Psalm 27:1 (NIV)
The
Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
defense of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 118:6 (NIV)
The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid,
what can man do to me?
The Bible speaks
a lot about fear (also including feared, fearful, fearfully, fearing, fears,
feareth, fearest, fearfulness). Words
related to fear are used 403 times in the Old Testament (my count from Strong’s
Concordance) and 117 times in the New Testament. Fear is used either relating to God or
relating to man or the things of man.
Basically, you should always fear God and never fear man or the things
of man. Whenever the Bible speaks of
fearing man or the things of man, it also assures you that God is present to
help you deal those kinds of fears. The
two Psalms above are good examples.
There are at
least 20 different Hebrew words that are translated as fear in the Old
Testament and perhaps 10 different Greek words translated as fear in the New
Testament. The most common Hebrew words
are:
· Yare’ (also yir’ah)--translated as “reverence” or “awe”. Hundreds of verses in the Old Testament use
this word to describe how we are to reverence and honor God. Some of the best are Genesis 15:1 (fear not,
Abraham), Exodus 20:20 (people, fear not), Psalm 23:4 (fear no evil) Psalm
139:14 (fearfully and wonderfully made), Proverbs 1:7 (fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge), Ecclesiastes 12:13 (the conclusion is, fear God), Isaiah
41:10 (do not fear for I am with you), Daniel 1:10 (I fear my Lord) and many
other examples including the two Psalms verses above).
· Pachad—translated as “terror” or “dread”.
Examples include Genesis 31:53, Deuteronomy 11:25, Psalm 36:1, and
Jeremiah 33:9, all referring to fear or terror where and when God is
absent.
The most common
Greek words are:
· Phobeo—translated as “reverence”—Matthew 10:26, 28, Luke 12:32, I Peter
2:17, Revelation 1:17, etc. refer to reverence and awe of God.
· Phobos—translated as “terror”—Matthew 14:26, Luke 21:26, Romans 3:18, I
John 4:18, Hebrews 12:21, Revelation 11:11, etc. all related to human fears
apart from God.
There are also
two other Greek words related to fear worth noting:
· Eulabeia—translated
as utmost respect and awe—Hebrews 12:28
· Deilia—translated
as timidity—II Timothy1:7 (God has not given you a spirit of timidity).
Christian people
are not to fear anything or anyone on this earth. You are only to fear (reverence) God. Fear is a consequence of sin (Genesis
3:10). You accumulate fears when you are
young and do not know the Lord personally and then have to fight them the rest
of your life. Fear (and worry) is a
result of a lack of faith. Fear of
others especially can be debilitating.
Proverbs 29:25 says that the “fear of man brings a snare”. You need to ask the Lord to help you
everything to overcome the fears you have, especially any fear of any other
human being.
Perhaps you fear
other people because of strict parents, especially if one/both of them were
abusive. Perhaps you were a victim of
bullying as a child. Perhaps you were
never strong or big or brave enough to stand up to others. Perhaps a teacher or coach or other person in
authority overstepped that authority and mistreated you to the point that you
fear anyone in authority. Whatever the
root cause of your fear of other people, such fear is unbiblical and as a
believer in God, you must go to Him in prayer and as a result of His promises
to hear your prayers, you can trust Him to help you overcome your fear of
others, whoever they are in your life.
Jesus said that you are never to fear (phobeo) other men, even those who
can kill you. He is present in your life
to protect you against such fear. You
simply have to trust Him and His promises to be with you and help you overcome
your fears.
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