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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mark silvers who wrote (23576)	12/28/1998 12:11:00 PM
From: PROLIFE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 39621

MArkus,, I knew you would sneak in there somewhere!! :o) I was speaking fear as in respect, awe. Here is a definition I feel I prety much agree with. Religious Fear is the human response to the presence of God. Fear of God A prominent element in Old Testament religion is the concept of the fear of God. Most often the sense of fear comes as individuals encounter the divine in the context of revelation. When God appears to a person, the person experiences the reality of God's holiness. This self-disclosure of God points to the vast distinction between humans and God, to the mysterious characteristic of God that at the same time attracts and repels. There is a mystery in divine holiness that causes individuals to become overwhelmed with a sense of awe and fear. They respond by falling down or kneeling in reverence and worship, confessing sin, and seeking God's will (Isa. 6). God as a fearful God The God of Israel is an awe-producing God because of His majesty, His power, His works, His transcendence, and His holiness. Yahweh is a "great and terrible God" (Neh. 1:15); He is "fearful in praises, doing wonders" (Ex. 15:11); His name is "fearful" (Deut. 28:58) and "terrible" (Ps. 99:3). The fear of God comes as people experience God in a visible manifestation (Ex. 20:18), in dreams (Gen. 28:17), in visible form (Ex. 3:6), and in His work of salvation (Isa. 41:5). God's work, His power, majesty, and holiness evoke fear and demand acknowledgment. The fear of God is not to be understood as the dread that comes out of fear of punishment, but as the reverential regard and the awe that comes out of recognition and submission to the divine. It is the revelation of God's will to which the believer submits in obedience. The basis for God's relationship with Israel was the covenant. The personal relationship that came out of the covenant transformed the relationship from a sense of terror to one of respect and reverence in which trust predominated. This fear which produces awe can be seen in the worship of Israel. The Israelites were exhorted to "serve the Lord with fear" (Ps. 2:11). Fear protected Israel from taking God for granted or from presuming on His grace. Fear called to covenant obedience. Fear as obedience Deuteronomy sets out a relationship between the fear of God and the observance of the demands of the covenant. To fear the Lord is one of the ways by which Israel expresses its obedience and loyalty to Yahweh and to His divine requirements: "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?" (Deut. 10:12-13; compare 6:24-25; 10:20; 13:4). Fear becomes a demand that can be learned (Deut. 17:19). Fear of God was part of the religious life of every Israelite, where the acknowledgment of it required a specific behavior from each individual. Fear of God was a requirement demanded from every judge (Ex. 18:21). The kings of Israel should rule in the fear of the Lord (2 Sam. 23:3); even the messianic King would live in the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2). To fear God was the beginning of wisdom and thus of the pathway to true life (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33). "Fear not" The expression "fear not" (also translated "do not fear" or "do not be afraid") is an invitation to confidence and trust. When used without religious connotation (15 times), "fear not" is an expression of comfort. These words come from an individual to another providing reassurance and encouragement (Gen. 50:21; Ruth 3:11; Ps. 49:16). When "fear not" is used in a religious context (60 times), the words are an invitation to trust in God. These words appear in the context of the fear and terror that follows divine revelation. God invites His people not to be afraid of Him (Gen. 15:1; 26:24); the angel of the Lord seeks to calm an individual before a divine message is communicated (Dan. 10:12,19; Luke 1:13,30); a person acting as a mediator of God invites the people to trust in God (Moses, Deut. 31:6; Joshua, Josh. 10:25). The "God-fearers" The "God-fearers" were those who were faithful to God and obeyed His commandments (Job 1:1; Pss. 25:14; 33:18). Those who fear God are blessed (Ps. 112:1); they enjoy God's goodness (Ps. 34:9) and God's provision (Ps. 111:5). In the New Testament "God-fearers" became a technical term for uncircumcised Gentiles who worshiped in the Jewish synagogue. Fear in the New Testament Some Christians tend to de-emphasize the fear of God in the New Testament by placing the love of God above the fear of God. There is indeed a greater emphasis on the love of God in the New Testament. However, the element of fear was part of the proclamation of the early church. Paul admonished believers to work out their salvation "with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). The early church grew in number as they lived "in the fear of the Lord" (Acts 9:31). The fear of God is related to the love of God. The revelation of God to people in the New Testament contains the element of God's mysterious otherness calling for reverent obedience. The New Testament church stands in awe and fear in the presence of a holy God, for fear is "the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 12:13). Claude F. Mariottini dan