In this post I’m going to cover the verses that talk about people who do not fear God.
Let’s see what the Bible has to say about them…
Genesis 20:11 (ESV) Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
After God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham went looking for a new place to settle in the land that God promised to him. He came to the land of Gerar, whose king was Abimalech. When Abimalech asked Abraham about Sarah he told him she was his sister and Abimalech took her.
Then God put a curse on Abimalech and made him return Sarah to Abraham. When Abimalech confronted Abraham he accused Abraham of doing things to him that ought not to have been done. Then he asked Abraham what he saw that made him do this thing.
That’s when Abraham told him that he knew there was no fear of God in this place, and he feared for his life.
I don’t really know what to make of these stories of Abraham giving his wife over to foreign kings, only to have them return her to him and at the same time also pay him a substantial amount of money and livestock.
Abraham trusts God. That is evident by him going to the promised land in the first place. But he also knows when to be afraid of men. Every time he fears for his life he willingly hands his wife over to other men. Is he trusting God to take care of the situation instead of trying to handle it himself? I don’t have a good answer to that question.
God certainly does handle the situation for him, though, and every time he prospers from it. It’s strange, but it’s also deep. From a modern perspective it’s conflicting, but maybe from the cultural perspective of that time it’s understandable?
Exodus 9:30 (ESV) But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.”
This passage is from a conversation between Moses and Pharaoh. Pharaoh is asking Moses to stop the seventh plague, which is hail, and says he will let Israel go.
Moses agrees to ask God to stop the hail, but he tells Pharaoh that he knows he does not fear God - implying that he knows Pharaoh will change his mind.
Moses is practicing discernment in his negotiations with Pharaoh. By now he knows that Pharaoh is only saying what he thinks Moses wants to hear so that he can get what he wants. And since Pharaoh does not fear God, Moses knows that Pharaoh will deceive him.
Deuteronomy 25:17-18 (ESV) “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God.
This passage is from a section of Deuteronomy that, in the ESV, is titled Miscellaneous Laws.
It talks about cutting of a woman’s hand if she grabs a man’s private parts during a fight, not using unfair weights and measures, and… destroying Amalek.
Remember the story of Israel going out to fight and Moses having to keep his hands raised because when he lowered them Israel started to lose the battle. Well, that battle was against Amalek. The story is in Exodus 17, and in it God says he will “utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
This “law” in Deuteronomy is for Israel, once they have taken over the promised land, to do just that - blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
Fun fact - the city of Amalek is also the city that King Saul was supposed to utterly destroy, but he saved its king, Agag, and when Samuel found out about it he told Saul that God was going to take his kingdom away from him. God really doesn’t like Amalek!
Job 15:4 (ESV) But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.
In this passage Job’s friend Eliphaz is accusing him of being prideful and not fearing God. Basically he’s accusing Job of having too big of an ego so that it is blocking him from even being able to meditate on God.
He goes on a whole rant about how God is great and Job is obviously deserving of whatever wrath God is pouring out on him. Eliphaz is not the most sensitive of counselors, and not exactly giving the counsel that Job needs at the moment, but he’s not wrong in a general sense of what he says. I mean to say, if I read it like Eliphaz is talking to me instead of Job, what he says actually puts the fear of God in me a little more vividly.
He’s a fire and brimstone preacher, but he’s preaching.
Psalm 36:1 (ESV) Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
In Psalm 36 David talks about how wicked people are so bent on flattering themselves and causing trouble that they have no room in their heart to fear God.
To me this reinforces the idea that selfishness is the root of all evil. When people are overly consumed with themselves, then they have no room in their heart for God.
In my heart, O Lord, let me decrease and You increase.
Psalm 55:19 (ESV) God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.
Some commentators associate Psalm 55 with the time when David’s son Absalom tried to overthrow him as king. The Psalm is titled “Cast Your Burden on the Lord.”
David is lamenting that he was betrayed by someone he trusted, but he is pouring his heart out in dependence on God. He has faith that God will humble his enemies because they do not fear God.
Hosea 10:3 (ESV) For now they will say: “We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD; and a king—what could he do for us?”
In this passage Hosea is talking about how luxuriant, corrupt and prideful the people of Israel (the northern kingdom of Samaria) have become. To the point where they not only reject God’s leadership, but also the leadership of their human kings - leaving them open to the invasion and conquering of Assyria.
Luke 18:2-5 (ESV) He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
In this passage Jesus is making a point about being consistent in prayer. He makes the point that even the corrupt judge who fears neither God nor man will answer a consistent petition if for no other reason than for his own comfort. If that is true, then how much more willing is God to answer the prayers of those who do fear Him.
But then Jesus asks, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Romans 3:18 (ESV) “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In this passage from Romans Paul is quoting something “as it is written.” He’s making the point that no one is righteous - not Jew or Greek. He states that people cannot be justified by their works alone, and the law is there to give us knowledge of sin. Righteousness can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.
From these passages you can see that when the Bible mentions people that don’t fear God it is talking about people who are prideful and evil. And we have already seen that the fear of God is the antidote for wickedness.
God please help us to know You, and fear You, and love You, and share You with everyone around us.
με αγαπη,
BJ