Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FEAR

Anxious dread or terror in the face of danger; also reverence to or awe of God.

Fear is a common human emotion in response to danger or the supernatural. Adam and Eve are afraid of God after they eat the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:8-10), and Jacob is afraid of Esau after he takes Esau’s blessing (32:11). When the Israelites are ready to cross the Reed Sea, they become fearful for their lives as Pharaoh and his armies draw closer (Exod. 14:10). People of the Promised Land would “melt in fear ‘before’ ” the coming Israelites (Josh. 2:9). The prophets preach that to fear God’s coming judgment is a reality none could escape (Jer. 5:22, 24; Amos 3:8; Zeph. 3:7). When Tobias begins his journey, both his father and mother have parental fear for their son’s life (Tob. 5:16-21). “Fear and dread” fall upon the seacoast peoples who encounter the army of Holofernes (Jdt. 2:28). When Gabriel visits Mary she is told to “fear not” (Luke 1:30). The women who find Jesus’ tomb empty are seized by “terror and amazement” and are afraid to tell others of their discovery (Mark 16:8).

While “fear of the Lord” can mean outright fear of God’s presence, it also means to revere God, an idea most directly expressed in the Wisdom Literature (e.g., Prov. 2:5). Fear of God is connected to keeping the law and commandments (Eccl. 12:13) and is “the whole of wisdom” (Sir. 19:20) and “the root of wisdom” (1:20). Most succinctly stated, “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

To fear God, then, is to be completely devoted to his will and its rewards while knowing the awesome consequences of not fearing him. This is the background to Paul’s injunction to the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

Marc A. Jolley

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FEAR

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)