Fear the Holy LORD

How important it is for God's people to fear Him and walk in His ways!  In our age of grace under the New Covenant it is possible our familiarity could lead to lack of reverence.  There were occasions in scripture when people acted presumptuously and paid a heavy price for it.  The situations recounted to us in the Bible remind us of God's holiness and man's tendency to forget our unworthiness to approach Him.

After the ark of God was brought into battle by Hophni and Phinehas, it was taken by the Philistines and set in the house of their god, Dagon.  Twice the image of Dagon fell prostrate before the ark of God, and a great plague broke out among the people.  For 7 months the ark was moved through the major cities of the Philistines, and death and destruction followed it.  The ark was returned to Israel on an unmanned cart drawn by two cows who made their way straight to Beth Shemesh.  The people rejoiced to see the ark, the cart was chopped up for wood and Levites offered the cows as a sacrifice to God.

But though Levites were involved in the process, the people transgressed by looking into the ark of God.  1 Samuel 6:19-20 says, "Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?"  The people wondered who is able to stand before their holy LORD God, and the answer was clear:  no one who sins can stand before God.  The wages of sin is death, and the punishment of death was righteous and just when unsanctified people transgressed His commands and treated His presence as a common thing.

Another incident occurred when King David sought to bring the ark into the Tabernacle erected in Jerusalem.  The ark had been housed with Abinadab and his sons Uzzah and Ahio brought the ark on a cart.   2 Samuel 6:6-7 reads, "And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God."  The ark of God had no business being set on a cart when it was to be carried by the Levites, and Uzzah was struck dead for steadying the ark when the ox stumbled.  The happy procession was quickly sobered by the shock death, and after David looked into the matter he realised they had not followed the proper order.

Moments in scripture like these serve to remind Christians of the awesome God we serve and not to treat His presence or His word like a common thing.  God is unapproachable in glory, yet He has graciously taken human form in the person of Jesus and brought the hope of forgiveness and salvation to us.  As many as believe and receive Him have the right to become children of God.  Having been justified and sanctified by His grace, we should retain the fear of the LORD which is the beginning of wisdom.  God remains God, and we remain mere men.  His ways are higher than ours, and our thoughts are not God's thoughts.  Instead of being filled with pride and speaking presumptuously, we ought to be further humbled God knows us and still loves us with an everlasting love.  We have been delivered from punishment and power of sin, and thus we should repent and walk righteously.

God is not just one of many "gods" or idols worshipped by men, and Christianity is not another religion.  The Bible is not like other books, and Jesus is not like other men.  1 Peter 2:17 shows us the fear of God is central to righteous relationships with others:  "Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."  We are to value all people and fear God, and we can reverse this:  we can be afraid of men and their power or opinions and this reveals we are not fearing God as our Sovereign like we ought.  When we truly fear God the honour of others is kept in the proper degree.  Solomon wrapped up his musings in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Instead of fear of death or punishment, Jesus emphasised the importance of our obedience to God being prompted by love of God in John 14:15:  "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  We have been given eternal life and our sins have been atoned for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus loved us first, and so we love Him in return.  God's love is not a common thing, for it is eternal and borne of God's goodness, compassion, mercy and grace.  Fear the LORD, you His saints, for He offers life and rest for all who trust in Him.  Fear of God smiting us should be replaced with the knowledge that we deserve to be, and yet He loves and accepts us as sons and daughters.