Nothing to Fear When We Fear God Himself (Isa. 8:11–15)
In his first inaugural address, on March 4, 1933, American President
Franklin D. Roosevelt told a nation disheartened by the Great
Depression, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Isaiah’s
message to depressed people is: we have nothing to fear when we fear
God Himself.
God warned Isaiah not to fear what his people feared, but to fear Him
(Isa. 8:12, 13). This is an important theme in Scripture. For example, in
Revelation 14:6–12, three angels proclaim a worldwide message: fear
God and give glory to Him, rather than fearing and giving glory to the
earthly beast power described in Revelation 13.
How do you understand the idea of “fearing” God? What does that mean, especially in light of the command for us to love God, as well (Matt. 22:37)?
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True fear of God as holy means that you recognize Him as the ultimate
power in the universe. Such fear overcomes any other fear. If He
is for you, nobody else can touch you without His permission. If He is
against you because you have rebelled against Him, you can run, but
you can’t hide!
Doesn’t the idea that we should fear God contradict 1 John 4:18?
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love” (NRSV).
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There are different kinds of fear. If someone with awesome power
is your friend, with whom you share mutual love, you do not fear that
person in the sense you think he or she will hurt you. But you have a
kind of fear in the sense that you know and respect the power of that
person and the boundaries of your relationship.
As Christians we aren’t to love the things of the world, the things
people of the world themselves love (1 John 2:15). Thinking, then,
along parallel lines, as Christians, are there things the world
fears that we as Christians shouldn’t fear? If so, what are they,
and why shouldn’t we fear them? At the same time, what things
does the world not fear that we Christians should? (See, for
instance, Matt. 10:28; Jer. 10:2, 3.)