Theophobia

When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. Matthew 17:6 NASB

Terrified – We live in a visual world. Tele-transportation of visual images has altered the face of our reality. In fact, even what used to be ordinary audio communication has now been converted into visual display of characters like the ones you are reading. But the world of the first century Jewish mind was not visually oriented. The thrice daily invocation does not say, “See, O Israel, the Lord is our God.” Speaking was the means of divine communication and hearing was the requirement of the follower. With the loss of audio primacy, a radically new conception of God and the world dominates. Just how much this radical revision separates us from the words of the Lord can be easily determined by asking an ordinary believer to recite correctly even the basic Ten Commandments. Could you do that? Probably not. You would just go look them up in print—in visual form. Remembering what God actually said is no longer thought to be necessary.

But the disciples Peter, James and John were not products of the television and print age. For them, hearing made all the difference. In fact, seeing the transfiguration of Yeshua didn’t strike them with fear. It would probably have had that effect on us (as special effects movie technicians know so well). But the sight of the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Yeshua didn’t drive them to the ground. The voice did!

Why? Why were they effectively unmoved by the sight but terrified by the sound? Ah, when they heard the sound of YHVH’s voice, they suddenly knew they were in the presence of the Most High and that meant they were extremely close to extinction. Just as the children of Israel elected not to approach YHVH after they heard the voice, so the disciples instantly recognized that they were in a place where no man can live. They knew theophobia, the terrifying fear of God.

Unfortunately, we don’t. We have been immunized to the words of God. We have converted those words into visual form, easily put aside, not necessary to memorize, not echoing from the mountains nor spewing forth from His prophets. We read them and consider them no more sacred than any other words. Yes, the meaning is sacred, but without the voice, they are just words. And that leads us to Yaconelli’s observation:

“Faith has been reduced to a comfortable system of beliefs about God instead of an uncomfortable encounter with God.”[1]

If you and I heard God speak, would we be terrified? Maybe, maybe not. The point is that we do not expect to hear Him speak. We have the Book. We don’t really need the author. But the words God speaks written in this Book are the voice of the Lord and they should terrify us. Why? Because if we manage to put ourselves into the scenes described in this Book, we will hear those words from the divine voice and we will be afraid. We must overcome the visual immunity, unlearn the filtered expressions and encounter the living God in the Book, for it is not the Book that matters. It is the God whose words are in the Book that matters, and until we can hear His words voiced from the Book, we will be removed from the uncomfortable encounter.

“But to avoid mystery is to avoid the only God worthy of worship, honor, and praise.” (Manning, p.57)

Topical Index: terrified, phobeo, fear, visual, audio, Yaconelli, Manning, Matthew 17:6

[1] Mike Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder, (Yaconelli. Kindle Locations 311)