Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

The fear of the LORD leads to life, then contentment; he rests and will not be touched by trouble.
Proverbs 19:23 (emphasis added)

Another beautiful example of a verse that confused me to no end as a child. In fact, for many years God and especially the idea of eternity with Him scared me. A LOT. It bordered on terror. I thought about it. I listened in Sunday School. I kind of listened to pieces of sermons. I had albums upon albums of kids music, musicals, and fun stories to listen to. I even spoke to pastor friends of the family. No one ever explained it to me in a way that I could understand. That I could grasp. They always used the word fear. It didn’t matter how they explained the word, that word stuck. And it sucked.

There was this schizophrenic ultimate being who both wanted love and fear from me. You know who wants love but inspires fear? Monsters. You see them all over. Dripping with muscle. Radiating power. Craving attention and in some cases worship from humanity, but always with dark intent. Dark power. Worship born of horror. Obeisance from terror. Draculas, demons, princes of darkness, emperors, military geniuses twisted by their mind-power or drugs or whatever. We see it in movies, stories, art, games, and comics. Always the terrible and those who submit to it. Is this the kind of god that I was supposed to serve?
Was he up there waiting to smite me? To wipe out whole nations on a whim? On some arbitrary set of rules that many of them would have had no opportunity to hear, much less follow? By the way, that’s the argument I always hear when it comes to Indigenous People in the Americas, or Asia or the Pacific Islands (including Australia and New Zealand). How could they know what we perceive as a European white-man religion? What god of love would condemn them all? You see what I mean? This guy doesn’t seem all that loving. He even pits men and women against each other demanding submissiveness. Then his son shows up and says ‘hey, Pop’s a great guy. Worship him now.’ And I want to ask, did you know he was a dictator?

Of course the answers to these things are not hard to understand if you read the Word, but I wasn’t. Since then I have learned that God brought those people into Canaan before the Israelites (Amos 9:7). That they rejected the Lord and His statues over time until the very land rejected them for the abominations that they were performing (Leviticus 18:25-28). Also, that the Lord holds no sin against those who don’t know what sin is (Romans 5:13). That because Jesus paid the price for sin, God is not looking to lay it on us (Romans 8:1 and 4:8). That God didn’t kick Adam and Eve out of the garden because they sinned, but so that they would not become immortal and stuck in sin forever (Genesis 3:22-24). That submission isn’t about power, but about who is responsible (Genesis 3:12-19) in the same way a vice-president of a company has to submit to the president who has to submit to shareholders. That even in marriage submission is one to another (Ephesians 5:22-23) within that framework of responsibility so that it isn’t about who is right or who is demanding obedience, but that you’re working as an equal team within whom one is to be held responsible to God and one is not.

If you’re looking into the Word, then you see that all these things have simple and easy to understand answers. That they don’t work unless they’re done from a position of love one to another. That loving one to another is the major theme of the bible and one of the two greatest commandments. That control is never part of it. That free will is the mechanism by which obedience only occurs if there is love. Honest, looking out for their best love. Making sure that family members, partners, neighbours, and strangers have what they need, are cared for, given opportunity, supported, not taken advantage of, encouraged, helped out in every possible way, and treated as complete, one hundred percent equals. Even though there was a sacrificial system under the Law, God made sure there was provision so that every type of citizen regardless of class, income, or position could have their sins covered. The more I looked at it, the more God seemed an understanding and just God of love. So what was with the word? What was with this fear thing?

This is not the first reference to it, but it is a good example. Proverbs 1:7 reads “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.” In Hebrew, fear is the word yirah (yir-aw’). It is a feminine noun. But translators also use it as an infinitive. Welcome to grammar class. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word plus a verb (in its simplest ‘stem’ form) and functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. An infinitive can act as a noun, appearing as the subject or direct object of a sentence. It can also appear as a subject complement, which provides information about the subject, following a linking verb (such as is) in the predicate of a sentence. So in this sense it can use fear as a verb to fear. Be afraid. Etc. But the Hebrew origin of this word is yare (yaw-ray’).

That word appears in Genesis 22:12 and it is the first instance of fearing the Lord in the bible. It is said to Abraham when he is told not to actually kill his son. “He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me”.” The meaning of yare is morally reverent. It is an adjective. An adjective is a word or phrase naming an attribute. We grammatically relate them to nouns in order to modify or describe the noun. So in this sense, fear of the Lord is then described as morally reverent. Moral is an adjective (like yare) meaning concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour and the goodness or badness of human character. That adjective modifies reverence, a noun that means deep respect for someone or something. Ironically, reverence can also be a verb meaning to regard or treat with deep respect.

This is why fear is used when yare (an adjective) appears in conjunction with the implied noun of reverence. This is why fear is used when yirah (a noun) is used when reverence appears as a verb in order to make it a verbal phrase. One word that can be used in both instances to get across the basic idea of the phrase. Except it was being interpreted not in a Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek sense. It was not being interpreted inside of the Oriental social customs it was written in. It was being interpreted by Europeans who lived in a feudal, royalist society. They did a great job translating the bible, but some of the nuance was so foreign to them it was lost on them. To them the fear of authority — especially in a royal sense — wasn’t a bad thing. It was better to be scared to run afoul than to defame.

But God isn’t about being scared. He hates scaredness. He is love. Perfect love. He is about faith, trust, belief, kindness, goodness, justness, and those things. He doesn’t seek scared vassals who are bound to Him. He seeks morally reverent children who love Him so much they find themselves obeying Him. That He wants them to do what He says is right because those actions, words, and thoughts are what bring us the best benefits, the most blessing, and peace. Total and absolute love. Total and absolute righteousness. As advertised. As supported by all of scripture. A multitude of chances, punishment of sin (Old Testament) for those who reject His ways but were taught and exposed to them, and ultimately redemption and no penalty for sin (Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection to life). A God of love from beginning to end. Someone whom you can morally revere. Someone you can trust. A parent with no negative agenda or wishy-washy whims. Steady. A rock to stand on.

Why is this important? This is the bedrock of a believer’s life. This will alter everything about what you think you know about the bible. That is because if you truly take this in, there will never be another command in the bible. Another rule. Another DO NOT or DO. That’s because the entirety of the human psyche is built around motivation. People do lazy things because they have no motivation. People do energetic things because they have motivation. People sit in dead-end jobs or paddle around aimlessly in school for years or even decades at a time because they haven’t figured out their motivation yet. Some people are pushed by their parents or guardians into uncomfortable life circumstances in an effort to force motivation on their children. Teachers do it. Bosses do it. Managers do it. Coworkers do it. Grandparents do it. Other relatives do it. Partners do it. Friends do it. Sometimes it’s the other way and the younger tries to influence the older. It is all about motivation because it is all about free will.

Free will hinges on motivation. It’s do or do not. You choose to do something or you choose to not do that thing. If you choose to do it, you have to be motivated to do it. Why? It’s easier to stay motionless. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it. That outside force is motivation. It is something we see outside ourselves that we want or see value in. We then choose to move. Once we are moving, that same First Law of Motion also states a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. Once you are motivated, you will continue to do the thing, go in that direction, unless you are provided with new motivation. Spiritually speaking, that is temptation’s purpose. The enemy throwing at you anything and everything to make you change from your straight ahead direction.

So what then is the bible? A menu. A spiritual menu for your free will. It is a series of items, actions, words, and promises that are there to motivate you to leave your position and go into God’s position. We are all at rest on the conveyor belt heading to hell because of our DNA. We have ZERO choice about our DNA. Science confirms this. In fact, some scientists are becoming so convinced of our being at the mercy of our genes that they suggest it even impacts our free will. That’s how locked into our gene patterns we are. Which is why the bible is so clear about God’s Grace. He gifts us the Grace and the Faith our DNA does not contain so that we are able to choose another path. Once we do, we are killed. Our DNA is dead. We are resurrected into Jesus and HIS DNA. We become new creatures at a cellular level (2 Corinthians 5:17) in the sense that Jesus’ righteousness transforms our spirit and in Him we regain the authority of free will. Once that is done, we are no longer slaves to our genes, our DNA and we can continue along the process of sanctification which is really transforming all of the rest of us to match our new spiritual selves. In Jesus, by Jesus, and through Jesus.

The enemy seeks to knock us back a step, forget that our spirits inform the rest of us, block anything we might get from the Word, and convince us it is all a bunch of bunk. But if we focus on our reverence for the Lord in a moral sense, not just a churchy sense, we will care more about doing what He likes than what we like. Isn’t that what we do with our children? Our family? And especially our romantic partners? Aren’t we always picking things up they like or conforming our behaviour to their preferences in order to see them smile? How many repetitive books, foolish shows, and boring places do we go to see our kids laugh and enjoy themselves? How many things do we find ourselves doing for our mates that we never would have done before? Why would it be different with God? In fact, why wouldn’t it be a lot more since He is, in fact, demonstrably God?

The bible is our menu. A great list of things that make Him smile. It is also full of the benefits, promises, and advantages that can be ours just because He loves that we love Him. It is that simple. We do because we want to be like Him, see Him smile, and bring Him enjoyment. We also bring Him praise because, again, He IS God. It is a relationship, but one based on moral reverence. As a thing and as an action. As a whole package. Because He wants the best for us, the Word also transforms into a menu for making us and our environment the absolute best that it can be. Not through our efforts, but through His. Not through our works, but by our Faith. And don’t you find that when you want something, and then get that thing, and it turns out to be a good thing, you like it? So the Word and loving God combine to create a life and an atmosphere where we find ourselves content. This moral reverence has led to a good life which has led to contentment.

Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction. There is no strife in that sentence. No toil. No struggle. What does that leave? Whole bunches of peace. Not temporary peace. True peace. A calm and confident peace giving thorough contentment. An atmosphere we can rest in because struggle cannot come against us (Isaiah 54:14-17). An atmosphere we can rest on because we are in a high fortress built on bedrock (Psalm 27). The storm will be around us, but we will be sleeping in the boat untouched and secure (Psalm 91:7 & Matthew 8:24-27). These are promises. This is foundational trust that He is able to do that which He has promised (Romans 4:20-22).

It all starts with moral reverence. Reverence, not fear. Every time you come across a verse about fearing God, read it as reverence. Reverence God. Reverence for God is the beginning of knowledge since it is the beginning of this foundational path of love and trust. Without agenda. Without negativity. Without fear. A path of love and trust because Yahweh God is trustworthy and full of lovingkindness. If you haven’t, start making the switch to reverence for Yahweh. Reverence seeking to see Him smile, walk in His ways, and resting in and on his Word.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Romans 4:20-25

The bedrock of God’s love is that He is trustworthy. Worthy of confidence. Dependable. Giving the same results when repeated. Something stable. Unchanging (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). He established our hearts with Grace because we have none. He gives us His Faith because we have none. We’re spiritual paupers. Beggars. We gave up all that we had, all that we were going to have, and have been robbed of who and what we are. God doesn’t like that. Yahweh did not create us to be shadows of former selves. He did not create us so that demonic popinjays could strut around. He did not create us so that a selfish angel could pretend that he was powerful, mighty, and worthy of attention. Yahweh God created us in His image to have fellowship with us. He gave us a task. He gave us the tools to accomplish it. And He gave us the freedom to choose. In Jesus, He gives it all back. Through Jesus we have the tools to accomplish our original purpose. But we don’t have the freedom to because this real estate is currently shared. The free who believe rules shackle them share it with the shackled who believe they are free. This world of darkness has blinded everyone. Jesus gives us light. Jesus lights us up from the inside out. If we let Him, His light will shine on our minds, hearts, limbs, and we will see that we are free. Truly free. Free from rules. Free from bondage. Free to love, and in love to live according to the moral reverence that He inspires from our spirits. That is a gift and a piece of good news. More than that, it is a miracle. The mercy of God is miraculous. We need to never forget that. Or the depths of His love for us. It is what gives us what we always knew that we never had: peace, security, and love.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.