The Bible frequently uses the words God-fearing and fear God. But what does the Bible mean when it uses this or similar terminology? The first biblical notice of fear is found in Genesis 3:10, when Adam responded to God’s inquiry, “Where are you?” by saying he was afraid, or fearful, of God’s voice due to his nakedness. He was obviously filled with anxiety over what God would do.
Sin and its attendant guilt caused Adam to fear God. There is no earlier record of any type of fear at all before sin’s entrance into the Garden of Eden.
Today, we have specialists who have categorized types of and given us names for specific fears and phobias. For example, there are acrophobia, the fear of heights, and hydrophobia, the irrational or extreme fear of water.
Fear is not all bad; if I saw a lion charging me on a city street (unlikely), the fear would cause adrenaline to course quickly through my body, and I would attempt to run before inevitably being caught. More likely, fear of injury prompts me to fasten the seat belt when I get into my car.
But in the context of fearing God, the Bible usually means something altogether different from a common fear of an enemy or an extreme and irrational fear, such as a phobia.
the case of Job
One notable case of a man who feared God is Job. Here is what we are told about him in the Old Testament book bearing his name: “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Job is described right at the beginning of the book as being God-fearing. A few verses later, in response to Satan, God again affirms, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (verse 8).
Often in the Old Testament, God-fearers are not ones who are afraid of God but ones who hold God in awe and reverence. To be sure, the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, paints a picture of God as the Almighty One who hates and consumes sin and seeks to destroy it one day. But to be God-fearing in the sense that it is spoken of in the book of Job is to have a complete loyalty to God born of the deep awe and profound respect due to Him. This respect is not born of a fear of destruction but comes from a desire to please one’s Creator—it is the product of a sound relationship.
Satan responds to God’s assessment of Job with a challenge: “ ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face’ ” (verses 9–11).
Satan rightly stated that because of Job’s love and loyal obedience to God, God had placed a hedge—a hedge of protection—around Job. God blessed Job because of his integrity, which is a conscious choice; God is a being of integrity, and He wants His people to be like Him.
The term hedge could be likened to a fence or wall around a compound or a house. Let me illustrate. Many of us have alarm systems on our cars and/or in our homes, and when we leave our homes or vehicles, we activate those devices. If we do not have electronic devices, we use the old-fashioned locks. We are simply seeking to protect our property while we are away. The Bible is full of statements about thieves, and they are found in every neighborhood. Someday, in the earth made new, those devices or locks will be unnecessary because there will no longer be thieves; but in this life, we feel more comfortable using them to protect our belongings. And there is nothing wrong with protecting our property, which we have invested in. It would be foolish not to do so.
Likewise, God seeks to protect Hi “property”—His children, in whom He has invested the blood of His own dear Son. While we are not things, our heavenly Father values our lives and seeks to protect us. That does not mean that nothing bad will ever befall us; it just means that God limits the activity of the evil one in our lives.
The hedge in the narrative indicates that the enemy has limited access to our lives. It was only after Satan’s nefarious accusation of God through the subtext of criticizing Job that God said, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person” (verse 12).
Remember, Satan essentially stated that God had bribed Job, which not only reduces Job to a “hireling” but also implies that God is willing to buy the love, loyalty, and worship of humanity—a claim that cannot be substantiated, yet one to which God responded.
God-fearing allegiance
When I was a child attending grammar school, we started the day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We did so with our hats removed, standing tall and straight, and with our right hands over our hearts. In it, we pledged loyalty to our country: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Our lives are to be pledged in allegiance to God. His mercy, grace, and protection are all byproducts of His great love for us. As we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), we are able to perceive more clearly what God is about in our lives and in the world around us, not because we are smart enough to figure it out but because God reveals Himself to us in an ever-expanding manner.
As we become more and more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s activity, we understand more of what God reveals to us about Himself and learn there is much more to serving God than doing so only to receive His blessings.
With all of his temporal blessings removed, Job still maintained his commitment, his pledge of allegiance, if you will, to God. Even his children were killed, not one by one, but all at once. I cannot imagine the grief parents experience when a child precedes them in death. It is unnatural, even in this world. How does Job respond? In a simple statement of fact that appears incomprehensible to us:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 1:21, 22).
This is a testimony to the faith of a God-fearing man. Job does not bemoan the evil that came upon him, nor does he blame or curse God. He simply stated a universal fact for all humanity. We are born with no possessions, and all the possessions we accumulate through our lives will be left behind when we die.
When we think of Job’s response to his trials in comparison to Adam and Eve in their temptation, we would note that Adam and Eve were tempted in a perfect world, one without sin and depravity. They experienced none of the sufferings of Job. Yet, they failed their test.
Presumably, Adam and Eve had seen the Creator of the universe face-to-face; Job hadn’t. And both Adam and Eve sought to “pass the buck.” Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent, and in doing so, they both implicated God, making Him responsible for their choice to disobey and plunge the world into sinful disobedience.
What does it mean to be God-fearing? Job lived in a world like ours today, a world steeped in sin and evil, and h “passed” the test. Job worshiped God, and his worship included mourning without blaming Him.
A God-fearing person is a pious person, devoted and dedicated to God and His plan for our lives. And this particular God-fearing man, Job, became the target of Satan’s anger at God. But, even though Job suffered intensely, he continued to trust God completely and maintained his integrity. He was able to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15, NKJV).
Ricardo Graham is a pastor and church administrator. He writes from California.
