[This is part 1 in a series on “the fear of the Lord.” See part two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten].

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris 

One of the main tools of so-called “governments” for gaining control and submission over the populations that they have come to lord over is inducing fear in them. This has been a trick of those who seek power over other men since the earliest departures from God’s prescribed patriarchal, familial rule. The fear created in the government-caused “Great Depression” led, not coincidentally, to a dramatic expansion of government agencies and policies — all justified by the fear. And these interventions only made things worse. So numerous and unmemorable were these creations of the State that they have been called the “alphabet agencies.” 

The fears generated after the Depression were able to lead the U.S. into WWII, and from it emerged a veritable empire that would continue on the path of expanding its powers. Then came the events of September 11th, 2001, which led to another radical expansion of government powers and agencies under the fear of “terrorism.” This led to calls among the people for more war, more control, more power, more spending, and less liberty. 

In recent times, we had Operation “Covid-19” that once again had many people looking to the government to protect them and once again justified unprecedented measures against individual liberty. This time it was incursions like “stay at home” orders and ruining jobs and businesses by decree. For the past twenty years, we’ve been living under a permanent emergency. 

These things happen when we fear men, i.e., when we fear “governments” or their enemies and call for greater political power to “protect” us. 

These calls for “political protection”—whether by admitted socialists who call for state control or by unwitting socialists whose mantras “back the blue” and “support the troops” help to expand the state system—are sigificant demonstrations of a lack of trust in God. 

Fearing God and avoiding “governments”

If you ask an atheist what fearing God means, they assume that God is some abusive parent who, for selfish reasons, calls everyone to fear Him. This is not at all what it is about. Rather, God wants us to fear Him so that we don’t fall for the schemes of men, worship at their altars, or reap the consequences of doing so in the form of His passive or active wrath against the inherently idolatrous kingdoms of men. 

Though I have a longer article on the fear of God in the works, this is the essence of the notion of fearing God, which the scripture calls us to do. A major part of fearing God is to fear the judgments that He brings upon disobedient individuals and societies which walk after the ways of men. A sufficient fear of God would keep people from erecting, supporting, and reverencing man-made State systems that lead to their own captivity and desolation. 

God’s call for us to fear Him is precisely to keep us from revering men and their traps. The lessons on fearing God are supposed to cause men to turn away from such violent and disorderly systems as political rule. Scripture directly relate these concepts. “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13). God-fearing men could never worship governments as the professing “Christians” of our day largely do. The truly God-fearing man could never think that he needs something like a “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” (NATO), the State in general, or any other invention of man, to keep him safe. He would never find himself—this will really trigger most people—calling for a need for the “Allied Powers of WWII. “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom these people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid” (Isaiah 8:12) (See also: 2 Corinthians 6; Isaiah 20, 30, 31, 36; Jeremiah 2). The God-fearing man would see that all these things are traps that bring the snare. A sincere reading of the prophets could keep anyone away from such delusions. 

The rulers want us to fall into the fear they generate, so they can have further excuse for seizing power and enacting “emergency” measures that clamp down on liberty and expand their schemes to take the place of the Almighty. They want us to think that we need States, or a confederation of states, to keep us safe. This is to draw us away from the true and living God, to cause us to trust in and rely upon men. 

As one commentator explains the above exhortation (“say ye not”) of Isaiah, 

“Do not join in their purposes of forming a confederacy. Do not unite with the king and the people of Judah in their alarms about the threatened invasion by the kings of Syria and Samaria, and in their purpose to form an alliance with the king of Assyria. The reason why they should not do this, he states in Isaiah 8:13, where he exhorts the nation to put confidence in the Lord rather than in man” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Isa 8:12).

We should never have entered into false alliances or allegiances with men. As the prophet also warned, 

“Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces” (Isaiah 8:9).

 If men read their Bibles and feared God, they would have never set up “United States Armed Forces” to (allegedly) protect them from their enemies but would have known that God also provides in the realm of physical, earthly protection as much as He does the salvation of the eternal soul. But men in our world see “The Chinese” or “the terrorists” and—fearing men—turn toward political systems to “protect” them. But men in the scriptures were instructed otherwise. When they had come up against armies, God told them. 

“Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22).

That men clamor for the “protection” and “national defense” of police and militaries today is a prime example of just how little they know God, despite the many millions of men who mix the two ideas and say idiotic things like “God bless our troops.” Moses, after all, didn’t raise an army, or even lift a finger, to get out of the hands of Pharaoh; he relied on God’s protection and simply walked out. One of David’s sins was to count the fighting men in Israel to ascertain his strength, neglecting that God was the source of his strength. To trust in God means to trust in God for everything, including “national security” that the false god state purposefully usurps. God offers this protection, so that we don’t need national armies. 

“The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 1:30).

“But,” people say, “they’re too powerful…we need a powerful army to match them.” But the size of the armies of men who have organized into States are no match for God. For an example, see the story of Gideon beginning in the sixth chapter of Judges.

“When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you” (Deuteronomy 20:1).

How many people think like this today? Very few! Most of them say the opposite: “The Chinese have fighter jets, tanks, and infantrymen, so we need them too!” They don’t trust in—or rather fear—God, but instead trust in and fear men. This makes their knowledge of God more than questionable. It must be mentioned at least 100 times in scripture, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:36). If men don’t remember God for His ability to deliver us safely out of the hands of state rulers, but say that they need States to protect them from their enemies, do they know God?

We are everywhere in scripture exhorted to not fear men, knowing the type of slavery and forsaking of God that it brings. Men calling themselves “legislators” or “law enforcers” may put us in cages or kill us, but our souls are eternally saved by Jesus Christ. As the gospels teach us, 

“I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-5). 

We are in the Lord’s hands, and men can ultimately do nothing about it. Amen. 

The problem is that men don’t want to learn these lessons. “They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:29). They prefer to idolize police officers, soldiers, veterans, flags, presidents, and governments instead. 

Fearing men

The opposite of fearing God is to fear men. This may come in the form of fearing some bogus foreign enemy like “the Chinese” or “the Russians,” which causes people to justify setting up a domestic police state, or in fearing the agents of the police state themselves. Either way, it brings more statism, more idolatry, to society. When men fear men, such as foreign governments or “the communists” as they did in the “Cold War,” they turn around and set up communist systems of their own to combat them. 

Now it’s easy to see why God cautions against fearing men and exhorts us to place our fear, and faith, in the Lord instead. As God’s word warns, 

“The fear of man bringeth a snare” (Proverbs 29:25).

Praise God for His good word. Amen. When we fear men, we allow them to perpetuate numerous and endless schemes and traps in our society. Now that’s wisdom: the fear of man bringeth a snare. 

When we give into the fear of men and worry about what they may do to us, we allow these political systems to grow in power and influence. As we read in the scriptures, people “all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15). 

We get enslaved by “governments” when we fear men, and these statist societies, far from bringing peace and liberty, result in wars, famines, and the destruction of social order. Following the path that God has provided for us, and refusing to turn to statism, to idolatry, is what would lead men to true security. 

“I’ll give peace in the land so that you’ll lie down without fear. I’ll remove wild beasts from the land, and not even war will come to your land” (Leviticus 26:6).

God says faith in Him keeps away war! Ah, but what do most men tell us? “If it weren’t for the U.S. military, we’d be speaking Chinese.”

Preparing for the future

Their fear campaigns are not over. We’re told in 2 Timothy 3:12-13, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Before long, it will be nearly impossible to figure out what is going on in an all-around chaotic society that they will continue to create, and absolutely impossible apart from the wisdom and discernment imparted by the Spirit of God. Most Americans aren’t ready for what these evil elites have planned for us. They don’t know what it’s like to live in a war zone, be terrorized daily, and be constantly weary of everyone they come across. 

We need to be mentally and spiritually prepared for the things they are going to hit us with in the future. We can’t forget that things like “World Wars,” which have always been operations of the power elites and financed by central bankers, result in an all-around socialization of economy to shift resources towards feeding the beast system and its destructive enterprises. We should expect—for our sins, our idolatry, to be sure—more abuses by Pharaoh’s agents, more decrees by lawyers, shortages of goods, further clampdowns of movement, more lies, more schemes, and a more apparent captivity. 

Keeping the faith

But fear not! This is why we have our one, standard, objective truth in the word of God, and our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and King. When we are in Christ, we needn’t worry about what men can do to us. While the psalmists often expressed their worries about the statists who were conspiring against them, their faith in the Lord to rescue them from their enemies was unmoved. With God on our side, we can say, 

“I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about” (Psalm 3:6).

We can never let the fear campaigns set up by men cause us to give into their systems and support them, for the very things they hope to do is cause “domestic terror” scares and justify a further unleashing of the police state. We must know that God is with us. As the most well known psalm declares, 

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

“Governments” are organized criminal gangs that conspire together to subjugate the people under themselves rather than God, but our faith must remain in the Lord. 

“All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off” (Psalm 118:10).

Some Biblical commentators have understood well the lesson of fearing God over fearing men and their lies of “national emergencies,” and either laying down in green pastures (Psalm 23) with food and shelter, or starving in prison camps. 

“It concerns us, in times of trouble, to watch against all such fears as put us upon crooked courses for our own security. The believing fear of God preserves against the disquieting fear of man. If we think rightly of the greatness and glory of God, we should see all the power of our enemies restrained. The Lord, who will be a Sanctuary to those who trust in him, will be a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offense, to those who make the creature their fear and their hope” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, Isaiah 8:9-16). 

We ought to just stay in the word, stay in prayer, and keep our faith in the Lord’s salvation. 

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5).

Praise God for not leaving us alone down here with those who hate Him and hate us.