Fear versus fear

 TRUTH FOR TODAY

Jun Malazo

A pandemic of panic has stricken the world.  The rapidly-increasing statistics pumped to us via news outlets and social media are creating unprecedented fear in our entire world.  What is it that people are truly afraid of?  Are we afraid of the COVID-19 or is there something bigger that we are afraid of?

As of March 18, 2020 at 8:13:26 p.m. local time in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., the COVID-19 has been confirmed to have infected 218,743 people worldwide.  The illness has had a 38.4% recovery rate and a mortality rate of 4%, with the death toll hitting 8,810 people across the world.  The acknowledged start date, cited from arcgis.com of John Hopkins University, is November 17, 2019. 

Based upon this data, the death rate is an average of 2,202.5 people per month.  If the death rate were to remain steady, the annual death rate due to the COVID-19 would be 23,862 people.  If the death rate were to immediately double, the death toll would be 37,445.5 by the end of a one-year span. I understand that we cannot project the future of this virus, but considering other communicable illnesses can help us to put things into perspective. 

We will consider the annual world-wide statistics for tuberculosis, second-hand smoke, HIV and AIDS, and the common flu (influenza).  Tuberculosis is one of the top “killers” in the world.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website, who.net, regarding tuberculosis, “A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018. . .”  This would be an average of 125,000 per month. 

Second-hand smoke is a communicable disease that seems to have been accepted in many societies.  Once again consulting the respected WHO we find, “Worldwide, more than 600,000 deaths per year are caused by second-hand smoke. . .”  Innocent victims of others’ poor health habits die at 50,000 people per month world-wide.  The global epidemic of AIDS is lessening each year, but according to unaids.org, “In 2018, around 770,000 people died from AIDS-related illness worldwide. . .” 

With around 1.7 million people newly infected around the world each year, the startling death rate of 64,188.7 per month is heart-breaking.  The common flu is something we all encounter.  It is so common we often have what is termed a “flu season.”  In an article from globalresearch.ca, published on February 22, 2020, Tim Clifford states, “The common flu. . . kills up to 650,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization.”  Considering monthly averages again shows us that 54,166.7 people die globally from the “common flu” each year.  Communicable diseases all have something in common—they are preventable.  With these startling statistics, why aren’t we having a global scare about all of these aforementioned diseases?

Before we attempt to pinpoint what people are truly afraid of, let us consider what “fear” is.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, the word “fear” as a noun has four definitions.  For the purpose of this article we will consider definitions number one and number four.  Definition one states that fear is: “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” 

Definition four defines fear as: “profound reverence and awe especially toward God.”  Interestingly, while listed as definitions for the same word, each type of “fear” produces different results.  Consider what you are fearing as we contrast these two types of fear. 

Many of us have experienced “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.”  Each day there are things that alarm or startle us, make us feel anxious, or absolutely terrify us.  Fear controls our emotions and, many times, even our actions. Fear can be crippling to the point that we cannot even move our bodies.  Fear can be so overwhelming in our emotions that we may sob uncontrollably or sometimes even go hysterical.  Fear drives some to react in anger or violence. 

Fear often causes us to do things we would not normally do if we were thinking rationally.  Fear drives people to make foolish choices that they later regret.  Fear causes people to make rash financial decisions which drive them to poverty.  Fear causes us to doubt things we otherwise know are absolutely true.  Constant fear distresses the mental, emotional, and physical being of a person even causing death. Fear keeps us in bondage to constantly suffer bad or what the Bible calls “evil” things.

If we have a “profound reverence and awe especially toward God”, we are set free from suffering these evil things.  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”  How can the word “fear’’ appear in the same sentence as “confidence’’ and “refuge’’?  A more thorough definition of “fear”, as pertaining to the fear of God, can be seen in the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

In scripture, fear is used to express a filial or a slavish passion.  In good men, the fear of God is a holy awe or reverence of God and his laws, which springs from a just view and real love of the divine character, leading the subjects of it to hate and shun every thing that can offend such a holy being, and inclining them to aim at perfect obedience.  This is filial fear.  Slavish fear is the effect or consequence of guilt; it is the painful apprehension of merited punishment.

Those whose lives are being lived in rebellion to God may not even realize it, but they have the “slavish fear” of God.  They are always waiting for Him to give them the punishment they deserve for their wicked deeds.  Those who have come to a true personal relationship with God and are living their lives in “filial fear” as defined here; can live in freedom from fear as we commonly understand it.  Those who live in this filial fear have been given many promises from God that can bring them peace in the midst of even the most tumultuous of times.

The phrase “the fear of the LORD” which we saw in Proverbs 14:26, appears in the Bible thirty times—twenty-eight times it is “the fear of the LORD” while two times it is “the fear of the Lord.”  Isaiah 33:6 tells us that the fear of the LORD is a treasure.  “. . . the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”  Before we can completely understand why fearing God, who is called by his name LORD in these phrases, can be a treasure and bring freedom, it is important to understand the meaning of His name “LORD.”

In the Bible, two of God’s names are “LORD” and “Lord.”  On the surface this may only seem like a capitalization difference, but it is far more.  These are two different names speaking of two different attributes of God.  Looking at the original languages in which the Bible was written, the name translated as “LORD” is “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.”  This name shows us that God is “the Self-existent or eternal.”  His name “Lord” comes from the name “Adonai” which means “sovereign, controller.”  Let us see what God, the LORD, promises to those who fear Him:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:  his praise endureth for ever.  (Psalm 111:10)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:  but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  (Proverbs 1:7)

In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.  (Proverbs 14:26)

The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied: he shall not be visited with evil.  (Proverbs 19:23)

These promises given by the self-existent, eternal God, the LORD, are directly opposite to what  we experience when we have the fear of evil things.  Psalm 37:3 tells us to “Trust in the LORD….”  Psalm 37 is full of promises to those who will trust in the LORD.  Verse nineteen says, “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time:  and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”  In this verse the word “ashamed” means “to pale (become pale in one’s face from shock or fear) or to be disappointed”. 

The word “evil” means “adversity, affliction, bad, calamity.”  The word “satisfied” means “to be full of” or “to have plenty of.”  So, when we live trusting and fearing  the LORD we do not have to suffer shock or fear when times are bad and full of adversity and calamity.  God promises that He will be the One that will be sure that we are satisfied to the full and have plenty of what we need.

Let us consider Isaiah 33:6 once again:  “And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation:  the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”  God promised to those who fear the LORD, “stability of times.”  How can He promise this when times certainly appear to be unstable all around the world?  Our stability comes from within.  While things can be crashing down all about us, we can be stable and not fear these unstable times.  Obviously the wisdom and knowledge of man are not creating stability in our world or our minds.  This is because it is the fear of the LORD that is the beginning of true wisdom and knowledge. 

As we come to understand what we fear, we understand how it affects our minds and our lives.  The fear of evil, bad, or calamity—which in our current world is the COVID-19—only promises to continue to torture us.  Thus, I would like to revisit one of my original questions: What is it that people are truly afraid of?  It is not the COVID-19 that people are afraid of—it is death. 

People are afraid to die.  Why are people afraid to die?  It is because countless people in the world do not know what they will face after death.  They do not live in the fear of the LORD, they live in the fear of death, which was brought into our world by the devil.  The Bible calls the devil “the prince of the power of the air.”  He is masterful at scaring and deceiving people.  Those who live in the fear of the LORD are not afraid of the devil, or his work, or even of death.

Jesus, the Son of God, died to conquer the devil, death, and sin.  Speaking of Jesus, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:12,13, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.”  Once again speaking of Jesus, the Bible says, “And you, being dead in your sins…hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses [sin]”.

Those who have accepted the death of Jesus on the cross as the sole, complete payment for their sin do not have to fear death.  You can be absolutely sure that when you face eternity you will definitely live with God forever in Heaven.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Those belonging to Jesus, living in the fear of the LORD, need not even fear the present turmoil for God promises, “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence:  and his children shall have a place of refuge” (Proverbs 14:26).  What or who do you choose to fear?  May I encourage you to choose to live in the fear of the LORD—the self-existent, sovereign controller of all—and receive the many wonderful treasures He promises to you.