The Fear of the Lord: A Gateway to Wisdom
Jeremiah 36:16
Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
Much is to be said of our necessity to fear the words of the Lord. Proverbs 9:10a says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...” The Hebrew word for ‘fear’ in our text is the word yir-aw’, which implies moral reverence. This manifests as fear mingled with respect and esteem. Even this reverential fear for the Lord, which we must exhibit, has a certain measure of dreadfulness or exceeding fearfulness in it, for the writer of Hebrews admits that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (see Heb 10:31).
However, what we must understand is that such a fear of God is only the beginning of wisdom. Indeed, before we begin our journey with God in a personal relationship with Christ, there is the dreaded fear of judgment and Hellfire that awaits all who are found outside of Christ and His grace. It is this fear which drives many with humble knees bowed to the foot of the cross for redemption and forgiveness of sins. It is not the character of God which we fear, but His role as Judge of the Universe!
But when one trusts Christ and His shed blood for salvation, we enter into a new relationship with God! Before Christ, we faced Him as a Judge, but now, after Christ, we face Him as Savior and Lord! Now then, after having received salvation by grace through faith, we are told in Heb. 4:16 to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need! No more fear of condemnation, for there is none for all found in Christ! Hallelujah! "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (see Rom 8:1)!
We are also told in 2 Tim. 1:7 that God hath not given us (the children of God) the spirit of fear. Now, this fear comes from the Greek word di-lee-ah, which means timidity. In other words, God has not given us a spirit that causes us to be timid and suffer from a lack of courage or boldness to face danger. Once we understand who we are and Whose we are, we CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13), and we can live with the motto “No Fear”! No fear of the past, no fear of the present, and no fear of the future, for Christ has forgotten my yesterdays, strengthened my todays, and secured my tomorrows!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
Much is to be said of our necessity to fear the words of the Lord. Proverbs 9:10a says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...” The Hebrew word for ‘fear’ in our text is the word yir-aw’, which implies moral reverence. This manifests as fear mingled with respect and esteem. Even this reverential fear for the Lord, which we must exhibit, has a certain measure of dreadfulness or exceeding fearfulness in it, for the writer of Hebrews admits that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (see Heb 10:31).
However, what we must understand is that such a fear of God is only the beginning of wisdom. Indeed, before we begin our journey with God in a personal relationship with Christ, there is the dreaded fear of judgment and Hellfire that awaits all who are found outside of Christ and His grace. It is this fear which drives many with humble knees bowed to the foot of the cross for redemption and forgiveness of sins. It is not the character of God which we fear, but His role as Judge of the Universe!
But when one trusts Christ and His shed blood for salvation, we enter into a new relationship with God! Before Christ, we faced Him as a Judge, but now, after Christ, we face Him as Savior and Lord! Now then, after having received salvation by grace through faith, we are told in Heb. 4:16 to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need! No more fear of condemnation, for there is none for all found in Christ! Hallelujah! "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (see Rom 8:1)!
We are also told in 2 Tim. 1:7 that God hath not given us (the children of God) the spirit of fear. Now, this fear comes from the Greek word di-lee-ah, which means timidity. In other words, God has not given us a spirit that causes us to be timid and suffer from a lack of courage or boldness to face danger. Once we understand who we are and Whose we are, we CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13), and we can live with the motto “No Fear”! No fear of the past, no fear of the present, and no fear of the future, for Christ has forgotten my yesterdays, strengthened my todays, and secured my tomorrows!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill