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The topic of fear is a complex one in the Scriptures. In fact, it is probably the most complicated emotion that the sacred writings discuss. Discontent, which is a fear of missing out on something, led to the first rebellion in Heaven. Those who trust in Yahweh know that they have all that they need. They believe that even unpleasant circumstances will eventually lead to blessings, and so, while they may work to avoid unnecessary challenges and discomfort, when the unavoidable obstacle arises, they are not discouraged.
Fear of poverty leads to covetousness and greed. Fear of loneliness leads to jealousy and obsession, and insecurity. Fear of pain leads to cowardice and selfishness. Fear of rejection leads to the corrosion of principles when faced with peer pressure or societal expectations to conform. Almost every temptation may be traced back to a fear of something, with the possible exception of the sins of lust; those arise from another primal drive that goes undisciplined in the carnal man. For angels, though, with whom the rebellion began in Heaven, that was not an issue; and so the root of the universe’s infestation by sin began with the principle of fear.
Paul says that “the love of money is the root of all evil which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1Tim 6:10) This is well said, and deals with the apostle’s advice to a new minister, who would be faced with temptations for which he would need to be prepared as a now public figure in the community. What underlies that love of money is stated in the same verse; it is coveting after material wealth, and that, in turn, arises from fear of not having enough. For the Christian in particular, covetousness is a sin, the last in the 10 Commandments, because the Christian knows there is a God who controls the universe, and who has promised to care for His people. Those in the world have no such confidence; therefore, their grasping after the things of this life is to be expected. They do not, by indulging in covetousness, develop a character that can be entrusted with eternal life, but it is at least understandable for them to seek to take what they can from this life, since they have no promises on which they can rely.
Those who worship Yahweh, and in particular, those who have received His Son as their Lord and their Savior, have words like these: “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the Kingdom of Yah; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:29-32)
Here, at the very beginning of this study, we are provided with the antidote to fear – it is trust in our Father’s promises. It is Sabbath, the principle of Sabbath rest, knowing that by our own works we can do nothing. A man who has labored his entire life for wealth may be struck down by a criminal and pass away in an instant. A man who has been a beggar all his life may discover a diamond in a field, and live the rest of his days comfortably. Our works truly mean nothing. We have power only over our choices, not the circumstances of the world around us, and so each human, no matter how strong, or smart, or resourceful, must ultimately rely on our Father and our Savior. Anything other than this is arrogance, and foolishness. We have no better mindset to cultivate than that of humility and gratitude. We have no other safety than relying on our Creator’s grace.
We see, then that covetousness, which arises from fear, is a rejection of faith in our Father’s promises and providence; and this is why it is a sin listed among the ten great violations of Yahweh’s character.
Fear, though, like every emotion, has an element that finds a proper place in the divine mind. The desire to see our loved ones safe from suffering inspires us to remind them to drive safely, and to eat healthy food. We avoid walking in dark, isolated places at night, because we know they are more likely to be dangerous. We don’t provoke animals that are powerful, or venomous, because we don’t want to be harmed. These things probably wouldn’t be seen by most people as fear, but they are the proper expression of the same principle, and we can see how they can become fear when taken beyond reasonable boundaries, like worrying about your relatives when they don’t call once a day, or never leaving one’s house because there might be snakes in the garden.
There is a passage in the Bible that I think provides the proper balance between reasonable caution and unreasonable terror, and it is found here: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Mat 10:16-20) This goes on a bit longer about the dangers of the last days, then we read this: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mat 10:28)
There have been a number of studies over the years in which we have discussed passages like this one. We point out that the glory of Yahweh’s messengers naturally inspires fear in human witnesses, which often has their first words, or almost their first words, being, “Fear not.” (Gen 21:17, Dan 10:12, Mat 28:5, Luke 1:13, 30)
We also know that the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom is the “fear of Yahweh.” (Psalm 111:10, Pro 1:7) We see the complexity here. We are to “beware men,” and also in other places the “leaven of the Pharisees,” (Mark 8:15) which is a kind of fear, but we are also to “fear not,” but we are also to “fear Yahweh.” There is no conflict here; in fact, the Scriptures use different words in Matthew for these two different concepts that have become a bit more fluid in modern speech.
In that Matthew 10 passage, the word translated as “beware” means to “pay attention to,” not in the sense of moving toward it, but in the sense of noticing that it is dangerous, and avoiding it. The word in verse 28 in both places is phobeo, from which we do get our modern “phobia.” The Scriptures say to have a phobia, not of men, but of Yahweh who is able to destroy the body and soul. Here is where some people stumble through ignorance, though, forgetting that language does change over time. The language there can certainly come across as threatening, but the intent of the verse is revealed by the contrast it is drawing. Men cannot cause everlasting harm, regardless of how powerful they may be. They have no authority to destroy the spirit, and only do so by permission from those who do not rely on Yahweh’s promises. It is our Father who has the final authority over our destiny, and the acknowledgement of the reality of this is the “fear of Yahweh” that leads to righteousness.
What we have, then, are actually three kinds of fear, for which we do fortunately have different words in English: terror, caution, and reverence. Unfortunately, the distinction between these three is not always clear in the translations, or even the original languages of the Bible; thus, we must learn from the context what the shade of meaning for any given passage happens to be.
The Bible tells us of things to beware, things about which we should have caution… men of the world who may betray us, the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and also, false prophets. (Mat 7:15) These are things around which we should have caution. These are things to be avoided, but not respected, not considered to have authority over us. We are to be cautious about these things, but they are not to control us, nor do we let the fear of them control us either. This is what it means to beware, to take heed, but to have neither terror nor respect for their authority.
On the other hand, if we know something is harmful or dangerous, and our caution were to become unproductive, limiting… unreasonable, that is terror, and that is what leads to either covetousness or cowardice. We read, after the incident at Sinai with the golden calf, “And Moses said unto Aaron, ‘What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?’ And Aaron said, ‘Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.’” (Exo 32:21, 22)
Aaron, who should have been a leader, instead feared the “mischief” of his brethren, that word meaning wickedness, and he submitted to their demands. He feared the people, and it was an unreasonable fear. He was a priest of Yahweh. Could they have fallen into a frenzy and killed him for refusing to follow their wishes? That was a possibility, yes, but it is unlikely that Yahweh would allow His faithful high priest to be slain after so miraculously rescuing them from Egyptian slavery. Had Aaron trusted Yahweh, a solution would have been revealed, just as when Abraham consented to sacrifice his son, doing the opposite of Adam, in choosing to do the will of Yahweh despite the apparent loss of a loved one. The contrast there between Abraham and Adam might not be perfectly clear yet, but consider it.
Terror is associated with sin. It is an unreasonable burst of emotion that is ultimately an accusation against Yahweh. It is the carnal mind and body saying to Yahweh, “You are not going to protect me. I am in danger for no good reason, and with no clear means of escape.” In the moment, these thoughts are not so clearly articulated… but that is what the physical reaction to a “phobia” really means.
Terror led to Satan’s fall. That is the kind of fear that is unreasonable and isolating. Terror led to Adam’s fall, as he chose to follow his wife into the “death” that Yahweh had warned against, rather than being alone. The rejection of terror was Abraham’s triumph on Mount Moriah; he chose a reasonable fear of Yahweh over the fear and sorrow of apparently losing his son. Abraham’s true test was that both fears seemed in the moment to be reasonable; Isaac was the son through whom Yahweh had promised many descendants, but as the New Testament explains, Abraham believed, rightly, “that Yahweh was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” (Heb 11:19)
So then, we have caution, which is a “reasonable fear,” and it keeps us from doing dangerous, foolish things. It keeps us from indulging errors, and being careless with important things. The saint “bewares” the doctrines of the enemy, and has a sanctified fear of presumption. Yahweh cannot protect the presumptuous, even when he thinks he is exercising faith, and those that sin presumptuously are separated from Israel, lest they cause the entire nation to be corrupted. (Num 15:30, Deu 17:12)
We then have terror, which is an unreasonable fear, and it causes people to do dangerous, foolish things, because they believe that this will prevent them from suffering a worse fate. To the greedy, nothing is worse than poverty; thus, they will lie, and steal, rather than suffer from a lack of what they want or need.
Finally, we have reverence, the godly fear. Unlike caution, reverence involves respect. Unlike terror, reverence involves reason. Those who fear Yahweh in the proper, Biblical sense, give respect to Him, and they let the knowledge of His will control them. Now, I want to be careful with my wording here; I do not say that they let Yahweh’s will control them directly. That is not what He wants, and that is not what they want. Rather, a knowledge of Yahweh’s will guides those who love Him to accomplish that will without being dominated or oppressed by it. They choose His way, because they trust that infinite wisdom has revealed the way that is best, and infinite love has shared it with us to give us an opportunity to cooperate.
The fear of Yahweh draws us near to Him, while a “phobia” in the modern use of the word would repel us, would drive us away. The sensations may be the same at times, but the impact on our actions is exactly the opposite. We acknowledge our Father’s power, knowing that His is the right to judge us, and His is the power to utterly destroy the unsanctified. At the same time, those who are of His Spirit also know that they are safe only within His sanctuary. They know that His great power is promised to them as a protection, and as life everlasting. They know that His will is supreme, and yet for love’s sake He submits to human freedom whenever possible. This results in an internal motivation to do His will, to obey not for reward or in fear of punishment, but because of a genuine recognition of the beauty of the Law.
This is the balance between obedience and freedom. This is the ideal, to use our freedom to demonstrate our loyalty. It is true that the Bible uses the word “phobia” of the way man is to feel about his Creator, but while in English “Phobia” now describes something to avoid, keep in mind that this is after a few hundred years of common use to mean only negative things. The Scriptures clearly represent the fear of Yahweh (for His people) as an attracting fear, which is beyond the ability of the carnal man to understand.
This concept has a lot of sanctifying applications. For one, as I considered this matter, it occurred to me that understanding this issue allows a Seventh-day Adventist to recognize the difference between the Sunday Law that was prophesied, and the Trademark Law that came to pass. After the fall of the mainstream Adventist Church, it was no longer possible for a Sunday Law to test reverence, the divine fear of Yahweh. Without the victory over sin, without purifying one’s self of carnal fear, a rejection of the Sunday Law, even unto death, would only be done out of a fear of some greater misery, the threat of being destroyed in the judgment.
In a sense, the Sunday Law is far too easy a test. If one was convinced that the Papacy subverted the Sabbath commandment to turn people away from the truth, it would be rebellion against Yahweh to accept it. That much is very true, but avoiding rebellion is not the same thing as embracing character. The standard of salvation, the standard of membership among the 144,000 is not merely avoiding rebellion against Yahweh, but sharing His Spirit so that rebellion would not be possible, and turning away from His Law would be inconceivable.
The reason the 144,000 follow the Lamb is because they see, and are in agreement with, the direction He is walking, not because there is a ditch on either side. The saints of Yahweh are not avoiding condemnation; that is not their driving motivation. No, instead they are walking in the newness of life. Even though I wouldn’t have been able to explain it this way then, this idea, this principle, is what convinced me that the CSDA position on the Mark of The Beast was the correct one, even before I became a baptized member. When I shared this idea with Sister G., that obedience must come from love, and not from obligation or fear, she understood it immediately. She was able to see the principle behind the Trademark immediately, that religion + civil authority = the image of the beast, very easily, because she was not being fearful of disobedience.
People do not fear diseases because they are caused by viruses or bacteria. No, they fear diseases because they wish to avoid the symptoms. Those who preach about the Sunday Law in an attempt to get sinners to accept the 7th day Sabbath are doing this to the world. They are teaching them to watch out for symptoms, but not how to avoid the disease itself. They will say, “Stop going to Church on Sunday, go on Saturday instead,” and various outward reforms, but if they do not teach righteousness by faith, all they are doing is telling people to avoid fevers, aches, and pains.
It is possible to be very sick, and not have a fever, or any aches and pains. Likewise, it is possible to avoid going to Church on Sunday, and to go to Church on Sabbath, and to follow every word of applicable counsel ever written by Ellen White, and still be an unconverted legalist. It is possible to reject, resist, and even die in protest of, the Sunday Law, and never know the character of Christ.
On the other hand, to see and recognize the Trademark Law for what it is, this requires the Spirit of Yahweh. This requires an understanding of the principle, that any attempt to control a man’s conscience is an act of hatred against that man. Any attempt to control a man’s religion is to set one’s self up as a god, an idolatrous figure of worship, and to blaspheme the true Creator’s name. To reject the Trademark means to accept the name that Yahweh has given to His Church, and thus, to acknowledge Him as Father, who has the right to name and bless His children. One cannot legalistically reject the Trademark Law, because it is not written in the commandments of the Law that one must have a particular name.
And you know, it is not written in the 10 Commandments that one must accept the Son of Yahweh, otherwise one will be lost. This, to me, is the biggest oversight of the legalist, and those who say that we can just change the name of our Church, or submit to the human laws concerning ownership of this divinely inspired property. Not everything necessary for sanctification is a Law to be obeyed. The one thing a human must do to be saved has nothing to do directly with the 10 Commandments at all. What we must “do” is receive a gift. What we must “do” is acknowledge our need for the Savior. What we must “do” is confess Yahshua, receive Him and testify of His salvation to the world. None of those things are written on stone, and so they cannot be legalistically observed; but the one that is converted by obedience to this Gospel will have all those things written on His heart, and will therefore do them because of reverence. Not for fear of punishment, not for expectation of reward, but because of righteousness that comes forth from faith… that is the true obedience.
A Sunday Law tests knowledge and obedience, but knowledge and obedience alone can lead to actions based on terror. It does not test character. It does not test cooperation with Yahweh due to having a common Spirit, and that Spirit’s gift to be able to see the works of the enemy, even when disguised as human laws and civil penalties. But to see the authority and blessing of our Father in gathering His little flock, in guiding us along the narrow way, and in giving us a name and a testimony, that is a matter of character. That has nothing to do with a selfish pursuit of eternal life for its own sake, but a desire to protect and stand with the oppressed, and to serve – and serve with – our Father’s other children.
So, there is a lot to sit and meditate on within one’s own self… with regard to caution, terror, and reverence. Which of these principles do I apply to which things? Those who are not yet settled into the truth may ask themselves many good questions. Why do I obey Yahweh? Why am I a Christian? What is my ultimate goal?
I once had someone ask if we could ever become bored in Heaven, and if so, could we choose to end our existences at some distant point in the future? This was clearly not someone who understood the purpose of even this life, much less the life to come. And yes, we have to take the concept of everlasting life on faith, because these bodies and brains we have do wear out, wear down, and so we are programmed with this idea that things get worse over time. When our life is service to Yahweh, however, who is eternal, and our fellow beings, who are immortal, we will always have need of each other. We will always find joy in each other. In the life to come, there is no pain, no aches, no weariness of the body or the mind. All that we do will be eternally fresh, and our brains will be quipped to analyze and learn from everything, from the most spectacular sights to the most mundane experiences.
We read this of the Heavenly Kingdom to which we go: “And before the Throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; and in the midst of the Throne, and round about the Throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord Yahweh Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.’” (Rev 4:6, 8)
The act of worship alone is an activity of endless satisfaction for even the mightiest of living creatures. All that these four angels do is receive endless insights into the nature of Yahweh, and it is all that their reality needs to be. It would certainly be enough, and infinitely more than enough, to keep us caught up in joy forever, but even so, our Father desires that we be active in the world to come. There is work, rest, and reward in the world to come, and there we live in an atmosphere of true “fear,” in the proper and holy sense of the word. There we live in a perpetual acknowledgement of the power, and authority, and glory of our Father Yahweh, a fear that Lucifer lost… but it is a fear that draws us closer and closer to His Throne, ever growing in strength, and wisdom, and grace, but always with an infinite potential for more.
These are ideas for which our limited human minds can but barely grasp the edges. Let us praise our Father that He has prepared for us a glorified state, in which we can experience His goodness in the ages to come. Let us walk in an atmosphere of reverence, being wary of that which is harmful, but acknowledging only the power of our Father to inspire our thoughts, and words, and actions. Let us pray for opportunities to speak of these wondrous things to both saints and sinners, that our characters may grow ever more Christ-like, and that others may hear our testimony, awaken from their slumber, cast off their carnal terror, give up the transgressions that came about due to that terror, and live forever with us in the light of our Father’s glory.
David.
An Enduring Witness
“It is the duty of the minister of Christ to stand faithful at his post, in the fear of God and in the power of His might. Thus he may put to confusion the hosts of Satan and may triumph in the name of the Lord.” [Acts of The Apostles, p. 169]
“We should be as a family of obedient children, having the fear of God before us — not slavish fear, but filial fear. There is promised a reward for the obedient and also punishment to the disobedient. Should we decree that God's law is not worthy to be kept, are we not enemies of the Lord? Would He not regard us as such? We are God's children. He has placed sacred things in our trust, and if we say we love Him and do not obey, then we have not the love of God perfected in us.” [Manuscript Releases, Vol. 3, p. 67]
“At this, priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger. Acting more like beasts of prey than human beings, they rushed upon Stephen, gnashing their teeth. In the cruel faces about him the prisoner read his fate; but he did not waver. For him the fear of death was gone. For him the enraged priests and the excited mob had no terror. The scene before him faded from his vision. To him the gates of heaven were ajar, and, looking in, he saw the glory of the courts of God, and Christ, as if just risen from His throne, standing ready to sustain His servant. In words of triumph Stephen exclaimed, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.’” [Acts of The Apostles, p. 100]