Exodus 19 — Thoughts

What does it mean to fear God?

What does it mean to fear God?

Fear is usually a negative emotion. We don’t love the things we fear. A bully at school. An angry boss. We can’t trust people who make us feel afraid. So how can we both trust and fear God?

I heard someone say once that the idea makes more sense if we think of “fear” as “respect,” but I want to go deeper.

We fear something when we recognize that it is the most consequential thing in the moment. And because we know it’s the most consequential thing, we give it our full attention. That can look like a response to danger, but that can also be a response to power. We both fear and love powerful things like fire and electricity.

The Israelites saw God’s power on Mt. Sinai. Thunder. Lightning. Smoke. Fire. Earthquake. God was showing them that He is always the most consequential thing in the moment, so they didn’t need to give their attention to anything else.

When you fear God, fearing anything else stops making sense, because nothing is as powerful as God.

(Originally written May 10, 2022)