A few weeks ago, I taught on the first half of Luke Chapter 12. While the Pharisees are plotting and the crowds are trampling each other, Jesus takes the time to address what and who his disciples should and should not fear.
As part of that sermon prep, I surveyed the Bible and was struck by the volume of texts that address fear. “Fear the Lord” is the most common command in all of scripture. We are to approach God with reverence, devotion, and respect that takes precedence over all other things and persons. Our love and peace with God through Christ can never replace a deep sense of awe with who He is.
However, there is a fear of God that can drive us outside of God’s will. As we read through the Bible, it does not take the people of God long to swing the pendulum in the wrong direction.
When God Shows Up
In Exodus 19-20, God has led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and has gathered them at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here, God will give the Law to the people and create a new people with a new law for His glory. He tells Moses to gather the people and have them wash and consecrate themselves because in three days He will come down and talk to the people from the mountain. He strictly warns, “Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.” (Exodus 19:12). That is a serious command! After the cleansing period of 3 days, “Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly” (Exodus 19:18). It is that type of manifestation that makes the author of Hebrews claim, “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
From that fire, God spoke the Ten Commandments, a simple representation of God’s holiness and heart for humanity in ten rules. After God’s statement, we read,
“Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew to the thick darkness where God was.”
- Exodus 20:18-21
In this passage, we see two types of fear. Fear that drives us from God (v.19), and fear that drives us toward God (v.20). The battle between those two opposing fears is the challenge of the Christian life.
Fear that Drives us Away
Can you imagine standing at the foot of that mountain? One day, the mountain is plain stone and thin shrubs, the next it is fire, brimstone, and earthquakes. What an awe-inspiring sight. Terrifying in fact; in every sense of that word. If you and I turned the news on today and saw a mountain somewhere in the world that matched this description, we would feel that terror in our bellies even if it was thousands of kilometres away. And this mountain was not far away from the Israelites, it was just a few steps from their camp. The people see God’s presence on the mountain, they hear his words, and they beg God to stop. They can’t take it, it’s too much for them, they give up. When God showed up, they asked Him to leave.
You and I have far fewer “smoky mountain” experiences in our walk with God, but this has played out in our culture in similar ways. God has spoken to us, clearly in his Word, through the faithful preaching of God’s Word, through the witness of the Church gathered, and through history. We are witness to the same God who made the mountain tremble all those millennia ago.
It may be that God’s Word seems so blunt on issues that our culture wants to be fluid, like gender and sexuality. It may be that God’s wrath against sin seems too “intolerant” to our modern sensibilities. It may be that the brutal death of the Son of God on a Roman cross seems like far too high a price to pay for your “small” sins. It may be that we have read and heard God’s Word for so long, we are numb to the awe and glory God wants us to witness. Whenever we come against the stark reality that God is Holy and we are not, the temptation is to say to God, “Shh. Don’t say that. I don’t like that.” This tendency goes back to Adam and Eve when they hid from God after disobeying Him in eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:10). We, just like the people of Israel, want to find a more palpable voice. By God’s grace, Moses still spoke the words of God truthfully to the people. But it is very easy for us to find a preacher to “tickle our ears” (2 Timothy 4:3), rather than boldly proclaim the words of God, whether we like them or not.
We cannot let fear of God cross the line to become resistance or ignorance of God, because in doing so we create a false god in our image, just like the people of Israel would do a few short chapters later in Exodus when they create the golden calf. True “Fear of the LORD” drives us toward God, not away.
Fear That Draws Us Near
Look at Moses’ words from verse 20 again, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.” In one breath he tells the people not to fear and that the fear of God will be before them.
When the people of Israel saw the mountain shake and smoke and heard the voice of God speak from the chaos, they should have felt what the Lord Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “apart from me you can do nothing”. Or echoed what Peter said to Jesus in John 6:68-69, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” The power and might of God are meant to remind us that He is God and we are not. It is meant to make us feel small and dependant. It is meant to put a fear in our hearts that urges us to stay close to this God, like a child, when afraid, holds tight to a parent’s leg.
True "Fear of the Lord" takes an honest look at ourselves and at God, and concludes that we need Him desperately if we are to make it through this life and eternity. We are feeble, though we often don’t live that way; and we need to cling to the one who “knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14). This is the type of fear that acknowledges our need for help, for healing, and a Saviour. It is the fear, that we have no power in and of ourselves to regenerate our lives, that drives us to the Cross of Jesus and the arms of God the Father. That is the fear we must cultivate.
So, the next time you come across a passage or hear a sermon that makes you think, “Wow, God is a lot bigger and more intense than I thought.” Celebrate that. Meditate on that. And let that kind of fear drive you into the loving arms of your heavenly Father.
