This must be a mistake. Freedom in fear? Fear is the very opposite to freedom. My fear couldn’t be more obtuse to the freedom people seem to talk about. How can anyone say that fear brings about freedom? Your title offends me.
And I get it.
Fear is something that I would confidently suggest everyone that walks through this human life will encounter. It’s nasty, it’s restrictive, it’s controlling, but most of all, it’s a human hurting experience. We feel it and hate it. We are aware of it and want rid of it.
But as we contemplate our personal experience of fear in the human sense, I want to suggest that God might be interested in the topic of fear. That He might have something to say about. After all, how many times to we read the fear of God in our Bibles?
A heck of a lot!
We see it countless times in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding; that would appear to almost act as the building block for greater insight into the ways of the Lord; that it almost has value.
We see countless examples of people fearing the Lord through trembling, bowing, and kneeling as they encounter Him. But don’t just let these examples convince you, rather look at the statistics. The fear of God is mentioned 84 times while do not be afraid is mentioned 365 times. We could read about something fear related in the Bible every day for a full year… I think God might be interested in the topic of fear.
This fear is a different fear. It’s a Godly fear.
A fear that we are both unfamiliar and unexposed to in our present day. This fear must be different to my experience in life so far. My experience of fear so far has been isolating, dislocating, and leaving me in a place that goes against everything I associate with the nature of God. It’s caused me to far too often shrink up, pull back, and step aside much more often than I’d like to admit. What is this God-fearing stuff all about?
While the language is the same through the use of the same word (fear), I’m led to believe it must carry some degree of value otherwise, why mention it so much? God fear seems to carry something of substance that almost seems necessary for the current believer to carry in their walk of faith today.
This fear is consistent with God’s character. It leads us into greater liberation rather than isolation urging us to step fully forward, going all in. And it’s this very design, of which the fear of God possesses, that has been its biggest deterrent to churches today when addressing this topic. It’s why you are probably (like me) unfamiliar with (a) what it is, and (b) why it matters. It comes with its baggage, and with baggage comes mess, and with mess comes inconvenience. And we would much rather have our nice and neat services that ‘do what they say on the tin,’ than rather trying to work through the pain of our experiences to get to the destination of what God might be saying to us. Up until now, it’s been seen to not be worth the risk. The risk being to attempt to unpack this fear of God.
What is God fear?
The Greek translates fear as to be in a state of awe or to revere. To feel deep respect or admiration for something. This is a differentfear. It’s the posture of a life that lives in the constant awareness of the sovereignty of God. From this, worship begins to spill out. Thankfulness flows out. Humility takes up residence. Reverence is an ever-present reality that the believer starts to walk in.
See the ‘fear’ of talking about ‘God fear’ is that it will end up going one of two ways. The preferable way for the church has been mostly achieved up until now which is, an appropriate level of intrigue. Intrigue is the great counterfeit of hunger. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Intrigue will make you and those around you think you have reached the fullness of what you’re going after. Because you’ll get close. You’ll taste, smell, see, touch, and maybe even lay hold of a certain measure of that which you are pursuing.
But it will only get you so far.
It will only get you as far as it suits you and those around you. Intrigue is the welcomed friend invited to the table of most of what the church does today which explains why the church finds itself in the position it is today. It ticks the boxes because it fits the preference, the convenience, the comfort zone, and ideology boundaries of the people. In other words, we like the idea of it only to the parameters of what works for us. Our preference takes that responsibility because it’s safe and known, and more importantly keeps our churches tidy.
Option number two is dangerous, rebellious, and would even be received as offensive to some (hence its rarity). It is desperation. An urgent response in the hope to grasp that which is within touching distance of. That which makes any other response look feeble and unnatural. It moves beyond the dimensions of intrigue by placing preference, convenience, and comfort on the altar and gladly setting them alight.
Because it has been where intrigue was. It has stood and watched from the side-lines. It had seen a glimpse and settled for that as the full picture. It had tasted a sip and thought that was all. But not anymore. It’s why it carries the level of urgency that it does. It knowns there’s no time to waste and any other option is settling for less. And that’s why we prefer the option 1, intrigue.
Why would we want our churches filled with people who carry this disruptive desperation for that of God which has rarely been tatsed?
That fear of the Lord that when encountered left people’s faces radiant and burning like Moses. That fear that led the afflicted to dare to touch the clothes of Jesus in hope of healing. That fear that led Daniel to go against any earthy fear that could’ve been thrown at him, including a lion’s den to get to where the Lord was calling him!
See imagine what church would begin to look like if it started to be filled with people like this? We say we admire these biblical examples, yet don’t want to see this sort of antics in our services. Like the one physically throwing themselves to the front of our rooms trying to find some way to portray the desperation for God burning inside them. We’ll take intrigue over that messy desperation every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Intrigue says, “I like the concept of more God.”
Desperation says, “I’m not leaving until I lay hold of God.”
Intrigue says, “I’m in as long as it suits me.”
Desperation says, “I’m in no matter the cost.”
And here we have the two options we face when approaching the fear of God. Option 1 is a fully reasonable starting place, however option 2 is the destination in which I pray we get to.
But why is it important? Why is it needed in my walk with God right now? Why does God care about us getting this?
Well, right off the bat we find ourselves already at option 1 in our state of intrigue. Let’s explore more about a guy in the bible who seemed to catch this and how it appeared to change everything for not only himself, but those around him as well.
Exodus 34:8:
“Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped.”
Here we find an encounter in the Exodus story of Moses’ desperation meeting God’s nature in what could only be described as an ‘unnatural’ ordeal. This encounter was off the back of a rather amusing but equally terrifying backdrop. Earlier in chapter 33 we learn to understand that God is less than amused with the people Moses was leading at the time. He was so unhappy that He says how He will not go with them on their journey as they are ‘stiff-necked’ and He might destroy them on the way. Kind of funny but kind of scary.
This reminds me of Shrek wanting to kill donkey on their journey that I’m sure we’ve all seen. If you know, you know.
All joking aside, it could be fair to say that tensions were high between God and His people. It had even got to the stage where idols such as a golden calf had been made and worshipped by the people.
But in comes Moses.
Moses had clear favour with the Lord as it says God “would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” God actually said to Moses, “I know you by name and you have found favour with me.” So here we have this interesting dynamic of God liking Moses while struggling with the rebellious people Moses is leading. It’s tricky territory.
From this example we get to see someone who both grasps the fear of the Lord, and actually restores a nation to once again re-learn to fear the Lord from that place. It only took one. See one of the primary reasons for God’s heartbreak was the loss of fear for Him. The people had become adulterous in their worship and had began to fear their self-made gods more than the one true God who had demonstrated His faithfulness in an undeniable manner. The abandonment of the fear for God in their lives stopped them walking into the fullness of what God had promised them. That’s how serious this is. That we could miss the vast extend of His dreams for our land and our lives if we abandon this pivotal aspect in our walk of faith.
But Moses didn’t settle.
Moses didn’t accept that this was the fait for the future and that maybe it was time to stop at option 1 with intrigue. He could’ve thought, ‘We came close. We nearly entered the promised land of abundance God promised us. We nearly tasted the goodness of God. We nearly made it to see the blessing God had for us. Maybe just getting out of Egypt is enough.’ The appeal to stop at intrigue is ever-present and I imagine would’ve been here for Moses too. So let’s see how Moses responded. Exodus 33:16:
“How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
In other words, Moses is at our option two previously mentioned. He responds with desperation. He basically says, ‘God if you aren’t dwelling among us then what’s the point.’ He takes it a step further to the point where he cries out, “Now show me your glory.” A bold prayer than tends to have a track record of attracting the attention of God.
Again, he’s desperate.
He’s pushing beyond the boundaries of intrigue where he’s just not going to leave until he lays hold of God. See he gets that the people he is leading have lost the zeal for the Lord. They’ve lost the fear of the Lord. But he also gets that it only takes one to grasp it, for the rest to catch it. It could only take you to get this, for your community to get it.
It’s why he could almost appear to seem demanding of God in this story. He’s not going to risk missing what’s available when desperation enters the scene. There was a generations faith riding on it and for us, there’s our generations faith riding on it too. We carry the same responsibility. We must begin to empathise with Moses’ struggle in this example. Almost begin to feel that burden deep within our hearts. The struggle.
So the next question rising up from this discussion around the fear of the Lord could be; ‘What did it change?’ Is the fear of the Lord really something that has an impact on my life tomorrow morning?
Well as we continue to read about this encounter Moses had with God, we come to understand that this was the birthing place of the ten commandments. This was the place where God laid out His nature and design for the lifestyle that His people so desperately needed.
It was in this atmosphere of desperation that God drew near and revealed His heart to Moses for His people.
And Moses recognised the significance of the position he found himself in and the responsibility of beholding this information. He took down the commandments in the stone tablets for the people to have and live by. But often with this story we find ourselves putting our entire focus on verses 11-28 in chapter 34 where the commandments are laid out. However, we sometimes we can miss the verses right before that set the stage for understanding both the commandments and the fear of the Lord.
Exodus 34:10 – 11:
“Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today.”
Rules are not the recipe for relationship. The misconception is the Old Testament God loved rules while New Testament God loves freedom. Both isolated are misrepresentations of the God we serve. It is clear that even when the people Moses was leading needed clear direction (10 commandments), God’s heart for relationship is still there for covenantal companionship with His people as they follow His ways.
In essence, I believe this story encapsulates a profound reality that is: when the fear of the Lord is grasped, the lifestyle is changed. This is how your tomorrow morning changes.
It’s like most things in scripture, they tend to disrupt. They disrupt our thinking, our lifestyle, our relationships, our desires. Jesus literally embodied this disruption. Disruption that catalysed the kingdom while also earning him a death sentence. Disruption that Moses and His people find here in the Exodus story and disruption that was designed for greater freedom to be walked in to. It disrupted their sin.
And holding this revelation in the context of the fear of the Lord, we start to put the pieces together that when the fear of the Lord is restored in us, our lives must begin to change. This is seen as the story unfolds.
As Moses ambled back down Mount Sinai exhausted and radiant faced, with both stone tablets fastened securely under each arm, I imagine even though he had been fading away physically, inwardly, he was being renewed. That even though he had been right in the middle of where most people would have ran from, he had encountered something that left him unable to come down the mountain the same way he went up it.
So what happened as he returned? Did lives begin to change? Was the fear of the Lord restored?
Well, in the short version, yes (to a point). Without the favour Moses had with the Lord, the answer might have been different. From chapter 35 onwards we start to see a shift within the people Moses was leading. Rather than offering their services to their previously sacred false gods, they start to use their gifts to establish a resting place for the Lord at heart of their camp.
Almost Eden reminiscent.
God present in the centre amongst His people, while they worship Him and use their giftings to glorify Him. And throughout this process we see the idols fall and the distractions cease. We see God do what God does best. He free’s us from both our conscious and unconscious slavery and leads us into greater freedom as the fear of the Lord is established yet again. A fear that leads us closer to Him rather than further away. Leads us to greater worship and adoration.
Remember, this is a different kind of fear. A freedom-beckoning fear.
See when we deal with things that are unfamiliar to us like this, we tend to focus on just the one meaning we get told. For example, let’s just say that in this scenario you have no clue about what football is. I take time to tell you what football from established definitions, to the laws of the game, to club governance etc. Essentially I only offer you a theoretical framework to base something that those who watch/play football know is so much more. The chances are, without actually taking you to watch or play a football match, you would struggle to recognise and fully understand what football can be. You would actually be limited by only tasting and seeing description rather than in practice.
In a strange way this is linked to our journey in discovering the fear of the Lord through the story of Moses and his people. Yes we’ve looked at it’s definition which has been important. But we’ve also seen first hand the mystery, the wonder, the confusion, the questions, the physical response, the change in lifestyle and repentance that the fear of God brings through Moses’ story. The testimony has actually opened our eyes more than any theoretical definition could bring on its own.
Nevertheless, it is still important and necessary when understanding aspects to living a God centered life which I feel Jesus’ interpretation of fearing the Lord will provide as a fitting conclusion to everything we’ve covered. Here we find Jesus instructing His disciples as He is sending them out to do the things He had been teaching them to do.
Matthew 10:28:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Let’s not freak out. I know that’s a rather intense verse but bear with. While Jesus is using strong language here, there’s an overarching point He’s trying to make.
He’s saying that actually there’s going to be a lot of opportunity to choose fear from situations that come against you. For the disciples and Jesus in the cultural climate, this looked like the high likelihood of death for displaying the things of the kingdom. For us, this may look different. Like uncertainty over a work situation, relationship strain, future dreams.
You fill in the blank as we all have our stuff.
But what is the second thing that Jesus offers the disciples?
A comforting thought of not just potential physical death, but an equally reassuring soul death. I love Jesus’ pre-mission pep talks. While we can joke about how this is a strange thing to say, it actually was meant to bring reassurance to the disciples and should bring reassurance for us today. He’s provoking the minds of the disciples to forget getting too obsessed with the physical earthy fears around them, and rather get obsessed with the sovereignty of God.
He’s bringing all attention back to God. It’s what the fear of the Lord does.
"Rather fear Him."
Rather be in awe of Him. Rather be full of reverence before Him. Rather feel that deep respect and admiration for Him.
This is a different fear. Here we find the link that takes us over the line in our understanding of the freedom that is found in this fear. Jesus is freeing His disciples in this example from the devils’ best efforts to enslave those who have tasted and seen. We see Moses bringing back freedom to an enslaved people through honouring God’s direction for their lives through the ten commandments in hope of restoration. And while we can see that even though the Israelites didn’t quite catch it, and the disciples sometimes struggled in it, God’s heart will never change in His unrelenting pursuit of setting captives free.
Where’s the starting point?
It’s in the fear of the Lord. The deep sense of awe and reverence in admiration for who He is. Yes it’s inconvenient. Yes it will make you look foolish to some. Yes it will require a response. Yes it might even look messy at times.
But my goodness is He worth it. And my goodness do we find the freedom of being a God-fearing people in it.
It demands a lifestyle change. A sign that you are starting to catch it is when the hunger in your life starts to shifts. I can’t keep partnering with those anxious thoughts the way I previously have done. Something’s shifted. I actually now have God as my thinking filter rather fear. I’m actually more focused on whether I’m glorifying God rather than pleasing those around me. And I’m starting to feel different. It’s the freedom with the fear.
As we give all our stuff over to Him, He can’t help but honour the sacrifice He deserves. The hunger of the flesh has shifted from previous fearful thought patters and is now harnessed on the Lord.
This is the time of restoring reverence in our houses of worship. It won’t be what we expect or are used to seeing. For some it will be received as discouraging as it doesn’t look like the hype they are hoping for.
But it will be authentic and life lasting for those who are desperate enough to find it. Those with intrigue will come close, but the desperate will find it.
Closing Verse – Psalm 34:9:
“Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.”
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