Rejoice and Tremble
by Michael Reeves
What does fear of the Lord actually mean? What does it look like for a Christian to fear God? The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Bible also tells us to fear not. This makes it difficult to determine if fear is good or bad. How to answer those questions and how to bring those two ideas together is the purpose of this book. Ultimately, there are different types of fear that the Bible speaks of, and we must distinguish those in order to rightly understand what it means to fear not and also to fear God.
The author takes chapters 2 and 3 to define fear and what lies behind it. He then distinguishes between different types of fear; even different types of the fear of God.
There is a “natural fear” that is normal, and there is a fear of God that is either sinful or right. “Sinful fear” of God arises primarily from a misunderstanding of who God is or from a dread of holiness, that is giving up sin.
He defines “right fear” as a fear that arises from God’s goodness and his blessing of his people and draws us to God, it does not drive us from him. He uses Jacob as an example of this. He then details how love and joy both connect to fear, they are not in opposition to it but expressions of it. The word for fear has a distinct physical component to it…tremble (overwhelmed)!
He explains how the Bible teaches us to fear God (be overwhelmed by) as creator but then to extend to our redeemer also. This brings a brightness to our lives. God is not primarily the creator but Father which brings in a “filial fear” which we share with Jesus. The author says this filial fear “is the overwhelmed devotion of children marveling at the kindness and righteousness and glory and complete magnificence of the Father.”
In applying these truths to our lives, he begins with the fact that the fear of God MUST arise from the heart, not merely external actions. This heart change begins primarily as we contemplate the cross, and even more so the person of Jesus Christ in the gospel.
He then answers the question: what does it look like when a believer is filled with this type of fear of God? Communion, knowledge and wisdom, transformation and strength. It is the fear of God that swallows up all other fears.
The final chapter deals with the presence of fear in both heaven and hell, but in different ways.
