Troubled Times
“But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not fear the LORD God.” Exodus 9:30
Do Not Fear – If you thought that you could appeal to God in times of trouble, you better take another look at Moses and Pharaoh. After half a dozen plagues, Pharaoh faces economic disaster. The agricultural base of Egypt is being destroyed. Along with it goes the political power and the religious control. Pharaoh is in desperate straits, so he appeals to Moses. “I have sinned this time; the LORD is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.” Sounds like repentance to me, right? But Moses comes back with this verse: “I know that you don’t fear the LORD.” Repentance over calamity is not equal to fear of God. Appealing for help, even after confessing sin, is not the same as reverence, respect and awe. Moses was right. Pharaoh wanted out of his disaster, but he wasn’t ready to become God’s slave.
Moses uses some very strong language in front of the supreme ruler of the land. Terem tirun (literally, “not yet do you fear”) was a slap in the face to the mighty Pharaoh. With the twitch of a finger, Pharaoh could have had Moses executed. But Moses stands before Pharaoh as an equal, and delivers a damning message. “God isn’t finished with you yet. Your pride has not been destroyed.”
We better listen carefully. Pharaoh thought that he could just get God to fix a few things. He thought that an appeal, even if it was heart-felt, was enough to remove his present catastrophe. But it wasn’t! God was not interested in compliance. He was interested in broken-ego submission, and Pharaoh still had his own objectives in mind.
Contemporary Christianity is filled with the spirit of Pharaoh. “God, please fix this for me. I am so sorry. I have sinned. Take away this terrible calamity.” But behind all of these remorseful words is the intention of returning to “normal” life. There is no fear of the Lord – yet! What Moses sees in Pharaoh, we see in the church today. One woman I know called it the “Jesus umbrella.” Somehow we think that Jesus is there to fix everything so that we can go on with our agendas. Moses warns us: There are many plagues still to come before you will humble yourself. To fear God is much more than asking forgiveness. It is to come to the place of utter surrender, where even the possibility of following another path is sickening. It is to see only one agenda for life, and that agenda is not yours. It is to know (in the Hebrew sense of yada – with deep intimacy) that God is the absolute Sovereign over everything I have, all that I do and all that I hope for. To fear God is not to ask for God’s help to accomplish my desires. It is to sacrifice my desires for God’s purposes, no matter what the cost is to me.
Few of us really fear God. But we are learning to fear Him. The disasters and sufferings of life train us in submission and humility. We need that kind of training. Without it, we might think that God is here to serve us! Pain is my friend whenever it helps me fear the Lord. And it helps me fear the Lord whenever it shows me once again how little I am in control and how much I owe to the only holy God.
