Learning the Fear of the Lord

Exodus 20 NASB95

1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 ‘You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

INTRO: How many of you are familiar with the phrase “Fear of the Lord?” Good.

Now, if you are not well-versed in Scripture, you might think of the fear of the Lord to be what a dad instills into his kids… or better yet, what a dad might instill in that young boy wanting to date his daughter.

But in Scripture, we see that the fear of the Lord is a bit broader than this. For instance:

In much of the Old Testament, we see that God’s people were described as God-fearers. Abraham feared the Lord, and obeyed God when God told him to take his son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice.

Job is described as one who feared God and turned from evil.

Deut. 10:12 says that God requires His people to fear Him and walk in His ways.

Psalm 19:9 “9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.”

Psalm 111:10 , Prov. 1:7, 9:10“10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”

The thing is, for the last century or better, many Christians have softened this idea to mean simply to revere or respect the Lord. Now, I’m not saying that isn’t part of it, but I certainly think that when we miss this point, we are apt to become soft ourselves.

In fact, I believe that the reason we struggle so much with sin is because we do not have a good understanding of the fear of the Lord. Thankfully, God gives us just what we need to learn the Fear of the Lord. That is the focus of today’s message from Exodus 20.

Now, we’ve studied this passage before and looked primarily at the 10 commandments. We are not going to spend much time today looking at the specific commands, but instead are going to aim at verses 18-21, referencing the surrounding passages as we go.

So, if you have a bulletin, ready your sermon guide and let’s study God’s Word together. The sermon is titled, “Learning the Fear of the Lord.”

As we think about the word, ‘fear,’ there are often associations made in your mind. You might fear heights, snakes, tight spaces, or public speaking. These all fall into the category of fear that the Israelites first experienced here at Mount Sinai. We are going to label this type of fear:

10 commandments helped define sin.

God came- manifested himself so that people could understand the majesty of the Law-giver, and thus be wary in any cavalier approach to God or His law.

The scene is both terrifying and glorious. Can man handle God’s glorious presence? This passage reveals a wrong fear of God, a right fear of God, and God’s mercy in mediation.

Ambiguous Fear (18)

(READ)

I use the word ambiguous because the fear they experienced was undefined. They did not know what to think about God- the only examples of god they had seen were humans made into idols. These little g gods included Pharaoh and others and their power was limited.

When God sent the plagues into Egypt, He was demonstrating that He, by Himself, had immensely more power that all the little g gods of Egypt. So, as they were learning God, they experienced his generosity through the water and manna, but now, they are seeing a truly magnificent scene:

God manifested Himself on the mountain; there was fire, smoke, thunder, lightning, earthquakes…

The Israelites had been warned by Moses not to cross the boundary lest they die.

So, you can imagine that the fear experienced is overwhelming. They did not know what to expect, and what they were witnessing was nothing short of terrifying.

ILL: Do any of you have dogs? We have a couple dogs- one of them is afraid of thunderstorms, which I think is pretty normal. But she’s also terrified of the exhaust vent in the kitchen. Whenever I turn it on, she runs and hides under a bed. You see, she is afraid because she lacks understanding. Her fear is one of ignorance.

The Israelites were right to fear God, but their fear was an ignorant fear, so it was not defined. They stood at a distance because they did not know this God and were afraid. Look with me at the first part of v. 20- Moses instructs them: “Do not be afraid, God has come to test you...”

What Moses is getting at is this: God is trustworthy.

They need not fear that God would harm them so long as they stayed in the boundaries. God is good and thus will not violate His word.

They need not fear that God would be unjust nor fickle. He is righteous and faithful.

They need not fear that God is oppressive- He’s not a bully!

He came to this mountain so they might know Him. And He demonstrated great restraint- We are talking about the God of the universe who is un-containable, yet he limited His manifestation so that the Israelites could approach Him.

Ambiguous fear is fear without understanding.

When we are thinking about our own fear of the Lord, we must understand that God does not desire that we have an ignorant, ambiguous fear. God didn’t want His people to stay at a distance in their fear—He wanted to define that fear, shape it into something life-giving. So, let’s now look at the:

Appropriate Fear (20)

(READ)

Ok, so Moses says don’t be afraid, but fear God. Clear as mud, huh?

Let’s look further. Now, God had just given the 10 commandments, which were defining the boundaries for Israel. There is some debate as to whether the Israelites comprehended the words, but they certainly understood that God was speaking.

The reason Moses could say, do not be afraid, is because God had defined clear boundaries that would ensure that Israel would not suffer the wrath of God. If you think about it, this manifestation and communication was an act of love and mercy.

God was giving them an invitation to know Him - He rescued them from Egypt and now demonstrated his majesty in such a way that they could know the serious nature of God and at the same time the joy of salvation of the Lord.

You know, it’s dangerous to be close to the king. There are many rewards- riches, security, etc… but if you get greedy, like Haman in the book of Esther, and subvert the authority of the king, the consequences are great.

Have you ever read “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis? There is a part where Aslan is being talked about between a young girl and a couple beavers…

Susan asked:

“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The little girl’s fear of a lion begins almost ambiguous- After all, can you trust a lion? But what is explained is that the power and might of the lion are dreadful, but the character of the lion, a representative Christ figure in this book, is good.

Another example that people often use is the sun. You know, the sun is great- it brings life on the earth! It brings warmth and light. But you don’t just go running up to the sun. If you get too close, you’ll be burnt up! If I go outside in the summer without proper protection, I’ll turn lobster red. I don’t fear the sun in that I’m afraid the sun is going to do something unexpected. Rather, I fear the sun and respect the boundaries and rules for being in the sun and I enjoy the benefits of its rays. If I break the rules, I’ll pay the consequences.

An appropriate fear of the Lord is not negating his power nor is it inflating our own worth. Rather, it is recognizing the invitation of God to draw near- to be close to Him in all His splendor and to choose loyalty and obedience to Him over the trappings of the world. Appropriate Fear is fear that draws us close.

To fear Him is to obey Him- to keep us from inviting His wrath upon us and also knowing the seriousness of disobedience. The 10 commandments say, “You shall...” not “You should”

Still, you can see that Israel’s fear was this: Can we maintain the proper boundaries? Can we even come so close as to hear his thundering voice and live? Or, put another way, How can we navigate an appropriate fear of the Lord?

Of course, God is gracious and kind and He made for Israel and for us an:

Accommodated Fear (21)

Now, the people, in v. 19, asked for Moses to mediate. let’s actually read that (READ 19)

What is so great about this is that it was all part of God’s plan that the people would be led or shepherded by Moses. In Exodus 19:9 “9 The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.”

Moses was set up to be a mediator, but the Israelites needed to see the might and power of God in order to be willing to listen and obey Moses when he brought the law to the people. Their fear of the Lord led them to receive counsel from Moses because they heard God, they saw the power on display, and witnessed Moses go up to meet with God.

In this way, God made Himself approachable through Moses. And look, God would demonstrate His might many more times because the Israelites seemed to have a short memory. But, and we’ll see this in the next several chapters, God was setting the Israelites up for fellowship with Himself.

But they needed to come to God with the right boundaries and in the right way. Moses was a great mediator, but he is for us a foreshadowing of the Mediator Christ, presented in Matthew’s gospel and the greater Moses.

In God’s story, He reveals Himself so that we can know Him. But knowing Him is knowing that we are unfit to be in His presence, for we are sinners. We regularly miss the mark. Isaiah came to this conclusion in Isaiah 6:5, where he saw the image of God’s glory that filled the temple and cried out “Woe is me! I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips!”

“The law reveals our need; the fear of the Lord leads us to the grace that meets that need—in Christ.

And so here we are- with the invitation to draw near to God- to have a genuine fear of the Lord that leads us to obey, and the understanding of our perfect mediator and king- the High priest of heaven who, in His own words:

John 3:17 “17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Fear of the Lord, then, is rightly knowing God in Christ- it’s knowing that Jesus will one day come and judge all the earth, as the book of Revelation reveals. And it’s knowing that He is good - worthy of obedience and worthy of devotion.

Isaiah 66:2 “2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

I want to give you one final picture: A fireplace is a wonderful tool that allows us to enjoy the warmth of the fire and all its benefits while avoiding the dangers of an uncontained fire. God has allowed us to experience His warmth through Christ- and through the church we get to know Him and learn to obey Him. But, like a fireplace, if we do not take seriously the fire, we will invite ruin upon our lives.

Accommodated Fear is fear met with intimacy.

Do you know the fear of the Lord?

Maybe you are here today and you have an ambiguous fear- one that causes you to stand far off. Today, I invite you: Do not shrink back in terror, but draw near to the Mediator with awe and take serious the Word of the Lord. Understand His majesty! Allow yourself to be shepherded by Christ through His church.

[PRAY]

Discuss: What comes to mind when you hear “the fear of the Lord?”

Discuss: How is ignorance about God's character dangerous for us today?

Discuss: Moses tells the people not to be afraid—and yet to fear God. How do you reconcile those two statements?

Discuss: Read Isaiah 66:2. What does it mean to “tremble at God’s Word,” and how can we cultivate that attitude?