Fear God

When we look carefully into all things, we can see that the power of God is so amazing and great. God hangs the heavy earth in empty space like a balloon and makes it keep moving. He governs all things in the universe and keeps them in order, and He even changes the order if He wants.

This past spring, a festival of flowers was spread out; all the spring flowers—both the early spring flowers and the late spring flowers—came into bloom at the same time as a result of climate change. God can make the flowers bloom one after another in their own time, and He can also make them bloom all at once by changing the environment. He can make a hot country a cold one, and a cold country a hot one. When we think of the fact that the Almighty God is our Father and our Mother, we must fear God even more greatly and we also should thank and praise God all the more.

To fear God is the whole duty of man

To fear God means to revere Him with respect and awe. A mindset of fear is the most fundamental attitude of mind that human beings ought to have towards God.

The Bible emphasizes that this is the whole duty of man.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecc 12:13-14

The book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, who was known for his wisdom. He had all the wealth, power and wisdom, and tried everything that a man could desire in this world, but at the end of his life he realized that everything was meaningless. He concluded that all people should fear God and keep His commandments while living on this earth, before the Day of Judgment comes.

Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” Dt 4:10

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? Dt 10:12-13

The reason God has given us His commands and decrees is to help us have the fear of God and come to the way of eternal blessings. So, we must always learn to obey God’s word and fear Him through the teachings of the Bible.

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” Ex 20:18-20

The most dangerous moment for God’s people is when they lose their fear for God. Those who fear God never lose their faith and they do not get involved in any crimes, neither physically nor spiritually. However, those who have lost their fear for God ignore the commands and decrees, which God has given us for our happiness, and they get closer to sin, so that they will finally end up having the same mindset as Judas Iscariot.

The difference between Judas Iscariot and Peter

Judas Iscariot had faith in Jesus and fear for Him at first. We can see that he must have been one of those whom Jesus trusted a lot because he became one of the Twelve and was even entrusted with their finances. However, as time passed by, his fear of Jesus began to disappear.

As he looked at Jesus from a physical point of view, without any fear of Him, everything about Him seemed to him like something that would make him stumble and fall. ‘If He really is God, how come He can’t even do that?’ ‘How come He can’t suppress all those who slander Him?’ The more he looked at Jesus, the more He looked like a mere carpenter from Nazareth who did not have any power, not God Almighty.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a little colt, the people in the streets shouted out loud, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Although the crowd was so loud, Jesus did not stop them, and instead He just passed by them while riding the little colt. It was the process for Jesus to fulfill the prophecy, but it did not look so good in the eyes of Judas Iscariot.

Before the Passover, Mary poured perfume on Jesus’ feet. When she poured it on His feet, wet them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair, Judas Iscariot became angry and complained that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. What he said sounded plausible, but the Bible says that he said like that because he was a thief and wanted to steal the money that he could have made by selling the perfume (Jn 12:1-6). Unlike Mary who revered Jesus and served Him with all her heart and strength, Judas had his mind fixed only on money and he even committed the heinous crime of selling Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus said about him that it would have been better for him if he had not been born (Mt 26:24).

While Judas Iscariot lost his fear of Jesus, Peter always had fear and reverence for Him no matter what situation he was in. One night, when Jesus walked on the water, all the other disciples were terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. However, Peter boldly said, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” As Jesus said, “Come,” he walked on the water while only looking at Jesus. However, when he saw the wind and felt his feet touch the water, he began to sink. Then Jesus reached out His hand to catch him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” He could have praised him, saying, “All the other disciples are just trembling with fear, but you even walked on the water. You have the greatest faith of all!” Instead of praising Peter, however, Jesus rebuked him for his lack of faith (Mt 14:25-32).

Peter was often rebuked by Jesus even for things that he did faithfully for Him.

Despite all those rebukes from Jesus, however, he was never discouraged. Even when Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Get behind me, Satan!” he did not lose faith in Jesus but kept following Him till the end (Mt 16:23).

Since he loved and feared Jesus so much no matter what He said to him, Jesus entrusted him with the mission of feeding God’s sheep before He ascended into heaven. As Jesus said to him repeatedly, “Do you love me?” he confidently said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” But when Jesus asked him the same question the third time, he was worried that there might be something lacking in his faith, and he confessed his love for Jesus once again. Here we can also see how much Peter revered and honored Jesus (Jn 21:15-17).

The forefathers of faith who feared God

This is not only what happened 2,000 years ago, but the same thing is happening in this age too. Today there are also two kinds of people who have completely different attitudes towards God the Father and God the Mother who have come to this earth in the flesh—those who evaluate Them with the same mindset as Judas Iscariot, and those who never lose their fear of Them but always respect Them with the same kind of mind that Peter had. We must not lose our fear of God in order to keep our faith until the end.

The moment we lose our fear of God, we will lose our faith, heaven, and all the other blessings. That is why Satan is trying to tempt us to lose our fear of God by causing us to turn our eyes away from God. However, God has told us to learn to fear Him. So we should always learn to have a mindset of reverence for God and keep it until the end, as did Peter. All those who feared God were greatly blessed by Him.

Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Ge 22:10-12

The above verses depict the scene where God stopped Abraham when he was about to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering in obedience to God’s word.

Since Abraham had such great faith, he obeyed everything God commanded him to do; his great faith also came from his fear of God. His only son Isaac, whom he had when he was 100 years old, was the most precious treasure to him in the world.

However, he even regarded his only son as nothing before God. As he feared God with such great reverence, God blessed him so much.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Heb 11:7

Noah prepared an ark because he feared God. As a result, he and his whole family were saved. Since Abraham and Noah always feared God, they became the “heirs of the righteousness” and the “forefathers of faith”—the heroes of the Bible.

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God …” Ge 42:18

Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, was sold to some gentile merchants by his brothers who were jealous of him and hated him. However, as he always feared God, God blessed him in everything he did. As a result, he even became the governor of Egypt, and he was also able to save his whole family from starving to death in a severe famine.

We can see in the Bible that God was with those who feared Him and blessed them, wherever they went and whatever they did. However, those who did not fear God fell away from God’s hand of protection and they were overtaken by the evil works of Satan and great owes.

Jesus also set us an example of fearing God and obeying God’s will.

And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Heb 5:6-7

Although Jesus Christ was in very nature God, He personally showed us an example of faith. Not only Jesus Christ but all the forefathers of faith had the fear of God. However, it is hard to find people who have the fear of God in the world today. They look at physical things first and refuse to live according to God’s teach ing, thinking that their life will be very inconvenient if they live in accordance with God’s word although it is written in the Bible. As a result of losing their fear of God, they are gradually falling away from God’s blessings.

The blessings of heaven are given to those who fear God

When we fear God, we can always obey every word of God, whether He exists in spirit or He comes to this earth in the flesh, and we can also keep following Him wherever He goes.

… the LORD said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Dt 5:28-29

The reason why God has told us to fear Him is not because He wants to be served, but because it is the only way for us, human beings, to keep our faith and not to lose our hope for the eternal kingdom of heaven. Those who fear God come to receive eternal blessings in the end.

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!” Rev 19:4-5

… And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was … The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” Rev 11:15-18

The book of Revelation has shown in advance what will take place in the future, through the revelation of the Apostle John. It is written that God will reward those who fear His name. The hearts of those who are in heaven are filled with the fear of God. The kingdom of heaven is a place where such God-fearing people dwell.

From the moment we lose our fear of God, we fall into temptation and come to give control of our minds to Satan. Satan devises all kinds of schemes to prevent people from having the fear of God. So, he made Judas Iscariot view Jesus merely as a weak person, not God. The main reason why Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus was that he lost his fear of God who came in the flesh. Jesus said, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (Mt 11:6). To fall away means to lose the fear of God.

However, the disciples such as Peter, John and James never forgot that Jesus is God, wherever they went. When Jesus and the disciples tried to pass through a town, the people there stopped them. Then John and James became furious and asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

The two disciples feared God so greatly that they became very angry when the people treated Jesus poorly like that. Jesus prevented them from doing so and went to another town. Later, He gave them the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder (Lk 9:51-56; Mk 3:17).

Whether God comes to this earth in the flesh or in the spirit, we must never forget to fear God. The basis of faith is the God-fearing mindset. The people like Abraham, Noah and Joseph, who set us a good example of faith and led the world of faith, had in common; they all feared God.

Like the forefathers of faith, let us also have the fear of God in our hearts and learn to fear Him all the time. I eagerly pray that all our brothers and sisters in Zion, who are staying safely in the embrace of the Holy Spirit and the Bride, will continue to follow the gracious and beautiful path which Father and Mother have shown us and will reach the everlasting kingdom of heaven.