John Bevere - The Powerful Difference (Fear vs Awe)
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Now I’m going to make a statement here that’s so powerful: there is a huge difference between the spirit of fear and the fear of the Lord. Well, you’ve gotten through chapter two of The Awe of God, and I want to strongly caution you: don’t allow these short three-minute videos to replace the time you read and the time you go through the five Ps, because those are designed to really get the message into you, while this is intended to bring it a little deeper. Now I’m going to make a statement that’s so powerful: there is a huge difference between the spirit of fear and the fear of the Lord.
When Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, God came down on the mountain to reveal Himself to them, and I’m going to say something that I think a lot of people miss. The whole reason that God delivered Israel out of Egypt—remember, Egypt is a type of the world; coming out of Egypt is a type of being born again—okay? The whole reason God delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt is found in Exodus 19:3-4. Thus, you shall say: this is a private meeting between God and Moses. He said, «Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob"—this is the whole nation—and tell the children of Israel, «You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself.»
The whole reason God delivered them from the world is that He wanted a relationship. He’s a dad. He’s a father who is longing to spend time with His children. However, He tells them, «Purify yourselves; wash the filth off your clothes.» Now, why did He tell them that? He was saying to get rid of the filth of Egypt. He tells us in the New Testament to get rid of the filth of the world because He wants to come into our presence. However, their love for Egypt didn’t leave them, and when God came down on that mountain, the people screamed and ran away. Then Moses makes this statement; he says, «Hey, do not fear, for God has come to test you, that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin.» It sounds like Moses is contradicting himself: «Do not fear because God has come to see if His fear is in you.»
Wait a minute, what are you talking about? He’s differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord. The person that’s scared of God has something to hide. What does Adam do when he sins? He hides from the presence of the Lord. But you can’t do it because Hebrews 4 says that there’s no created being that is not in full view of God. So Adam tries to hide, and this is what happens when people disobey and lose the fear of the Lord: they try to hide from God, and we’ll talk about that in a later chapter. However, what you need to recognize is that God came to see if His holy fear was in them. Now, when someone fears God, they’re actually scared of being away from God; they’re actually terrified of being away from Him.
So the fear of the Lord gives us the power to depart from evil because we don’t want to be away from God. Jesus made this statement in the New Testament in Luke 12: He said, «Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they can’t do anything more to you than that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear: fear God.» Jesus said that! He talks about our value to God, and then He says the very hairs on our head are numbered, so don’t be afraid. So right there, Jesus in those few verses differentiates between the fear of God and being afraid of God. So here we see Moses doing it; we see Jesus doing it. And so what I have to say to you is this: the holy fear of God is not to be terrified of God and withdraw from Him; it actually has a drawing effect. It makes you want to be closer to God, and we will see this as we continue our journey.