The Fear of God Deters Evil

FEAR OF GOD DETERS EVIL

Fear of God is a deterrent to evil. The reason there is so much evil in this world is that there is no fear of God in this world.

"Sin lurks deep in the hearts of the wicked, forever urging them on to evil deeds. They have no fear of God to hold them back. Instead, in their conceit, they think they can hide their evil deeds and not get caught" (Ps. 36:1,2 TLB).

That the fear of God is a deterrent to evil is plainly stated in Scripture.

"Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning'" (Ex. 20:20 NIV).

It is not just that God is to be feared because he is the Almighty God of infinite power and righteous judgments, Fearing God has benefits for the one who is wise enough to submit himself to God out of fear of God. Even those who are not of God's own people realize this. When Moses, as God's spokesman, had performed miracles before all the people of Egypt and then proclaimed that a devastating storm of hail was to come upon the land, not only did the people of God, the Hebrews, respect this word of the Lord, so too did all those of Egypt who were convinced by the previous signs that had been done; they too acted upon their fear of God:

"Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field" (Exodus 9:20,21).

Those who acted out of fear of God thus saved themselves and their property from harm when God's arm of judgment fell upon the land. Those who had no fear of God suffered the consequences.

Another judgment of hail is coming upon this world, at the end. You can see my depiction of this coming disaster here: Deadly hailstones fall to earth.

"From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible" (Rev. 16:21).

And as in the situation of old, some will escape this terrible catastrophe because of their fear of God and others will feel its full force. Amazingly, those who do thus suffer for their lack of fear of God do not turn around and repent of their foolishness, but continue in their sin and lack of respect for God, even daring to curse him for his righteous punishment of their rebellious heart towards him.

"A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord" (Prov. 19:3).

It is no wonder, then, that Solomon, known for his wisdom, stresses over and over again in his book of Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is vitally important and urges with utmost passion for all to lay hold of such fear in their hearts:

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Prov. 1:7).

"Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: 'How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand; since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you--when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm'" (Prov. 1:20-33 NIV).

The consequences of not fearing God are severe: eternal separation from God. The benefits of fearing God are wonderful beyond description: a full life of knowing God now and rescue from hell in the future judgment. Only a fool would refuse to fear God. Are you a fool or do you fear God?