Advanced Level, Block 8—Remnant Standing Properly
Week 79
Having the Proper Fear of God
Point to Emphasize: Do we fear God as we should?
Reference Reading: Nehemiah 5:1-9; 7:1-4
Memory Verse: And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 10:12)
Story Sample
Today we want to talk about what it means to fear God and why it is important. First of all, what do you all think the word, fear, means? [Let the children answer.] One definition in the dictionary says that fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. We all fear something. If you are not afraid of the darkness, you are afraid of rats. If you are not afraid of spiders, you are afraid of thunder. Do we need to fear God as if we were afraid of Him? Certainly NOT! The dictionary, however, has another definition for fear. It says that fear is a profound reverence and awe, especially toward God. This is the kind of fear we want to discuss with you today. The Bible shows us that to fear God means we have a deep respect and are in awe of His authority.
There is a story in the book of Nehemiah in which there was a famine. The common people (farmers) needed to eat and the people in authority had grain. The people in authority, the nobles, and the rulers were taking advantage of the common people. They began to heavily tax the common people for their food. And when these people couldn’t pay, they had to pledge their fields and their vineyards, then their houses, and then, they even had to give their sons and daughters into bondage as slaves to pay for their food. Finally, when Nehemiah, who was the governor, heard what had been going on, he was very angry. He considered the matter in his heart and decided to severely scold the nobles and the rulers.
Nehemiah expressed sharp disapproval of them and said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God…?” (Nehemiah 5:9). What do you all think this means? Why did Nehemiah tell them they needed to walk in the fear of God? [Let the children discuss this.] According to this passage, the fear of God is related to the things that we say or do. The nobles and the rulers did not walk in the fear of God’s authority, so they acted in lawlessness, treating their own people badly.
I can tell you an example of when I did something bad to others and it all began with the improper thought: ”Oh well, I don’t care about God. I don’t care about what He thinks. I don’t care about what my mom thinks. I’ll just do whatever I want.” One day, when I was much younger, maybe about your age, I was playing with my sisters and one of them was annoying me. I was getting very upset with her. For a moment I thought of going to my mom so she would come and resolve the matter. But, the thought came to me, “Why tell mom? I don’t care what mom thinks. I don’t care what God thinks. She is annoying me and right now, no one is watching, so I’ll just take the matter into my own hands.” So, I pulled her hair. I pulled it so hard to make sure I was hurting her. She started crying and my mom came to see what was going on. My mom severely scolded me. In the same way that Nehemiah expressed his sharp disapproval of the nobles and the rulers, my mom did the same thing to me. When I pulled my sister’s hair, I had no fear of God; I had no fear of Mom. But after my mom rebuked me, instantly I was in fear of my mom’s authority. My mom’s authority became very real to me, which means I regarded God’s authority. [Storyteller, please insert a personal story of you doing something bad to others having no fear of God or fear of an authority figure, and being rebuked.]
Nehemiah ordered the nobles and the rulers to restore to the common people everything that was taken from them. Later on, when the wall of the city was built, Nehemiah assigned his brother to take charge of the city. Nehemiah did not assign his brother because he was part of his family. The Bible says he assigned him “for he was a faithful man and feared God more than most” (Nehemiah 7:2b). What a contrast! Earlier, you have some that didn’t walk in the fear of God. They were rebuked and had to return everything back with interest for their wrongdoings. Then, you see one who was assigned to rule over many because he feared God. I hope you all see the big difference between the actions and consequences of the ones who walked fearing God.
Based on what we have seen today, do you fear God as you should? While I was speaking, did it remind you of a time you did something wrong to your brother or sister because you did not care about your parent’s authority or God’s? In the memory verse we have for today God is asking us to fear Him. But do we? Have you not pulled someone’s hair, pushed someone, hit someone hard, or taken something from them? Your being able to do these kinds of things to others shows that you don’t have the attitude of fearing God. You only have the attitude of doing whatever you want. Maybe your parents don’t know all these kinds of things that you have done. But God has been observing you and He sees everything. This should make you uncomfortable and feel not so easy to sit there thinking you are such a good child. So, what would you do now to take care of this uncomfortable feeling you have in your heart? Will you just try to forget it or will you go and talk to your parents about this? If we remain in an attitude of deep respect towards the authority of our parents and in fear of God’s authority, we will be doing what God wants us to do. This will bring us a lot of happiness.