Today we will take a look at the Spirit of the Fear of the LORD. This is like saying, let’s take a look at the creation of the world. It is a huge subject and one that is often misunderstood. There is a great difference between being afraid of God and fearing Him. Fearful people, either don’t know God, feel guilty for or ashamed of something they’ve done, or have something to hide. But the true fear of the LORD draws one nearer to God in intimate friendship. 

Francis Frangipane describes the fear of the LORD as having the desire to please and obey God. Let’s see if that definition fits with God’s word.

Yeshua is the best source for living in the fear of the LORD.

John 4:34  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” 

John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” 

John 5:30 “ I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”

John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 

Do you see how often He mentions doing God’s will and pleasing God?

Luke wrote about the fear of the LORD.

Acts 9:31 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.

Acts 10:22 And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.”

So, with this definition in mind, we can say that Yeshua, the churches, and Cornelius all lived with a desire to please God and obeyed Him. 

And in Ephesians, Paul applies the same importance to our work environment. Note that we are to treat our masters (bosses) as we would treat Christ. 

Ephesians 6:5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 

So, the Spirit of the Fear of the LORD is not only interested in how we interact with God but how we interact with our superiors. 

The writer of Hebrews wrote this about Yeshua in Hebrews 5:5-8. 

So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”

6 As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Psalm 111:10 says The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

When we are living with a complete desire to please God with our obedience to His will, God’s wisdom will be more accessible to us. We will already be walking with Him. God’s wisdom will be a natural outflow in our relationship. 

Another scripture has often puzzled me. Psalm 19:9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

Let’s take a little side trip to Strong’s Concordance and see what this is about.

Clean is Strong’s #2889. In Hebrew, it looks like this טָהוֹר.

The Strong’s definition is: pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial, or moral sense):—clean, fair, pure(-ness).

Digging deeper, here is the meaning of the letters:

Tet 9 = Judgment. Means: Choice, Basket, Snake, Surround or Twist, entwine, ensnare, entrap, spin, roll together.

Hey 5 = Grace. Means: Revelation – 5 is the number of Torah, Behold, Give Attention, Unfold, Look upon.

Vav 6 = Man, Imperfection. Means: Nail or Hook, to Secure, Pin together, Connect, bind together two things that have been separated, to hold up -Yeshua is our Vav.

Resh  200 = Insufficiency, Poverty. Picture: Head Means: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest, Most Important, a Person, Human Reasoning vs. Obedience. (When we allow human reasoning to be our master, our head, poverty of the Spirit results.)

And when we put the meanings together we can say, CLEAN means to choose to pay attention to God’s Word, His revelation. To be one with Yeshua, our Head, overcoming our human reasoning, and walking in obedience to God’s will. 

John Bevere published a book this year that is about the fear of the LORD from beginning to end. The title is The Awe of God – The ASTOUNDING WAY a HEALTHY FEAR of GOD TRANSFORMS YOUR LIFE. We have been using it as an adult Bible Study. It is transforming the way we look at the fear of the LORD and how we live our lives. 

In chapter 27, John lists five aspects of living in the fear of the LORD.

1. Obey God immediately.

2. Obey God even if it doesn’t make sense.

3. Obey God even when you don’t see a personal benefit.

4. Obey God even if it is painful.

5. Obey God to completion. 

Do any of you believe you have mastered this list? If you do, I would like to meet you. 

To our ‘me first’ world of ‘self-serving,’ this list sounds harsh. It must be the list of a cruel taskmaster. But it is not. 

God is kind, but He’s not soft. In kindness, He takes us by the hand and leads us into a radical life change.

When the spirit of the fear of the Lord comes, things that never bothered you will bother you now. The music you listened to, and movies you watched will no longer meet your standard. Because when you get a glimpse of His holiness and know that you are His, you can’t entertain these things or bring them into your life any longer. 

Romans 2:12-13 Message Bible If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God. It is a sign that we are living in the fear of God. 

God has chosen us. While we may not think we qualify, as we yield to Him, He says you will be a generation without rivals. – If we are going to be a generation without rivals, we will not tell the world how great we are. No, we will show everyone how great our God is. We will be His hands, feet and love in our world. 

God wants to take each of us by the hand and lead us into a radical life change. 

This is all we are going to cover today. Next time we will look at what the Spirit of the Fear of the LORD is not. Many people do not know the difference, and it is profound. 

Have a blessed week.

Shalom ♥