"Fear This"

Have you ever wondered about the scriptures that exhort us to Fear God? I have. In fact, once I was reading a passage in the King James translation of the Bible and then read the same verse in the NIV. I don't remember what verse it was, but I was so impressed that the NIV translated the Hebrew word, hary, (Yirah - Strong's Lexicon #3374) to “awe” rather than “fear”. Obviously, the word “fear” is correct in many cases such as in Genesis 3:10. He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." (New American Standard- NAS)

But what is the meaning of scriptures that exhort is to fear God ?( Psalms 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.)  When reading these words, what feelings are evoked; fear and trembling or love and respect… AWE?

Today I was reading from “God in Search of Man” by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Chapter 7 is entitled “Awe”. Heschel does a great job of delineating the various meanings of the yirah. “According to the Bible, the principal religious virtue is yirah. The word has two meanings: fear and awe. There is the man who fears the Lord lest he be punished in his body, family or possessions. Another man fears the Lord because he is afraid of punishment in the life to come. Both types are considered inferior in Jewish tradition. Job, who said, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him,’ was not motivated in his piety by fear, but rather by awe, the realization of the grandeur of His eternal love.”

What is the other meaning of yirah? It is awe. Heschel states, “Awe is the sense of wonder and humility inspired by the sublime of felt in the presence of mystery… Awe, unlike fear does not make us shrink from the awe-inspiring object, but, on the contrary, draws us near to it. This is why awe is compatible with both love and joy.”

I studied further about the translation of the Hebrew roots in to English. Since I only have access to two translations with Strong reference numbers, I compared the KJV with the New American Standard.  I as surprised to find that for the Strong # 03372, 
Yare', the KJV translates this  word as follows: 
fear 188, 
afraid 78, 
terrible 23, terrible thing 6, dreadful 5, reverence 3, fearful 2, terrible acts 1, miscellaneous 8.

The New American Standard translates the same word as follows: 
afraid 100, 
awesome 21, awesome acts 1, awesome things 4, became afraid 1, became...frightened 2, become frightened 1, cautious 1, dismayed 1, fear 165, fear and awesome 1, feared 36, fearful 1, fearful thing 1, fearfully 1, fearing 5, fears 9, frighten 4, frightened 1, have...fear 1, made me afraid 1, revere 10, revered 3, reverence 3, showed reverence 1, stand in awe 1, terrible 3, terrible things 1, terrifying 2

My point is this: There is more than one way to understand how we are to feel about being in the presence of the Divine. If our lives are full of sin and regret, the thought of being brought before the God can be as it was for Alma. Alma 36:15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

But shortly after feeling the pain of a damned soul, Alma considered the words of his father and suddenly he was changed. 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

Alma 36:19-21 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

Fear and Faith

I have heard is said that a man cannot feel fear and faith simultaneously. Marilyn and I had a discussion on this concept and she feels that with faith, one can walk through their fears, holding on to the faith in Christ. The image of Peter walking on the water is apropos. But I think of fear is destructive to faith, consuming the mind with doubt and anxiety. Awe, on the other hand is almost like a precursor to faith. Awe and wonder motivate a man to desire to approach the feet of God in worship and respect.