Malohaut
10-19-2003, 03:58 PM
What does the fear of the LORD mean to you? I have always thought it to mean respect, but I want to go deeper than that. I want to know what it REALLY means and entails.
I am studying this subject today and would appreciate any input you may have.
A very good question. Let's start looking for the answer in the bible.
2 Corinthians 5 : 11 "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;" New Kings James Version
This is more clearly rendered, "the fear of the Lord." It is not referring to being afraid, but to Paul's worshipful reverence for God as his essential motivation to live in such a way as to honor his Lord and maximize his reward for his Lord's glory.
Prov. 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge . . . "
Prov. 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
The reverential awe and admiration of God, or submissive fear, is foundational for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom. While the unbeliever may make statements about life and truth, he does not have the true or ultimate knowledge until he is in a redemptive relationship of reverential awe with God. The fear of the Lord is a state of mind in which one's own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God's.
How does Proverbs 1:7 translate in the different biblical versions?
NIV "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge . . ."
Message "Start with GOD-the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD . . ."
Amplified "The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]"
Contemporary English "Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of knowledge."
When a person sees the word 'fear', they think of halloween, or of unexpected and undue fright. That is why I like to use the different translations, because it amplifies what it is the original word means. Fear may be a direct translation, but you know there are different kinds of fear: scary fear, phobia fear, motherly fear, even respectful fear. The original word would have better identified which of those meanings it was talking about. Since I'm not a biblical scholar, I do not know what the original word was or what it means. But by looking at the various translations as I mentioned above, we can get a better understanding of its meaning.
Fear of the Lord = bowing down to God = reverent and worshipful fear = respect and obey the Lord
Fear, in this case, means loving respect. You love God and you respect Him and His abilities to such a worshipful reverence, that it becomes an essential motivation to live a life in such a way as to honor God. When you follow God with such a love, you begin to understand His wisdom as spoken of in Proverbs. When you follow God with such a love, you turn heads and hearts like spoken of in 2 Corinthians. And, when you follow God with such a love, Acts 9 : 31 becomes real in your life: "Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy spirit, they were multiplied."
Fear, as we know it, and comfort don't go together do they? So what is spoken of in the bible is much like fear, but in a more loving form. It is like when Jesus said in Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life alas, he cannot be My disciple."
In the same manner of 'fear', 'hate' in this verse is not the pure hate we know it to be. Jesus was calling His desciples to cultivate such a devotion to Him, that any attachment to everything else--including to their own lives--would seem like hatred by comparison.
So if anyone tells you that the bible is telling you to be so scared of God that you have to follow His laws or suffer His wrath, then they do not understand God's true love, and our respectful desire to love and cherish and honor such love.
Comments? Corrections? Anybody else want to add anything?
I am studying this subject today and would appreciate any input you may have.
A very good question. Let's start looking for the answer in the bible.
2 Corinthians 5 : 11 "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;" New Kings James Version
This is more clearly rendered, "the fear of the Lord." It is not referring to being afraid, but to Paul's worshipful reverence for God as his essential motivation to live in such a way as to honor his Lord and maximize his reward for his Lord's glory.
Prov. 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge . . . "
Prov. 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
The reverential awe and admiration of God, or submissive fear, is foundational for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom. While the unbeliever may make statements about life and truth, he does not have the true or ultimate knowledge until he is in a redemptive relationship of reverential awe with God. The fear of the Lord is a state of mind in which one's own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God's.
How does Proverbs 1:7 translate in the different biblical versions?
NIV "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge . . ."
Message "Start with GOD-the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD . . ."
Amplified "The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]"
Contemporary English "Respect and obey the LORD! This is the beginning of knowledge."
When a person sees the word 'fear', they think of halloween, or of unexpected and undue fright. That is why I like to use the different translations, because it amplifies what it is the original word means. Fear may be a direct translation, but you know there are different kinds of fear: scary fear, phobia fear, motherly fear, even respectful fear. The original word would have better identified which of those meanings it was talking about. Since I'm not a biblical scholar, I do not know what the original word was or what it means. But by looking at the various translations as I mentioned above, we can get a better understanding of its meaning.
Fear of the Lord = bowing down to God = reverent and worshipful fear = respect and obey the Lord
Fear, in this case, means loving respect. You love God and you respect Him and His abilities to such a worshipful reverence, that it becomes an essential motivation to live a life in such a way as to honor God. When you follow God with such a love, you begin to understand His wisdom as spoken of in Proverbs. When you follow God with such a love, you turn heads and hearts like spoken of in 2 Corinthians. And, when you follow God with such a love, Acts 9 : 31 becomes real in your life: "Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy spirit, they were multiplied."
Fear, as we know it, and comfort don't go together do they? So what is spoken of in the bible is much like fear, but in a more loving form. It is like when Jesus said in Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life alas, he cannot be My disciple."
In the same manner of 'fear', 'hate' in this verse is not the pure hate we know it to be. Jesus was calling His desciples to cultivate such a devotion to Him, that any attachment to everything else--including to their own lives--would seem like hatred by comparison.
So if anyone tells you that the bible is telling you to be so scared of God that you have to follow His laws or suffer His wrath, then they do not understand God's true love, and our respectful desire to love and cherish and honor such love.
Comments? Corrections? Anybody else want to add anything?