I am not aware of any Bible passage that records a face-to-face
encounter with God or His holy ones that did not involve falling down or trying
to run away in fear. True, Moses had a unique relationship with Yahweh; he
spoke directly with God, and at one point was allowed to get
a glimpse of God’s glory as He passed by. However, the Israelites displayed
a more normal reaction to God’s presence. When God offered to speak directly to
them,
they begged Moses to run interference and spare them the frightening
prospect. Admittedly, a smoking, flaming mountain would be a fearsome sight. It
is no wonder that they begged for an intermediary.
I believe Moses understood the good things Yahweh had in
store for His people. Delivering them from slavery in Egypt was certainly a
good omen. Even the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai was intended for good. In
her book, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai
Still Matters, Carmen Joy
Imes suggests that the Ten Words, as she correctly translates “Ten
Commandments”, were intended to describe a correct relationship with God and
with one another. They were the outline for living a good life under a good God.
Imes remarks, “It
seems contradictory to say that Yahweh is both good and dangerous. Yet both are
facets of his character. Because he is loving, he cannot tolerate wickedness….
When we approach God humbly, repentant for our sin, he is gracious to forgive
us. But if we enter his presence unaware of our sin or in a state of rebellion,
his holiness demands purification.” (Carmen Joy Imes, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019, p. 69.) As we see repeatedly
in the Old Testament record of Israel’s failures, God’s “purification” can be
fearsome indeed!
I wonder if we are missing something when we gloss over the
dangerous side of Yahweh God. It is so much more comforting to focus on His
love which moved Him to send His One-and-only Son to die on our behalf. Some
popular preachers (ie. Rob
Bell) go so far as to deny that God still has a dangerous side. They cannot
fathom a loving God who is also a holy God who demands that unrighteousness be
punished. That is a tough sell when you realize that the concept of God’s wrath
is mentioned as many as forty-five times in the New Testament. Honestly, if God
does not judge sin, our love and obedience lose most of their meaning. If the
wicked get the same treatment as the righteous, what’s the point?
But the wrath of God is real. It has to be if we are going
to see Him as the Bible pictures Him. Paul certainly saw Him that way: “The
wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness,” he
wrote to the Romans. Peter
thought so too as he wrote: “The present heavens and earth are reserved for
fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.” Think
of all the parables of Jesus that warned of the return of a king in judgment.
The King is coming back, and it won’t be happy days for everyone.
So, where should we be, those of us who have trusted Christ,
on the subject of fearing God. Fearing God, I would say. I don’t mean to say we
preach Jonathon Edwards’
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” every Sunday, but it wouldn’t hurt to
ring that bell once in a while. My own testimony is one of fearing my eternal
destiny if I did not follow Christ in believer’s baptism, proclaiming Him as my
Lord and Savior. What is the point of trusting Christ if there is no downside
to ignoring His grace? Fear of God is a legitimate motivational message.
But we don’t preach fear alone. As Imes said, there is
goodness inherent in the dangerous God we worship. It is by His grace we are
saved without question. However, we risk danger if we ignore the fact that true
faith, saving faith must include repentance and obedience. Those who pluck
“believe and be saved” out of the larger biblical context preach a truncated
gospel. All we really need is to hear Jesus’
word, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Paul certainly heard that
with his repeated calls for righteous living, not for our salvation, but for
the working
out of our salvation.
I must admit it was several years before I understood that
the Jesus who saved me was seriously interested in my obedience to His Word.
Some might ask if you can claim Jesus as Savior if you don’t recognize Him as
Lord. I’m not sure. I am pretty sure I came up out of the water as a new
creature; it just took a while for eleven-year-old me to realize what that
creature was supposed to become. Once I grasped it, I never let go. I’m not
saying I’m perfect – no way! I’m saying I’m being perfected: “The
one began a good work in [me] will finish it.” For many years, I was that “living
sacrifice” who kept crawling off the altar. It took some time for me to
learn that God would have me only one way: humble and obedient.
Imes got it right in my opinion. We don’t need to fear God
unless we are living in sin and rebellion. The
Word is clear: “If we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a
certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to
consume the adversaries.” The Hebrew writer closes
the argument with this: “For you have need of endurance, in order
that after you have done the will of God, you may receive what was
promised.” Only those who persevere to the end will be saved. It is as Eugene
Peterson said: the Christian walk is “a long obedience in the same
direction.” Follow that advice, and you need not fear God.
Related Posts: Necessary
Obedience; Merely
Christian; Who’s Your
Daddy?
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