The Bible talks a lot about fear. Unfortunately, when scholars translate verses relating to fear, they seem to be lacking in imagination.
In the Hebrew Scriptures the most common words translated into English as “fear” share a connection with the Hebrew root yirah.
Yirah has two distinct connotations. It can refer to the paralyzing terror that comes from knowing our lives are seriously threatened. It can also refer to the respect, reverence, and awe that are rightly due to a great and benevolent power.
It is essential in reading biblical texts to be mindful of the context in which yirah is used in order to determine which of these senses is appropriate.
When yirah is used to refer to the human relationship to God it should be understood to imply respect, reverence, and awe. When we are encouraged to yirah God, we are being instructed to live our lives with awe in the face of the deep mystery and Power that brought all creation into existence and that sustains all of life. It is the kind of feeling we might have when we see the extraordinary awe-inspiring beauty of God’s creation, or when we are present at the birth of a baby. It has nothing to do with feeling frightened.
The distinction between fear as respect, and fear as terror is important in thinking about our relationship to God. As a father, I hope I have my children’s respect. I never want them to experience terror in my presence.
So, when the writer of Proverbs says,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight (Proverbs 9:10)
he is not encouraging us to be scared of God. He is saying that wisdom starts when we have deep respect, reverence, and awe in the face of the deep wonder and mystery of life.
The Bible constantly counsels against the kind of quaking fear that we associate with finding ourselves in a threatening situation:
David said further to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. (I Chronicles 28:20)
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold* of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
O Most High, when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56:3,4)
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, ‘You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off ’;
do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear,
I will help you.’ (Isaiah 41:9,10,13)
Eugene Peterson in The Message beautifully captures the Bible’s message about fear when he paraphrases I John 4:18 to read,
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love.
If God is real, if God’s love for all humanity is true, what can there possibly be in this world that we need to fear?
Certainly bad things happen. There are painful realities in life. People suffer terrible, heart-breaking tragedies. But in the midst of the worst that can take place, we are not alone. We have not been abandoned. There is a permanent, eternal reality that dwells at the heart of our being giving us strength and peace that transcend all the terrors of this life.
The purpose of Bible study, like the purpose of all spiritual practice, is to open our hearts to that place within ourselves where we touch the eternal reality of God’s presence and find that we need not be afraid.
I have been reading the Book of Revelation with a group of guys on Thursday mornings. When we try too hard to understand this complex text we run into pretty dry parched places. But, when we allow the power of the words to break our hearts open, we connect with the real and abiding presence of God in our hearts. This is a reality that nothing can take away from us.
In Romans Paul asks,
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Then he answers his own question saying,
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35,37)
There is no force on earth that has the power to separate us from “the love of Christ.” Therefore, there is no terror that can overwhelm us. There is no circumstance that can finally destroy the force of life and love that flows through all existence.
There is nothing to fear because, no matter what may occur, we can always trust the presence of goodness and love that sustains us for all eternity.
21 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 28, 2011 at 7:21 am
Dave Conway
Thank you, Christopher, for all of these wise words about fear and why we should not succumb to it. They are timely indeed. I will draw upon that wisdom in your words about fear as a lay reader who will (hopefully) lead our service tomorrow morning in a church building and community under flooding evacuation alert, in place of another member of our congregation whose family already had to leave their house because of the floods. (Their daughter lives in Slave Lake. Yes, you can imagine what the past few weeks have been like for them.)
(I should hasten to add that Zita and I have the personal luxury of not being directly at any risk of flooding at our home, though we have neighbours whose front doors were only six inches about water yesterday. Such is the lay of the land and where the creeks and rivers flow.)
May 28, 2011 at 9:45 am
jaqueline
For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear,
I will help you.’ (Isaiah 41:9,10,13)
When you write about fear Christopher it comes across to me as though we are stupid for being afraid. I am not sure I am reading your words right and the perhaps the wording is ambiguous to me. If you are telling us there is nothing to be afraid of I am not sure that is fair. Please forgive if I am getting you words wrong, but it seems a fine and important distinction…and that is what is motivating the following comment:
Need to fear? No-one ‘needs’ to fear, it is our natural visceral reaction to things that are too big for us. Fear is our safety mechanism, it tells us to run or fight or freeze…God is calling us to Him for safety and in his presence we are free to stand , be peaceful and act.
The comfort I find in those verses is not that there is nothing to fear….it is that in the light of the reality of God’s presence we have a refuge and antidote for the fear they provoke in us. Fear is no longer our refuge. Love is. It is God’s presence…it is the reverence and awe of our relationship with God that allows our fear to be calmed and courage to step forward. It is never ever because there is nothing to be afraid off…there are LOTS of things to be afraid of…THAT’S the point.
It’s not ” I am so stupid for being afraid, God loves me” it’s ” I am afraid, I will run to God and find courage and strength in Him.”
It is not ‘ stop being so afraid ( you sissy ) ‘ it’s ” Hey kid, focus on me I will get you through this…for me these are small things , see? They might be too big for you alone, really , don’t be afraid I AM WITH YOU.
It’s the difference between courage in the midst of fear and bravado pretending there is nothing to fear.
May 28, 2011 at 3:54 pm
inaspaciousplace
Your Isaiah quote is beautiful. But I am puzzled by how you read it.
You seem to be suggesting God is commanding something of which we are not capable. God does not say, “Run to me when you are afraid and “I will help you.”
God says, “Do not fear”!
It is not stupid to inadequately fulfill God’s commands; it is human. Our failure does not change the vision to which we are called.
May 28, 2011 at 4:57 pm
jaqueline
I’m sorry..that was misleading putting that quote there. It was one from your post btw. The Isaiah quote is conveying for me the idea of ‘come to me’ ..take hold of my hand.
How can it be God does not say run to me?…God is our refuge. But you may have a point…we may not need to run at all because God is already there.
http://www.topical-bible-studies.org/31-0010.htm
But I think you know what I am trying to get at despite the imagery.
Is it that you read” ‘Do not be afraid’ as some sort of command…like ‘stand up’? Just another thing we can’t live up to? ” Shape up boy”.
‘Don’t let fear win over you’
I seem to read ” Do not be afraid” as words of compassion as words of reassurance…’don’t be afraid , I am with you..it’s OK’, as a parent to a child. or a Commander to his loved soldiers or a rescuer to someone in deep trouble. That is what the Isaiah passage says loud and clear to me.
I do not read ” there is nothing to be afraid of ” ever… I see ‘ in the light of God’s presence we need not be afraid of …’
The point of Paul saying neither death nor life nor angels or demons..is these things are actually really scary….he is conveying Gods adequacy for these things…not their illusion.
May 28, 2011 at 5:08 pm
jaqueline
“You seem to be suggesting God is commanding something of which we are not capable. God does not say, “Run to me when you are afraid and “I will help you.”
God says, “Do not fear”! ”
The scriptures you present yourself contradict this it seems to me; He always always puts the context of not fearing on the condition of his presence.
David said further to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; FOR THE LORD MY GOD IS WITH YOU He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. (I Chronicles 28:20)
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
THE LORD IS THE STRONG HOLD* of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
O Most High, when I am afraid,
I PUT MY TRUST IN YOU.
In God, whose word I praise,
IN GOD I TRUST; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56:3,4)
you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, ‘You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off ’;
do not fear, FOR I AM WITH YOU,
do not be afraid, FOR I AM YOUR GOD
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear,
I WILL HELP YOU.’ (Isaiah 41:9,10,13)
May 28, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Lindsay
“It is not ‘ stop being so afraid ( you sissy ) ‘ it’s ” Hey kid, focus on me I will get you through this…for me these are small things , see? They might be too big for you alone, really , don’t be afraid I AM WITH YOU”
Tweaking a few words …. “It is not ‘ stop being so afraid ( you sissy ) ‘ it’s ” Hey kid, focus on me I will get you where I want you to go …for me these are necessary things , see? They might be too big for you alone, really , don’t be afraid I AM WITH YOU”
May 28, 2011 at 9:24 pm
inaspaciousplace
Jaqueline you write: “The scriptures you present yourself contradict this it seems to me; He always always puts the context of not fearing on the condition of his presence.”
When/where is God ever absent? see Psalm 139, So, when/where is here ever cause to be afraid?
May 29, 2011 at 1:35 am
jaqueline
Oh I see …..Of course God is not ever absent… but are we always in awareness of that presence? It is a little naive to think that we are in constant confidence of it or that we don’t forget or that there is much that dulls it for us or that we do not need to ask for help. Romeo Dallaire in an interview on Australian radio told that he was afraid until he felt the presence of God with him and decided to stay in Rwanda.
God acknowledges our fear, not negates it. One of the most healing things is to be able to say to God ” I am afraid, help me”
“So, when/where is there ever cause to be afraid?”
Why not ask that of a family with a madman with a knife coming after them, or a woman being raped or sex slaves sitting in the cold container? Or a family on the edge of a ditch about to be shot or whatever other situation human beings have found themselves in that cause them to reach out to God? Perhaps I need to say ‘ be open to the presence of God’, so my language is correct?
It is the presence of God that quiets fear not ignores it or pretends that fearful things don’t exist
If there was nothing to fear or if we were never afraid would there ever be need for reassurance to remind us that God is with us? But the Bible is full of reassurance and even David has to cry out to God. Thank God for fear if it means we become open to God.
Thankfully God has compassion on our fear …what a pity if we can’t have compassion on ourselves in the midst of it…after all it is love that casts out fear..
May 29, 2011 at 2:14 am
jaqueline
in trying to understand I thought I might show how I might have written the last couple of paragraphs :
*There is no force on earth that has the power to separate us from “the love of Christ.” Therefore, there is no terror that can overwhelm us. There is no circumstance that can finally destroy the force of life and love that flows through all existence.
In the midst of fearful events, no matter what may occur, a deeper reality exists: the presence of goodness and love that sustains us for all eternity.*
May 29, 2011 at 2:20 am
jaqueline
Nah..that doesn’t work
May 29, 2011 at 12:19 pm
jaqueline
It is a reality that people are afraid, it just is, and to tell them there is nothing to be afraid of is simply the other extreme of fear mongering and it is just as unhelpful. God being present does not cancel out the reality of these horrible things. I doubt we would have needed a crucifixion if that were the case.
We always approach fear as though it is bad, it is not, it keeps us alive and that is why God seeks to reassure us that we do not need to be afraid. We do not need to run or fight or freeze we can stand, be open , be at peace and act because he is with us. He sets us free from the need for fear.
We cannot respond to life as how it should be, we need to respond to life as how it is. We live in a very big terrifying world and we do terrible things to each other that is how it is and God is with us there in the midst of it. THAT is our comfort that is the hope that not even these terrible things separate us from the love of God. Not that these things are not so bad..
Revelation describes a time when we will not shed tears and there will be no more pain and sorrow or hardship or burning sun..that time is not now and we need to give people hope in the midst of their lived experience.
Perhaps it is ridiculous that people living in Victoria are afraid…in the light of what is happening elsewhere perhaps there needs to be a good dose of ‘snap out of it’..Call them to be thankful , call them to be realistic about whatever they are afraid of, call them to help, call them to work toward peace or elimination of poverty…call them to remember God in the midst of fear or pain, whatever, but to tell those who may not have faced real threat that there is nothing to be afraid of in this world does not seem helpful to me.
I have no wish to be bloody minded..I am shaking as I write this and my lips are pale…do I , technically, have any reason to be afraid of a sparkling eyed ( shorter than me, I can take you ) man in a robe?
..No…but it appears I am afraid of disagreeing with you on this..however…I seem to be less comfortable shutting up and staying safe than speaking and being afraid. Make of that what we will . there it is.
May 30, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Kim
Wow, I too am very puzzled at everything that you read into Christopher’s message, Jacqueline. It makes me wonder if you read the blog all the way through before posting your comment. I read that Christopher was clearly making a distinction between:
a) the human “flight or fight” kind of fear we instinctively feel in life-threatening situations (that allows us to recognize when we are in danger, and kick in the life-saving survival instincts we need under these conditions); and
b) the type of fear in the context that Christopher explained (translated from the Hebrew yirah [fear]) to be in reverence and awe of God and the deep mystery within Creation:
‘When we are encouraged to yirah [fear] God, we are being instructed to live our lives with awe in the face of the deep mystery and Power that brought all creation into existence and that sustains all of life. It is the kind of feeling we might have when we see the extraordinary awe-inspiring beauty of God’s creation, or when we are present at the birth of a baby. It has nothing to do with feeling frightened.’
I have no idea how you got that Christopher was implying anyone was stupid for feeling fear. What I got out of his message is that God is complete love, and his love means that we need not fear him. Many Christians misinterpret the passages speaking about fearing God as to mean that he is an austere authoritarian disciplinarian who must be feared or else–instead he is the loving Father who is always there for his children no matter what troubles we face in life.
Nowhere did Christopher hint that we should feel ashamed for feeling afraid in the face of terrifying events in our lives. He is clearly saying, as you have stated in your other posts here, that God is there for us always even in the midst of fearful events. And nothing can destroy our connection to the love of God, no matter how distracted we may be in the midst of “fight or flight” situations. If we survive, it can be helpful to remember this in the aftermath to help us to heal from the traumatic experience (or to pray for God’s help in the midst of the event if we remember he is always present). As you note Romeo Dallaire found comfort and courage when he realized the presence of God was immanent in the midst of the tragic and terrifying events in Rwanda.
‘May 29, 2011 at 1:35 am
jaqueline
““So, when/where is there ever cause to be afraid?”
Why not ask that of a family with a madman with a knife coming after them, or a woman being raped or sex slaves sitting in the cold container? Or a family on the edge of a ditch about to be shot or whatever other situation human beings have found themselves in that cause them to reach out to God?”‘
Seem to me like you took his words out of context again by cutting off ‘”When/where is God ever absent? see Psalm 139,”‘ from ‘So, when/where is here ever cause to be afraid?’ He is not saying there is something wrong with feeling afraid…I read that he is reminding us to remind ourselves that in the midst of terrifying times, we can draw strength and comfort from knowing that God is with us. We can attend to practical realities of dealing with the life-threatening situation at hand, while at the same time remembering we do not face the experience alone.
‘I have no wish to be bloody minded..I am shaking as I write this and my lips are pale…do I , technically, have any reason to be afraid of a sparkling eyed ( shorter than me, I can take you ) man in a robe? ..No…but it appears I am afraid of disagreeing with you on this..however…I seem to be less comfortable shutting up and staying safe than speaking and being afraid. Make of that what we will . there it is.’
I am concerned by how often your posts seem to be coming from a combative and defensive position…your messages frequently appear to be coloured by fear as if others’ opinions you do not agree with are personally threatening to you, and must be countered and overnalyzed at every turn. It’s amazing to me how often words are twisted and shaped according to our own coloured lenses. This blog is specifically designed so all views no matter how diverse can be heard and debated in a safe and open environment. Thanks to Christopher, we are fortunate to have such an open and gentle place to express our views.
It’s time for me to retreat within and find the sacred stillness where God’s truth and love resides, beyond the divisiveness of words.
May 31, 2011 at 1:05 am
jaqueline
Hi Kim,
Clearly ( or muddily )
we are not reading Christopher’s words through the same lens.
I was worried in my first comment that I might be misreading…but whether it is because of defensiveness or a different lens I do not understand his POV the way you do and perhaps can’t .
I regret using the word stupid, because it has conveyed something I had not intended. I did not actually use it isn’t it’s insulting context but in it’s descriptive. That we as human beings are sometimes a bit dull perhaps.
How we read Christopher is up to each of us and we can only share from the way we see things…
“I am concerned by how often your posts seem to be coming from a combative and defensive position…your messages frequently appear to be coloured by fear as if others’ opinions you do not agree with are personally threatening to you, and must be countered and overnalyzed at every turn.”
What you write could be true. I am not sure, I do know that I am direct and I wonder if sometimes that comes across as combative…or if disagreeing with someone automatically implies being combative ?
It is interesting that you uphold that this is a safe place. A number of people have commented on that; that the quality of discussion on here is higher than in many places. I had hoped that feedback included my contribution. But after what you write it occurs to me that what I share on here might be the opposite. I am indeed sorry if that is the case.
Does that mean it is safe only for one type of comment though, and those comments that disagree or challenge or analyse, it is not a safe place for them? Or that those sort of comments make it unsafe for others?
The fear described while writing is because I wanted to share my reality of fear in the present moment, not to imply Christopher was scary or this was an unsafe place….
I am not afraid of people disagreeing with me; I am actually much more afraid of disagreeing with others. Maybe I just don’t know how to disagree nicely. Maybe I just can’t do it.
Sometimes I just see something differently and sometimes it just isn’t the same, it just isn’t and I share it anyway because I don’t understand truth as just being one POV and my deepest belief is that even disagreement calls us to be open to what might be different and new and deeper that either point of view. Life and love and light are loud and messy as well as silent and contained and that we should all pitch in, really, all of us, even if we don’t agree.
I don’t know how many times in my life I have been told to shut up. Christopher is the only person who has consistently told me to speak up. Maybe I have gotten carried away….I don’t know.
The fear you observe is the sense of trepidation I have whenever I feel something inside seems to want to speak.
Then why do I bother commenting? I have wondered about it, in a way I have felt frustrated that I am so open on here and in a way I have been grateful. You see I do not have many avenues in which I can contribute or share about God or spirituality . I had hoped, perhaps in an odd way this was where God wanted me to contribute and participate with life at St Phil’s or with the Body in general ..but honestly if that is not the case I am not sure I should be writing here just for the sake of hearing my own voice if that voice is not helping in some way to build the Body up.
At any rate, I think it was very brave to be so honest about what you think about my comments and well really I ought to be told. I find what you write hard hitting , and of course it is not easy to hear ( especially when I kinda thought I was the opposite, you know -open trusting and honest ) I am not sure you have the whole picture, but what you share I do need to ask myself …. ….and I do thank you for speaking up.
May 31, 2011 at 9:02 am
Lindsay
I stumbled across this in the Economist the other day … and reading through realized how easily I’ve been confused by British euphemism …. like if someone says ‘fascinating’ in a response what does that actually mean? For me, I guess, I like things to be clear … sometimes it isn’t …even when we all speak English ….
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/05/euphemistically_speaking?page=1
Jaqueline, you talk from the heart, Woman, it’s is a brave and rare gift to be able to do that … I might not always agree with what you say each and every single time, but I’ve often wished that I could express myself as honestly as you do … The bottom line and what I appreciate the most is at least I feel I understand what you’re saying and your responses have often helped to clarify topics … I hope you continue
June 3, 2011 at 10:23 am
jaqueline
It might help to explain that although Christopher and I come to the same conclusions, it is our starting point that is different, and that is where the disagreement/ misreading seems to originate.
I see ” Do not Fear , I am with you” as a benediction , a reassurance, Christopher sees it as a command. ( as far as I can tell ). Christopher seems to be saying the REALITY is God is with us so we don’t need to be scared…I am saying that our EXPERIENCE is that God is not with us so of course we are scared.
the crux of the different way we see things seems to be encapsulated in this :
“God does not say, “Run to me when you are afraid and “I will help you.”
God says, “Do not fear”!
It is not stupid to inadequately fulfill God’s commands; it is human. Our failure does not change the vision to which we are called.”
Both benediction and command call us to not be frightened but it seems to me that we cannot hear ” Do Not be afraid” without ” I am with you”. It is the utterance of ” I am with you”,that is important to me and makes it a benediction .
When I say ” run to God, I am talking about an inner turning around a choice that we make in the light of the truth of God with us to turn to the God in faith instead of relying on fear. But can we make that choice without God reminding us that he is present? Christopher questions, why run to God God is already here. To which I explain, yes God hasn’t left us, but we in our consciousness and experience have left or lost sight of God.
The idea of turning around and seeking God in our consciousness is important to me it seems …
” Do not be afraid , I am with you” seems to assume that we need to be reminded of God’s presence . How Christopher’s quote above puts it SEEMS to put it assumes that we are aware of the fact of God’s presence and we just have to obey.
Does anyone else see the difference and why it might be important to make the distinction , I don’t know; but I hope to modify the puzzlement as to why I might venture trying to address it, and it would be nice to soften the impression of me just being defensive or contrary. But then why would that matter?
You see IF there is any value in it, IF there might be any help in this view for anyone other than myself or IF it is a piece that Christopher MIGHT have missed then I would hate for it to be hindered by my own incomplete and broken way of putting things.
June 4, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Lindsay
Hey Jaqueline, I wish I could help throw some light on this for you, but everything just comes back to more questions … mostly about fear – what it is when it is justified eg. “So, when/where is there ever cause to be afraid?”
“Why not ask that of a family with a madman with a knife coming after them, or a woman being raped or sex slaves sitting in the cold container? Or a family on the edge of a ditch about to be shot or whatever other situation human beings have found themselves in that cause them to reach out to God?”
Like … how often are we really in these extreme situations when fear is justified? Even in countries where terrible things happen often, most of life is spent getting on with life and is not spent in this moment. That’s not to say there aren’t people who are repeatedly subjected to extreme life-threatening situations with physical, and extremely traumatic danger, just that generally such moments account for a very small part of our lives and yet they can consume an enormous, disproportionate amount of our energy … before and after the event.
It seems that so much of our lives are consumed with worrying about what might happen, when really equally the thing that worries us the most might not happen, or something else entirely different might happen, or even if our worries come to fruition (sometimes self-fulfilling) when the “attack” happens, the actual event and outcome unfolds in a way that is different from what we anticipated and feared beforehand. It’s kinda like that glass which is half-full or half-empty … it’s the space that has nothing in it, which we fill up with positive or negative anticipation, rather than focusing on what’s actually happening and responding only to that part. I guess I’m trying to figure out how much of fear is justified and how much in unfounded …. ?
And … how much of our fear is self-fulfilling?
And how much does our fear stunt us and prevent us from living fullfilling, loving and creative lives, blinded to the beauty and majesty of God’s creation?
We’re so afraid of the pain that we live as though we are in pain, even before we have any reason to, and long after the pain inflicted has healed. And yet nothing really can prepare us for the pain itself or how that pain will transform us … because we just don’t know beforehand what it will be like … or if it will be as bad as we think it will be, or whether we will cope with it in the way we think we might. I’ve never been able to predict how I would deal with a frightening situation … in the moment all my “preparation” flies out the window … and in the andrenalin rush/deer in the headlights moment I surprise myself completely … by responding in a way that I never thought I could … or would, and each situation is different …
June 4, 2011 at 8:35 pm
jaqueline
It all seems to come back to this:
Genesis8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
June 4, 2011 at 8:53 pm
jaqueline
(I think some of what you bring up about fear in dangerous situations we have discussed elsewhere.)
But to be honest Lindsay..I am feeling a bit worn and discouraged. Honestly I am not sure I have much more about it to write. Sorry. Maybe we can just have tea and chat about it in person?
June 4, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Lindsay
Yup, let’s do that.
Yesterday I found myself going in that same direction … Did you see the movie “Never let me go” … it’s quite nihilistic and depressing … like that. We’re just here as the playthings of an egocentric God? … Surely that can’t be all there is to it! But tonight there’s that part that says if we were meant to be circumcised we would have been born circumcised (I don’t mean you and me literally … actually it could be …. they have female circumcision, don’t they? … hmmm … uggh, let’s not go there ….
).
If that’s the case, then everything we are is for something more …
Tea tomorrow night?
May 29, 2011 at 6:17 pm
inaspaciousplace
“it appears I am afraid of disagreeing with you on this”
It would be dreadfully dull if everyone had to agree with me all the time.
June 30, 2011 at 8:40 am
Yirmiyahu
“The distinction between fear as respect, and fear as terror is important in thinking about our relationship to God. As a father, I hope I have my children’s respect. I never want them to experience terror in my presence. ”
Analogizing your relationship with your children to your relationship with God doesn’t always work. As I know you are aware, you are not Him and He is not like you.
Because God Almighty is love does not mean that God can not be absolutely terrifying.
The Tanakh depicts a great deal of events that involved people realizing terror in their relationship with God. Here’s one that I’ve found interesting as of late…
One of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow prophet by the word of the LORD, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.
He told him, “Because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD, mark my words: When you leave me, a lion will kill you.” When he left him, a lion found him and killed him. – 1 Kings 20:35-36
It’s interesting to read that bit in the full chapter context, but I think it stands alone quite well. I wonder if that son of a prophet was terrified and confused as he was killed by a lion?
I do agree that ‘fear of the Lord’ does refer to our reverence for Him out of acknowledging the frightening reality of a Being that is out of our realm of comprehension, but I also think it’s worth taking a look at the whole of Scripture along with personal experience to weigh in on what Scripture means when it refers to ‘fearing the Lord’. Read 2 Samuel 6 when Uzzah touches the Ark. Was David’s fear of God at that time a matter of wonder and awe, or was he afraid of being struck down as well?