The word “fear” used in Deut. 13:4 is best fit into the category of being used in relation to respect, honor and worship in awe of our Lord God. The use is most associated with obedience and trust in the Lord to follow His commandments. We are also to love him above all things as commanded in verse 3, I find it difficult to love someone when I fear them. In Deut. 17:19 it states, “learn to fear the Lord”, how do we learn to fear? Fear to me is a reaction. So, with all this in mind and with so many verses in Deuteronomy using the same context of respect and honor I believe Deut. 13:4 also is in this category.
Secondary literature
As I looked at the three commentaries I found it interesting that none of them directly spoke to the word “fear”. But instead I found a common theme that they seemed to focus on the testing of Israel. Taking the whole context of the passage and including verse 3 we see that God is testing his people, a “divine test” which showed their true heart. And if they passed the test they would follow Gods covenant. J.A Thompson states this in his commentary “for if they loved Him with all their heart and with all their soul, nothing could persuade them to forsake Him” and goes on to say they would accomplish doing the “covenantal verbs”, …show more content…
We talked about our doubts until we realized what fear was, fear is the opposite of trusting in our heavenly father. As I thought about the use of fear in the context of the verse. I understood that it could not be used in the context of emotion but rather in a positive context of awe, honor and respect. As I studied the word, I also came to realize that its use is also in reference of worshiping our Lord. As God test us and our faith grows we cannot deny who he is. We turn to him in faith, worshiping him in great awe of his majesty, righteousness and
Secondary literature
As I looked at the three commentaries I found it interesting that none of them directly spoke to the word “fear”. But instead I found a common theme that they seemed to focus on the testing of Israel. Taking the whole context of the passage and including verse 3 we see that God is testing his people, a “divine test” which showed their true heart. And if they passed the test they would follow Gods covenant. J.A Thompson states this in his commentary “for if they loved Him with all their heart and with all their soul, nothing could persuade them to forsake Him” and goes on to say they would accomplish doing the “covenantal verbs”, …show more content…
We talked about our doubts until we realized what fear was, fear is the opposite of trusting in our heavenly father. As I thought about the use of fear in the context of the verse. I understood that it could not be used in the context of emotion but rather in a positive context of awe, honor and respect. As I studied the word, I also came to realize that its use is also in reference of worshiping our Lord. As God test us and our faith grows we cannot deny who he is. We turn to him in faith, worshiping him in great awe of his majesty, righteousness and