II Kings 19: 14-19 gives us a description of King Hezekiah of Judah praying to God. The circumstances surrounding this event are pretty bleak. Judah is under military and political threat from Assyria. Assyria at this time has the greatest military in the world and they are telling Hezekiah to either become a servant to them or risk being attacked.
Hezekiah has been a good king. He's been loyal to God and led his kingdom away from the idol worship they'd long been a part of. True worship has been restored in the nation. II Kings 18:5-6 tell us just how loyal to God Hezekiah was.
Here in the 19th chapter he now faces what is probably his biggest spiritual and political challenge. It's the type of situation that can either make or break a person. 19:14 shows us where Hezekiah's priorities were at this time. Once he'd received the written threat from Assyria's leaders he immediately took it to God. He didn't try to find a solution by himself then go to God as a last resort. Praying to God was his first choice of action.
Verse 19 is the powerful verse in this passage. It's one thing to pray for a certain outcome to a situation. Let's face it, we probably do that all the time. It's the reason Hezekiah wants God's help that is so different from our thinking. "Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone."
Hezekiah's thinking goes far beyond his immediate need for help. His desired outcome is for God to be glorified and respected. He didn't ask for deliverance for his own sake or for the sake of his kingdom. He asked for deliverence so that God would be recognized. Have you ever done that?
I wonder if we ever consider this when we pray; when we ask God for something. No matter how good or noble our motives may seem to us do we have the same motive as this man? Is it our hope and our goal that God, His power and His message is magnified by answering our prayer in the way we desire? Or are we just too focused on ourselves and whatever situation or problem we find ourselves facing?
Hezekiah was a man who truly knew the whole purpose of man is to serve God. That's why when he prayed he asked for nothing less than for God to be glorified. He was not too self-focused to see that true service and obedience extends to prayer. Let's hope we can all learn to pray like Hezekiah.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Fear of God
I'm currently teaching an adult Bible class on Wednesday nights covering the Books of Kings. Last week we were studying II Kings 17. In the space of ten verses (32-41) the word fear is used nine times relating to the fear of God. A question was asked about this. Were the people scared of God? More importantly should we fear or be afraid of God?
These are important questions. We need to know this for our own knowledge and to improve our relationship to God. This is also a point that non-believers like to us. Often some will say they don't want to worship a God they have to be scared of. They will also wonder how a God that is supposed to ipitimize love can demand fear from us.
Read Exodus 20:20. If you didn't know better you might believe this verse contradicts itself. Fear is used twice. Once the people are told not to fear. Then they're told God's fear will be before them.
The main Hebrew word we get fear from is Yare. It means fearing, reverent or afraid. From it comes the word Yir' ah. That word means respect, reverence, revered, to stand in awe. That word is used 64 times in the Old Testament, 27 times in Psalms alone. Four verses that use the word fear in a meaning of reverence and/or respect are Genesis 22:12, Exodus 14:31, Exodus 18:21 andII Samuel 23:3. Go back and read those verses with the above definition in mind. Don't they mean much more than we might have first thought?
The other Hebrew word for fear is Pachad. It means terro, dread, an object of dread. This word is used 25 times in the Old Testament including II Chronicles 20:29.
Since we live under the New Testament, what does it say? The Greek word Phobos is most commonly used meaning reverence. II Corinthians 7:1 and Ephesians 5:21 are good examples of this. Yes there is a "bad" fear as evidenced in Luke 12:5 and Hebrews 10:31. That is the fear the non-believer should have; a reason to be afraid.
For the Christian though, the reverence can be seen in the word phobo as used in Hebrews 12:28-29 and Revelation 12:4 among others.
Yes we need to fear God. We need to have reverence, respect and stand in awe of Him. Whether we're together with other Christians in worship or alone with Him in Bible reading or prayer. If that weren't true then entire passages like I John would be meaningless. A scared fear wouldn't mesh with the love of God talked about there.
I think a man who spoke about this in class last week summed it up best. He has a four year old son. That son fears him but isn't afraid of him. The son is at an age where he reveres his father. He looks up to him. He wants to please his father. Isn't that a simple way to sum up how our relationship should be with our Father?
These are important questions. We need to know this for our own knowledge and to improve our relationship to God. This is also a point that non-believers like to us. Often some will say they don't want to worship a God they have to be scared of. They will also wonder how a God that is supposed to ipitimize love can demand fear from us.
Read Exodus 20:20. If you didn't know better you might believe this verse contradicts itself. Fear is used twice. Once the people are told not to fear. Then they're told God's fear will be before them.
The main Hebrew word we get fear from is Yare. It means fearing, reverent or afraid. From it comes the word Yir' ah. That word means respect, reverence, revered, to stand in awe. That word is used 64 times in the Old Testament, 27 times in Psalms alone. Four verses that use the word fear in a meaning of reverence and/or respect are Genesis 22:12, Exodus 14:31, Exodus 18:21 andII Samuel 23:3. Go back and read those verses with the above definition in mind. Don't they mean much more than we might have first thought?
The other Hebrew word for fear is Pachad. It means terro, dread, an object of dread. This word is used 25 times in the Old Testament including II Chronicles 20:29.
Since we live under the New Testament, what does it say? The Greek word Phobos is most commonly used meaning reverence. II Corinthians 7:1 and Ephesians 5:21 are good examples of this. Yes there is a "bad" fear as evidenced in Luke 12:5 and Hebrews 10:31. That is the fear the non-believer should have; a reason to be afraid.
For the Christian though, the reverence can be seen in the word phobo as used in Hebrews 12:28-29 and Revelation 12:4 among others.
Yes we need to fear God. We need to have reverence, respect and stand in awe of Him. Whether we're together with other Christians in worship or alone with Him in Bible reading or prayer. If that weren't true then entire passages like I John would be meaningless. A scared fear wouldn't mesh with the love of God talked about there.
I think a man who spoke about this in class last week summed it up best. He has a four year old son. That son fears him but isn't afraid of him. The son is at an age where he reveres his father. He looks up to him. He wants to please his father. Isn't that a simple way to sum up how our relationship should be with our Father?
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