Repeatedly throughout the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, the Bible talks about the fear of the Lord.

Does that mean that we are supposed to be afraid of God?

With us today is Dr. David K. Bernard, and he's going to explain what that phrase the fear of the

Lord means. Dr. Bernard, Proverbs chapter 9 and verse number 10 is one of many verses that talks about

the fear of the Lord. It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge

of the holy is understanding. Again, I just said that phrase appears repeatedly

throughout Scripture. And our modern understanding of fear, we would translate that, or we would

understand that to mean that we're supposed to have this, you know, be terrified of God.

Is that what the scripture is trying to say? And if so, that would seem to contradict other

passages. We talk about God is love. How do we reconcile the fear of the Lord with the Bible's

portrayal of God? The word fear, even in English, but even more so in the biblical languages,

has a range of meeting. So you have to depend on the context to know

exactly what it's talking about. And I would say when it, when the Bible is talking about the

fear of the Lord, the primary meaning and the connotation is, is not being afraid of somebody,

but it's awe, reverence, and respect.

Now, there is an element, when you think of someone or something that is truly awesome,

not in our colloquial modern English, but awe-inspiring, magnificent, often there is an element of danger and therefore fear.

So if you see a majestic mountain, or you're in the midst of a hurricane, or you're at the edge of a cliff,

or you're at the edge of an ocean, all that is awe-inspiring.

But part of that is, you know, if that mountain crumbles, I'm dead.

If that avalanche happens, I'm dead. If I fall into that sea, I'm dead.

So there is a close connection.

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