TK Torah Keepers

The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10 KJV)

For those of us who have been raised with the knowledge of Yeshua, his life, death, resurrection and ascension, “fear of YHWH” may seem somewhat foreign to us.  We are accustomed to hearing the many scripture passages declaring Father’s love for us.

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17 KJV)

YHWH hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3 KJV)

Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 KJV)

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. ⁸ He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 KJV)

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 KJV)

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16 KJV)

With this great testimony of YHWH’s love for us it is difficult to receive or emotionally connect with the concept of the fear of God.  We may recall the words of the Apostle John,

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18 KJV)

To understand this conflict we need to understand what is meant by “the fear of God”.

For those who do not believe in God at all there is no fear of God evident in their lives.  This is what Abraham saw when he entered Gerar.  Abraham feared for his life and asked Sarah to say she was  Abraham’s sister instead of his wife.  When King Abimelech abducted Sarah YHWH threatened to kill him.  Abimelech confronted Abraham and asked him why he would do such a thing.  Abraham pointed to the lack of fear of God in Gerar.

And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? ¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. (Genesis 20:10-11 KJV)

For one who has encountered the Holy One and is thus becomes a believer, the fear of God is better understood as the fear of death as a result of seeing the Holy One.  We witness this type of fear in children of Israel as they stood at the base of Mount Sinai and heard the voice of YHWH speaking to them.  It is also evident in Manoah and his wife as the messenger of YHWH visited them.

And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. (Exodus 20:19 KJV)

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22 KJV)

The fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom, however, is not a fear of the presence of God but the fear of his absence.  When we ponder the Eternal One and his creation, we quickly realize that everything that exists, exists in him and by him.  All creation is but the expression of the Eternal One’s will, nature, and desire to be known and loved.  All life has its source and sustenance in the Creator.  Apart from the Creator nothing exists.  YHWH is sovereign over the whole of creation. 

Most of our time and lives are lived in the finite.  We are distracted from thoughts of the Eternal One. We are busy preparing our daily bread, earning a living, caring for our families, studying for school, searching for entertainment, managing our households, and pursuing hobbies, sports, or shopping. Much of our life is spent with the mundane realities of life.  We live our lives on the assumption that tomorrow will be much like today.  We plan and go about our daily lives assuming that time simply continues. 

But on occasion the even the mundane can become monumental.  Every now and then, life reminds us that we are not the lord of our own lives.  Either by circumstance or, on occasion by revelation, the reality hits us that we too are finite.  When this revelation becomes reality we suddenly realize how fragile and limited we are. For the believer this is when we begin to understand the “fear of God”.  It is not that we fear being in the presence of his Holiness, though this should never be taken for granted, but it is the fear that our behavior, attitude, and priorities would separate us from the one who loves us beyond measure.  This is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. 

This fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, because it is wisdom to recognize that YHWH is sovereign, YHWH is loving, and that YHWH is the source of all our blessings and our lives!  When this reality becomes clear to us, we live our lives in a completely different way.  When we realize that all life is in YHWH, and because of YHWH, we realize that we are not the center of the universe.  We also realize that we are not solely responsible for the world.  Instead, we realize that we are just one part of the Creator’s greater plan and purpose for life.  When we feel overwhelmed we realize that we are not alone but that our Heavenly Father is there for us.  When we realize that it is YHWH who is responsible for the sun shining, the crops growing, the birds singing, the blessings flowing, our hearts beating, our minds thinking, and our lives happening, we do not want anything to separate us from this love.  YHWH is our strength, our security, our sustenance and our salvation. 

When I ponder the impossibility of life without YHWH, or life alienated from YHWH, I tremble.  Such thoughts, while frightening, are also what makes me all the more ready to cling to YHWH throughout my day and free my heart and mind from the many mundane distractions that otherwise would overwhelm me.  Truly the fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom.