The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isa 11:2 NKJV
How do you reconcile fear and love?
We never consider emotions. Emotions will follow decisions as I carry out the corresponding actions. If I took my actions based on my emotions I would never do most of the things that I need to do and am required to do. Fear and love are choices. Decisions. “Refuse to fear, push to love and cultivate quiet seas.”
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Eccl 12:13-14 NKJV
How can you fear and love God, two seemingly antithetical statements? Some of the greatest promises in the Word are linked to the fear of God. It seems to me that the tithers who really prosper are the ones who have a deep, abiding fear of God. The fear of God becomes the nexus around which all the principles of a more abundant life seem to swirl and flow. Humility can be seen as the outworking or the practice of the fear of God.
Some say the great question in life is, did you learn to love? My suggestion would be to consider the question, did you learn to fear?
Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me… Gen 31:42 NKJV
Our heavenly Father is called the Fear of Isaac. What was it about Isaac’s life that his relationship with the God of Abraham was characterized by the testimony that He was ‘the Fear’ of Isaac? I love to study the lives of men and women, young people and adults in the Word of God. They are so alive to me! Then when I meet people and get to know them, I see in them the qualities of Paul, or David, or Esther, or Sara. Behind it all, I see Christ in them! Even in the unsaved I see the qualities of the God who created them, because everyone is made in the image of God.
Look at the testimony of the Word…
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants… Gen 26:12-14 NKJV
Got your attention, huh? Don’t think that God does not incentivize His people. There is power in riches used rightly. These things were written for our admonition, for our instruction and encouragement. Consider what the Word says about humility and the fear of the Lord.
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Prov 22:4 NKJV
Now, when you study the life of Isaac, you see the influence of a father’s, really his parents, example. In Isaac’s case, his father was called ‘the friend of God’ and ‘the father of us all’ who believe. And his mother Sara! She believed to have him when she was well past child bearing age. Remember, we are contemplating why our heavenly Father was called ‘the Fear of Isaac.’
Now consider what had to be the most dramatic example that his father gave him of the fear of God. If God told you to sacrifice your children, would you do it? Do you realize that the Lord will test you to see if you fear Him?
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Gen 22:2 NKJV
At one time I was taught that Abraham somehow misunderstood God, but an examination of New Testament scriptures on the subject wipes that theory out completely. The New Testament teaches that Abraham reasoned out ( Heb. 11:19 concluded, LOGIZOMAI ) that the Lord would raise his son from the dead, which in a figure He did, because in Abraham’s mind, after the RHEMA word, Isaac was dead already.
Understand, you take the RHEMA word literally. But also understand, that RHEMA word has to fit with all the other RHEMA words that have been given. The Lord had already said that Abraham would be ‘the father of many nations’ and that ‘In Isaac your seed ( meaning Messiah ) shall be called.’ Trusting the Lord and fearing the Lord are in many ways parallel terms. In your own life you should hold fast to the clear pattern of prophetic words you have been given, knowing they are given to you to help you to war a good warfare. All true RHEMA words will fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, making a complete picture of the will of God.
Now consider Isaac’s frame of mind! Being an intelligent young man, he would observe his surroundings and wonder what was going on…
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Gen 22:6-8 NKJV
Now consider the scene on Mount Moriah, which is today the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Gen 22:9-10 NKJV
I try to put myself into the situation, to see it clearly – what happened? What didn’t happen? If I’m Isaac, an intelligent young man, wouldn’t I struggle? Would I really let my ‘old geezer’ father tie me up and put me on a pile of wood? None of that happened. No struggle from Isaac – why?
I’m sure Isaac was instructed from the day he was born about the call of God upon his life. You don’t walk into a situation like this and be successful without great preparation. So many people are called and tested by God, and they struggle and struggle, to their own defeat. Not Isaac, not Abraham. I wonder, was he face up, or face down on the pile of wood? I’ll bet he was face up. Because of the training and the example of his father and mother HE WAS READY TO BE A LIVING SACRIFICE!
In verse one, the Lord just says ‘Abraham!’ Here He says, “Abraham! Abraham!” The Angel of the Lord is Yeshua Himself.
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Gen 22:11-12 NKJV
Abraham passed the test. So did Isaac! The Fear of Isaac probably produced a great deal of fear in him, in Isaac, on the Temple Mount, which was a test – one which Isaac passed, bless God forever. He overcame the temptation of internal terror through the fear of God. Men of God are forged in the fires of testing, the refiners fire. What about you and I? Are you ready to be a living sacrifice? Will you struggle, and run in fear when God calls you, or will you lay down your life in service to Him? RHEMA words will prepare you to pass the test. RHEMA words come because you fear God!
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…