The Fear That Isn't Fear
Have you ever run into those people who claim to feel something but prove that they don't by their words or actions? You know the ones I mean - the ones who say they love their wives but then batter them after a hard day at the office. Or the ones who say that you are valuable but then seem unable to remember when they're supposed to meet you for lunch. Or the ones who say they'll pay you back but then never write a check? We all know people like that - and we have all been people like that to some degree.
Those type of people are not new; they've been around for millenia. We read about them in history, and sometimes their stories are rather instructive for us today. One such account is found in 2 Kings 17. Read these starkly contrasting words:
"And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.... [They] feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel.... So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images." vv 24, 33-34, 41a
When the Assyrian king re-populated Samaria after the fall of 11 tribes from Israel, the people are reported to have feared Yahweh, the one true God, Whom the Hebrews worshiped and for Whom the Israelites were supposed to have been ambassadors. But in the very next breath they are said to not have feared Him, because they did not follow Him. Then, concluding the chapter, they are said to both fear Him and serve their false gods.
What's the deal? Was the author of 2 Kings a bit overtired when he wrote this section of Scripture, failing to keep his story straight? I mean, did they or did they not fear Him?!
Or is it possible that there is a fear that isn't really fear at all? These superstitious peoples who repopulated Samaria did indeed fear the one true God - just as they feared their false gods. That is, they wanted to appease Him and make Him happy and didn't want Him to be mad at them and punish them. But the author lets us in on a little secret, revealed by the contrasting words he pens: These people didn't really fear God at all, because true, worshipful fear of the one true God demands knowledge of Him, followed by obedient response. They could not fear Him, for they did not know Him.
Remember what Solomon wrote in Proverbs? "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight" (Proverbs 9.10, ESV). These people went wrong in the same way the Israelites went wrong: They claimed to know and fear Yahweh, but denied this fear by their idol worship.
The things is, we are still the same radically sinful people that these nations were, and we still have this same proneness to wander away after idols. So join me in examining our hearts, asking the difficult question of the Holy Spirit: In what ways do I say I know, love, and fear You and then deny You? What things do I treasure more than You throughout my life?
Asking such questions of God with a heart of sincerity set on obedience to His answer is delightful to God, and will without doubt be answered. In fact, that is the type of prayer that He cannot NOT answer (see 1 John 5.13-15).
What's YOUR fear factor?
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