Fearing God
Can you help me understand what the Bible means when it says we are to "fear" God? Some have said it is just to have an awe of him. I find this understanding inconsistent with Scripture as little as I know. Fear is fear, and isn't it caused by sin and our sinful desires to turn from God, not some sense of awe of him? Is it a fair comparison to say we fear the wrath of our parents when we have done wrong but this fear is alleviated with the knowledge that they love us and forgive us of our wrongs?
You ask an excellent question, and I especially appreciate your desire to analyze a word that the Bible uses quite a bit. One might say that the basic meaning of the word “to fear” is to “stand in awe of” or even revere. It is also accurate to add that invariably more needs to be said—and each time that the “fear of God” is mentioned, the Bible reader needs to take note of the relationship the person or people have with God. Only when that is done will we have the more precise meaning of “fearing God” in that particular passage. It might (and often does) involve being afraid of, but it might also be emphasizing happily revering or respecting God with awe.
Maybe a word picture or illustration will be helpful to you as it has been to others for many years:
Question: “Do you fear a locomotive?” Answer: “Yes, always—but first I must analyze my relationship to the locomotive to be more accurate or helpful in explaining myself. If I am trapped on the railroad tracks in front of the locomotive and it is coming toward me, I fear it in this sense that I am very much afraid and in dread of it. Its awesome power will crush me. But if I am comfortably seated in a passenger car being pulled by that powerful locomotive, and it is taking me to a destination I delight in, I still fear the locomotive by respecting and being in awe of its brute force, but I am happy about this power and delight in its awesome capability for my benefit. If I ever find myself in a bad relationship to that locomotive, my respect also becomes a dread, but if my relationship to it is a good and healthy one, I remain in awe but am happily respecting it.”
The point is that God does not change and is always worthy of “fear.” For those who despise his gracious promises in Christ, that fear is to include terror. For those brought to trust the gracious promises in Christ, that fear loses its terror but remains filled with awe (as expressed in Psalm 130:3-4) at such a forgiving God.