In our third episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we delve into what it means to fear God. Unsatisfied with the typical explanations, we give an account of fear in general before looking at how this works itself out in our relationship with God for our good.

00:00 - Introduction and Recap

02:00 - Our Focus in this Episode: The Fear of the Lord

03:34 - How Fear is Typically (But Unhelpfully) Explained

05:49 - Fear as “Awareness of Possible Bad”

11:00 - Exodus 20: Fear that Draws Us Towards God

24:29 - Deuteronomy 10: Fear and Love Work Together 31:40 - Deuteronomy 6: Fear and Love Complete Each Other

37:11 - Ecclesiastes: Fear of the Immensity of God

39:41 - Conclusion

Works mentioned in this episode: -

Henry M. Whitney, “The Place of Fear Among the Motives of Religion” (1906) https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bsac/1906_227.pdf

- Bill T. Arnold, “The Love-Fear Antimony in Deuteronomy 5–11” (2011) https://www.academia.edu/2701215/The_Love_Fear_Antinomy_in_Deuteronomy_5_11

Other resources:

- Roland’s recent blog post on fear of the Lord: https://thinkingthoughtout.com/2023/04/10/fear-of-the-lord-2

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