A Holy Fear

 

 

Job 28:28 And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

Job declares a truth here that is found all over the Book of Proverbs and in other places of Scripture as well. God has a message for mankind. The wisest thing you could possibly do in this life is “fear the Lord.”

 

Pr 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Ps 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. “

 

Fear the Lord! Acknowledge Him as God! He made the earth and everything….I mean EVERYTHING in it, including you! Kneel in holy awe and reverence before Him! Tremble before His holiness! That’s right I said TREMBLE in fear, because you are a filthy sinner! That’s your starting point.

 

Jesus had this to say about His Father: Mt 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. That’s the ultimate destination for the unredeemed sinner!

 

Light has no fellowship with darkness. God has no fellowship with sinners. Something has to happen to remove that sin barrier between God and man before we can cease trembling.

The righteous prophet Isaiah was ushered into the presence of the Lord and look at his response! Isa 6:5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips,

Our lips are unclean because they are the fountain of our dark hearts, and again Jesus had this to say about our hearts: Mt 15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

 

Therefore, TREMBLE before the Lord! And fear Him for still another reason! He is able and willing to forgive your sins! Ps 130:4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

You know your own struggles with forgiving others, but we have a holy God who is able and willing to forgive you, so TREMBLE!

 

Once our mindset is proper as it relates to the fear of the Lord, wisdom then breaks out in obedience.  Pr 16:6b puts it this way: And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.

And in Ex 20:20, Moses reminds us: "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

And if we go back to the beginning of the Book of Job, we read this: Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

 

Proper fear of God produces wisdom, and wisdom always breaks out in a desire to shun evil, seeking to live according to the commands of the One being feared. You can’t separate wisdom from obedience, if you do, you truly don’t have biblical wisdom.