Witnessing the fear of God

Je 42:11-12 - Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. ¹³ But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God ¹⁴ and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, ¹⁶ then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.

Again, God gives Himself as the reason to not fear. I am with you. I will save you. I will deliver you. I will grant you mercy. If I am on your side, you have nothing to worry about, literally. But, if you disobey God by not fearing Him and by not listening to His voice, than that which you fear will happen to you. It is so clear cut, and a great principle for us to consider, in that, sometimes God would allow that which we fear to happen as discipline so we can learn to fear God, only.

1 Ch 17:20-22 - “There is no one like you, O Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.

This is the desired result of fearing God, in that , God makes a name for himself. That is God’s ultimate desire and plan, to make a name for Himself through His people. As we fear God, the world will see our witness and they will fear God. If we do not fear God, who will? God wants us to fear Him and worship Him so that the world will see the glory of our God!

When we fear God only

Je 39:15-18 - The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: “Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.’ ”

In this case, God doesn’t command Ebed-Melech to not be afraid, but shows him God’s care in his fear, and then gives him a promise so he doesn’t need to fear. This is the first type of promise that I have seen like this, and I think it is has to be because this man wasn’t a jew, but he feared God more than the jews. I don’t think he fully understood all the ramifications of trusting God and probably had never had a the word of God to teach him about the Lord God. So, God in his compassion and care, gently encourages him with a promise that he will be saved because of his trust in Him. Ebed-Melech risks his life to care for Jeremiah and God honors that.

1 Ch 16:23-29 - Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

What an amazing passage. At the center of this praise and exaltation of God, is the truth that He is to be feared above all… The reason for this is because He is great and worthy of praise. He made the heavens, and splendor and majesty are before Him. Our response should be to bring an offering of praise before Him. When we trust God, we will be like Ebed-Melech, able to have no reason to fear because the fearful One cares of us. There is no reason to fear when the one we fear is the Lord over all…

How worship and fear consume each other

Je 30:10-11 - “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD; I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

Do not fear declares the Lord. Once again, this command is followed by a promise. Do not fear for I am with you. I will save you. I will see that you will have quiet and ease and that no one should make you afraid. We do not need to fear because God is with us.

2 Ki 17:27-28 - Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD.

God commands us to fear Him. Fearing Him is worshipping Him. When the priest was required to teach the people what God requires, the result was teaching the people how to worship. We cannot worship God fully when we fear something else. Worship consumes fear of temporary things and produces a healthy fear in the eternal God.

Fear that cares

Je 23:3-6 - Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Again, God is putting in provisions for his people so that they are cared for and so they will not fear. It is a priority for God that His people fear Him only so that they will not fear anything else. It is the cornerstone of his Sovereignty. If we fear death or need or people, than we remove him from the throne of power that He sits on. God will bring in shepherds who will follow a Shepherd who will guide and encourage and lead you for the purpose that you would know that God cares for you and to remove your fears.

2 Ki 17:31-41 - They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Though the words fear are not written in this passage, it is a clear example that the people did not fear God. When you fear God, you cannot fear anything else. Fear and worship go hand in hand. Fear comes out of worship and worship drives us to fear. We will fear what we worship. We worship what we fear. In this passage, they” worshipped” God and they worshipped their idols. God had warned them that you can’t do both. This is such a great complement to the previous verse about not fearing beause God has one answer to fear: Himself. He longs to care for you and provide you with the assurance that you need not fear. But, are we willing to let go of our fears and trust our father.

Fear that glorifies

Je 17:7-8 - “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Trusting in the Lord, fearing the Lord, enables us to live without fear and without anxiety. When the heat comes, and it will come, because we trust in the Lord, not only can we be free from the travails of the soul, we can also still bear fruit. What an amazing promise. This concept of bearing fruit in spite of and because of the heated times in our live is an unfamiliar one to us. The book of James and the book of Romans both illustrate how trials and suffering bring about faith and perseverance and character so that we can become mature and complete. Instead of fearing the heat, we can welcome it in joy knowing that God will use it to deepen our trust in Him.

2 Ch 17:9-10 - And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.

As we grow in the fear of God, not only will we that change how we view sin and life, but in this case, the fear of God fell upon the land as well. Perhaps, the fear of God is similar to the light in Matt 5 which produces good works in us and gives glory to God in Heaven because of it outward effect.

Fear is simple

Je 10:6-7 - There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.

There is no one who is as great and mighty and wise as our God. Therefore we are not to fear anything but fear our God. Not only is it truth, it is what God is due. It is required by us to do. We must fear Him.

Fearing singleheartedly

Je 10:1-5 - Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

In the western world, we do not seem to struggle with fearing idols as much as in other parts of the world. But, there are definitely things that we are scared of including, superstitions, dreams and newspaper rumors and much more. God is saying that all hand-made things are not to be feared. There is nothing that can happen to you apart from God’s knowledge and sovereigngty and only God gives good gifts. We need to find refuge in our father as the giver of all good gifts and the sovereign one in control of everything.

2 Ki 17:5-13 - The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the Lord to anger. They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.” The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

This is a long passage but I think you see the correlation to the previous passage. Because the Israelites did not fear God, God, in His anger, allowed them to be captured by Assyria. The reason that was given for this was that they worshipped other gods instead of fearing the only God. Fearing God is something that must be done with our whole heart. You can’t fear God and worship other gods. It is one or the other.