And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. - Acts 2:43

Ten Hebrew nouns and eight verbs reference 'fear'. The Greek words 'phobos' and 'phobeo' later stand in for their Hebrew counterparts. 'Phobos' alluded to panicked flight, or the object or cause of fear, or it could allude to reverential respect. 'Phobeo' was 'to terrify'.

In the Septuagint (sep-TWO-uh-jint), these Greek words phobos and phobeo are consistently used to translate those eighteen Hebrew nouns and verbs relating to fear.

When we think about fear, we can imagine a semantic continuum, from mild unease all the way to stark terror. Septuagint derives from the Latin versio septuaginta interpretetum, i.e., translation of the seventy interpreters*.

By around 354 CE, these translated Hebrew scriptures were beginning to be commonly referred to as The Septuaginta. According to legend, 72 Jewish scholars were tasked by Ptolemy II, the Greek pharoah of Egypt, to translate the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) from Hebrew to Greek, for inclusion in the Library of Alexandria.

What prompted my interest in the word fear as it is often used in scripture is Acts 2:43: and fear came upon every soul: and many wonders were done by the Apostles. Our Wednesday night Bible study group questioned the precise nature of that fear. Some other translations make it clear that this 'fear' was awed reverence and worshipful respect for the Lord, who was the source of these wonders and signs. The Amplified Bible reads A sense of awe was felt by everyone. The Common English Bible says much the same, and elaborates God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles.

The scriptures frequently make reference to such reverential fear: Ex 14:31; Lk 1:12; Ge 31:42,53; Acts 2:43

All throughout Deuteronomy is the theme of fearful obedience to the Lord as the proper outgrowth of recognizing his sovereignty.

The English clergyman William Durnall famously wrote We fear fear so much because we fear God so little. He authored a length book expounding upon Ephesians 6. It is freely available in PDF, mobi, and epub formats.

So then, the fear of the Lord is the reverential awe and worshipful stance we assume toward the Almighty God. Proverbs 9:10 reads The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

One time many years ago, the king of Hungary found himself depressed and unhappy. He sent for his brother, a good-natured but rather indifferent prince. The king said to him, "I am a great sinner; I fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed at him. This didn't help the king's disposition any. Though he was a believer, the king had gotten a glimpse of his guilt for the way he'd been living lately, and he seriously wanted help. In those days it was customary if the executioner sounded a trumpet before a man's door at any hour, it was a signal that he was to be led to his execution. The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fateful blast at his brother's door. The prince realized with horror what was happening. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized by the executioner, and dragged pale and trembling into the king's presence. In an agony of terror he fell on his knees before his brother and begged to know how he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall not I, having grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ?"

The term "fear of the Lord" is not a popular one today.

a. Those who do not follow Christ think there is no reason to.

b. Those who do follow Christ don't want to mention it because it might scare someone away.

c. So it is neither politically or religiously correct in our society.

Yet, the Bible talks about it a lot...in fact the phrase is mentioned 73 times in the NLT!

1 Peter 1:17-25 reads 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[a] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

David McCullough in his book MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK tells this story about young Teddy Roosevelt: “Mittie (his mother) had found he was so afraid of the Madison Square Church that he refused to set foot inside if alone. He was terrified, she discovered, of something called the ‘zeal.’ It was crouched in the dark corners of the church ready to jump at him, he said. When she asked what a zeal might be, he said he was not sure, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or a dragon. He had heard the minister read about if from the Bible. Using a concordance, she read him those passages containing the word ZEAL until suddenly, very excited, he told her to stop. The line was from the Book of John, 2:17: “And his disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The ZEAL of thine house hath eaten me up.”’

People are still justifiably afraid to come near the “zeal” of the Lord, for they are perfectly aware it could “eat them up” if they aren’t one of His. Our Lord is good, but He isn’t safe.

Let's take another look at Proverbs 9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If that is true, and it is, then fear of the Lord is not a barrier or hindrance, but is instead a breakthrough to growth and eternal fulfillment. But the word 'fear' requires clarification, doesn't it? After all, the Bible says the following in 1 John 4:18 -- Perfect love casts out fear.

Aha! So there must be two kinds of fear. There is the dreadful fear that will fall upon the unrighteous: And said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." - Revelation 6:16

It is important that we Christians have the proper, reverential fear and awe of the Lord. Yet, unfortunately, we are perhaps more saturated with the heathen culture than we sometimes realize, a culture whose media often portrays God as a kindly old grandfatherly, white-bearded figure. But Hebrews 10:27 states But only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Fortunately, God freely offers us shelter from this wrath, through Christ. And not just shelter: we are justified and adopted as God's children.

John Calvin, the great Reformer, wrote: justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it appears in God's sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man. By faith in Him we receive not only forgiveness, but also a righteous standing before God.

As Christians, we are truly blessed in that we literally have nothing to fear, either in this earthly life or in eternity. Romans 8:1 tells us There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Dropping down a few verses to Romans 8:15... For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

If, then, we no longer have a spirit of bondage to fear of punishment, who then do some Christians seem to still wrestle with that fear? Lack of grounding in scriptural doctrine, and because of the attacks of Satan and his demons. I think it very easy for those who diligently seek the Lord, to be attacked by Satan, the Accuser. Although the blood of Christ has cleansed and continues to cleanse us, the devil will continue to whisper condemnation to our consciences. This is spiritual warfare (Eph 6:13; 2 Cor 10:4)

Let's end with Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.