Principles and the Believer, back to the basics-The Fear of God II (the principle of reverence)

Background

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What does the fear of God mean? Do we fear God out of the dreadfulness of hell? Do we fear God for nought? The original languages of the Bible are Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Unlike the English language, a word in Hebrew can have many meanings and a far broader context. To trace the meaning of the Word of God we must trust the Holy Spirit for understanding but also find the original meaning.The implication of the fear of God embodies in its original Hebrew language many aspects that bring a better understanding than we would realize in English, let’s dive into the Word…

Coming across the fear of God in the bible is always paired with a command to obey, have a right-standing with God,integrity, holiness and respect which is linked to the original meaning “yare”. The fear of God is a matter of reverence for who God is but more so understanding that your life is not your own but His. Jesus speaking on the topic of salvation, entreated in Mark 8:37KJV, “for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” When you read this carefully, notice that in the second part Jesus makes a statement that implies a transaction. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul, that means you are not of your own, you emanate from someone, and to depart from this owner, there is a trade that must be exchanged. The Spirit of God made us, His breath gives us life(Job 33:4). Now one may argue that the Spirit and Soul are different entities,however, note that in Ezekiel 18:4 the Word of the Lord to the prophet is this “Behold, all souls are mine”. This means both belong to God, still in doubt? Luke 12:4, once again Jesus is speaking “be not afraid of them that kill the body and after have no more that they can do, but fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. We then understand the actions of Job and the words he uttered, naked I came he said, implying his entire being is not of his, declaring no ownership over anything but ascribing honor to whom its due.

Now with this first principle of reverence, we can understand then that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). As already established the fear of God is obedience, right-standing, and integrity towards God. Since fear in this context is linked to the obedience of the principles of God, note that in Deuteronomy 6:1-2 where the commandments were given to the people of Israel, the instruction that came with these was to the end that they would adhere to them, keep these statutes and commandments, teach them to their descendants, all the days of their lives in order that their days may be prolonged. The principle of reverence is then also for preservation and longevity. In living a life of righteousness, honor, and observance of the laws of God is to preserve God’s creation, and extend this integrity perpetually, ensuring a people whose image and likeness are mirrored to whom they emanate from. Does this sound familiar? Indeed as in the beginning of the bible where God announced, “let us make man in our own image after our likeness” not forgetting the next, and “let him have dominion“. The mandate assigned to man after his creation is to be in the likeness of whom He belonged to and to extend the likeminded ideas and principles with which he was made to the rest of creation. Hence the fear of God is truly the whole duty of man and where wisdom begins.
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