Exodus 20:18-20
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin."
This event takes place when Israel had just been lead out of slavery in Egypt and Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. The Lord descended in the form of fire and smoke onto the mountain and made quite a show of it. This passage clearly shows us that we need to fear the Lord, but what does that really mean? The most common interpretation of "fearing" the Lord, is that we merely respect Him as we would our father, this was a good interpretation for many ages, but not so much for today. In modern times, children may respect their father, but not with the kind of fearful respect they would have had 200 years ago. 200 years ago, the kind of respect a son would have for his father would be respecting that he is in authority and that he has the ability to punish harshly. That is the kind of fear God wanted the Israelis to have, and it's the same fear He wants us to have; a fear of His awesome power.
Now, the Israelis feared God and let that scare them away from intimacy with Him; let us not make the same mistake. God didn't want to scare them away from Him, He wanted to remind them that He is a great an awesome God; He wanted them never to forget that He is a God of love and mercy, but He is also a God of justice and judgement.
Sometimes we get so comfy cozy with God that we forget that He is not only our friend, but is also the king of the entire universe, and is to be respected with fear and trembling. So, next time God throws something scary into your life like He did with the Israelis, take that moment to remember how awesome He is, and how mighty are the works of His hands.
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin."
This event takes place when Israel had just been lead out of slavery in Egypt and Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. The Lord descended in the form of fire and smoke onto the mountain and made quite a show of it. This passage clearly shows us that we need to fear the Lord, but what does that really mean? The most common interpretation of "fearing" the Lord, is that we merely respect Him as we would our father, this was a good interpretation for many ages, but not so much for today. In modern times, children may respect their father, but not with the kind of fearful respect they would have had 200 years ago. 200 years ago, the kind of respect a son would have for his father would be respecting that he is in authority and that he has the ability to punish harshly. That is the kind of fear God wanted the Israelis to have, and it's the same fear He wants us to have; a fear of His awesome power.
Now, the Israelis feared God and let that scare them away from intimacy with Him; let us not make the same mistake. God didn't want to scare them away from Him, He wanted to remind them that He is a great an awesome God; He wanted them never to forget that He is a God of love and mercy, but He is also a God of justice and judgement.
Sometimes we get so comfy cozy with God that we forget that He is not only our friend, but is also the king of the entire universe, and is to be respected with fear and trembling. So, next time God throws something scary into your life like He did with the Israelis, take that moment to remember how awesome He is, and how mighty are the works of His hands.