The Fear of the Lord 

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-7.

Memory Verse: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7.

Weekly Reading: Proverbs 14:14-16:24.

Introduction: We may know a lot about the Bible and the teaching we find in it, yet if our relationship with the Lord is impersonal, if we take little time for prayer and worship, our level of knowledge is shallow. This is because the key which opens the the deep understanding of God to us is when He is alllowed to sit on the throne of our hearts. We must allow Him to sit there for two basic reasons. First, He really loves us! He desires our success even more than we ourselves. Secondly, He is the great and terrible God. He is a God of judgment. He will not compromise sin or iniquity. He is a God of love, and He is a God of war! It is hard to conceptualize the Lord as being anything but sugar and cream. He is more gentle than any person that ever lives, and He is the destroyer of souls who remain in the last day without a covering. Great revelation can pour forth into our lives when we come to know the terrible majesty of the Lord and give ourselves submissively to Him as our King.
  Having the fear of the Lord is more than just having reverence. Read Hebrews 12:14-29. This passage speaks of two mountains. One is Sinai, the other is Mt. Zion. The writer here is trying to get across how serious and dangerous it is to take Mt. Zion lightly. Moses exceedingly feared and quaked at Mt. Sinai. Many so-called Christians take Mt. Zion very lightly. It is not a serious thing for them at all. At Mt.Sinai, the ground shook. At the culmination of this age, both heaven and earth will be shaken. How often do we actually picture God as a consuming fire? When we picture Him that way, we will truly begin to see what it means to fear the Lord.

Questions For Study:

1. What is the beginning of wisdom? Proverbs 9:10; 15:33.

2. What is the beginning of knowledge? Proverbs 1:7.

3. What is the whole duty of man? Ecclesiastes 12:13.

4. Why should we fear the Lord? Hebrews 12:25-29; Deuteronomy 6:13-15; Ecclesiastes 12:14.

5. Whom did Jesus say we should fear? Luke 12:4,5.

6. What are the benefits we receive by fearing the Lord? Proverbs 10:27; 14:26,27; 19:23; 28:14.

7. What two things does Proverbs tell us will characterize the man who truly fears the Lord? Proverbs 14:2; 28:14.

8. What is the attitude toward evil of those who fear the Lord? Proverbs 8:13.

9. Some say under the new covenant, there is no longer any need to fear God. What did the Apostle Paul say about fearing the Lord?
2 Corinthians 5:9-11.

10. By what will God judge every man? 1 Peter 1:17.