Exodus 20-23
Understanding the Fear of the Lord

God came down in an impressive manner onto Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. Smoke and fire covered the mountain; lightning flashed; thunderings and the sound of a trumpet filled the ears of the Hebrew people. His manifestation before them was so profound they were told to make certain their clothes were clean. No one was to touch the mountain under penalty of death. What was their reaction? Exodus 19:18-19, "...and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.'"

They understood themselves to be in a very difficult circumstance. They had on repeatedly complained and murmured, and they must have intensely felt the guilt of those sins before the presence of God. That guilt caused fear; and that fear caused them to want to remove themselves from God's presence-much like Adam and Eve hiding from God in the Garden.

Moses responded, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin" (v. 20). Now, that is interesting. They were told not to fear, but then told that fear deterred one from sin. Are we to fear God or not?

The answer is no and yes. The Bible repeatedly encourages us to be people who fear the Lord (Job 28:28; Psalm 19:9; 34:11; 111:10; Proverbs 19:23, etc.). This fear is reverence and respect. Man needs to respect Who God is and What God is. He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5); He is a God who will be treated as special. In that sense, God wants us to fear-respect-Him. It is in our best interest.

We ought also, though, be afraid of Him, for all the above reasons. We cannot cross Him without consequences. We can never withstand His wrath, and we should be afraid of incurring it. After striking down the sons of Aaron for failing to honor Him, God said, "By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified" (Leviticus 10:3).

However, if we respect and honor Him, we will avoid those things that anger Him. Fear turns us away from God; respect turns us to Him, even when we have sinned. When we give ourselves over to really thinking about Him, what He has done, what He has promised to do, this helps foster such a sense of respect and appreciation. God wants us to know we can always come to Him, even in our sins (1 John 1:9). While He does not condone sin, He longs to forgive us if we will come to Him, showing our love and respect for Him through repentance.

Perhaps the parent/child relationship is a good comparison here. Parents want and need to be respected, and they want their children to be afraid of the consequences of failure to respect. But, the last thing any loving parent wants is for their children to be so afraid of them they run from their arms and cower before them. No parent wants their child to think they cannot come to them.

Our God is a loving God. He longs to bless us and provide good things to us. While He wants us to respect Him, he does not want us to be afraid of Him to the point where we are terrified of Him.

So, what is the answer? Respect God-fear Him. But, don't be terrified of Him-don't fear Him.