What Is the Fear of God?
“But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. … And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” Exodus 1:17, 21
What is the fear of God? There is a story in the Old Testament that helps us understand. In the first chapter of Exodus, a new Pharaoh came to power after the death of Joseph. He did not know Joseph or any of the good things he did for Egypt. What he did know, however, was that the Hebrews grew numerous as a people. The Egyptians saw a source of free labor in them and oppressed them, treating them as slaves. When they still multiplied, Pharaoh ordered that all male children who were born in any Hebrew family were to be killed.
This order was given to the Hebrew midwives: “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live” (Exodus 1:18). That the order came from Pharaoh himself meant that it had serious consequences if they disobeyed. This was obviously not something the midwives wanted to do. But would they disobey the direct orders of Pharaoh himself? They did! Why did they do so? They feared God more than Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s wrath was fierce, but God was also to be feared. They might incur the wrath of a person, but God’s wrath was even more fierce.
We are tempted to fear the wrath of others. We avoid a conflict about right and wrong because we are afraid of a confrontation with others. We hesitate about standing up for the truth because we know we will receive criticism. We want to be liked, so we stay silent when we should speak because we know the opinions of others are different than ours. The scriptures warn, however, of fearing the opinions of others more than God. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” The apostles said to the religious leaders, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
How did the midwives know it would be wrong to kill the male children? Though this was before the giving of the Ten Commandments, which said “You shall not kill,” it was understood that murder was wrong. They knew God would be greatly displeased. Rather than risk his judgment, they risked Pharaoh’s wrath.
What is the fear of God? A simple definition is that the fear of the Lord is to believe God’s warnings as well as his promises. Just as the Bible contains promises, it contains warnings. An example of a warning is found in Ecclesiastes where it says, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). We should do good and avoid evil because of the love of God. We should also avoid evil because of the fear of God’s judgment.
The Bible says that God saw what the midwives did and rewarded them. For their faith, God not only protected them but also blessed them by giving them families of their own. We should follow their example. Do good and avoid evil. Know that God is watching and is able to reward those who follow in his way.