Number Four
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 6:13 KJV
Fear – According to Rambam’s list of the 613 commandments, this is number four. “By this injunction we are commanded to believe in the fear and awe of God (exalted be He), and not to be at ease and self-confident but to expect His punishment at all times.”[1]
Is this a commandment that you can keep? Is it too difficult for you? Hopefully you answered, “No, of course I can keep this one.” Ah, but then we might ask, “Do you treat your relationship with YHWH as if it were a relationship with your best friend? Do you presume upon it? Do you assume it will always be in place no matter what you do? Do you come into His presence with fear and trembling, or are you more likely to ask Him for some favor?”
Maimonides may be pressing the envelope for effect when he says that we must always expect punishment, but his point is well taken. Familiarity with YHWH is not an appropriate response. You are not going to sit down with Him in the back yard garden and have a beer. He might initiate gestures of deep intimacy and friendship but those are not something you can presume upon. Perhaps it is not accidental that this Hebrew word, yare, has an umbrella of meanings where all the rest of them are about some form of terror or danger. Perhaps in our attempts to make God into Santa Claus we have ignored, and subsequently lost, a proper perspective on just who we are dealing with. Perhaps in a world filled with democratic ideals we no longer tremble at the very thought of an absolute king. Perhaps what we really need is a good dose of falling on our faces in mortal terror before the One who has life and death in His hand.
It seems to me, and of course I could be wrong about all the things that I seem to think at this moment, but nevertheless, it seems to me that we need to return to two fundamental and critical visualizations about YHWH. The first is that He is absolutely sovereign. Nothing escapes His purview. Nothing is beyond His reach. Nothing occurs without His consent. Sovereignty means totality. I exist because He desires it.
The second is that He is to be feared. Not only does He hold my life or death in His hand, He is worthy of my every effort of devotion. I owe Him everything. He presides over me in every way. His favor or disfavor determines everything about my life. I am expected, no – commanded! – to be in reverence and awe before Him, and that usually means to be on the floor on my face. Anything else is presumptive arrogance or unimaginable foolishness.
So maybe we need to start over. Maybe we need to start with this: On my face in humble obedience to the One who rules all.
Topical Index: fear, yare, sovereignty, awe, Deuteronomy 6:13
Well Skip,
I think you hit the nail on the head. It seems that we have two ways to bend our knees to our Maker with fear, the easy way and the hard way, it will be done nevertheless. After a deadly trial or multitudes of not so deadly trials, we finally succumb to the truth.
We are at first horrified at this truth, but once we find it, it is exquisitely, joyfully, humbling… At HIS pleasure.
Thank you writing about it.
Oh Skip, through tears of gratitude, your message today strikes my heart. Yes the place to be is on our faces before such a God…………all I can humbly say is a hearty AMEN!
Hi Skip,
Hope your trip is going well!
What struck me in the blog today was the word “fundamental”.
Surely one of the fundamentals of having a relationship with God is a good understanding of His total Sovereignty over His Creation. Of course we also must acknowledge His Sovereignty over every aspect of our lives. This helps us enormously in the ups and downs of life and the crisis and tragedies that come our way. This helps prevent or alleviate those crisis of faith that can cut to out core belief when such things as cancer strikes us or a loved one, when we are hit with a financial whammy – a job loss and possible loss of our home due to foreclosure, and on and on. Knowing that He is there, knowing that He is in control of everything, knowing that he has the best interests of all of us in mind at all times can be assuring to say the least.
If I may, I would like to say that my studies of God’s Sovereignty also convicted me of other parts of my beliefs. Understanding His sovereignty was the first and last card to convince me of the viability of the notion of Universal Reconciliation. In 1 Timothy 2:4 we are told that God “desires all me to be saved”. So surely the Sovereign God gets what He desires every time. Else He is not sovereign!
A recommendation. Arthur Pink wrote a classical little book on God’s Sovereignty that I found very helpful even though I disagree with Pink on a few small points. It is available on Amazon for a few bucks. But it can be read for free on line too – just plug Pink’s name into a Google search.
On the point about “fear” and “to expect punishment at all times”, I too have some reservations. Because we are all sinners, we can expect corrective punishments to get our attention. The Book of Revelation is testament to the fact that the whole of planet earth is in for some very serious spanking up ahead as the Father takes out His Righteous anger on His disobedient and disrespectful children.
As I see today’s blog, if we understand God’s Sovereignty at a deeper level, we are much more likely to love Him, have a relationship with Him and seek to respect and obey His commandments. If we are doing that, we have no need to FEAR Him. This is why John was able to confidently tell us “Perfect love casts out fear” (1John 4:18)
In the storms up ahead, Yahshua tells us “many will fall away” (Matt. 24) But if our understanding of His Sovereignty is strong, we will probably be more likely to “endure tot he end”
I love the picture in Rev. of the elders in the throne room. When the king is sitting the elders are sitting. When the king raises up the elders are on their faces casing their rewards at His feet. I think there’s a fear that both gladly obeys when He tells you to sit with Him and a fear of prostrating ourselves when He rises up to judge.
Just my opinion.
Go ask Alice, I think she’ll know
When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead
And the white knight is talking backwards
And the red queen’s off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head
Jefferson Airplane (circa 1966)
Hmmm
When I think of the number four, the old “semantic rectangle” comes to mind (A J Greimas)
Which in the high tech world is known as the “magic quadrant”, think of the (Microsoft logo)
So logically speaking we have four choices, the good, or not good, the bad, or the not bad
However, if we take the Ten Commandments as an example, we have ten good things to do
If we just consider this small subset of commands, we know that we need to fear the Lord
If and when we decide to choose the not good, the bad, or the not bad
On the other hand, we have the irrational option
Which would inspire fear in us whether we needed it or not
Ezekiel’s Vision of God
4 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5 Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. 8 The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. 9 Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.
What are God’s goals for us?
If only we could go “Back to the Garden,” the one described in the Book of beginnings. And speaking of beginnings or “origins,” according to the word of God, ~ the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom ~ (Proverbs 9.10) It has been said, (and I agree), -“you cannot truly love someone you don’t first respect.”
“Perfect love” (mature love) begins with fear, but perfect love also casts out fear. According the disciple whom Jesus loved: ~ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love ~ (I John 4.18) There is no need to fear Someone who loves us “perfectly.”
(Please.., do remember and know this- punishment and chastisement are NOT the same!)
The love of God, or should we say more specifically, the love from God, the love that flows from God towards all of His creation (of which we are but a small part) is that “perfect love.” But we should know this also, God, our Father and our “Lover” is a jealous God. We are to “love the LORD our God with ALL our heart-soul-mind-and strength. (NOTE:- did I do well here?- Hebrew “dashes” in lieu of Greek commas!) What (exactly) does God want from us?
Our undivided attention, unreserved loyalty and unqualified fidelity- He wants the “ALL” of us. I believe Andrew Murray has described it best as “Absolute Surrender.” Absolute surrender to what? To the LORDship of Jesus (who is the) Christ. Are we (finally) ready to surrender and to listen? It is not in running, but in resting we will find the strength/comfort of the LORD. ~ In quietness and in confidence shall be our strength ~
Where is our confident hope? It is in the LORD (Himself). Let us (boldly?) ask the needful questions. The word of God will provide us (all) with the answers we need.
~ Who is the LORD that I should obey Him? ~ Oh, Pharaoh! If only you knew! This is the second greatest question in all of scripture, (in this man’s small opinion). Even though it was a rich and influential fool who asked it- we too must ask the very same question: – Why should I obey Him and do as He “commands?” – Probing further still.. (stop me when this finds a nerve..)_ Why do we insist and persist in our rebellion against Him, when “all” of His “commands/instructions for rightly-related living are for our own benefit and well-being? (yes, -shalom!).
Pause and reflect upon what has become known as “the beatitudes,”- attitudes that ought to be. “If only.” Such mental-emotional-marital-social-economic-world health, healing and well-being could be ours.. “if only.” If only we would “do” or practice these things. The more “Christ-like” we become, the more we are rightly-related with God and with each other and the more our Father is pleased with us. ~ My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ (The Messiah) is formed in you! (Galatians 4.19) Fathers, is this true? ~ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth ~ (3 John 1:4)
Goals should be clearly demarked and defined. This is what we are striving and laboring for – This is both the goal of our Father and the mark of our maturity:
~ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ ~ (Ephesians 4.13) Unity- Oneness-Wholeness-Well-being (and yes, -Shalom!)
When peace like a river attendeth my way.. -when sorrows like sea billows roll..- whatever my lot, You have taught me to say: “it is well, -it is well with my soul.”
This is well-pleasing unto our prodigal Father:
~ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers (all My children) to dwell together in unity ~ (Psalm 133.1)