through Christ Jesus - the love of God that is wide, deep etc... and then being told to be afraid of God.

Seems like a contradiction on some level

[BlindSeeker]

What does it mean to fear God?

Am I suppose to be afraid of the Lord? If so how can I love God, live in the grace of God - if I am suppose to be afraid of God?

(Psalms 111:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.

The fear of God and the Joy of the Lord are simply two sides to the same coin.

God will do what He said He said He'll do.

1Ki 8:56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses His servant

Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Re 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

For those who say God's promises are unconditional, or that He will not go back on His promise if we fail to believe Him . . .

Nu 14:28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and

ye shall know My breach of promise.

Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

[Xan]

I think C.S. Lewis said it best in a children's book:

Lucy: "Is He safe?"

Mr. Beaver: "Safe? Of course He isn't safe! But He's very good."

[Metadyjital]

I think C.S. Lewis said it best in a children's book:

Lucy: "Is He safe?"

Mr. Beaver: "Safe? Of course He isn't safe! But He's very good."

ahhh great observation! Perhaps I can digest that a bit

[jehovah Nissi]

What does it mean to fear God?

Am I suppose to be afraid of the Lord? If so how can I love God, live in the grace of God - if I am suppose to be afraid of God?

(Psalms 111:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.

Fearing God does not mean to be afraid of God. God wants to come into intimate fellowship with every single man and woman on earth. This is the reason why we were created...to be one big happy family. If you are afraid of your significant other, weather you have one or not, you are not going to get too close in an intimate relationship with her right? Fearing God simply means to regard Him as Holy and to have the up most reverence for Him. Lev. 10:3 says "And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying:

'By those who come near Me

I must be regarded as holy;

And before all the people

I must be glorified.

NKJV

We enter into His presence with a reverence and a respect for His authority in our lives.

Walking in Victory

J

[ParanoidAndroid]

Here is where a good understanding of Hebrew terminology comes into play. i'm not claiming to be an expert on the Ancient Hebrew langugage but I went through all the words translated as "Fear" in the Bible, and found taht there were at leas 19 (possibly even 20 or 21) different words or derivitives of words that have been translated as this word, "fear". Each translation has its own unique conceptof "fear". There is "fear" int he sense of total dread and terror. There is "fear" in the sense of ones imminent death.....

And what I have noticed out of all of this is that only ONE word is ever used in the context of "Fear God". This world holds high connotataions of reverence and awe, and helps to understand how we should "fear God". Considering reverene and awe, let us consider for a moment that it is the final of the American NFL Superbowl. The two teams are waiting in the dressing rooms, ready to go out and do what is necessary. I doubt a single one of them would not have "fear". They are naturally worried by the awesomeness of the occassion. The SuperBowl is the NFL's biggest event of the year. The players are worried, excited, afraid, nervous, giddy, and more, all at the same time. And this is just a sports event. As the teams run on to the field, they are greeted by screams and boo's, screams and cheers, and they look to the packed stadium and think "Wow, this is big".

This is the context of how the word "Fear" is used in the Bible to refer to God. There are plenty of words that are used to describe "fear" in the sense of abject terror, but they are never used to refer to God. Only one word is used to describe Fear of God, and that is the Fear that one expects in something so awesome and big that they cannot help but marvel at the greatness (such as an NFL superbowl). This Fear is healthy, natural, and above all, non-intrusive/non-invasive. Truly, God is a being to Fear. He created us, he can destroy us just as easily. he is the creator of all that is and was and will be, and to be in God's presence is.... Wow, I can't imagine to describe. Certainly more awesome and revering than a simple sports mtch, no matter what the stakes.

Fear God - this term carries the overtones of "awe" and "reverence" when we speak of Fear, and should not be confused iwth the times when the word "fear" is translated from other words which refer to people be terrified out of their pants in abject horror at things that are happening. They are different words, with different meanings.

All the best,

[traveller]

Very nicely said, PA!

[EricH]

Most of the contexts of the use of the word(s) for fear when used with God as the object speak to reverence that leads to action. For example:

Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me."

Genesis 22:12 HCSB

Most of the uses come from variants of the hebrew word yareh