Sermon Tone Analysis

fear

D. The call to repentance (2:1–3).

The shameful nation of Judah is called to prepare themselves like chaff for the judgment of God which will consume them like fire or blow them away like the wind.

Judah must do something before the terrible day of the Lord comes.

The day of the Lord is not one of peace and prosperity but an expression of his wrath.

The repetition of the warning gives ground to the exhortation to seek Yahweh.

The godless have been accused of not seeking Yahweh (1:6) and the judgment will not pass them by.

For the godly, however, the day of Yahweh is a day that should not be feared.

God holds out an encouragement not for the people as a whole, but for the godly remnant, the “humble of the land” (lit.

the poor of the earth).

The humble are not poor with regard to material possessions, but are those who depend on God and walk in reliance on him.

The pious remnant must continue to seek righteousness and humility.

Election is not guaranteed by birth or by the sign of the covenant (circumcision).

It is made evident by the fruits which belong to the life of faith.

FEAR OF THE LORD A religious expression conveying either devotional piety or the dread of punishment.

The term “Lord” in this context refers to Yahweh.

Biblical Relevance

The act of fearing Yahweh is discussed throughout the Old Testament.

The concept “fear of the Lord” occurs most prominently in the Old Testament’s Wisdom Literature, where it is described as both the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10) and the responsibility of all humanity (Eccl 12:13).

The “fear of the Lord” motif occurs in three distinct ways in the Old Testament:

1.

As an expression of corporate Israelite religion—the religious system of worshiping Yahweh.

Occurrences of the phrase “fear of the Lord” in the general sense of religious piety mostly appear in Wisdom texts.

In this sense, “fear of the Lord” is an essential component of Israel’s theology (Perdue, Wisdom and Creation, 78–79).

It essentially means faith in Yahweh.

2. As a description of personal piety—the act of worshiping and obeying Yahweh.

In Deuteronomy 5:29, God declares to Moses His desire that the people would fear Him enough that they would obey His commandments.

“Fear” can be expressed as (positive) obedience caused by reverence for Yahweh and/or (negative) obedience caused by the threat of divine punishment (Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11, 325).

3.

As an identification of a religious person, i.e., a worshiper of Yahweh.

Joseph identifies himself as a God-fearer when he is reunited with his brothers (Gen 42:18).

Jonah similarly identifies himself as a God-fearer when he is questioned by the sailors (Jonah 1:9; compare Pss 25:14; 33:18; 34:9).

Key Occurrences

Key occurrences of the phrase “fear of the Lord” in the Old Testament include:

• In Genesis 22, when Abraham sets out to obey God’s command to sacrifice Isaac and is stopped by the Angel of Yahweh, the angel says, “For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son” (Gen 22:12 NRSV).

Here the fear of God is demonstrated through Abraham’s perfect moral obedience to Yahweh (Westermann, “Genesis 12–26,” 361–62).

• Deuteronomy 10:12–13 begins with the statement, “So now, O Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you?”

The answer is five commands: to fear Yahweh, to walk in His ways, to love Yahweh, to serve Yahweh, and to keep His commandments.

All of these are expressions of reverence to God.

Fearing the Lord occurs first and summarizes the act of carrying out the other four expressions of obedience (Christensen, Deuteronomy 1:1–21:9, 201–06).

• Job is introduced as “perfect, just, one who feared God, and avoided evil” (Job 1:1).

Later, when God discusses Job with “the Satan,” He refers to these same characteristics (Job 1:8).

However, it is Job’s fear of God that Satan questions and attacks (Job 1:9).

Satan argues that if God takes away Job’s wealth, Job will deny God.

After this fails, God again acknowledges Job as a God-fearer (Job 2:3).

The New Testament also contains several references to the “fear of the Lord.”

For instance, records that after Saul’s conversion, the entire church in Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace, and “walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (ESV).

The New Testament writings also mention a group of people known as the God-fearers, one of whom was Cornelius the centurion ().

In the time of the New Testament, the term “God-fearers” referred to Gentiles who worshiped Yahweh and adhered to Jewish laws (Bruce, The Book of the Acts, 203).

I. Fears that should be overcome

A. Note: we pass over neurological fears.

1.

Not that this is totally irrelevant for such a discussion.

a.

We all have certain neurotic fears that stem from past experiences.

b.