When we truly fear God, our fear of other things and other people begins to wane. Big fears make little fears go away. We can spend our days worrying about a host of daily challenges, but let the word cancer be mentioned in the same sentence with our name, and all our daily anxieties disappear into the cloud of a bigger fear. God, of course, is not a malevolent force like cancer. This means that when our smaller fears are absorbed by fear of Him, our lives gain security rather than become debilitated by the terror of an uncertain future.
God is the biggest fear of all. In fact, God is referred to as “the Fear” twice in Genesis 31: “Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me . . . And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac” (verses 42, 53). “The Fear” is a figure of speech here in which the emotion is personified as the person Himself—in this case, God.
It is when other fears take precedence over God that we get into trouble. This is what happened to the Israelites who lived during the time of Isaiah. Listen to God’s words to them:
Of whom have you been afraid, or feared,
That you have lied
And not remembered Me,
Nor taken it to your heart?
Is it not because I have held My peace from of old
That you do not fear Me?
ISAIAH 57:11
In losing their fear of God, the nation of Judah had become unduly afraid of false pagan gods. They no longer felt “astonished devotion” because they had lost the wonder of who God is.
Ravi Zacharias said, “The older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder, and only God is big enough to do that.”[3] No matter how old we are, we all need astonished devotion, which is the exhilarating element we find in the fear of God.
Hope for Those Who Fear God
When we consider both dimensions of the fear of God—awesome dread and astonished devotion—we discover that the Bible promises abundant benefits for those who hold these fears. The following list of seven promises summarizes why we can fear God—and put our hope in Him. I present them mostly without comment, because I believe they will minister to your heart in their raw beauty and blessing.
The Promise of Provision
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
PSALM 34:9-10
The Promise of Protection
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
PSALM 33:18-19
The Promise of Purity
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
PSALM 103:12-13
Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 CORINTHIANS 7:1
The Promise of Prosperity
Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.
When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
PSALM 128:1-2
The Promise of Prolonged Days
The fear of the LORD prolongs days,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
PROVERBS 10:27
The Promise of Privilege
Those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name.
MALACHI 3:16
The Promise of Perpetuity
Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
DEUTERONOMY 5:29
The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children.
PSALM 103:17
These are only a sampling of the outpouring of promises the Bible gives to those who fear the Lord.
It’s true that there is a consequence for not fearing God, but it’s not as if God exacts a pound of flesh for our failure. Instead, we face the consequence of missing the blessings described above. It’s more like the consequence of a child missing out on Christmas morning. Who would want to forgo the spiritual treasures of fearing God?
Yet He leaves the choice to us.
The Conclusion of the Whole Matter
Solomon spent his life questing for meaning and significance, and he concludes that it was wrapped up—yes—in “fearing God.”
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
ECCLESIASTES 12:13
Did you realize the Bible has so much to say about the fear of God? Would it surprise you to know that this fear has played a large role throughout church history? Times of spectacular spiritual revival have always been sparked by a renewal of the fear of God. The best example is the preaching of Jonathan Edwards during the First Great Awakening. During that era, Edwards, George Whitefield, and others preached on God’s judgment, which brought a sense of terror over the audiences. It’s hard for us to imagine today how Edwards’s famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” brought on moaning and weeping and prompted listeners to grip tightly to pews and posts to keep themselves from tumbling to the floor.
Reverend Joseph H. Weber, a Methodist evangelist who witnessed a revival in the town of Algona, Iowa, wrote, “It seems as if many more sinners are moved by fear than love.”[4] Scottish evangelist Duncan Campbell said, “It is an entire town gripped by the fear of God, causing an awareness of God coming over the whole community.”[5] During the Irish revival of 1857, a thirty-four-year-old man fell to his knees in the street, crying out in deep agony. People came rushing to his aid, asking who had attacked him. But he would only cry out, “Unclean! Unclean! God be merciful to me, a sinner!”[6]
Wesley L. Duewel, in his book Revival Fire, said that the fear of God was so sudden and so powerful in these times of revival that whole communities came to Christ. Hardened men began weeping. Miracles occurred. Addicts were made clean, homes were restored, and local crime was all but wiped out. The fear of God changed everything. Duewel goes on to record this quote: “They were first affected with awe and fear—then they were bathed in tears—then filled with love unspeakable.”[7]
It’s a sad fact that something so well established in the history books is so difficult for us to visualize today. As a culture, we have no fear of God; so, as Dostoyevsky said, “All things are permissible.” We see no miracles. We are flooded with addictions; broken homes; and rampant, uncontrollable crime. Yet some Christians say we need less “fear of God” in our teaching, though they’re all for “love of God” talk. But as we have seen, the road to love leads right through the fear of God.
I will close with a passage from pastor and author John Piper, who imagines a scenario from nature to illustrate what it means to fear God’s power and put our hope in His protection:
Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Greenland in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff. But in the midst of the storm you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure. But, even though secure, t
he awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.
At first there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished from your heart. Only the life-threatening part. There remained the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.
And so it is with God. . . . The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. . . . Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder; and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellowship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage.[8]
I am thankful that my God is a fearsome God. My love for Him is all the deeper for the fear that His love has answered. The storm rages all around, but my hope is in Him.
[1] C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1981), 22–23.
[2] Dr. Dan B. Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman III, The Cry of the Soul: How Our Emotions Reveal Our Deepest Questions about God (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994), 100.
[3] Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God? (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994), 89.
[4] Martin Wells Knapp, Revival Tornadoes: or, Life and Labors of Rev. Joseph H. Weber (Boston: McDonald, Gill, & Co., 1890), 178.
[5] Quoted by Edgar H. Lewellen in Revival: God’s Proven Method of Awakening His Church (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 2005), 10.
[6] Wesley L. Duewel, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 139–141.
[7] Duewel, 139–141.
[8] John Piper, The Pleasures of God (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 2000), 198–199.
Acknowledgments
Writing this book was like writing ten books. Every chapter was a project of its own. It has taken everything I had to give, and without the support of my wife, Donna, my “everything” would not have been enough. My older son, David Michael, has become a strong partner in the publishing arm of our ministry, and I wish to thank him for his help. Paul Joiner and his creative team continue to be the best in the business. Thank you for the countless hours you spent dreaming and planning for the release of this book. Diane Sutherland stands at the door of my life and graciously protects the resources of my time and energy. She and Barbara Boucher deserve more credit than they ever get for dealing with the increasing demands that are placed upon our offices.
Along with the personal side of publishing, there is also a more public side. I am very grateful for Sealy Yates, my agent and confidant. I am delighted to be working with Ron Beers and Tyndale House Publishers. I am indebted to William Kruidenier, Rob Morgan, Rob Suggs, and Tom Williams, who have invested their gifts in this project.
Finally, thank you to Beau Sager, who worked so many hours checking and chasing down quotes, working with editors, and making many valuable suggestions about the substance and sequencing of the material.
To do what we do each year would be beyond impossible without you, and I thank you, each one!
About the Author
Dr. David Jeremiah serves as senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. He is the founder and host of Turning Point, a ministry committed to providing Christians with sound Bible teaching relevant to today’s changing times through radio and television, the internet, live events, and resource materials and books. A bestselling author, Dr. Jeremiah has written more than forty books, including Agents of Babylon, Agents of the Apocalypse, Captured by Grace, Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World, What in the World Is Going On?, The Coming Economic Armageddon, God Loves You: He Always Has—He Always Will, and What Are You Afraid Of?
Dr. Jeremiah’s commitment to teaching the complete Word of God continues to make him a sought-after speaker and writer. His passion for reaching the lost and encouraging believers in their faith is demonstrated through his faithful communication of biblical truths.
A dedicated family man, Dr. Jeremiah and his wife, Donna, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren.
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