{"id":59715,"date":"2021-02-25T23:53:02","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T05:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=59715"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:55:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:55:50","slug":"why-god-ask-us-to-fear-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/why-god-ask-us-to-fear-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Would God Ask Us to Fear Him?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><h2><strong>Several years ago I was invited to speak at a Christian event on a college campus. The team brought me in to talk about the fear of God to their students. <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I admired their willingness to cover a subject that is hardly discussed in the Church. But I have to admit, I suspect they brought me in because no one on their team was eager to address the topic themselves!\u00a0<\/span>I don\u2019t blame them. This topic is difficult to understand, and raises legitimate questions about how God has chosen to relate Himself to us.<br \/>\n<strong>Christians say that God is good. They say that God is our friend. That we can draw near to Him because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. <em>So why, then, we are supposed to fear God?<\/em> Let\u2019s discuss!<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Christians Can&#8217;t Ignore This<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I would bet you\u2019d be more likely to hear about the &#8220;fear of God&#8221; at an atheist convention than at a church. Churches today tend to focus on God&#8217;s love so attendees don&#8217;t feel &#8220;uncomfortable.&#8221; But the fear of God doesn\u2019t take long to stumble across in the Bible. It is literally throughout God&#8217;s Word, from Genesis to Revelation &#8212; <em>in at least 274 verses<\/em>!<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"1\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715-1\">1<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715-1\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"1\">This is the count I came up with when I set out to study every verse that addresses this topic.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are just a few examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Deuteronomy%206%3A13&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deuteronomy 6:13<\/a>: \u201cFear the L<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ORD<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm+2%3A11&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Psalm 2:11<\/a>: \u201cServe the L<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ORD<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with fear and celebrate His rule with trembling.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleref.com\/2-Corinthians\/5\/2-Corinthians-5-11.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2 Corinthians 5:11<\/a>: \u201cSince, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/1_peter\/2-17.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1 Peter 2:17<\/a>: \u201cShow proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some say that to &#8220;fear God&#8221; is simply to have a sense of awe, wonder, reverence, and respect for Him. But if that\u2019s the case, why doesn&#8217;t the Bible simply tell us to \u201crevere\u201d or \u201crespect\u201d God, rather than &#8220;fear&#8221; Him? Evidently, the word \u201cfear\u201d is still most fitting to describe this biblical concept in most contexts. It\u2019s not a perfect translation, but it\u2019s close. This can feel troubling for many people, particularly those who fear their own father.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>So\u2026 Is God Using Fear Tactics?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Western culture tends to view fear as bad, especially when used to manipulate others into submission. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the biblical concept of fear has a wider concept. It captures more than just the negative perception we may have of it.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"2\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715-2\">2<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-0000000000000d3b0000000000000000_59715-2\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"2\">See Stuart D. Sacks, \u201cFear,\u201d Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 781.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>In the verses above, I hope you can see that the concept of fearing God is connected to our obedience.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The author of the book of Ecclesiastes considered fearing God to be the most meaningful thing we could do with our life (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/ecclesiastes\/5-7.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ecclesiastes 5:7<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/ecclesiastes\/12-13.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12:13<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). The prophet Nehemiah even called Israel to fear their God so that they wouldn\u2019t be taunted by their enemies (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/nehemiah\/5-9.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nehemiah 5:9<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our modern culture, however, we&#8217;re so removed from this thinking that &#8220;fearing God&#8221; is a difficult concept for us to appreciate.<\/span><br \/>\nBut would the Jewish authors of the Bible<em> really want us to believe that God is a tyrannical bully<\/em> who manipulates us, His children, with fear tactics? No way! <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No devout author of Scripture would ever mean to communicate this. No devout Jewish community would have considered including such a crazy notion in their religious writings. <\/span><br \/>\n<strong>The concept of \u201cfearing God,&#8221; then, <em>must<\/em> have a meaning different from our modern understanding.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Fear Can Be Good For Us (And We Know it)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, we talk about \u201chealthy fear\u201d being a useful tool for our making wise choices. For instance, we buckle our seat belts because we fear what might happen to our body in a car accident. And young men protect their girlfriends while out on dates, because they fear how the fathers might react if they don&#8217;t return their daughters home safely. I&#8217;m sure you can think of other actions you take on a daily basis because of a perceived negative outcome.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, God wants to instill a sense of <em>healthy<\/em> fear in our hearts to keep us from making poor decisions contrary to His commandments. Because <em>we believe His guidelines are for our good<\/em>, our posture of submission and gratitude compels us to obey His voice.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our response has nothing to do with a damaged or unhealthy relationship between us and God. Any argument to the contrary ignores the moments of Scripture that clearly imply otherwise. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just a few examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/biblicalperspective\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Psalm 25:14<\/a> reminds us, \u201cThe L<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ord<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a friend to those who fear Him.\u201d <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/biblehub.com\/psalms\/103-17.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Psalm 103:17<\/a> says, \u201cBut the love of the L<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ord<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> remains forever with those who fear Him.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By the path opened to us through the blood of Christ, we can be close to God. Does this involve an element of fear? You bet! But at the same time, we <em>affirm<\/em> that it is good. Because God is good, and He loves us, we can trust Him.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"border: 2px solid #cccccc; background: #d7d7d7; padding: 18px; color: #1a2c63; text-align: center;\"><strong>Simply put: God\u2019s power over the universe is so extraordinary that it\u2019s scary. I would suggest that any person in his or her right mind would respond accordingly. Our response should one of reverence; our awe, obedience, and showing Him due honor and respect.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Next Steps:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>We&#8217;d love to pray for you! Please send us a prayer request <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/request-prayer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via this form<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Is something keeping you from <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/what-keeps-you-from-loving-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">loving and worshipping God<\/a>?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to start a relationship with God? Click <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/spiritual-growth\/know-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>!\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h5>Matthew Tingblad is a communicator at Josh McDowell Ministry with a seminary education from Talbot School of Theology.<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"modern-footnotes-list \"><li><span>1<\/span><div>This is the count I came up with when I set out to study every verse that addresses this topic.<\/div><\/li><li><span>2<\/span><div>See Stuart D. Sacks, \u201cFear,\u201d Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 781.<\/div><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several years ago I was invited to speak at a Christian event on a college campus. The team brought me in to talk about the fear of God to their students. I admired their willingness to cover a subject that is hardly discussed in the Church. But I have to admit, I suspect they brought [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23327,"featured_media":59719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"When the Bible tells us to fear God, is that because He's a bully who manipulates us?? Not all all! 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