E64 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - FEAR - What about fear of GOD? Part 1 of 3

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #64

Title: Fear – of GOD - 1 of 3

Date: July 25, 2022

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse(s): Matthew 10:28 – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  

78 verses containing the word fear -

phobeō fob-eh'-o

From G5401; to frighten, that is, (passively) to be alarmed; by analogy to be in awe of, that is, revere: - be (+ sore) afraid, fear (exceedingly), reverence.

Total KJV occurrences: 93

Fear: phobos fob'-os

From a primary φέβομαι phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright: - be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror. Total KJV occurrences: 47

Another rendering is the word afraid – 35 times in KJV

This totals 175 times the word fear/afraid appears in the New Testament, alone.

This is significant =

Definition of phobia from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Definition of -phobia (Entry 1 of 2)

1: an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation

2: exaggerated fear – intolerance or aversion for (an object or situation)

The difference between the two definitions of phobia in the Greek is that phobeō also can mean reverence. This is one reason we are told to ‘fear’ GOD, meaning have reverence for Him. But also in Matthew 10:28 Jesus warns – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” By this He meant a healthy fear of Almighty GOD who will one day judge the living and the dead.

Intro: I want to start by assuring you I am not a fear-monger. I grew up under the abusive false teaching, the legalism, of always portraying GOD as mad as hell, just looking for someone to smash. We’ll see in this episode a balanced view of GOD, when to fear Him in the Holy Terror role, and how to know Him through loving reverence.   

When I received a suggestion from a listener to do an episode on fear I thought “Easy enough.” But when I did a word search and looked at the root word for fear I was surprised at the amount of Scripture mentioning fear.

I also noted several verses where Jesus said, “Do not fear,” “Do not be afraid,” etc. and sometimes He followed up by asking, “Where is your faith?”

And in Mark 4:40 – ‘But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" The meaning of fearful: deilos di-los' From δέος deos (dread); timid, that is, (by implication) faithless: - fearful.

And so there are different uses of the word fear – That of terror and that of reverence for GOD. In this episode, I will focus on a healthy fear of Almighty GOD and reverence for GOD.

The two subsequent episodes will focus on first recognizing unhealthy fear in general (phobias), and second on learning ways to resist the fears that control us.

Devotion focus: Knowing the difference between fear as reverence and fear as terror as it concerns both toward GOD.

I’m going to cut straight to the matter of when to fear GOD as in terror.

Should we be terrified of GOD? For anyone who is not GOD’s child as in being a Christian and I don’t mean in a religious sense, then yes. But why?

For this to make sense there must be a belief in each person that what the Bible teaches about GOD is true. In the Bible GOD declared Himself to be Holy and until sin is dealt with, GOD is totally unapproachable.

Here’s what I mean: Before GOD came down on the mountain to meet with Moses and give him the Ten Commandments listen to GOD’s warning to Moses in Exodus 19:

Exodus 19:11 – ‘And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Exodus 19:12 – “You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 19:18 – ‘Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

Exodus 19:19 – ‘And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.

Exodus 19:20 – ‘Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Exodus 19:21 – ‘And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.”

In Western Christianity, we have lost much of the awful grandeur of GOD. We’ve lost sight of Almighty GOD the Creator of Heaven and Earth. We’ve brought Him down to our level of understanding to the point I’ve heard it said “The Man upstairs,” until I’m sick of it.

So what do we do about regaining reverence for and regaining awe of GOD?

First off, I can’t do it for you, and neither can anyone else. Not your pastor, your spouse, not your mama.

If you make time to read about GOD and His interactions with His people throughout the Old Testament, and even the book of Revelation. (Not Revelations – The book is actually titled in chapter one, verse one ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ.’)

If I may suggest just one book of the Bible to start with it is Exodus. The feats GOD accomplished in that account alone are enough to bring me to awe and prompt me to ask GOD’s forgiveness for me taking Him so lightly.

You see, it is normal to drift away from respecting GOD for who He is and what He has done. The same with the Son of GOD, Jesus. I can easily forget in the day-to-day drudgery about how Jesus suffered and died because of my sin… and yours.

But back to the question of whether we should be terrified of GOD. YES.

Until… the Cross is taken into account and anyone asks GOD to forgive them based on Jesus’s atonement (paying in full the debt owed because of sin), at that point everything changes for that person. It changed for me and countless others.

How did it change?

Because GOD became our Father in the best and fullest sense. Forever.

Listen to Jesus in John 17:11 – “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me that they may be one as We are.”

Did you catch that? “…that they may be one as We are.” This oneness with GOD, believed on and accepted by faith, will bring us to reverence GOD as the loving Father who sent His Son to rescue us from sin.

Summary: There is fear as in the terror of GOD. This fear belongs to all who don’t know GOD as their Father. And there is fear as in reverence for GOD as our Father who rescued us, who bought us with the life of His Son, from the slave market of sin.

Action to consider: Read the book of Exodus and consider each of the plagues GOD sent upon the Egyptians. Consider the kind of power it took to bring about each plague. Consider that the GOD of the Bible, the Father of the Lord Jesus, is one and the same GOD.

Take time to consider whether you are an enemy of GOD or a child.

Your eternal destiny depends on the answer.

Listen, I was a skeptic once. I know how hard it can be to believe the claims of the Bible. But I beg you… if you haven’t come to a point to where you trust GOD’s Word, do this for me, and for your own soul: Read the Gospel of John and tell GOD: “If this is true, please show me.” And if you do read it do so without fear, with an open mind to the truth. My prayers are with you - 

Next week’s devotion: Fear – recognizing when it’s unreasonable - 2 of 3