I’m studying fear in the Old Testament to better understand how fear has ended in Christ yet the concept of fearing God continued in the New Testament. Peter wrote, Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear (φοβεῖσθε, a form of φόβος)[1] God, honor the king.[2] And in Revelation an angel with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth[3] said, Fear (φοβήθητε, a form of φοβέω) God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water![5]
Abraham moved to Gerar and continued to pass off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister. So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.[6] But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him (Genesis 20:3-7 NET):
“You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife [Table].” Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation? Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!” Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her. But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”
Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified (yârêʼ).[7] The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἐφοβήθησαν (plus σφόδρα,[8] very) here, the third person plural of φέβομαι.[9] The first occurrence of this form in the New Testament is in Matthew’s account of the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:2–8 NET).
Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” When Jesus saw their reaction he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” And he stood up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were afraid (ἐφοβήθησαν, another form of φοβέω) and honored (ἐδόξασαν, a form of δοξάζω) God who had given such authority (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) to men.
I have already written[12] that I think the repetition of ἐξουσίαν (a form of ἐξουσία) indicates that it was the authority to forgive sins that caused the crowd to fear and to honor God. The word translated honored above is the same glory that those under God’s wrath in Romans 1:21 withheld from God when they did not glorify him.[13] And this connection of fear and honor gives me a clue to better understanding, especially when I return to Abimelech’s rebuke of Abraham (Genesis 20:9, 10 NET).
Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!” Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”
Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears (yirʼâh) God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’”[15] Here, the rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose a different word entirely, θεοσέβεια. It is a compound of θεός and σέβομαι. Negated as ἀσέβεια this is the ungodliness that prompted the revelation of God’s wrath.[19] In Abimelech and his people, then, I find a fear of punishment that led to obedience and more. Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham untouched. He also gave him sheep, cattle, and male and female servants [Table], and said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please[Table].”[20]
Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.[21] And here I think I see the beginning of the fear of punishment that played such a major, albeit imperfect, role in the keeping of the law.
When Ishmael mocked Isaac, Sarah said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”[22] Abraham wasn’t happy about this at all, but complied when God said to him, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”[23]
Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness. When the water Abraham gave her was gone she shoved the child under one of the shrubs,[24] his body apparently limp and lethargic from dehydration. She walked some distance away not wanting to watch her child die. But God heard the boy’s voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid (yârêʼ), for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying.[25] This was φοβοῦ (another form of φοβέω) in Greek in the Septuagint.
The second occurrence of this form in the New Testament was found in the story of Zechariah and the angelic announcement of his son’s birth, John the Baptist. Zechariah, a priest, was chosen by lot to enter the holy place of the Lord and burn incense.[26]
An angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared to him. And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, was seized with fear (φόβος). But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid (φοβοῦ, another form of φοβέω), Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you will name him John. Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”[27]
Zechariah didn’t believe the angel’s message and was struck mute. The text doesn’t say whether or not Hagar believed. But God was with the boy [Ishamael] as he grew,[28] as surely as John was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:57-64 NET):
Now the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother replied, “No! He must be named John.” They said to her, “But none of your relatives bears this name.” So they made signs to the baby’s father, inquiring what he wanted to name his son. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue released, and he spoke, blessing God.
Then Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (Luke 1:67-79 NET):
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help and has redeemed his people. For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us. He has done this to show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant – the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham. This oath grants that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, may serve him without fear (ἀφόβως), in holiness and righteousness before him for as long as we live. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Because of our God’s tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.