Understanding the Fear of the Lord

This week, we had the girls make scones for our snack. 

Several people wanted to stir... 

Tea and snacks by candlelight, while listening to a chapter of our biography. 

Jael's lesson

[in monotone voice] The topic this week is The Fear of the Lord. This is a very exciting and important topic...one that we all need to take to heart and obey. I have to tell you, though, that I could only think of one story that fit this topic. I hope you do not mind. However, the Fear of the Lord is a topic that appears all throughout Scripture, and so, this week, I did a Bible Study on The Fear of the Lord. You'll be amazed at what I found. Now, the first verse I looked up was...[look surprised to see slight boredom or distraction on their faces] Hmmm. How can I make this a little more interesting? [pretend to think] Aha! [look as if random idea has come into my head, but then look doubtful] Who here wants to be wise? Who wants to be understanding? Insightful? Well, I have just the thing for you! In this house (the three main rooms here), I have hidden some wisdom, some insight, and some understanding. Well, I've hidden pieces of cardboard with Bible verses on them that talk about wisdom, insight and understanding. So, who want to look for them? Okay! Here are the directions to your virtue. [hand out pieces of paper] Now, go find them! [wait while the girls find their pieces of cardboard]  Has everyone found their treasure? Good! Now, come and sit down. [pick a random girl] What does yours say? [She reads a Bible verse about the fear of the Lord] Hmm. You? [ask another girl, and she also read a Bible verse about the fear of the Lord] Does anyone have anything different? No? Well, what do they say? [wait for a few girls to answer] Ah! So all of them talk about how the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and insight and all? Hmmm. I'm seeing a common thread here. :-)

Before I go on, we might want to define "Fear of the Lord." "Fear" in this sense isn't "afraid"...necessarily. ... Oh, what can I compare it to? [think] Well, how many of you are afraid of your parents? Like, if you see them coming, you'll run away? (ALL the time!) Okay. Now, how many of you would flat out call your parent a name, or boss them around? Hmm. Why not? [wait for girls to answer] So, you aren't afraid of them...unless you do something wrong? [wait for agreement] So you love your parents, but they can punish you, and so you're always afraid to do wrong, because then they'll get mad at you, right? It's the same way with God. He loves us like nobody's business, but, if we do something wrong, He will punish us. So, in a way, the Fear of the Lord is the same thing as the Fear of the Parents. :-P Except God is even better than our parents. Understand?

Now, I'm sure you all can think of many times in the Bible when God smashed the bad guys for doing bad things, so I don't think any of you would disagree when I say that we should fear the Lord. But there are some specific Bible verses that tell us to fear the Lord. 1 Chronicles 16:25 says "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods." (Kinda like, "Duh!" there! He's the only real God, so obviously He should be feared more than any other! But, sometimes we stupid humans need something that simple to ensure comprehension!) And...Psalm 96:4 tells us, "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods." So we fear Him 'cause He's totally awesome and mighty and everything. And yet, as Christians, He's our Daddy!

One quick Bible story - as I mention early on, I did a word study on "Fear of the Lord," and the one Bible story I found (I think it was the only actual Bible story that actually used the term "the Fear of the Lord" in the midst of the narrative) was in Jonah. You know how Jonah was trying to run away from God, and he got on the boat, and tried to sail to Tarsheesh? Well, when the big storm came up, and the men on the ship were so scared, Jonah 'fessed up, and told the sailors to throw him overboard. They didn't want to do it, but he told them that, if they did, his God would stop the storm. So they pitched him overboard, and the sea grew calm. Then Jonah 1:16 records: "At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him." I just thought that was an interesting demonstration of God's power (His spanking for Jonah, if you will) that brought unbelieving pagans to a healthy fear of the Lord!

You'll hear about other Bible characters later, but first, let's do some fun stuff. Well, if you like words and English, it should be fun. :-P Remember how we were talking earlier about how the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding and everything? [take out small stack of cardboard pieces] Well, I don't know how many of you noticed, but each of your pieces is the beginning half of a word. Here's the other half. See if you can find yours. [wait while they do that] Now, look on the back of the piece you just received. What word is written in purple/magenta back there? [wait for girls to shout out "wisdom", "life", "avoidance of evil", "humility", "pure", and "enduring". One girl will not have spoken] Hmm. Random. Is there anything else written? It'll be in red or black. [They'll all say "yes - it's a Bible verse!”] Okay. Can you look those up? [wait for them to look their verses up, and then have them read them out loud. They will be Job 28:28, Proverbs 14:27, Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 16:6, Proverbs 22:4, Psalm 19:9, and Psalm 19:9 again] Wow! The Fear of the Lord is a lot of things! But [girl who hasn't read yet], why haven't you said anything? [she'll say that what she has isn't in purple or red.] Then what do you have? Just read it out. [She'll say, "The Key" and she'll read, "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure. Isaiah 33:6"]

Hmm. So the Fear of the Lord is the key to treasure. [think] Sylvia, would you happen to have a box containing some of God's treasure? [she does, and she hands it to me.] Awesome! Now! Within this box are some treasures, but [I try to open the box] the box is locked. To access these treasures, I need the Fear of the Lord. Do you have that, too, Sylvia? [she hands me a small key that has a tag that says "The Fear of the Lord"] Ah! Now I have the tool to open the box. [I open it] Ooh! Look at it all! [the box is full of coins] Hmm. Sylvia, aren't there some Bible verses in here taped onto quarters? [she nods] Well then. I need a volunteer to come forward and find a quarter. [a girl comes up, searches through the box, and finds a quarter] Great! Now, go sit down and find that Bible verse. [she goes and sits] I need another person to come. There are eight quarters with eight verses, so we better get moving! [the girls each come up, find a quarter, go sit down and look it up. Once this is done, I ask...] Okay! Now, what's your verse? [point at the first girl. She'll read her verse, and on down the line. The verses will be Psalm 33:18, Psalm 34:7, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 15:33, Psalm 128:1, Proverbs 14:27, and Proverbs 19:23] Each of these verses talk about one of four things: God's protection, God's Blessing, Wisdom, and Life. Four very good things to have, wouldn't you say?

But how do you get them? Aha! Believe it or not, the Bible has something to say about that, too!
There are TWO ways that I saw that God installs his fear in us...other than having us toss a disobedient passenger overboard, as in the case of Jonah.

Mentoring and through His Spirit.

I would like one of you to look up 2 Chronicles 26:5, another to look up Psalm 34:11, and a third to find Isaiah 11:1-3. I'll wait till you've found them. [short pause]

Okay. In 2 Chronicles, you'll read about a 16-year-old king named Uzziah. (All of you who have been memorizing the various kings are like, "Ooh! Ooh!") Uzziah was the son of Amaziah the son of the boy king Joash (once he grew up!). Now, Uzziah wasn't exactly a bad king, but he wasn't exactly "on fire" for the Lord. Kinda like a lot of Christians today. But, Uzziah was more fortunate than a lot of kings back then, because he had a mentor named Zechariah who loved God. The Bible records that...[I tell the girl with the first verse to read]. I wish I could say that Zechariah's work stuck, but Uzziah had some pride issues later on, and was afflicted with leprosy, which he eventually died from. BUT, the important thing is, he had a mentor.

Now, your verse [referring to the girl with the second verse] is along those same lines. Why don't you read it for us. [she reads it] So David worked on teaching his children the fear of the Lord.

Before we read the last verse, I want to mention something. Both David and Zechariah had problems implanting the fear of the Lord in the people they mentored. Uzziah fell away. David's sons had issues (think of Absalom), and even Solomon stumbled later on in life. This doesn't mean that mentoring is bad, but it's not enough. Thankfully, though, God has given another way. Now you can read your verse. [she reads it] As you all know, this passage is talking about Jesus. But take a closer look at the last part of verse 2: "The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." GOD GIVES US HIS SPIRIT!!! His Spirit will implant a lasting "fear of the Lord" within our hearts, just like He did with Jesus! Isn't that fantastic!?

Now, topic change time. Remember the box over here? I had to use the key "Fear of the Lord" in order to open it. What is the opposite of "Fear of the Lord?" ["Fear of man!"] Exactly. If I were to try to open this box with the "fear of man" [I produce a key with "fear of man" tied on], the box won't open. [I try to open box] I'm sure most of you have notice the alarming lack of stories in this lesson. That is because I've been focusing on what happens when you fear the Lord as you should. Unfortunately, I'm not good at Fearing the Lord, yet. But I do have a story to tell here. A couple months ago, I was sitting in the car at a store, waiting for Mom to come out. I noticed some people sitting in the car next to me with their doors open, obviously doing the same thing I was. I could tell, by looking at them, that they weren't Christians. Now, in the car next to me, was a Gideon's New Testament. All of a sudden, I felt God telling me, "Get out, and give that New Testament to them." I thought, "No way, God! What would they think - and random girl walking up to them and giving them an orange New Testament! Besides! What would I say!? They don't look particularly friendly!" I still felt God urging me, but I did the stupid thing, and stayed in my seat. I was never so glad to see Mom come out!

But that incident annoyed me. I don't know WHY I remembered it, but I have, and I got tired to remembering it. So, a few weeks ago, I ordered some tracts, and I have been faithfully "sowing" them in various spots near us. I've not outright given them to a person yet, but I'm working towards that, and I'm sure that, when the time comes, God will give me grace.

Basically, I'm trying to say, "Don't let the fear of man out-fear your Fear of God."
I'm sure at least one of you has thought, "Why do I need the fear of the Lord? What can I do with it."
Since I'm sure you're all tired of hearing me jabber on and on, so I'll let God's word make my last point for me. I need someone to look up Acts 9:31, someone to look up 2 Chronicles 19:9, and someone to look up Malachai 3:16.

As Christian girls, we have a responsibility to live the way God wants us to live. So, Acts 9:31. [girl reads it] What does that mean? ["The church grew in numbers while they were living in the fear of the Lord."] Can you imagine if the churches today really lived in the fear of the Lord?

2 Chronicles 19:9. [girl reads it] Jehoshaphat, one of the godliest kings after King David, is telling the Levites - the men who served God at his temple! - that, in order to serve properly, they must live their lives in the fear of the Lord.

Finally, Malachai 3:16. [girl reads this] Think about what this verse says! Those who feared God talked among themselves and prayed, and God headed them and recorded it in His records! Can you imagine!?
So, I want to take 5 minutes or so. And I want you to divide up into groups [I name the groups], and I want you to pray together. For each other. For yourselves. For Christians around the world. I want you to pray for God to give us his Spirit, that we may know what it means to properly fear the Lord.