Exodus 20, the end of the Ten Commandments is where we find ourselves today.
And our title for our message is the fear of God.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a fear of wasp.
I like a lot of things that God has created.
Wasp are not one of them.
I feel they came from the fall or after the fall.
The reason for that fear is you can't reason with a wasp.
You can't become friends with a wasp.
And unlike other bees, they seem to always be in attack mode, right?
So you can't just get close and observe them.
They also are unlike honeybees in that they can just keep stinging you, unending.
So that has instilled a fear for me that makes me not want to get close and do anything near around wasp.
Our passage this morning, our sermon, is about the fear of God.
There's aspects around that type of fear of wasp and anything else that's scary that's similar to the fear of God.
But there's so much more to the fear of God that is very important to us as Christians.
And so my prayer and my hope is as we go through this passage and we look at this, that it will be important.
It will be helpful for our lives as we move forward.
A proper fear of God is one of our greatest weapons against sin.
The fear of God, a weapon for us to fight against sin.
Let's open in prayer this morning and then we're going to read our passage.
Lord, as we come to you this morning and as we read your word and as we open it up,
we ask that you would meet us, that you would teach us, that you would show us different aspects of you
and the fear of you and what that means.
May you take away distractions.
May you encourage us where we are.
And we ask these things in your name. Amen.
Exodus chapter 20.
We're going to go from verse 18 to the end of the chapter.
If you would stand with me as we read this together.
Starting in verse 18.
Then when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet
and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled.
And they stood far off and said to Moses,
You speak to us and we will listen.
But do not let God speak to us lest we die.
Moses said to the people,
Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.
The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
And the Lord said to Moses,
Thus you will say to the peoples of Israel,
You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
You shall not make gods of silver to be with me,
nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
An altar of earth you shall make for me,
and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,
your sheep and your oxen.
In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,
I will come to you and bless you.
If you make me an altar of stone,
you shall not build it of hewn stones,
for if you wield your tool on it,
you profane it.
And you shall not go up by steps to my altar,
that your nakedness be not exposed on it.
You may be seated.
If you remember back just one chapter,
chapter 19,
God called the people to Mount Sinai,
and they were experiencing some of these
same terrifying elements that we see here in our passage.
The thunder, the lightning, the sound of trumpet,
the mountain shaking and smoking.
God's presence had come down on the mountain,
and his presence was unmistakable.
If you had been in the area,
anywhere nearby,
God's arrival would not have been missed.
The Israelites here were witnessing the glory
and the majesty and the power of God Almighty
coming down to them.
Even to be able to stand and experience this event
without being driven to their knees in fear
or knocked to the ground by the sheer force
of God's presence coming before them,
really is just a grace of God to them.
It is because God decided to come down and speak to them
that he gave them the ability to even stand
where they were at the foot of the mountain.
He came to his people to give them
a fuller picture of himself,
to lay out for them how they were to live.
See, God had chosen them to be a holy nation,
but now they needed to know how to live as a holy nation.
The God of heaven and earth came to them
and spoke words to them.
The Ten Commandments that we've been talking about.
They were given to the people of God.
As we look at verse 18, it says,
Now when all the people saw the thunder
and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet
and the mountains smoking,
the people were afraid and trembled,
and they stood far off.
It says that they saw these things.
Now not all of these are things that we see.
You can't see thunder.
You can't see the sound of a trumpet.
But what is meant is they experienced
all these things together.
The sound and the shaking that comes with thunder.
You've felt that before
as you're close to lightning when it goes off.
God had descended down on this mountain in fire.
Was something burning in that?
Was there a smell that came from that
as the mountain is on fire?
As the mountain shook and the ground and the rocks
were moved by the very presence of God coming down.
What was that even like?
God rocking the wilderness visually, audibly, physically.
Thinking of that, it's no surprise
that the people were afraid and trembled.
Back in chapter 19, as they came to the mountain,
remember that the people took their stand
at the foot of the mountain.
It says that.
That's where they started out.
But it's not where they ended up.
It doesn't say in the Bible,
but it's possible that after every commandment
that is given, that God breaks out with the trumpet.
That thunder and lightning sounds
signifying that the word of the Lord had been spoken.
So every time a commandment is given,
they're terrified more, and so they step back.
So that after 10 commandments,
they're no longer at the foot of the mountain.
They're quite removed.
They're at a distance.
They're now far off.
And in verse 19, they say to Moses,
you speak to us.
We'll listen.
But don't let God speak to us, lest we die.
They said, Moses, you're okay.
We can deal with you.
We can connect.
We can relate to you.
But not God.
He's too much.
We might die.
Now, I'm not saying that what they experienced
wasn't terrifying.
And I know it's easy for me to stand here
not being there and judge them by what they did.
However, there seems to be a breakdown
in their understanding of what is going on.
Of what God wants to teach them.
And the reason why I say this is for two reasons.
First, for them to think that they might die
means either that they don't trust God
or they don't completely understand
his calling of them to be his people.
Because remember back at Mount Sinai,
before the 10 commandments,
just one chapter ago,
Moses goes up to the mountain.
He meets with God.
God gives him a message back to the people.
And it's this.
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians
and how I bore you on eagle's wings
and brought you to myself.
Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice
and keep my covenant,
you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.
For all the earth is mine.
And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation.
So as they heard that,
there's an aspect of that that they missed
because if they had gotten it properly and completely,
then they would not have thought
that God was going to kill them.
And how else would they be,
would they think that they were going to die?
Were they worried that they might get struck by lightning?
Were the mountain would shake too much
and fall on them?
Did they not trust God
that he was in control over all of nature?
I think he proved that point out
through the ten plagues
and the parting of the Red Sea.
So that's one reason.
Another reason why I don't think
they understood God's intentions
is because Moses comes back
and has to explain this to them.
And it's very helpful.
He says this in verse 20.
Do not fear,
for God has come to test you
that the fear of him may be before you
that you may not sin.
And now at first,
this verse sounds a little
like it's contradicting itself.
Do not fear.
God's testing you
that the fear of him may be with you.
Don't fear,
but fear.
Let's take this verse
and look at it a little bit closer.
Do not let God speak to us
lest we die.
That's what they just said.
And to that,
Moses is saying,
do not fear.
He's not going to kill you.
He's telling them
not to be afraid
of God ending their life
at this point.
That's not what this is about.
Rather,
he's saying,
God has come to test you.
To prove you.
That is,
to see if God's presence
will produce in you
a fear,
a reverence,
an obedience
that God is calling for
from his people.
Now,
God could have decided
from the very beginning
that whenever
he spoke
and came to
a human,
he would do so
in a
soft voice.
Maybe in a calm
and a very relatable
fashion.
So that man felt
at ease with God
and their relationship
together.
And we can see that
a little bit
even in
the Garden of Eden
as God comes
to Adam
and they walk
together
in the cool
of the day
and they have
a relationship.
That sounds nice.
However,
it fails to display
and to
describe
the very attributes
of God
that are important
for us to understand.
See,
as sinful humans,
we're always
striving to
be God,
right?
We're striving
to be the one
in control
of our life.
We want everything
to be under our control,
our decisions,
what we want,
not God.
We'll pull God out
when we need
a little help,
but I'm the one
steering this plane,
right?
That's just our
natural bit
as Christians.
So,
we need to have
a right
and a proper
view of God
in order to put
that
in its place.
We can be told
how to show
reverence
and honor
to God,
that is true,
but it falls
tragically short
if we
miss out
on the
God-centric
attributes
of himself.
Like the prophet
Isaiah,
when he's given
this vision
of the Lord,
he sees the Lord
high and lifted up.
His robe
is filling
the temple.
There are seraphims
that are flying around
and are praising him.
The temple
is shaking
and full of smoke.
God doesn't even
speak
and Isaiah
is undone.
He sees
his uncleanliness
before God.
He sees
how he is
here
and God
is so
out there
and he just
loses it.
We need that.
We need to understand
the power
and the majesty
of God.
We need to grasp
the holiness
of God,
his perfectness,
his set-apartness.
We need to
understand
how the wrath
of God
is situated
towards sin.
It can't be
with sin.
And so our view
of him would be
incomplete
and weak
without knowing
those things.
No,
we need to see
and we need to know
God as he has
revealed himself
in scripture,
awesome and majestic
and terrifying
at times
because that's
who he is,
holy and separated
and not like us.
He is God
and we are not.
Moses says,
do not fear
for God
has come to test you.
Why?
That the fear
of God
may be before you,
that you may not sin.
Having a proper
fear of God
will keep us
from sin.
Fear for the unbeliever?
That looks a little
different.
That's fear
of God's judgment.
Knowing that you
are not in the will
of your creator.
Jesus says this
in Luke 12
verse 5,
but I will warn you
whom to fear.
Fear him
who,
after he is killed,
has authority
to cast into hell.
Yes,
I tell you,
fear him.
Jesus is talking
about,
of course,
God,
the only one
who can
cast into hell.
God.
However,
the fear
for a believer
is different.
It's an awesome
reverence
for God.
It's knowing
who he is,
knowing who we are,
wanting to obey
and honor him
while having
that full
understanding
of who he is
and how he
has condescended
to us
out of love
to save us.
Christian author
and pastor
Randy Alcorn
says this,
the fear of God
is a profound
respect of his holiness,
which includes
a fear
of the consequences
of disobeying him.
It shouldn't scare us
out of our wits,
it should scare us
into them.
And that lines up
with Proverbs 14,
verse 27,
it says this,
the fear of the Lord
is a fountain
of life
turning a man
from the snares
of death.
The fear
of the Lord
for a Christian
helps to refocus us
on God Almighty
and not ourselves.
It puts our lives
and our sins
and our thoughts
in perspective
before God.
Noah obeyed God,
he walked with God,
but we read
in Hebrews
that he had
a reverent fear
of God.
Joseph,
after having
a lifelong,
a lifetime
filled with fear,
fear,
this guy
went through
everything.
He's the one
that we would think
would struggle
with so many things,
who would go
off the rails,
who would struggle
with anger
and resentment,
even who,
when tempted
by a woman
to sleep
with her,
you would think
in his condition,
in all that had
been taken away
from him,
and how he would
have thought
I deserve
a little bit
of something
good in my life,
who's around me.
He still fled,
he still did
what was right,
he still followed
after God
through jail,
through his family,
through women,
through all of it,
from all that he was
given and all that
he was taken away.
And in Genesis 42,
it says that
he feared God.
It was his fear
of God
that kept him
where he went.
He didn't have
the New Testament,
he didn't have
Jesus Christ
or the gospel,
he didn't have
podcasts that would
encourage him
when life sucked,
he had the fear
of the Lord.
And we see this fear
also in the New Testament
as we look at Acts 9,
verse 31.
So the church
throughout all Judea
and Galilee
and Samaria
had peace
and was being built up
and walking
in the fear
of the Lord
and in the comfort
of the Holy Spirit,
it multiplied,
it being the church,
the church multiplied
as it walked
in the fear
of the Lord
and the comfort
of the Holy Spirit.
There are many fears
that we can struggle
with in life.
We can't list them all,
it seems that they
never end.
But the big ones,
the fear of man,
the fear of death,
the fear of losing control,
the fear of failure,
fear of losing
my identity,
all those we struggle
with.
But having a fear
of God
is most important.
Because if we have
the fear of God
and we understand it
and we ground
ourselves in it,
it will help keep
all those other fears
in their rightful place.
Not governing our lives,
not controlling our lives,
but in a place
of rightness
before God,
in a place of peace,
knowing that you are
in his will.
And this fearful God
is a God
that loves you
and protects you
from those other fears
that we struggle with.
Let's move on
to verse 21.
So the people
stood far off
while Moses drew near
to the thick darkness
where Jesus was.
It's helpful,
I think,
to observe
in this passage
that there isn't
any judging
going on
towards the people,
towards the Israelites,
they may be slow
to understand,
they may not know
exactly what's going on,
but there is no blame
that I see here
towards them
and how they
were fearful
and what they do
with that.
Even as they request
not to hear
directly from God,
and we want to go back
to Moses,
you be our mediator.
Even in that,
we don't pick up
anything
in this passage
that seems to say
that they're wrong
or to judge them
for that.
So Moses goes back
to being the mediator now.
And as this shift
goes back,
we look at the middle
of verse 22.
God's still not done speaking
and so it's almost
like a little blip
and it keeps going.
They saw God,
God spoke to them,
and now they're like,
okay, Moses,
you got this
and we'll just listen
directly to you.
And so God continues.
He says,
you have seen for yourselves
that I have talked
with you from heaven.
At first,
this statement
seems a little bit like,
well, yeah,
we know.
But I think it's meant
for more.
It's meant to be
a reminder to the people
about what had just
taken place,
right?
God had spoken
to them.
Their God
had just come down
from heaven
and spoke directly
to them.
All of them.
All together.
Not different messages.
They all experienced
the same thing.
Words
to them
from God.
There's a couple things
that I just want
to unpack in that.
First is,
the people of Israel
had a God
that spoke to them.
How loving
and personal
that is
if we just
think about that
for a second.
Their God,
this is not new,
their God
is our God.
One God,
no other gods,
he speaks
to his people.
What other religion
that you know of
has a God
who speaks
and cares
for his people?
Condescends
from his
throne,
his mightiness
and comes down
to us
and speaks
to us
that we might
understand.
God continues
in verse,
oh,
I'm sorry,
that was the one
thing,
the second thing
that I wanted
to bring out
was that
since God
had spoken
to them
in the Ten
Commandments
and their response
to that was like,
that's too much.
I want you
to go through
Moses
and we'll
listen to you.
God wanted
them
to
understand
from that point,
this is their
agreement,
every word
that he gives
to Moses
and Moses
portrays to them,
he wants
them to
understand
those words
are from
God.
So though you
may not hear
from me directly
now because you
chose not to,
that fear,
that awesomeness,
that reverence
that you had
for the Ten
Commandments,
when I continue
to speak,
I want you
to understand
that those
are still
my words.
They'll come
through Moses
but it's
the same thing.
And I think
it's important
that they
understood that.
So God
continues to
speak in
verse 23,
you shall
not make
gods of
silver to
be with
me,
nor shall
you make
for yourselves
gods of
gold.
God
here giving
them a
reminder,
a summary
of the
first two
commandments
if you
remember.
They
are not
to make
gods to
be with
him and
there is
nothing
that is
to share
that is
to be on
the same
level as
God.
Instead
of looking
to things,
whether they
are things
of this
world or
idols that
we make,
none of
those things
should replace
God.
None of
those things
should represent
God or
be worshipped
like God.
Instead
here God
is saying
I want you
to build
an altar.
At first
this section
seems a little
odd coming
from just
after the
Ten Commandments
but what we
see is a
reminder of
the priority
of worship.
God
saying
worship me
first.
Worship
your God.
We saw
it in the
Ten Commandments
the order
that they
were given
in and we
see it
here.
Our
worship of
God,
our relationship
with God,
that is
paramount.
That is
first priority.
That must
come first.
And then
after that
comes how
we are
to live
and to
relate
to one
another.
And so
those will
be some
laws that
we'll get
into in
the next
few weeks.
Laws that
were to
govern how
they were
to relate
to one
another.
But first
and foremost
it was
their worship.
It was
their relationship
to God.
Do not
make anything
that will be
placed on
my level,
God says.
Nothing
that will
represent
me.
Instead,
verse 24,
an altar
of earth
you shall
make for
me and
sacrifice
on it
your burnt
offerings,
your peace
offerings,
your sheep
and your
oxen.
Now we
know from
other passages
at this
point in
the Old
Testament that
sacrifices and
offerings were
already known.
This wasn't a
new thing.
So Moses
isn't giving
them something
they don't
know about.
There were
sacrifices already
made.
There were burnt
offerings that
were given.
But there
were laws
now.
There were
rules that
God wanted
to put in
place as
they
sacrificed.
Verse 25,
if you make
me an altar
of stone,
you shall
not build
it of
hewn stones,
for if you
wield your
tool on
it,
you profane
it.
They were
not to add
to what God
had created
and said
was good.
Even a
stone.
God created
a stone.
They were
not to
elevate their
craftsmanship
or the
altar they
created in
any way.
In any way
that might
elevate
themselves more
than what
they were.
By bringing
maybe a
higher level
of workmanship
or piety
or some
higher standing
before God,
they came
to God
just like
we come
to God
sinful
and there
is nothing
we can
add
to ourselves
or to
the altar
or in our
worship that
would change
that.
The altar
held the
sacrifice that
was given
to cover
their sins
and they
couldn't add
to that.
All they
could do
is come
and bring
it.
And we
see in
verse 26
another law
that God
adds on
to this
as well.
He says,
you shall
not go
up by
steps
to my
altar
that your
nakedness
be not
exposed
on it.
So after
Adam and
Eve sin
in the
garden,
the exposing
of one's
nakedness
is an
indication
of sin
and
shamefulness.
God
created
Adam and
Eve and
they did
not have
clothes on.
They saw
each other
before they
sinned and
they were
naked and
there was
no problem
with that.
But then
sin came
in.
Adam and
Eve sinned.
Adam and
Eve decided
to make
themselves like
God thinking
they were
being left
out and
so they
disobeyed
God and
that affected
the world.
It affected
their view
of themselves
and in
Genesis 3.10
when God
comes looking
for Adam
this is what
Adam said.
I heard
the sound
of you
in the
garden and
I was
afraid
because I
was naked
and I hid
myself.
That's the
same nakedness
that was
fine before
but now
there's shame
there's
sinfulness
in that
exposed
nakedness.
In
Genesis
9 we
get this
brief story
if you
remember of
Noah
after the
flood
he gets
wasted
and he
finds himself
passed out
naked
on the
full ground
of his
tent.
One of
his
sons
Ham
shows up
and
we're not
given a lot
of details
but
it wasn't
properly
handled
when he
saw the
nakedness
of his
father
father.
But his
other two
brothers
Shem
and
Jaheth
when they
learned
of it
they got
a piece
of cloth
a robe
or a
blanket
and they
walk
backwards
into the
tent
and they
lay it
over their
father
and they
walk right
back out
because they
knew
it was
shameful
to look
at the
nakedness
of another
person
other than
their wife
that they
weren't allowed
to look
at.
And from
that we
see that
Ham is
cursed
and his
other two
brothers
are blessed.
There's
something
in that
nakedness
that was
it was
special
it was
forbidden
it was
handled
this rightly
because it
wasn't handled
rightly in the
beginning with
Adam and
Eve.
And so
for that
reason God
is saying
I do not
want you to
have steps
walking up
to my
altar
because when
you walk
up to my
altar
you're
under
parts
are
exposed
and so
you bring
shame
and sin
to this
holy place
of worship.
As we
think about
these
last few
verses
as we
think about
the altar
one thing
that stands
out in
these verses
is
the ownership
of the altar
verse 25
God says
if you make
me an altar
of stone
and then in
verse 26
you shall
not go up
to the steps
of my
altar
the altar
belonged to
the Lord
even though
man built
it
the sacrifices
the offerings
they belong
to the Lord
the reverence
given
was the Lord's
the forgiveness
that God gave
to them
belonged to
the Lord
and so
it's for those
reasons that
God had
requirements
on these
altars
in this
time of
worship
before him
so as we
think about
that
thinking about
the fact
that we
are
sinners
and that
we all
fall
short
of what
almighty
God
deserves
of
his
people
not only
do we fall
short
we saw the
Israelites fall
short
their sacrifice
falls short
our sacrifices
fall short
our worship
before God
falls short
but God
that's where
God
stepped in
that's where
God did not
leave us
that's where
God stepped
in with
his only
son
Jesus
who became
the last
and final
sacrifice
for our
sins
never again
we don't have
to go back
like the
people of
Israel
and make
sacrifices
all the
cleansing
all the
giving up
of animals
all the
blood
all that
goes away
why
because
Jesus
became
our
sacrifice
once
and forever
offered
to God
on our
behalf
he made
that sacrifice
for our
sins to be
covered
we have
to accept
that
gift
from Jesus
Christ
we have
to believe
if there's
no belief
in Jesus
Christ
that he
covers our
sins
with his
sacrifice
then we
can't be
covered
and the
wrath of
God
still remains
on our
sins
Hebrews
12
28 and
29
I believe
captured this
idea of the
fear of God
in a very
helpful
way
let us
therefore
let us
be
grateful
for receiving
a kingdom
that cannot
be shaken
that kingdom
of God
for believers
that we
get to be
a part of
through our
belief in
Jesus Christ
that kingdom
is the kingdom
that cannot
be shaken
and thus
let us
offer to God
acceptable
worship
with reverence
and all
for our
God is a
consuming fire
that's the fear
the fear is
realizing who
God is
and yet
God still
loves us
and accepts
us
a right
fear of
God
will keep
us from
sin
not
perfection
but a
fear that
is healthy
and right
will cause
us to run
away from
sin
and run
back to
God
remembering
who he
is and
what he
did for
us
that will
keep us
grounded
in his
loving arms
that accept
us back
when we
make mistakes
and when we
sin and we
ask for
repentance
I want to
end with a
quote from
Charles Spurgeon
famous preacher
from the 1800s
he says this
blessed is the
man whose
heart is
filled with
that holy
fear which
inclines his
steps in the
way of God's
commandments
inclines his
heart to seek
after God
and inclines
his whole soul
to enter into
fellowship
with God
that he
may be
acquainted
with him
and be at
peace
let's pray
Lord we
pray that you
would continue
today and
every day
remind us of
who you are
help us to
get an
accurate and
a real
grasp on
having a
right fear
of you
to keep
us from
sin
to keep
us from
ourselves
help us
in our
struggles
help us
in our
temptations
and sin
help us
to look
to you
God thank
you for
your love
and your
mercy and
your grace
and your
salvation
that we
could never
do for
ourselves
you did
for us
Lord we
thank you
for those
things
and we
want to
live for
you
glorify you
in all that
we do
and in your
name
amen
too
i
we
my
we
have
to
run
our