Fear God - Revelation 14:7

Please read the first post in this series:

1. Revelation 14:6 - The Everlasting Gospel


The First of the Three Angels says, in Revelation 14:7, "Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

His first words are, "Fear God." But what does it mean to fear God? It does not mean to be afraid of God. The Bible says that God is love and that perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:16, 18). Strong's concordance (reference number G5399 ) has one definition of this word as being, "to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience."

But what does it really entail? We have the definition now. But how do we apply it? Well the Bible gives us that information. We apply it one way by keeping God's commandments. If we fear God, or revere Him, we will keep His commandments.

At the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says this, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

To fear God means to keep His commandments. Solomon even says that this is man's duty. We were created to worship and keeping God's law is part of that. Some teach that we don't have to keep God's law anymore, but that could not be further from the truth. Some call it legalism to keep God's law. But Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. And again in 1 John 5:3, we read, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."

So we keep God's law because we love Him. It is the same as being faithful to your spouse. You love your spouse and will not have affairs because of that love for them. You will do your best to do what makes them happy, because you love them. It is the same in our relationship with God. We obey His law because we love Him. We do not obey His law in order to be saved but because we already are saved.

This can be likened to how we are to treat our parents. Pastor Stephen Bohr, in his sermon on this very subject (to watch the sermon, click here) brings up Leviticus 19:3. It says, "Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God." Later on in the same chapter, verse 14 says, "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord." The word for fear is the same word in both texts. We are to have a profound respect for God, as Pastor Stephen Bohr states.

The Bible also says, in a couple of places, that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10). The fear, or reverence, of God leads us closer to Him. Psalm 111:10 reads, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

The fear of God not only leads us to wisdom, it leads us to loving obedience in Him. We cannot obey God in our own strength. (Matthew 19:16-26). The Bible is full of examples of men and women who feared God and became very close to Him. Moses. Job. Daniel. Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary Magdelene. Because of the fear they had for God, they grew to love Him more than life itself.

Moses, considered to be the most humble man in the Bible, and likely in all the history of this planet, spoke with God face to face. (Exodus 33:11). When Daniel and his friends were faced with eating the kings meat, they wisely chose to eat a simple diet of vegetables and water and fared better than everyone else.(Daniel 1:12-15). Solomon is another example. In 1 Kings 3:1-15, is the story of when God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom, which pleased God. And as a result, God blessed him.

The fear of God means to revere Him, to have a profound respect for Him. It also means to keep His commandments because we love Him. When we do this, we will spend time with Him and time in His word. When we spend time with God and time in His word, He blesses us with wisdom. This is a clear concept in the Bible. Even the apostle James said this: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5.