The Fear of God - Part one - Introduction

An analysis on the fear of God must agree with at least two biblical presuppositions. First that, such a study, must establish the Sovereignty of God (God as King).

Secondly, the fear of God as a concept must bring about, or make available a relationship with God.

1. The Sovereignty of God

I'll leave this concept to Isaiah...

Isaiah 40:12-28   "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

   All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.  He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.  Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;  who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.  To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.  Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?   Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable."

2. Accruing a relationship with God

The fear of God, as a concept, must bring about, or make available, a relationship with God. If the idea of the fear of God causes one to flee from Him, then the fear of God is a blasphemous and biblically incongruous concept. (Phil. 3:10)

Grass is green; as a plant, and as an idea. If grass grows up, pink in color, it cannot be grass any longer, as a plant, or as an idea. If grass changes from green to pink then it has been tainted or perverted by an outside force. If grass turns brown, it has died.

God is love. God cannot be for you, and also against you (1John 4:8; Romans 8:31; James 4:4). God cannot be just, and at the same time be Law-Less. There are many, many things that we have learned, and that we can learn about God's Character, and other different attributes from His word. When we come across ideas and philosophies in this study we must first look through the biblical grid of who we already know God to be. Let's get started...