When Fear is Welcome

(Photo: Ted Larson, "Digital Art by Ted Larson" - visit his website: http://is.gd/1lMFj )

Fear in Bible context is a confusing subject. In one place we are warned against it, in another we are enjoined to embrace it. For example: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). We are to embrace that fear. However, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7) is the fear we must shun, but how, and what is the difference?

"Pahdah” (pakh-dah), the Hebrew word from Jeremiah 2:19 is in a form that is single usage, i.e., seen only once in all of Scripture.

“Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me.”

There it is translated “awe,” but, the word awe has lost its meaning in our modern world. Just ask a teenager: “Totally awesome!” has become a common response to ordinary life. The modern day usage of the root word of "awe" will at first lend confusion, but once explored, it brings clarity. Pahdan (pakh-dan), ending in “n” making it a noun in Modern Hebrew, is translated “a coward,” i.e., scared of pretty much everything. Other Scriptures that use the root of the word translate is as “fear.” It differs from “ya’re” used in many other biblical passages as the “fear of God.”

Messages on the fear of God are almost nonexistent in today's American church. And if such a sermon should be preached, the term “fear” is translated with care so as not to make anyone uncomfortable. The term has been so watered down as to cease to convict anyone of sin, or lead to repentance, or to suggest that we make things right with people we have wronged. Reverence and honor have been the chosen options in the list of concordance choices; however, there are other options.

If we want nearness to God, we must consider the various Scriptural terms for “fear.” How about this one: to make afraid; to terrify. I don’t think the prophet Daniel was thinking of a polite, refined, respectable reverence of the Lord when he fell face down as dead in front of the heavenly messenger in chapter 10:

“I had no strength left. My face turned deathly pale and I was helpless” (vs.8).

Paul had a similar response when blinded on the Damascus road and seeing Jesus. What about Ezekiel three times:

“…When I saw it [the vision of God in His glory], I fell on my face…” (Ezekiel 1: 28).

“…I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days…” (Ezekiel 3:15).

“So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face” (Ezekiel 3:23).

“…and I fell on my face” (Ezekiel 43:3).

I have made a list of over 20 other such instances in Scripture.The good news about pahdah is that this kind of the fear of God refines, purifies, and replaces all other fears with itself.

How it is that one fear can make you fearless? The truth of the matter is: Fear the Lord, and you will fear none other! Your choice of words will determine the degree of your fearlessness of all other people, things, or circumstances.

--Ron Cantrell