Duty-Bound
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments because this applies to every person. Ecclesiastes 12:13
Fear – Our view of God is really out of whack. We have been soaked in the “God of love” theological myopia so long now that we are unable to see God’s greater character. Anything that produces uncomfortable feelings about God is put on the shelf. So, when the narrator of the work in Ecclesiastes says that the final word about God is fear, we either dismiss his thought as Old Testament ancient history or we walk away confused. We never stop to ask why the Bible employs this phrase over and over. We are stuck in the love muck. That’s perfectly all right, some of the time, but without fear we will never really understand Who God is.
The New American Standard Bible translates this verse with a gloss. It uses the expression “this applies to every person” as an attempt to capture the Hebrew thought, not the actual Hebrew words. We need those words because they explain the basis for fear. The real words are “for this is the whole of human being.” The phrase is about duty. What it says is that all humanity is duty-bound to fear God and keep His commandments. Our role in the divine government of creation is to act as faithful servants. Whenever we forget that this is the single most important duty of being human, we abdicate our relationship with God.
Fear (Hebrew yare) is the expression of respect, awe, honor and dutiful obedience before the Supreme Being. The Biblical view is so saturated with honor and glory to God that it cannot imagine worship without fear. Trembling, fragile, insufficient human beings present themselves before the throne aware of their unworthiness. Without a healthy regard for my sin, I cannot enter into worship of the holy God. Unless I fully acknowledge my finite dependence, I will bring pride and arrogance into the temple. Fear is the basis of worship. Not love, not compassion, not grace or forgiveness. Fear! Yes, love, grace and mercy flow from the throne toward me, but they are the basis of my thanksgiving, not my worship. I can come to God rejoicing, thankful that He has accepted me, but when I chose to worship, I must be overwhelmed by the majesty, the power and the holiness of Who He is.
No one, believer or non-believer, has any greater duty than to fear God. That is the end goal of all redemptive work, because fear of the Lord puts everything in the right order. Sin is nothing more than a deliberate choice to disregard Who God is. Sin is denial of human duty.
Until we understand and adopt this fundamental duty of being human, our lives will be out of whack with the real world. You might think that you can survive on God’s grace and love alone, but you will have missed the point. God’s grace and love usher you into a world where you can experience the joy of being duty-bound to Him. Fearing God makes us human.
