Key Verses

Genesis 20:11; Job 6:14; Psalm 19:9; Proverbs 1:7; 2:5; 3:7; 9:10; Jeremiah 32:40

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” is probably the best known verse in the Bible dealing with “fearing the Lord.” Fear is not something people normally desire to have. It is an emotion we would like to do without. Yet, the book of Proverbs says that the “fear of the Lord” is a good thing.

The Hebrew word yirʾah may mean “fear,” “reverence,” or “piety.” It comes from the root verb yareʾ, “to fear,” or “to be afraid.” The word indicates a genuine fear and respect for the Lord, but it is a fear that results in spiritual, moral and ethical health and wealth before both God and people in the book of Proverbs.

The word refers to the simple, but real fear of “briars and thorns” because of the physical damage they may cause (Isa. 7:25). The destructive judgments that God could bring upon a land or nation engendered fear among the people (Ezek. 30:13), fearing for their lives (Jonah 1:10, 16). The Lord put the fear of Israel upon the nations of Canaan so that they would not try to stand against His people—but rather stand in dread of them (Deut. 2:25).

The Lord came in an awesome epiphany at Mount Sinai to cause the people to fear Him so that they would not sin (Exod. 20:20). So from the beginning the fear of God made a moral and spiritual impression upon God’s people. The fear of Him engendered obedience to Him and righteous living. It was never to engender fear for fear itself.

Proverbs features the “fear of the Lord.” Those who hate knowledge are those who do not fear (yirʾah) the Lord. The person who fears the Lord shuns evil (Prov. 3:7)—in fact, the author says that to fear the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13). Because of the improvement in someone’s lifestyle when he or she fears God, that person’s mental and emotional condition and sometimes even his or her “length of life” improves (Prov. 10:27). The fear of God, rather than being a detriment to a full life, becomes a fountain of life (Prov. 14:27).

For the people of God, the fear of people can be detrimental. But the fear of God is always beneficial (Prov. 29:25). Paradoxically, the person who fears (yirʾah) God does not need to fear anything or anyone else. Jesus agreed with this Old Testament teaching. He told His disciples who they were to Job 6:14; fear—fear God, not man (see Luke 12:5).^[1]

^[1] Eugene E. Carpenter and Philip W. Comfort, Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 60.

Believe

Greek expression: pisteuō, Pronunciation: pee STEW oh

Strong’s Number: 4100

Key Verses

John 1:7, 12; 2:23–24; 3:15–16, 36; 6:47; 11:25; 14:1; 20:31

“Believe me, you don’t want to go down that road,” is a common statement which all of us have heard at one time or another. The message is clear: though you can’t see what is down the road, the other person has knowledge of danger. That person is telling you to trust his word rather than experience the danger for yourself and suffer the consequences. If you don’t “go down that road,” you trusted the person. There was belief that what he said was true. The Greek word for believe, pisteuō, literally means “to place one’s trust in another.” It occurs over 90 times (always as a verb) in the Gospel of John alone. Quite often the verb denotes that one must accept that something is true—that is, simple credence or belief. For example, Jesus said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me” (John 14:11) and, “If you had believed Moses, you would believe me” (John 5:46).

Even more significant is the special expression for pisteuō, “to believe into,” in the sense of putting one’s trust into another. The particular form of the expression is found only in the fourth Gospel. It expresses the strong sense of personal trust in the eternal Word made flesh. In John 3:16 whoever puts trust in Him has eternal life. “Believers” are given power to become sons of God—to be born of God (John 1:12). They will never thirst—they will live, even though they die (John 6:35; 11:25).

In other places, John speaks of belief or trust as an absolute, without referring to the one in whom trust is placed. In John 11:15 Jesus arrives after the death of Lazarus and He is glad “… so that you may believe.” Similarly in the prologue, John the Baptist bears witness to Jesus in order that through him all might have faith and believe (John 1:7). As Jesus satisfies the doubt of Thomas concerning the resurrection, he says, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29, nasb).

Belief and knowledge are closely related. In John 6:69, Peter says, “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” In His priestly prayer, Jesus says that eternal life is that believers “may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3, nasb). The Bible says that he who has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9). No one has ever seen God and lived, but since Jesus has revealed the Father to us, we can see God through the eyes of faith (John 1:18). To believe is also expressed in the verb receive. Those who receive Christ are given power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). Trust is that form of knowing or seeing by which the glory of God (John 1:14; 17:4) is made present.[i]

nasb New American Standard Bible

^[i] Eugene E. Carpenter and Philip W. Comfort, Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 234.