[This is part 2 in a series on the “fear of the Lord.” See part one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten].

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

Most people have heard the term “God-fearing” before. Christians commonly use it to describe themselves. But what does it mean? We are instructed early on in the scriptures to be God-fearing. We are told we need to “learn to fear God” (Deuteronomy 4:10), that we should “fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives” (Deuteronomy 6:2), etc. 

Those who are ever-so-ready to disparage God might think “God-fearing” makes God some tyrant who wants men to arbitrarily submit to him for no other reason than that He says so. (Forget that these are the same people who blindly submit to their false god human rulers when they tell them to obey). They think that God-fearing men have some irrational fear of God.

Those who are seeking to submit to God’s ways may consider themselves God-fearing simply because they were told to fear God in the scriptures, which may well be a good enough reason. Some may consider themselves God-fearing simply because they feel it is their duty. And it’s common for it to be thought of as simply the awe, respect, or reverence for the majesty of God, which is not necessarily wrong either.  

God’s judgment on rebellious statist orders

But not much thought is given to what it means to be God-fearing outside of men thinking about maybe their own personal fate in the eyes of the Lord, which is also something we should be concerned with. 

But there is also a wider, social element to this concept and modern Christianity tends to dumb this idea down to fearing what God will do to you personally for, say, the “sin” of smoking cigarettes or something like that. The “fear of the Lord” has a social component, too, that extends beyond the individual. 

And this is what people tend to miss. Seldom considered are the political implications of God-fearing and its role in fighting the tyrannies of man’s systems, which, as we will see, is something like this: Being so scared of the judgment that God has always brought against violent political systems—the Sodoms, Gomorrahs, and Egypts of the scriptures—that you wouldn’t dare trust in an Egyptian plunder system yourself to order your society. After seeing the signs and wonders God has done upon such systems in the past, reading about them in His word, or seeing them all throughout recorded history or in our present society, you “fear the Lord” and avoid the ways of the Egyptians, lest your fate be the same as theirs.

Knowing that political bondage is the result of abandoning God and His kingdom, God-fearers then listen to the words of the Lord, saying, “Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the Lord your God” (Jeremiah 2:19).

In the scriptures, God often smashes political plunder systems to smithereens to try and get people to fear Him and turn to Him and His ways. As one prophet relays, 

“I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed” (Ezekiel 33:28-29).

Anyone who truly feared God could never give into patriotism, police and military worship, flag-waving, rooting for presidents, voting for them, apologizing for state violence, or any other number of idolatries that come along with statism, because they would (rightly) fear being cut off from God. Again, Ezekiel, 

“The word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way? Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry, so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’ Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations. For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 14:2-8).

God wrecks idolatrous societies like ours so that we should see our errors and come to know the Lord and henceforth fear the Lord and avoid these errors. 

And this, I submit, is what fearing the Lord is all about: Fearing what will certainly come upon your society—wars, poverty, prisons, famines, labor camps, genocides, etc—if we defy and distrust God and put our faith (as many have) in Egyptian systems to “save” us. 

As God often warns, 

“If a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, [I will] stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it” (Ezekiel 14:13). 

A truly God-fearing man would realize the judgment that comes from erecting and supporting these political systems that are all based on violence, and say to themselves, “God forbid we should be statists.” Those who still trust in political systems, after all of God’s warnings of the evils they would bring, are men who “have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God’” (Jeremiah 5:24). They are men who are not worried about what statism will bring them.

What the “fear of the Lord” is all about

So we see that there is a law behind this commandment to fear God and that it is not simply some arbitrary religious dictate unworthy of following. When we don’t fear God and fear men instead, whether foreigners, “the criminals,” or even state rulers themselves, we help institute political slave societies that are built on fear and reverence for human rulers. 

To “fear of God” means knowing what happens to men who trust in Egyptian societies, e.g., God sends plagues upon the state rulers and their worshipers, and consequently avoiding such things (e.g., the false gods, the kings, the princes, the footmen). It means knowing what happens when you disobey God and chase after the false systems and vain philosophies of men, and following the commandments of the Lord instead. It means knowing, as economics teaches us, the cause-and-effect nature of our social order (i.e., political intervention and socialization of society brings a destruction of liberty and prosperity), and trusting in God’s ways instead. It means knowing that God’s judgment is upon the wicked statists of the world, and not placing your faith in their evil systems. It means knowing that revenge is the Lord’s (Rom 12:19), and not setting up vengeful statist militaries to go after your alleged enemies, only to itself become the enemy of God, freedom, and prosperity. 

Getting God’s wisdom

Before one can really begin to understand all the problems with our world, namely the severe negative consequences of statist intervention into private life, one must first fear God, i.e., understand that His judgment is upon these systems. 

As we learn in the wisdom literature, 

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7). 

You can’t really know much of anything if you don’t first have a fear of God. This is why statists and socialists alike—the fools who despise wisdom and trust in their own ideas and the “salvation” of men—think they can centrally plan societies and believe in their own abilities to successfully manipulate society with violence. Men who embark on the control of society through the State do not fear God, and they think that judgment—effectively the economic effects of intervention—will never come down on them. They think that God “does not see” or “pays no heed” to their rebellion (Psalm 94:7), or that “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees” (Psalm 10:11).

And it is this judgment—the arm of God outstretched upon Babylon and all her numerous usurpations of God’s kingdom—that men should fear, because when God destroys empires it is not a pretty sight. When men fear men and institute so-called “governments” to “protect” and “save” them, they demonstrate a lack of fear of God, because God destroys these systems and allows these evil rulers to tyrannize the societies that were foolish enough to place their faith in human rulers (Isaiah 10:5, Jeremiah 25:9, etc).

Though average Christians are likely to think God-fearing should cause them to avoid something like sneaking a smoke or having a sip of alcohol (things which I nevertheless do not encourage), the reasons to fear God in the scriptures are the sights of his work upon the wicked ones of the world, e.g., the fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-29), the plagues upon Pharaoh’s Egyptian kingdom (Exodus 7-11), etc. 

In short, a main lesson in fearing the Lord is knowing what God brings upon men—He leaves them desolate and uninhabited—who disobey his law and erect kingdoms of men, and, out of this fear, choosing the ways of the Lord instead. 

Anyone who has seen the works God does upon the kingdoms of men, from the days of the Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, or the Babylonians and Assyrians in the books of prophets, and all the failed empires and regimes of history, should fear-God. And with this knowledge, they should never dare to set up a statist plunder system in the belief they can get away with it. They should know that statism and socialism don’t work, per God. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, sitting at the right hand of the Father, I ask that You transform the hearts of the men on this earth whose hearts are wickedly set on militarism, police violence, war, and other vain philosophies, and that You’ll set Your spirit on them instead. Those who have adopted the spirit of fear of men have been manipulated by the enemy into succumbing to evil systems. Satan has brought men into his darkness by causing them to fear his kingdoms of the world, instead of Your judgment upon them. He has made them fear a society without men ruling over them and providing for their every need. Teach men that You are the true protector and that faith in men only leads to slavery. Lord, exalt your word to the people around us who have been made to falsely believe that protection and freedom rests within political domination systems. I want to see Your word come alive, and for people to wake up to it and live it. Show them that the systems of men don’t work. This is Your law and I pray that You continue to show it to men. Lift it up and show men that Your law is life, and that the “laws” of men are slavery. They think it’s the other way around and are scared of liberty. Humble some men and show them they have been fools. Forgive them, and forgive us too. Teach our people to have some humility long enough to see they are responsible for the Egyptian system that has grown up around us. Show them that the “freedom” of Egypt that they have bought into has been a great deception, and that our men are in captivity. O God, we praise You as the Lord. Only You can deliver us from our enemies. We know that trusting in men has only brought statism upon our societies and that You’re the only way out. Smash these wicked statist systems and free us from their captivity. And let our people learn this time. O Lord, help us to see the way out of Egypt. Keep us safe and protected from our enemies which most of our brothers think are our friends. We know that Egypt’s shade is a lie, O Lord, and we call out to you, “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 17:8). Amen.