Whatever You Fear Becomes Your God

Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, to rebuke him because he relied on the king of Syria and not on the Lord his God. He was defeated because He relied on a man and the strength of his army (2 Chronicles 16:7).

Hanani said, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9, NKJV, emphasis added).

The phrase, "those whose heart is loyal to Him" means "those who fear Him and show reverence toward Him". The Lord is looking for those who fear Him and His strength will be made known to those who are loyal to Him. He will deliver them from their enemies.

Asa's failure to rely on God shows that he was a person who did not fear God. The fact that he relied on Syria instead of relying on God also indicates that he feared man and exalted man above his God. In the Lord's eyes man became Asa's god!

God rebuked Laban after Jacob had served him for twenty years. Jacob said:

"Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hand, and rebuked you last night" (Genesis 31:42, NKJV, emphasis added).

Isaac was the promised seed that was to bring forth the Messiah. Isaac had the fear of the Lord in him. In the above verse, the phrase "the Fear of Isaac" means "the God of Isaac". As far as God-fearing Jacob was concerned, God was Isaac's Fear and also his Fear. Isaac's Fear and his Fear was their God!

Religious fear and the fear of man

Religious fear is closely related to the fear of man. There is a man-made god in every religious practice. During the time of Isaiah, the people of Judah were religious. They feared and worshipped the gods made by their own hands.

The Lord rebuked them, "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have moved their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of man" (Isaiah 29:13, NKJV, emphasis added).

They kept up the forms of religion taught by man and from the doctrine of man; but they withheld their devotion to God.

Here is one of the wise sayings of Solomon:

"The fear of man brings a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe" (Proverbs 29:25, emphasis added).

The word "safe" means "secure". A person who is governed by the fear of man will want to please man and will not fear God.

Abraham, for the fear of man, denied his wife twice! If he had feared God he would have trusted the Lord to keep his wife safe in all circumstances. Similarly, Peter for the fear of man denied his Lord three times!

A person who puts his trust in the Lord for mercy and protection shall be set on high, above the power of man and above the fear of that power. A person who fears man has made man bigger than God. Man suddenly has greater influence and greater impact against him than God. And so, he lacks the fear of God.

The Sin of Fearing Man

Judah's sin was religious fear and the fear of man.

Thus said the Lord, "Cursed is the man who trust in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5).

A person who fears man is a man who makes flesh his strength. His heart departs from the Lord because he does not trust the Lord.

Notice a man cannot trust man and God at the same time. He either makes flesh (man) his strength or God his stregth; he either fear man or fear God.

The curse upon his life is:

"For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited" (Jeremiah 17:6).

In other words, he is in the wilderness situation and his Christian walk is barren.

In my opinion, this is the description of a man who fears man and compromises the truth of God's Word in order to please man and to gain acceptance from man. His praise is from man but not from God. But the Lord is watching him and He says:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings" (Jeremiah 17:9, emphasis added).

The Blessings of the God-fearing Man

The man who fears the Lord trusts in the Lord and honors the Lord.

Thus said the Lord:

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out the roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit" (Jeremiah 17:7,8, emphasis added).

Notice that a person who fears and trusts in the Lord will not fear any circumstances. Instead, he enjoys abundant life!

A God-fearing Lifestyle

The Lord desires fear, reverence and honor from His people. One way of preventing the snare of fearing man is to cultivate a God-fearing lifestye.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence" (Malachi 1:6)?

There is a Scriptural way to cultivate a God-fearing lifestyle:

1. Serve the Lord with fear

The psalmist said, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11).

In the spiritual realm there is a close relationship between fear of the Lord and rejoicing. Rejoicing is sandwiched in between fear and trembling. It is the fear of the Lord that releases the rejoicing. Without the fear of the Lord our rejoicing will be very shallow and incomplete.

2. Submitting to one another

Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus regarding maintaining Spirit filled lifestyle:

"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God" (Ephesians 5:18 - 21, emphasis added).

The phrase "be filled with the Spirit" means "continuously filled with the Holy Spirit". A congregation of believers continuously filled with the Holy Spirit will be be guided to submit one to another in the fear of God.

Notice that Paul said to submit one to another. But, many Church-goers only submit themselves to the Pastors and Elders of the Church.

3. Holy in conduct

Peter worte to the Jewish believers, "He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear, ...." (1 Peter 1:15 - 17, emphasis added).

How to Understand the Fear of the Lord

Solomon gave a Scriptural way to understand the fear of the Lord:

"My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; you, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:1 - 5, NKJV, emphasis added).

The conditions for understanding the fear of the Lord are:

1. Receive the words of wisdom.

2. Treasure and obey His Commands.

3. Seek discernment and understanding.

A person who fulfills the above conditions given by Solomon will understand the fear of the Lord. Furthermore, he will find the knowledge of God!

On the other hand, a person who does not seek wisdom, discernment and understanding and fail to obey God, does not know God. If he does not know God there is no way he understands the fear of the Lord.

A person who fears man does not know God. He lacks wisdom, discernment and understanding. He disobeys God by making man his god!