Perhaps one of the most powerful verses in the Word of God that relates to building a Godly Home is found in Deuteronomy 5:29 when God states to Moses, "Oh that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and their children forever!" Why does God make such an exclamation to Moses? The answer is found by reading the previous verses (22-27) in which Moses reminds the children of Israel of the time forty years earlier when God had given them His Law on Mount Sinai. At that time (Exodus 20:18-21) scripture tells us that the children of Israel told Moses, "you go speak with God, but not us lest we die." Moses states to the children of Israel, "...Fear not: for God is come to prove you (test you), and that His fear may be before your faces..." The response of the people after this statement by Moses was, "and the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." In Deuteronomy Five verse 27, Moses reminds them of their response to God forty years earlier. They had said "...Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it." On the surface this sounds good, just tell us what God wants and we will do it, but God wants each of us to personally experience his presence (where God is), not to just hear about him!
Now here's the essence of the whole story, the children of Israel did not have a heart that feared God! The children of Israel had faced many hardships in their past that had revealed the condition of their hearts. That is, they would obey God as long as there was some immediate benefit to them, but if they were suffering because of their obedience, they complained and wanted nothing to do with God! Why was God once again testing them? To find out what was in their hearts? No, He already knew! He tested them as he does us , so that we might know what's in our hearts! His test was a test to confirm whether or not they had the fear of God. If they did, it would lead them to not sin (Exodus 20:20b). Sin will always be a result of drawing away from the presence of God. Proverbs 16:6 states, "...by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." Their fear of God was a fear only of what God might do to them if they entered His presence without a clean heart, not the fear of God that would constrain them to reverence Him and obey Him! This is why Moses said to them that God was proving them to see whether or not His fear was before their eyes. God's exclamation in Deuteronomy verse 29 "Oh" is his hearts cry to His people that they would have such a heart that it would result in a people that would obey Him and it ould be well with them and their children forever! What a promise! The fear of God is the hinge upon which the door to building a forever family swings. God's hearts cry to us today is still that we would have such a heart that we would fear him!
Not long ago a nationally syndicated paper had a cartoon on the editorial page which had in it a picture of a freshly dug grave. The soil in front of the tombstone was freshly turned over and had many weeds growing out of it. These weeds were labeled with many different titles. Some were labeled drug abuse, some divorce, others were labeled immorality, pornography, juvenile delinquency and many other social illnesses. Each clump of weeds was finding its growth in the freshly turned soil. Underneath the grave read the caption from Shakespeare, "all the idle weeds that grow." On the tombstone etched in granite were the words "IN THE MEMORY OF THE FAMILY UNIT." The reason that these weeds are growing in America is that the soil in which they are rooted is ungodliness. This ungodliness is the result of a lack of the fear of God in our homes and in our Nation! We might say that the fear of God is the Holy soil which produces a Godly life, a Godly forever family or Godly Nation. But the absence of the fear of God is the unholy soil, which produces an ungodly life, family and Nation! Just what is the fear of God? What will having the fear of God do for my family? How do I frame my home with the fear of God? These are critical questions, which we must turn to scripture for a clear Biblical understanding!
If someone were to come up to you and ask the question, "What is the fear of God," how would you answer? The truth is that most Christians have a very shallow view and understanding of the concept of the fear of God. In the Bible there are over 150 specific references to the fear of God and hundreds of other references where the fear of God is illustrated though not directly stated. It is an imortant doctrine in the Word of God, but one that is rarely taught on or preached about. The fear of God in us is the self-disclosure of God that points us to the vast difference between God and us. Jerry Bridges states that "there is an infinite gap in worth and dignity between God the creator and man the creature, even though man has been created in the image of God. The fear of God is the heartfelt recognition of this gap. Not a put down of man but an exaltation of God!"
In scripture we see this illustrated in two distinct ways. The first is that of a terror or dread of God. This type of fear is based upon what the object of that fear or dread can do. We see the first illustration of this type of fear ofGod in Genesis chapter three when God calls unto Adam and says, "where art thou?" Adam's response is that he hid himself because he was afraid. Just what was Adam afraid of? He was afraid that God would punish him for his disobedience. God had told Adam in Genesis 2:17 that the penalty of eating of the tree of the knowldge of good and evil would be death. Adam therefore had a terror or dread of God because of disobedience to Him. To the person who is lost without Christ, this fear is that of eternal separation from God in a place of torment called Hell forever! WE live in a society today that tries to extinguish this fear by saying that God is too loving to send someone to Hell, or people will try to keep so busy that they suppress this fear out of their mind. Perhaps this is why many people today hate to be alone or they must have the TV or music playing. They must have some activity to keep their mind from thinking of the impending judgement of God for their unrepentant condition. Should the saved person have this type of fear? In Philippians 2:12 the Bible shares with us that we should work out our salvation in fear and trembling (talking to the born again saint). God wants us to remember that even as a child of God, that he will chastise His children for disobedience (Hebrews 12). Therefore as a child of God this type of the fear of God is a recognition that God will chastise us for continued sin in our life, hence we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling!
*What you have just read is a excerpt from Blueprints For Building A Forever Family - Framed with the Fear of God teaching set. For more information on this product please feel free to call us at 1-877-209-1725 (toll free).
