The right kind of fear

After Moses brought God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, he took them on a journey to the land God promised them. Part of that story includes God calling Moses up a mountain where He gave him the Ten Commandments. After this man came down from the mountain, the people were terrified.

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.” (Exodus 20:18–20)

“Do not fear” and “the fear of Him may be before you”? How can they not fear and yet fear? The first fright was the wrong kind. God wanted them to see His holiness and His great power so that they would be in awe of Him and not sin. Instead, they were afraid of God and didn’t want to listen to Him. I wonder what they thought He was going to say?

Chambers says we all fail to pay attention to God. Could the reason be our preconceived ideas of what He is going to say? The enemy would have us believe that God is a killjoy who does not want us to enjoy life. Is He going to put a clamp down on our fun? Certainly God knows that sin beguiles us into thinking we are having ‘fun’ but much of that ‘fun’ is destructive. It is not rational to keep doing destructive things, fun or otherwise.

Instead, God wants us to realize who He is, what He is like, and that He loves us. Knowing His love means loving Him in return. As He says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” In other words, being afraid of what He will ask us to do is also irrational to anyone who knows and loves God.

Of those Ten, the first commandment is key. Loving God and having no other gods before Him makes keeping all the other commands possible. However, fearing God and refusing to listen to Him is totally crippling. I cannot obey God if I don’t put Him first.

Listening to Him is also vital. I can go to church or turn on the radio and listen to sermons from His leaders, but that is not the same as hearing God speak. The Israelites erred in being willing to listen only to Moses. This man was not their source of life; God was.

The Bible talks about man not living by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This “word” is not “logos” – the usual term for “word.” Instead, it is “rhema” which means God speaks a word that fits the need of the moment. These “rhema” words are conveyed in a personal relationship where God knows and speaks to my heart and my needs. For instance, this week I asked about my imagination and He spoke directly to my questions.

Those without a personal relationship with God are fearful of listening to Him. They don’t know how good He is or how He speaks to us according to our needs. Without that personal knowledge of God, some assume He is a tyrannical rule-maker.

That personal relationship is available through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father but by Him. He forgives our sin, gives us His own life, and lives with us forever. By Him we can live in awe of God, not in terror of Him. By Him, we are “sheep” who hear His voice and are only too happy to listen to every word that He says!

God’s wisdom seen in His commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1–6:25, 2 Corinthians 2:1–11, Psalm 33:1–22

When the Lord brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, He gave them Ten Commandments. Moses repeated these just as they were about to enter their Promised Land. I’m continually learning the importance of each one: 

You shall have no other gods before me. Keep this one, or I cannot keep any of them.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything . . . You shall not bow down to them or serve them . . .  Do not insist on having a god that I can see, putting my ideas of god above the true God, as if I have a better definition.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. God’s name has great power; to use it to curse is bad enough, but using it lightly or without thought also mocks Him.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy . . . remembering that I was once in slavery to sin and am now resting in the freedom of Christ. Celebrate that every day, but especially keep one day a week free to just love Him.

Honor your father and your mother . . .  this command promises a long and prosperous life without it being diminished in any way because I’ve not honored them. Such honor is not about how good they are but an expression of thanks to God for the life they gave me.

You shall not murder. Value life and trust God for the way others treat me. Imagine the world if this command were obeyed by everyone!

And you shall not commit adultery. Value marriage, mine and the marriages of others.

And you shall not steal . . . which is a brazen declaration that God cannot provide all my needs.

And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Value truth. Truth brings freedom while lies enslave.

And you shall not covet . . . which also brazenly declares that God cannot provide all my needs and that He does not care for me or even know how to care for me. (Deuteronomy 5:6–21)

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. (Deuteronomy 6:24)

What if I can keep the commands and others do not? The NT reading gives good advice for when this happens (and it will happen): “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (2 Corinthians 2:10–11)

Satan uses lack of forgiveness to divide people from each other and from God. It also puts me in the place of God, who alone has the right to have wrath against sin. The Christian life is a spiritual battle. I must not let the enemy take any ground that Christ has already won for me.

As I think about these things, the words of the psalmist bless me. He gives expression to how I feel this day about the goodness of God and the grace of Jesus Christ . . .

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!  . . . Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. (Psalm 33: 8–12; 20–22)