This morning I was enjoying the verses in Isaiah 11:2-5 in the morning revival on week 7 in the Crystallization-study of Isaiah (1), which say,
2. And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah.
3. He will delight in the fear of Jehovah: He will neither judge by what His eyes see, Nor decide by what His ears hear.
4. But He will judge the poor in righteousness, And decide with equity for the afflicted of the land. And He will strike the land with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5. Righteousness will be that which girds His loins, And faithfulness will be that which girds His hips.
and I was particularly impressed with the fact that Christ was filled with the knowledge and fear of Jehovah. There was no other person in the history of mankind that knew God as much as the Lord Jesus did. Also, there was no other person in the history of the mankind that feared God more than Christ did. Before we were saved, we had no fear of God, and actually we were afraid of nothing – because we were ignorant.
But from the time we were saved and Christ came into us, we began to be “spiritually educated”. As we daily fellowship with the Lord and get into His Word in a prayerful way, as we fellowship with the other believers in a regular way and stay in the Word of God, we receive a spiritual education and we acquire spiritual knowledge – we are in a process of knowing God.
As we know God and love Him more, we have a healthy fear of God – that keeps us and preserves us.
Having a Proper Fear of God coming from the Knowledge of God
This fear of God is not that particular fear that people are afraid of having, that is, a superstitious fear of the almighty God who will strike you down if you do something bad, but it is a proper fear of God coming from the proper knowledge of God. The more we know a person, the more we don’t do things that this particular person does not like us to do.
The more we know God, the more we see Him in what He is and He does, the more we won’t do some things, say some things, and behave in a certain way – because of respect to Him. Other people around us may do certain things or go to certain places – with no remorse or consciousness of anything.
But we can’t go to some places, we can’t speak in a certain way, we can’t buy certain things that are according to the modern fashion of this age, and we can’t do certain things because we fear God. Actually, His Spirit of knowledge and fear of Jehovah rests upon us, as it abode with the Lord Jesus. We love the Lord, we respect Him, and we learn to do everything in oneness with Him.
Also, in oneness with Him and out of a proper respect towards Him, we simply cannot do some things/go some places. Why? Because we love God. Because we love Him so much and we don’t want to loose His presence, His smile, His sweet appearing.
This fear of Jehovah is a great preservation to us. Also, it is a great step towards the restoration of all things. Today in the world there is no fear of God, people have no consciousness of God (this is part of the blinding work of the god of this age), and the whole world is decaying and going down in immorality.
But we are being restored to God, we’re being recovered to His intention, even to His purpose in creating man – to receive God, contain God, be filled with God, and express God. On the way of us being recovered, one very important item is having a proper fear of God, a proper respect for God – out of a proper spiritual knowledge of God.
Just like the verse says, The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). The more we know God, the more we fear Him in a proper way. Lord, recover us to such a holy respect, reverence, and regard for You!
[read this portion in Spanish also via Ser recobrado hacia un temor apropiado y un respeto por Dios que proviene de un conocimiento espiritual de Dios]
We need a heart in all things pure,
With mind both sound and clear,
To understand His mind and heart
In trembling and in fear.
We need a true, obedient heart,
With a submissive will,
A will made pliable, yet strong,
God’s purpose to fulfill.
—-Hymn 744