What Does It Mean To Fear God?

What Does It Mean To Fear God?

There are several times in scripture where God uses the words "For I know." When He says that, He is telling us something about Himself. He is revealing Himself to us in a way that opens our eyes to who He really is. He is using those three words to bring us peace and comfort.

In Genesis 22, God led Abraham and Isaac to Mount Moriah where He told Abraham to sacrifice his son. When he obeyed, God stopped him from what he was doing. Why? Because he “feared” God.

Genesis 22:12

He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

What does it mean that he feared God? Let’s talk about what it was not. Abraham never demonstrated any of the actions or emotions you or I associate with fear. He simply obeyed without protest or delay. What God wanted was for Abraham to understand their true relationship. He wanted him to know who was in charge and why that was important. Genesis 22, after all, is where we first learn about sacrificial atonement and the extraordinary cost of salvation.

When we truly realize who He is and what He has done for us, we develop such a tremendous respect and understanding for Him that it produces in us an overwhelming awe of His holiness. God is utterly holy and when we come to grips with that holiness, the only adequate response is best described with the words “fear and trembling.”

Abraham and Isaac came to truly understand God that day. God was not trying to threaten or bully them and He didn’t want Isaac to die. He was trying to teach them something about who He really is. Those who worship Him must first understand this relationship between a Holy God and sinful mankind.

I fear God. That means that I understand who He is and I am in awe of Him. That reverence is an appropriate response to a holy God whose love is so deep and so real that it causes me to tremble at the realization of it.

Job 28:28

“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’”