FEAR NOT for January 12, 2016

Exodus 20:20  "And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not"

BACKGROUND:  God had just given the Ten Commandments (verses 1-17) to Moses and the Israelites, His chosen people, and in verse 18, we read, "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off." The people were understandably terrified because they said to Moses in verse 19:  " You speak to us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us, lest we die." They wanted Moses to be the go-between guy. Moses responds with "fear not."

COMMENTARY from David Guzik (blueletterbible.org):  Fear, yare (which also means afraid, terrible, terrible thing, dreadful, reverence, fearful) can keep us from sin for a while, but will usually fade in its power over time. The fear Israel experienced here at Mount Sinai faded enough over 40 days so that they danced around a golden calf, proclaiming it as the god that brought them out of Egypt. Though it is better to obey God out of fear, yir'ah (which also means exceedingly, dreadful, fearfulness) than to disobey Him, God's ultimate motivation for obedience is love.

PERSONAL APPLICATION:  Moses knew that God had given His commandments to help His people, to guide them, not to scare them or bully them into obeying. By telling them to "fear not," Moses wanted the people to know that God cares for them; God doesn't want them to sin against Him, so He has given them these guidelines to follow.
(from the Isidro Annotated Old Testament):  [Theologically] the Ten Commandments are only meaningful to those who are redeemed, not to the unsaved. Thus, redemption is the basis of a life of joyful obedience to the laws of God. Obedience is a consequence of redemption, not its condition, except the obedience of faith, as stated by Paul in Romans 1:5; 16:26.