Proverbs 9:10
Did you know that there is a proper and an improper fear of God? David said that, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever” (Psalms 19:9), showing us that proper fear is pure and clean and it will last for all of time. Paul wrote to the Hebrews, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Here, we see that there is “godly fear” which comes only from those who “have grace”.
Jesus was confronted by the devil in the wilderness with various temptations. One of those temptations was to take possession of the earth without going to the cross. Satan offered all of it to Christ if Jesus would only worship him (Luke 4:6, 7). Jesus refused, and said, “For it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve’” (Luke 4:8). Notice that Jesus said, ‘it is written’, meaning that He is quoting from the scriptures. The only problem is that what He claims was written is not written!
Jesus puts two verses together, both from the book of Deuteronomy:
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name” (Deuteronomy 6:13).
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name” (Deuteronomy 10:20).
In neither verse do we see, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God”, yet Jesus says, “It is written”. In fact, the phrase, “Thou shalt worship the Lord they God” never appears in the Bible until Jesus says it in the wilderness. Rather than assume that Jesus is mistaken, we must take into account something of more importance.
Jesus is the author of Deuteronomy! John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, and then he writes, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus was there in the beginning and He was the inspiration for all of the Old Testament scriptures. As the author of the Old Testament, he retains the right to change the wording in the New Testament, thus, when He speaks to Satan in the wilderness, He is not confused, He is simply changing the wording to reflect the Spirit of the New Testament.
With the arrival of grace and truth in the form of Jesus Christ, God no longer wants man to have an unhealthy fear of Him. Now, instead of fear, Jesus changes the words to “worship the Lord thy God”. Every time you read of the fear of the Lord in the Old Testament, you have the right to insert “worship” in its place, for this is how New Covenant believers live. We do not fear our heavenly Father; we worship Him because He is so good.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). As a believer in Jesus Christ, remember that now, “The worship of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. The man who is wise enough to worship the Lord for who and what He is is truly wise indeed.
Did you know that there is a proper and an improper fear of God? David said that, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever” (Psalms 19:9), showing us that proper fear is pure and clean and it will last for all of time. Paul wrote to the Hebrews, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Here, we see that there is “godly fear” which comes only from those who “have grace”.
Jesus was confronted by the devil in the wilderness with various temptations. One of those temptations was to take possession of the earth without going to the cross. Satan offered all of it to Christ if Jesus would only worship him (Luke 4:6, 7). Jesus refused, and said, “For it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve’” (Luke 4:8). Notice that Jesus said, ‘it is written’, meaning that He is quoting from the scriptures. The only problem is that what He claims was written is not written!
Jesus puts two verses together, both from the book of Deuteronomy:
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name” (Deuteronomy 6:13).
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name” (Deuteronomy 10:20).
In neither verse do we see, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God”, yet Jesus says, “It is written”. In fact, the phrase, “Thou shalt worship the Lord they God” never appears in the Bible until Jesus says it in the wilderness. Rather than assume that Jesus is mistaken, we must take into account something of more importance.
Jesus is the author of Deuteronomy! John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, and then he writes, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus was there in the beginning and He was the inspiration for all of the Old Testament scriptures. As the author of the Old Testament, he retains the right to change the wording in the New Testament, thus, when He speaks to Satan in the wilderness, He is not confused, He is simply changing the wording to reflect the Spirit of the New Testament.
With the arrival of grace and truth in the form of Jesus Christ, God no longer wants man to have an unhealthy fear of Him. Now, instead of fear, Jesus changes the words to “worship the Lord thy God”. Every time you read of the fear of the Lord in the Old Testament, you have the right to insert “worship” in its place, for this is how New Covenant believers live. We do not fear our heavenly Father; we worship Him because He is so good.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). As a believer in Jesus Christ, remember that now, “The worship of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. The man who is wise enough to worship the Lord for who and what He is is truly wise indeed.
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