Does Yahweh (God) Want us to Fear Him?

This year (2005) we had the opportunity to sponsor the Feast of Tabernacles in Hot Springs, AR.  

Though we were listed as sponsors of this feast site, it was not our feast—it was the festival 

of YHWH, as in the scriptures He calls them His feasts.

We were instructed to rejoice before Him.  Where I had attended the last couple of years 

it had been pointed out

that in order to have a great and meaningful feast we

had to bring a great and meaningful feast—meaning it

is not the responsibility of someone else to give us a

profitable feast, it is up to us, ourselves as we

yield to YHWH’s spirit in us.  Hot Springs, AR, was a beautiful

area in which to observe the Feast—and there were

things to do and things to see.  Activities are great

and should be partaken of as we are to rejoice before

YHWH.  But the highlight of the Feast for each of us

was right there in the meeting room as we came together

to worship and glorify and stand in awe of YHWH. 

YHWH’s Spirit was there, we are gathered together to

worship and glorify Him, and rejoiced before Him and we

submitted ourselves to His Spirit in us so that His

Will might be done—and it is always His Will that we have an

enjoyable, profitable festival.

So, the question was asked, “Why are we here?”  Those of a certain background will remember that question being asked, and then

answered in accordance with the understanding at that time.

Today I want to concentrate on one aspect—and perhaps

one main aspect of why we were there—and if there was a

theme to the Feast this year, it was my desire

that this be the underlying theme.

Turn to Deuteronomy 14:23 (The Scriptures)  “And you shall eat before יהוה  (Yahweh) your Elohim, in the place where He chooses to make His Name dwell, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and of the firstlings of your herds and your sheep, so that you learn to fear יהוה  your Elohim always.

This passage has often been applied to the observance of the Feast of Tabernacles and rightly so.  So it is

important to understand that a main reason why we do

what we do and when we do it is so that we may learn

to fear Yahweh our Elohim always. Do we really understand this is one of the most important lessons we can ever learn?  Do we really

understand that the proper fear of the Lord our God, YHWH our Elohim, is at the root of our very relationship with Him?

But what do we mean, “the proper fear of YHWH?”  It is

important that we understand why and how YHWH desires

us to fear Him. Many seem to understand this to a degree—but they seem

to give it a gloss.

Is the proper fear of YHWH the same as love for Him?  

Let’s consider:

In the 1980’s a preacher named Jim Baker (of fame with

his wife, Tammy Faye) was revealed and landed in jail for

fraud and many were shocked and disappointed. When he

was asked when did he stop loving Jesus, he said “ I

never stopped loving Him”. He was then asked how could

you do those things he had done and he answered “I always loved

Him but I never feared Him, this jail is His mercy on

me because I learned He is a righteous God and I would

have gone to hell if I did not go to jail.”  (That, of

course, was said in accordance with his understanding.)

Obviously, Jim Baker saw a difference between loving

“Jesus” (Yahshua) and fearing Him.  It would seem that

he understood that to fear YHWH was to obey Him.  But

he somehow saw loving Him as not necessarily having to

obey Him. Yet the scriptures say otherwise:  Let’s look at

several scriptures that give us direction and show the

proper meaning of “fearing YHWH.”

Just what is the fear of Yahweh?

To answer that question let us use the law of first

reference. Basically what that means is to find the

very first time the phrase is used in the scriptures

and see what or how the meaning of it is given. The

first mentioning of the fear of Yahweh is found in

Deuteronomy 6:1-3:

Deu 6:3 “And you shall hear, O Yisra’ĕl, and shall guard to do, that it might be well with you, and that you increase greatly as יהוה  Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

What we see is that the fear of the Yahweh is to keep

all his statutes and his commandments, or simply obey

YHWH. Even in the first reference, we see a direct

link of the fear of Yahweh to long life and

financial prosperity. Now if we continue reading on,

Yahweh (God) gives a list of statutes to Israel, which we know

as the Ten Commandments. Yahweh says write it down on the

post of your house, write it down on your gates, for

us, probably, stick them to your glasses or computer monitor screen. Do whatever it takes to know and remember them.

Verse 13 says, “Fear יהוה  your Elohim and serve Him, and swear by His Name.”

Again the commandment from Yahweh is to fear Him. He

continues, (Deuteronomy

6:24) ‘And יהוה  commanded us to do all these laws, to fear יהוה  our Elohim, for our good always, to keep us alive, as it is today.’

Again why are we to fear Yahweh?  It is for our good

always. Think about it. Keeping His Word is for our

good. What a great revelation! YHWH is not in the

business of holding us back. He is not saying, “Don’t

let them have any fun or enjoyment.”  No, He gave us

His Word for our benefit. He has your wellness in mind.

We find that the scriptures speak very positively of

the “fear of YHWH”.  We see things in the Scriptures like:  Fear יהוה, you His set-apart ones, For there is no lack to them who fear Him! (Psalms 34:9)

The fear of יהוה  is the beginning of wisdom, All those doing them have a good understanding. His praise is standing forever.  (Psalms 111:10)

He blesses those who fear יהוה, The small and the great. (Psalms 115:13)

Hey, that sounds very good. We all want YHWH to bless

us. We would all like to have no wants. If we want to

enter into His wisdom we must Love Our Savior and fear (respect) Him to reach our destiny.

I asked earlier if fearing YHWH was the same as loving

Deu 10:20  “Fear יהוה  your Elohim. Serve Him, and cling to Him, and swear by His Name.”

Also from scriptures we understand that loving Him

requires our obedience to Him.

I John 5:3 1Jo 5:3  “For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy,”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.”

We will find that to fear YHWH has to do with obeying

Him.  If we say we fear Him but do not obey Him, do we

really fear Him?  The same is true of loving Him.  If

we love Him we will obey Him—we will keep His commandments.

Understanding the extended meanings of Hebrew words

can often correct our misunderstandings of the

Scriptures and explain some things that seem not seem

to make sense. Sometimes they can even change our

attitude toward YHWH! This is what happens when we

understand the broader meaning of the word "fear"

(yirah) in Hebrew, and especially in the context of

the "Fear of God (YHWH)", a common expression

throughout the Scriptures. The idea that we should

"fear Yahweh” (‘the Lord’ in many translations)is found hundreds of times in the Tanach. To many people this can be a source of

anxiety, and may make us not want to read about the

YHWH who appeared to require fright and dread among

his people.

It may surprise people to know that even in the

Apostolic Scriptures, the "fear of Yahweh" is often to be

found. The Gentiles who worship the God of the Jews

are called "God-fearers" and the early church was said

to be built up in the "fear of Yahweh" (Acts 9:31) Then indeed the assemblies throughout all Yehuḏah, and Galil, and Shomeron had peace and were built up, and walking in the fear of יהוה  and in the encouragement of the Set-apart Spirit, they were being increased..

The reason is because the "fear of Yahweh"

was an extremely rich idea that goes far beyond our

literal understanding, and is wonderfully positive in

application. By understanding the Hebrew meaning of

"fear", and the rich Israelite thinking about the

"Fear of Yahweh" we can shed great new light on this

subject.

The key to understanding the Hebraic idea of "fear" is

to know that like many Hebrew words, it has a much

broader sense of meaning than we have in English. To

us, "fear" is almost always negative - it is the

opposite of trust, and its synonyms are fright, dread

and terror. In Hebrew, it encompasses a wide range of meanings

from negative (dread, terror) to positive (worship,

reverence) and from mild (respect) to strong (awe). In

fact, every time we read "revere" or "reverence" in

the Tanach, it comes from the Hebrew word "yirah",

literally, to fear. When fear is in reference to Yahweh,

it can be either negative or positive. The enemies of

YHWH are terrified by Him, but those who know Him

revere and worship Him, and all are meanings of the

word "yirah". 

How Should We "Fear Yahweh"?

Many Christians understand "the Fear of the LORD (Yahweh" as

the fear of the punishment that YHWH could give us for

our deeds. It is true that everyone should realize

that they will stand at the judgment after they die—or in the case of true disciples, during this time of trying. But a true disciple who knows that his sins have been forgiven and blotted out should not have this kind of fear of Yahweh anymore, although some do. People who have been steeped in this kind of "punishment mindset" have a very hard time loving YHWH. This is what John speaks against when he says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves

punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected inlove." (1 John 4:18). 

Interestingly, in rabbinic thought, fearing YHWH's

punishment is also understood to be an incomplete and

inferior understanding of the term Yirat Adonai (Fear

of the Lord—it must be remembered that because of misunderstanding of the Scriptures, the Sopherim of Judaism inserted ‘Adonai’ in place of ‘YHWH’ in the scriptures to avoid possibility of breaking the third commandment). At its core is self-centeredness – what

will happen to me because of Yahweh's knowledge of my

deeds? Knowing the broader implications of the word

"fear" in Hebrew, the rabbis came to a different

conclusion - that the best understanding of the term

Yirat Adonai (YHWH) is the idea of awe and reverence

for Him that motivates us to do His will. 

This helps many passages make sense and show why the

"Fear of Yahweh" is so highly praised in the

Scriptures.  With this understanding of the fear of

YHWH we are to have, let’s look at some of these scriptures.

The fear of יהוה  is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Set-apart One is understanding. Prov. 9:10

In essence this scripture tells us that if we don’t

have the fear of Yahweh, we don’t even have the

beginning of wisdom.

Prov. 14:26 - 27 

Why is it a fountain of life?  Because it leads to

obedience of the instructions given by YHWH.

The "fear of Yahweh" in these passages is a

reverence for YHWH that allows us to grow in intimate

knowledge of Him. It teaches us how to live, and

reassures us of His power and guidance. It gives us

a reverence of YHWH's will that keeps us from getting

caught in sins that will destroy our relationships and

lives.

A Sense of God's Presence

One aspect of Yirat Adonai that the Jewish culture

have focused on is the idea that we should be

constantly aware of the His presence. Over the top

of Torah closets in many synagogues is the phrase

"Know Before Whom You Stand", and this is the idea of

realizing that an infinitely powerful YHWH is close at

hand.

People sometimes tell stories of how on the death bed

of a family member, they had a strong sense of the

presence of Yahweh, and have felt great reassurance from

it, and awe for him at that time. Or in worship, there

is no greater thrill than to feel spine-tingling awe

at the grandeur of Yahweh. In this sense, to "fear" Yahweh

is to be filled with awe, and it is one of the most

profound experiences of our lives, spiritually. We can

see why the "fear of Yahweh" as an awesome sense of

His presence around us is really the essence of our

life of faith.

In some areas of so-called Christianity, there is a

lack of thinking of God as present with us now. God is

spoken of in abstract terms, as if he is a theory

rather than a being, and we sound like we don't expect

to have any interaction with Him until we die. It is in this vane that many have come to believe that the gifts of the Spirit are not for today—and thought they see a need to spread the Gospel, they deny the signs and miracles that were to follow and confirm the message. This is

partly because of our Greek heritage which focused on

the spiritual world as being utterly apart from the

material world. While our culture may have taught us in

that manner or direction, the scriptural witness is that YHWH's Spirit is very much present in the world now.

There is an enormous difference between study of the

Scriptures that has Yirat Adonai, reverence for Yahweh,

and a purely intellectual approach. The emphasis on

that in Judaism is found in a famous quote from

Abraham Heschel who says that while Greeks and those

they influenced (Europeans and Americans) study to

comprehend, those of Hebrew descent study to revere. 

Higher education in biblical studies in Western

countries tends to be entirely intellectual, and

Christians who take academic Bible classes often find

them dry.

That is what happened when many who believed they were

leaders in the Church went to get their divinity degrees in the

universities.  Their pursuit was purely intellectual

and there was no fear of YHWH—and they accepted the

conclusions of so many in the mainstream.

What they are looking for is His voice speaking

through the scriptures, and to find it they first need Yirat

Adonai. The rabbis had an excellent saying:  that a

scholar who does not have Yirat Adonai is like a man

who owns a treasure chest and has the inner keys but

not the outer keys. He has a treasure but can't get

at it. To study the Bible without reverence is a dry

enterprise that will never unlock its true meaning.

Our Moral Foundation

Another thing that Yirat Adonai gives us is an inner

moral foundation. When we know Yahweh knows our thoughts,

we are compelled to act not just for what other people

think, but for what He thinks. This is what Paul

refers to in Col. 3:22 when he says "Col 3:22 Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh in all respects, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing Elohim.”

Reverence of Yahweh gives us an inward sincerity, because

we don't do things just for external appearances, but

to please YHWH who knows our heart. 

One old story illustrates this point:

A rabbi once caught a ride on a horse-drawn wagon, and

as the wagon passed a field full of ripe produce, the

driver stopped and said, "I'm going to get us some

vegetables from that field. Call out if you see anyone

coming." As the driver was picking vegetables, the

rabbi cried out, "We're seen! We're seen!" The

frightened man ran back to the wagon, and looked and

saw no one nearby. He said, "Why did you call out like

that when there was nobody watching?"

The rabbi pointed toward heaven and said, "God was

watching. God is always watching." 

An awareness of YHWH's presence will motivate us to

obey him. Some may still think of it as a fear of

punishment, but it does not have to be this way for

true believers. When we have reverence for someone, we

feel terrible to know we've disappointed them. When we love

someone, we earnestly want their approval on our

lives. Indeed, the "fear of Messiah" that Paul talks

about should really be a sense of Messiah's majesty,

and a longing to please Him. When we know he is always

with us, it causes us to live as the disciple he wants

us to be.

My father was never a severe disciplinarian.  Often it

seemed he didn’t punish enough.  But my four siblings

and I held him in such high esteem that by doing

something contrary to his wishes, and seeing his

sadness in our disobedience was punishment enough.  It

is said that during our childhood our parents stand in

the place of our heavenly Father.  And that the manner

in which we relate to our parents will pass over onto

our heavenly Father when we mature.

Yirat Adonai - What Yahweh desires most

Amazingly, Yahweh says that what he truly desires is that

we "fear Him": Once again, “And now, Yisra’ĕl, what is יהוה  your Elohim asking of you, but to fear יהוה  your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve יהוה  your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being,

... (Deut 10:12) 

In this passage, the first words are to fear YHWH, and

they are equivalent with the rest of the passage – to

fear YHWH is to revere him, which will cause us to

walk in His ways and serve Him with all our being.

Properly understood, there is no greater desire that

we should have than to have a "fear of Yahweh" - an

awesome sense of YHWH's presence in our lives that

will transform us into the people (His children) that

He wants us to be.

So, do we fear YHWH?  For a moment, let’s look at an example of a family that really did fear YHWH, and what was expected in

return, and how they followed through to demonstrate

true fear of YHWH.

Pro 3:10 Then your storehouses shall be filled with plenty, And your vats overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:7-10)

“But that is easier said that done.” Really? Believe

me, Yahweh knows that, but if you willing and obedient,

He will protect you and help you do it.

As you step out in faith, ask Him for the help to need to live in this manner.  Listen to David’s 15th Psalm:

He honors them that fear Him. He

will bless them that fear Him, both small and

great. He shall increase you more and more, you

and your children. If you are serious, Yahweh will honor

you and increase you. Because you are walking in the

fear of Yahweh, you have a right to expect Him to be on

your side. 

Look at this story in 2 Kings.

Verse 1 --And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared יהוה. And the lender has come to take my two sons to be his slaves.” (2 Kings 4:1)

This widow woman came to the prophet of Yahweh. She essence she told

him, “My husband died and left me in a heap of debt,

and you know that we did fear Yahweh. They are going

to take my two sons away from me. I expect you to do

something. My husband and I walked in the fear Yahweh. I expect to be honored. I expect protection. I

expect help. Do something!!”      

She was expecting to be helped in this situation.