The Fear of God

Exodus 20, the end of the Ten Commandments is where we find ourselves today.

And our title for our message is the fear of God.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a fear of wasp.

I like a lot of things that God has created.

Wasp are not one of them.

I feel they came from the fall or after the fall.

The reason for that fear is you can't reason with a wasp.

You can't become friends with a wasp.

And unlike other bees, they seem to always be in attack mode, right?

So you can't just get close and observe them.

They also are unlike honeybees in that they can just keep stinging you, unending.

So that has instilled a fear for me that makes me not want to get close and do anything near around wasp.

Our passage this morning, our sermon, is about the fear of God.

There's aspects around that type of fear of wasp and anything else that's scary that's similar to the fear of God.

But there's so much more to the fear of God that is very important to us as Christians.

And so my prayer and my hope is as we go through this passage and we look at this, that it will be important.

It will be helpful for our lives as we move forward.

A proper fear of God is one of our greatest weapons against sin.

The fear of God, a weapon for us to fight against sin.

Let's open in prayer this morning and then we're going to read our passage.

Lord, as we come to you this morning and as we read your word and as we open it up,

we ask that you would meet us, that you would teach us, that you would show us different aspects of you

and the fear of you and what that means.

May you take away distractions.

May you encourage us where we are.

And we ask these things in your name. Amen.

Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

We're going to go from verse 18 to the end of the chapter.

If you would stand with me as we read this together.

Starting in verse 18.

Then when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet

and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled.

And they stood far off and said to Moses,

You speak to us and we will listen.

But do not let God speak to us lest we die.

Moses said to the people,

Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.

The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Thus you will say to the peoples of Israel,

You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

You shall not make gods of silver to be with me,

nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

An altar of earth you shall make for me,

and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,

your sheep and your oxen.

In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,

I will come to you and bless you.

If you make me an altar of stone,

you shall not build it of hewn stones,

for if you wield your tool on it,

you profane it.

And you shall not go up by steps to my altar,

that your nakedness be not exposed on it.

You may be seated.

If you remember back just one chapter,

chapter 19,

God called the people to Mount Sinai,

and they were experiencing some of these

same terrifying elements that we see here in our passage.

The thunder, the lightning, the sound of trumpet,

the mountain shaking and smoking.

God's presence had come down on the mountain,

and his presence was unmistakable.

If you had been in the area,

anywhere nearby,

God's arrival would not have been missed.

The Israelites here were witnessing the glory

and the majesty and the power of God Almighty

coming down to them.

Even to be able to stand and experience this event

without being driven to their knees in fear

or knocked to the ground by the sheer force

of God's presence coming before them,

really is just a grace of God to them.

It is because God decided to come down and speak to them

that he gave them the ability to even stand

where they were at the foot of the mountain.

He came to his people to give them

a fuller picture of himself,

to lay out for them how they were to live.

See, God had chosen them to be a holy nation,

but now they needed to know how to live as a holy nation.

The God of heaven and earth came to them

and spoke words to them.

The Ten Commandments that we've been talking about.

They were given to the people of God.

As we look at verse 18, it says,

Now when all the people saw the thunder

and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet

and the mountains smoking,

the people were afraid and trembled,

and they stood far off.

It says that they saw these things.

Now not all of these are things that we see.

You can't see thunder.

You can't see the sound of a trumpet.

But what is meant is they experienced

all these things together.

The sound and the shaking that comes with thunder.

You've felt that before

as you're close to lightning when it goes off.

God had descended down on this mountain in fire.

Was something burning in that?

Was there a smell that came from that

as the mountain is on fire?

As the mountain shook and the ground and the rocks

were moved by the very presence of God coming down.

What was that even like?

God rocking the wilderness visually, audibly, physically.

Thinking of that, it's no surprise

that the people were afraid and trembled.

Back in chapter 19, as they came to the mountain,

remember that the people took their stand

at the foot of the mountain.

It says that.

That's where they started out.

But it's not where they ended up.

It doesn't say in the Bible,

but it's possible that after every commandment

that is given, that God breaks out with the trumpet.

That thunder and lightning sounds

signifying that the word of the Lord had been spoken.

So every time a commandment is given,

they're terrified more, and so they step back.

So that after 10 commandments,

they're no longer at the foot of the mountain.

They're quite removed.

They're at a distance.

They're now far off.

And in verse 19, they say to Moses,

you speak to us.

We'll listen.

But don't let God speak to us, lest we die.

They said, Moses, you're okay.

We can deal with you.

We can connect.

We can relate to you.

But not God.

He's too much.

We might die.

Now, I'm not saying that what they experienced

wasn't terrifying.

And I know it's easy for me to stand here

not being there and judge them by what they did.

However, there seems to be a breakdown

in their understanding of what is going on.

Of what God wants to teach them.

And the reason why I say this is for two reasons.

First, for them to think that they might die

means either that they don't trust God

or they don't completely understand

his calling of them to be his people.

Because remember back at Mount Sinai,

before the 10 commandments,

just one chapter ago,

Moses goes up to the mountain.

He meets with God.

God gives him a message back to the people.

And it's this.

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians

and how I bore you on eagle's wings

and brought you to myself.

Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice

and keep my covenant,

you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.

For all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.

So as they heard that,

there's an aspect of that that they missed

because if they had gotten it properly and completely,

then they would not have thought

that God was going to kill them.

And how else would they be,

would they think that they were going to die?

Were they worried that they might get struck by lightning?

Were the mountain would shake too much

and fall on them?

Did they not trust God

that he was in control over all of nature?

I think he proved that point out

through the ten plagues

and the parting of the Red Sea.

So that's one reason.

Another reason why I don't think

they understood God's intentions

is because Moses comes back

and has to explain this to them.

And it's very helpful.

He says this in verse 20.

Do not fear,

for God has come to test you

that the fear of him may be before you

that you may not sin.

And now at first,

this verse sounds a little

like it's contradicting itself.

Do not fear.

God's testing you

that the fear of him may be with you.

Don't fear,

but fear.

Let's take this verse

and look at it a little bit closer.

Do not let God speak to us

lest we die.

That's what they just said.

And to that,

Moses is saying,

do not fear.

He's not going to kill you.

He's telling them

not to be afraid

of God ending their life

at this point.

That's not what this is about.

Rather,

he's saying,

God has come to test you.

To prove you.

That is,

to see if God's presence

will produce in you

a fear,

a reverence,

an obedience

that God is calling for

from his people.

Now,

God could have decided

from the very beginning

that whenever

he spoke

and came to

a human,

he would do so

in a

soft voice.

Maybe in a calm

and a very relatable

fashion.

So that man felt

at ease with God

and their relationship

together.

And we can see that

a little bit

even in

the Garden of Eden

as God comes

to Adam

and they walk

together

in the cool

of the day

and they have

a relationship.

That sounds nice.

However,

it fails to display

and to

describe

the very attributes

of God

that are important

for us to understand.

See,

as sinful humans,

we're always

striving to

be God,

right?

We're striving

to be the one

in control

of our life.

We want everything

to be under our control,

our decisions,

what we want,

not God.

We'll pull God out

when we need

a little help,

but I'm the one

steering this plane,

right?

That's just our

natural bit

as Christians.

So,

we need to have

a right

and a proper

view of God

in order to put

that

in its place.

We can be told

how to show

reverence

and honor

to God,

that is true,

but it falls

tragically short

if we

miss out

on the

God-centric

attributes

of himself.

Like the prophet

Isaiah,

when he's given

this vision

of the Lord,

he sees the Lord

high and lifted up.

His robe

is filling

the temple.

There are seraphims

that are flying around

and are praising him.

The temple

is shaking

and full of smoke.

God doesn't even

speak

and Isaiah

is undone.

He sees

his uncleanliness

before God.

He sees

how he is

here

and God

is so

out there

and he just

loses it.

We need that.

We need to understand

the power

and the majesty

of God.

We need to grasp

the holiness

of God,

his perfectness,

his set-apartness.

We need to

understand

how the wrath

of God

is situated

towards sin.

It can't be

with sin.

And so our view

of him would be

incomplete

and weak

without knowing

those things.

No,

we need to see

and we need to know

God as he has

revealed himself

in scripture,

awesome and majestic

and terrifying

at times

because that's

who he is,

holy and separated

and not like us.

He is God

and we are not.

Moses says,

do not fear

for God

has come to test you.

Why?

That the fear

of God

may be before you,

that you may not sin.

Having a proper

fear of God

will keep us

from sin.

Fear for the unbeliever?

That looks a little

different.

That's fear

of God's judgment.

Knowing that you

are not in the will

of your creator.

Jesus says this

in Luke 12

Luke 12:5

verse 5,

but I will warn you

whom to fear.

Fear him

who,

after he is killed,

has authority

to cast into hell.

Yes,

I tell you,

fear him.

Jesus is talking

about,

of course,

God,

the only one

who can

cast into hell.

God.

However,

the fear

for a believer

is different.

It's an awesome

reverence

for God.

It's knowing

who he is,

knowing who we are,

wanting to obey

and honor him

while having

that full

understanding

of who he is

and how he

has condescended

to us

out of love

to save us.

Christian author

and pastor

Randy Alcorn

says this,

the fear of God

is a profound

respect of his holiness,

which includes

a fear

of the consequences

of disobeying him.

It shouldn't scare us

out of our wits,

it should scare us

into them.

And that lines up

with Proverbs 14,

Proverbs 14:27

verse 27,

it says this,

the fear of the Lord

is a fountain

of life

turning a man

from the snares

of death.

The fear

of the Lord

for a Christian

helps to refocus us

on God Almighty

and not ourselves.

It puts our lives

and our sins

and our thoughts

in perspective

before God.

Noah obeyed God,

he walked with God,

but we read

in Hebrews

that he had

a reverent fear

of God.

Joseph,

after having

a lifelong,

a lifetime

filled with fear,

fear,

this guy

went through

everything.

He's the one

that we would think

would struggle

with so many things,

who would go

off the rails,

who would struggle

with anger

and resentment,

even who,

when tempted

by a woman

to sleep

with her,

you would think

in his condition,

in all that had

been taken away

from him,

and how he would

have thought

I deserve

a little bit

of something

good in my life,

who's around me.

He still fled,

he still did

what was right,

he still followed

after God

through jail,

through his family,

through women,

through all of it,

from all that he was

given and all that

he was taken away.

And in Genesis 42,

it says that

he feared God.

It was his fear

of God

that kept him

where he went.

He didn't have

the New Testament,

he didn't have

Jesus Christ

or the gospel,

he didn't have

podcasts that would

encourage him

when life sucked,

he had the fear

of the Lord.

And we see this fear

also in the New Testament

as we look at Acts 9,

Acts 9:31

verse 31.

So the church

throughout all Judea

and Galilee

and Samaria

had peace

and was being built up

and walking

in the fear

of the Lord

and in the comfort

of the Holy Spirit,

it multiplied,

it being the church,

the church multiplied

as it walked

in the fear

of the Lord

and the comfort

of the Holy Spirit.

There are many fears

that we can struggle

with in life.

We can't list them all,

it seems that they

never end.

But the big ones,

the fear of man,

the fear of death,

the fear of losing control,

the fear of failure,

fear of losing

my identity,

all those we struggle

with.

But having a fear

of God

is most important.

Because if we have

the fear of God

and we understand it

and we ground

ourselves in it,

it will help keep

all those other fears

in their rightful place.

Not governing our lives,

not controlling our lives,

but in a place

of rightness

before God,

in a place of peace,

knowing that you are

in his will.

And this fearful God

is a God

that loves you

and protects you

from those other fears

that we struggle with.

Let's move on

to verse 21.

So the people

stood far off

while Moses drew near

to the thick darkness

where Jesus was.

It's helpful,

I think,

to observe

in this passage

that there isn't

any judging

going on

towards the people,

towards the Israelites,

they may be slow

to understand,

they may not know

exactly what's going on,

but there is no blame

that I see here

towards them

and how they

were fearful

and what they do

with that.

Even as they request

not to hear

directly from God,

and we want to go back

to Moses,

you be our mediator.

Even in that,

we don't pick up

anything

in this passage

that seems to say

that they're wrong

or to judge them

for that.

So Moses goes back

to being the mediator now.

And as this shift

goes back,

we look at the middle

of verse 22.

God's still not done speaking

and so it's almost

like a little blip

and it keeps going.

They saw God,

God spoke to them,

and now they're like,

okay, Moses,

you got this

and we'll just listen

directly to you.

And so God continues.

He says,

you have seen for yourselves

that I have talked

with you from heaven.

At first,

this statement

seems a little bit like,

well, yeah,

we know.

But I think it's meant

for more.

It's meant to be

a reminder to the people

about what had just

taken place,

right?

God had spoken

to them.

Their God

had just come down

from heaven

and spoke directly

to them.

All of them.

All together.

Not different messages.

They all experienced

the same thing.

Words

to them

from God.

There's a couple things

that I just want

to unpack in that.

First is,

the people of Israel

had a God

that spoke to them.

How loving

and personal

that is

if we just

think about that

for a second.

Their God,

this is not new,

their God

is our God.

One God,

no other gods,

he speaks

to his people.

What other religion

that you know of

has a God

who speaks

and cares

for his people?

Condescends

from his

throne,

his mightiness

and comes down

to us

and speaks

to us

that we might

understand.

God continues

in verse,

oh,

I'm sorry,

that was the one

thing,

the second thing

that I wanted

to bring out

was that

since God

had spoken

to them

in the Ten

Commandments

and their response

to that was like,

that's too much.

I want you

to go through

Moses

and we'll

listen to you.

God wanted

them

to

understand

from that point,

this is their

agreement,

every word

that he gives

to Moses

and Moses

portrays to them,

he wants

them to

understand

those words

are from

God.

So though you

may not hear

from me directly

now because you

chose not to,

that fear,

that awesomeness,

that reverence

that you had

for the Ten

Commandments,

when I continue

to speak,

I want you

to understand

that those

are still

my words.

They'll come

through Moses

but it's

the same thing.

And I think

it's important

that they

understood that.

So God

continues to

speak in

verse 23,

you shall

not make

gods of

silver to

be with

me,

nor shall

you make

for yourselves

gods of

gold.

God

here giving

them a

reminder,

a summary

of the

first two

commandments

if you

remember.

They

are not

to make

gods to

be with

him and

there is

nothing

that is

to share

that is

to be on

the same

level as

God.

Instead

of looking

to things,

whether they

are things

of this

world or

idols that

we make,

none of

those things

should replace

God.

None of

those things

should represent

God or

be worshipped

like God.

Instead

here God

is saying

I want you

to build

an altar.

At first

this section

seems a little

odd coming

from just

after the

Ten Commandments

but what we

see is a

reminder of

the priority

of worship.

God

saying

worship me

first.

Worship

your God.

We saw

it in the

Ten Commandments

the order

that they

were given

in and we

see it

here.

Our

worship of

God,

our relationship

with God,

that is

paramount.

That is

first priority.

That must

come first.

And then

after that

comes how

we are

to live

and to

relate

to one

another.

And so

those will

be some

laws that

we'll get

into in

the next

few weeks.

Laws that

were to

govern how

they were

to relate

to one

another.

But first

and foremost

it was

their worship.

It was

their relationship

to God.

Do not

make anything

that will be

placed on

my level,

God says.

Nothing

that will

represent

me.

Instead,

verse 24,

an altar

of earth

you shall

make for

me and

sacrifice

on it

your burnt

offerings,

your peace

offerings,

your sheep

and your

oxen.

Now we

know from

other passages

at this

point in

the Old

Testament that

sacrifices and

offerings were

already known.

This wasn't a

new thing.

So Moses

isn't giving

them something

they don't

know about.

There were

sacrifices already

made.

There were burnt

offerings that

were given.

But there

were laws

now.

There were

rules that

God wanted

to put in

place as

they

sacrificed.

Verse 25,

if you make

me an altar

of stone,

you shall

not build

it of

hewn stones,

for if you

wield your

tool on

it,

you profane

it.

They were

not to add

to what God

had created

and said

was good.

Even a

stone.

God created

a stone.

They were

not to

elevate their

craftsmanship

or the

altar they

created in

any way.

In any way

that might

elevate

themselves more

than what

they were.

By bringing

maybe a

higher level

of workmanship

or piety

or some

higher standing

before God,

they came

to God

just like

we come

to God

sinful

and there

is nothing

we can

add

to ourselves

or to

the altar

or in our

worship that

would change

that.

The altar

held the

sacrifice that

was given

to cover

their sins

and they

couldn't add

to that.

All they

could do

is come

and bring

it.

And we

see in

verse 26

another law

that God

adds on

to this

as well.

He says,

you shall

not go

up by

steps

to my

altar

that your

nakedness

be not

exposed

on it.

So after

Adam and

Eve sin

in the

garden,

the exposing

of one's

nakedness

is an

indication

of sin

and

shamefulness.

God

created

Adam and

Eve and

they did

not have

clothes on.

They saw

each other

before they

sinned and

they were

naked and

there was

no problem

with that.

But then

sin came

in.

Adam and

Eve sinned.

Adam and

Eve decided

to make

themselves like

God thinking

they were

being left

out and

so they

disobeyed

God and

that affected

the world.

It affected

their view

of themselves

and in

Genesis 3.10

when God

comes looking

for Adam

this is what

Adam said.

I heard

the sound

of you

in the

garden and

I was

afraid

because I

was naked

and I hid

myself.

That's the

same nakedness

that was

fine before

but now

there's shame

there's

sinfulness

in that

exposed

nakedness.

In

Genesis

9 we

get this

brief story

if you

remember of

Noah

after the

flood

he gets

wasted

and he

finds himself

passed out

naked

on the

full ground

of his

tent.

One of

his

sons

Ham

shows up

and

we're not

given a lot

of details

but

it wasn't

properly

handled

when he

saw the

nakedness

of his

father

father.

But his

other two

brothers

Shem

and

Jaheth

when they

learned

of it

they got

a piece

of cloth

a robe

or a

blanket

and they

walk

backwards

into the

tent

and they

lay it

over their

father

and they

walk right

back out

because they

knew

it was

shameful

to look

at the

nakedness

of another

person

other than

their wife

that they

weren't allowed

to look

at.

And from

that we

see that

Ham is

cursed

and his

other two

brothers

are blessed.

There's

something

in that

nakedness

that was

it was

special

it was

forbidden

it was

handled

this rightly

because it

wasn't handled

rightly in the

beginning with

Adam and

Eve.

And so

for that

reason God

is saying

I do not

want you to

have steps

walking up

to my

altar

because when

you walk

up to my

altar

you're

under

parts

are

exposed

and so

you bring

shame

and sin

to this

holy place

of worship.

As we

think about

these

last few

verses

as we

think about

the altar

one thing

that stands

out in

these verses

is

the ownership

of the altar

verse 25

God says

if you make

me an altar

of stone

and then in

verse 26

you shall

not go up

to the steps

of my

altar

the altar

belonged to

the Lord

even though

man built

it

the sacrifices

the offerings

they belong

to the Lord

the reverence

given

was the Lord's

the forgiveness

that God gave

to them

belonged to

the Lord

and so

it's for those

reasons that

God had

requirements

on these

altars

in this

time of

worship

before him

so as we

think about

that

thinking about

the fact

that we

are

sinners

and that

we all

fall

short

of what

almighty

God

deserves

of

his

people

not only

do we fall

short

we saw the

Israelites fall

short

their sacrifice

falls short

our sacrifices

fall short

our worship

before God

falls short

but God

that's where

God

stepped in

that's where

God did not

leave us

that's where

God stepped

in with

his only

son

Jesus

who became

the last

and final

sacrifice

for our

sins

never again

we don't have

to go back

like the

people of

Israel

and make

sacrifices

all the

cleansing

all the

giving up

of animals

all the

blood

all that

goes away

why

because

Jesus

became

our

sacrifice

once

and forever

offered

to God

on our

behalf

he made

that sacrifice

for our

sins to be

covered

we have

to accept

that

gift

from Jesus

Christ

we have

to believe

if there's

no belief

in Jesus

Christ

that he

covers our

sins

with his

sacrifice

then we

can't be

covered

and the

wrath of

God

still remains

on our

sins

Hebrews

12

28 and

29

I believe

captured this

idea of the

fear of God

in a very

helpful

way

let us

therefore

let us

be

grateful

for receiving

a kingdom

that cannot

be shaken

that kingdom

of God

for believers

that we

get to be

a part of

through our

belief in

Jesus Christ

that kingdom

is the kingdom

that cannot

be shaken

and thus

let us

offer to God

acceptable

worship

with reverence

and all

for our

God is a

consuming fire

that's the fear

the fear is

realizing who

God is

and yet

God still

loves us

and accepts

us

a right

fear of

God

will keep

us from

sin

not

perfection

but a

fear that

is healthy

and right

will cause

us to run

away from

sin

and run

back to

God

remembering

who he

is and

what he

did for

us

that will

keep us

grounded

in his

loving arms

that accept

us back

when we

make mistakes

and when we

sin and we

ask for

repentance

I want to

end with a

quote from

Charles Spurgeon

famous preacher

from the 1800s

he says this

blessed is the

man whose

heart is

filled with

that holy

fear which

inclines his

steps in the

way of God's

commandments

inclines his

heart to seek

after God

and inclines

his whole soul

to enter into

fellowship

with God

that he

may be

acquainted

with him

and be at

peace

let's pray

Lord we

pray that you

would continue

today and

every day

remind us of

who you are

help us to

get an

accurate and

a real

grasp on

having a

right fear

of you

to keep

us from

sin

to keep

us from

ourselves

help us

in our

struggles

help us

in our

temptations

and sin

help us

to look

to you

God thank

you for

your love

and your

mercy and

your grace

and your

salvation

that we

could never

do for

ourselves

you did

for us

Lord we

thank you

for those

things

and we

want to

live for

you

glorify you

in all that

we do

and in your

name

amen

too

i

we

we

my

we

have

to

run

our