What is The Fear of the Lord Part 2

The Fear of the Lord is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit that grants people access to the kingdom technology of Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge.

Before we get started, I would like to recommend a short prayer to you.  We should always confess our need for God to give us wisdom, understanding, knowledge and revelation in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ better through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Part 1 of this Series – What is the Fear of the Lord? – Part 1
Part 2 of this Series – What is the Fear of the Lord? – Part 2
Part 3 of this Series – Walking in the Fear of the Lord – Part 1
Part 4 of this Series – Walking in the Fear of the Lord – Part 2
Part 5 of this Series – Build According to the Pattern
Part 6 of this Series – Avoiding Satan’s Will for the Church
Part 7 of this Series – Revival

In this post I would like to take a look in scripture at the work of the Fear of the Lord in the life of Job and Abraham, the father of faith.  Before we look at Abraham, let’s look at some passages of scripture that shed greater light on the Fear of the Lord in the life of Job.

Establishes a Foundation of Endurance

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil Job 1:1 (NLT) “But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea. It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. Job 28:12-15 (NLT) “But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it. Destruction and Death say, ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’ “God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’” Job 28:20-28 (NLT)

The following passages of scripture reveal some very powerful revelations about the nature of the Fear of the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge.  I would first like to direct your attention to the fact that the passages of scripture above are part of a larger conversation between the God of the universe and one of His servants; Job.  As a quick reminder, Job has lost everything dear to Him including His physical health.  Job, at this point, is still totally unaware that all that has happened to him is a direct result of Satan accusing Him of not fearing God and God being highly confident in Job’s integrity while walking in the Fear of the Lord.  Please also note that the first passage above reveals to us that because Job walked in the Fear of the Lord, he stayed away or rejected doing evil.  In the eyes of God, doing evil is simply attempting to do anything outside of the influence or dominion of God (see Proverbs 2:12-13). Now let’s focus on the question God asked Job.  “Do people know where to find Wisdom, do they know where to find Understanding”?  Now before you start answering this question in your mind, first let’s consider together why God asked the question to begin with.  Of course God knows where they can be found, so why would God ask Job such a question seeing he was a created being?  I want to suggest that God asked Job this and many other questions to provoke a stirring of the Fear of the Lord in Job’s spirit.  Triggering a refocusing in Job to remind him of the foundation of his righteous walk before the Lord that instigated this trial to begin with.  God fully understands how the challenges of everyday life tend to cause us to lose sight of the fact that we serve a God that is always fully in control of everything that happens to us.  Life challenges also have the potential to cause us to forget who we are in the Lord and who’s we are.  I also think it’s worth noting that the anchor in Job’s life that allowed Him to endure such catastrophic devastation was his integrity while walking in the Fear of the Lord. Before we dig into the answer to the question, let’s consider where divine Wisdom and Understanding cannot be found.

• It can’t be found in the land of the living
  • This clearly means unlike precious medals unearthed by mankind, divine Wisdom and Understanding cannot be found in the earth.  There is wisdom and understanding to be found in the earth, but the Word of God makes a clear distinction between divine Wisdom and Understanding and the wisdom of the world (see I Corinthians 1:17 thru 2:13).  Divine Wisdom and Understanding comes from God ALONE.
• It cannot be purchased for any price
  • This excludes the earth’s educational system as the source of divine Wisdom and Understanding.
• It’s hidden from the eyes of ALL humanity
  • God goes on to share with Job that it’s explicitly hidden from humanity; OH BOY, it’s starting too look like we’ll never be able to locate divine Wisdom and Understanding (see Matthew 13:10-17).  The passage in Matthew helps us to understand that God alone chooses who receives divine Wisdom and Understanding.

The Portal to Divine Wisdom and Knowledge

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding Psalms 111:10 (NIV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Prov 9:10 (KJV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline Prov 1:7 (NIV)

Not sure whether Job was a logical thinker like I am, if he was, I can just imagine him spending hours in a futile exercise attempting to pull together all of his limited knowledge to formulate a reasonable answer when God asked him where to find divine Wisdom. Then, just at the moment when someone like me would begin to form foolish words of my mouth to try to answer, we see God, in His everlasting mercy toward His children, answer His own question.  The Fear of the Lord is how we get divine Wisdom, the divine Knowledge of God’s Holiness and departing from evil is divine Understanding. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that God reveals the source of divine Wisdom and Understanding through the Fear of the Lord to mankind specifically.  This is significant and awesome news because the forces of darkness are not privy to the kingdom technology of the Fear of the Lord nor divine Wisdom and Understanding and the heavenly insight granted to believers. Now let’s take a look at the demonstration of the Fear of the Lord in the life of Abraham.

Is Validated by God Himself

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.  Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Gen 22:1-2 (NIV)

I wonder whether Jesus has ever commanded you to do something that was extremely difficult for you to do.  I want to encourage you that we serve an extremely wise and purposeful God.  He would never command you to do something simply for the sake of shocking you, triggering a panic attack or some other trivial reason. Here we see that God’s intent, from the very beginning, was never to allow Abraham to kill Isaac, the son of God’s promise to Abraham.  On the contrary, God not only had Abraham and Isaac in mind, when He decided to test Abraham, but the entire nation of Israel, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and last but most assuredly not least the blood line that would bring forth the Lord Jesus Christ.  Of course, Abraham didn’t know this.

Gives Believers Power to Obey God

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.” Gen 22:10-12 (NIV)

If you have children, or you’ve observed children with their biological parents, once the children grow to maybe 5 or 6, there is always unmistakable evidence of character traits that have passed from the biological parent to the child.  This is such a powerful truth, even if the parent and child were separated at birth, there are still traits that can be examined in the child that were present with the parent, even though the child has never seen their biological parents.  Since God created us, I’m positive this is one of the reasons Abraham had to be tested.  Not only to demonstrate to Abraham that he actually was walking in the Fear of the Lord, but also to ensure that walking in the Fear of the Lord would be passed on to generations. The trial was God’s method of proving what was truly in Abraham’s heart.  The covenant God established with Abraham, contained the promise of faith for generations to come.  With all of this weighing in the balance, it’s no wonder why God required an extremely challenging test to prove Abraham’s willingness to be obedient to an extremely difficult command.  Walking in the Fear of the Lord gives believers access to the supernatural strength needed to obey God, even when we don’t understand, don’t agree or simply don’t want to.

Builds Confidence in God and Generational Protection

In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. Prov 14:26 (KJV)

In this passage of scripture, we see the results of Abraham passing the test God put before him.  Many years later, Solomon writes about the heavenly provision made available to us through the obedience of Abraham; all made possible because he walked in the Fear of the Lord. I recommend a short prayer, which I myself pray each time I read this post.

Father in Heaven, I know that you love me because your Word says you demonstrated that love by sending your only son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for my sins.  Father, in the name of Jesus, I acknowledge your awesome power, your everlasting mercy, the grace you have extended to me and your loving kindness which you continue to demonstrate.  Father help me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to walk in the Fear of the Lord.  Father, give me your wisdom, understanding and knowledge so I can obey every commandment The Lord Jesus Christ gives me and so I can depart from every evil way contrary to your ways.