The Hebrew word for fear is \u201cyare\u201d and it literally means \u201cto fear, be afraid, or to revere.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 Other meanings of this word in Hebraic (Qal) are to \u201cstand in awe, to have a deep respect or honor.\u201d\u00a0 As for the way the word fear is used in the New Testament Greek, \u201cphobe\u201d from which we get the word phobia, means to \u201cput to flight by terrifying, to flee, or be afraid\u201d but also has the meaning of \u201creverence<\/a> and to hesitate.\u201d\u00a0 So when we are told to fear God we are commanded to have a deep, abiding respect for Him which includes a holy, reverential fear or honor of Him because He is able to cast both body and soul into hell (Matt 10:28) which man has only the power to kill the body.\u00a0 Jesus was telling His followers that persecution would be coming (Matt 10:16-25) but to not fear man but to fear only God because only God has the ability to cast both the body and the soul into hell and \u201cIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God\u201d<\/span> (Heb 10:31).<\/p>\n I am only a pastor, an under-shepherd to the Great Shepherd but one man once called my by the title \u201cReverend\u201d to which I recoiled from and I told him \u201cOnly God is reverend\u201d because we are to not stand in awe, be afraid of, or terrified of any man.\u201d\u00a0 I was not comfortable with this title and I am not judging those who use this as part of their title in the clergy but I cannot take that name to myself knowing the root word or meaning in both the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek.\u00a0 I think only God can have that reference because God alone is to be honored, revered, and deeply respected.\u00a0 God is a respecter of no man but all men are to be a respecter of Him.\u00a0 I moved from disaster to pastor but this was only by the grace of God.\u00a0 I do not ask the church where I pastor at to call me pastor or preacher but just call me what they feel comfortable with.\u00a0 They can call me Jack, pastor, preacher or whatever but I reject the title of reverend because to be called reverend is showing me far too much honor and respect because I am still a sinner.\u00a0 Reverend can be used as an adjective, title or noun and I believe it should only be reserved for God.\u00a0 I would hope that no one would fear me but fear only God and fear is a form of a reverential, holy, deep and abiding respect and honor for the only One Who is worthy of it.\u00a0 There is true wisdom in fearing God (Prov 9:10) but fearing man is a stumbling block (Prov 29:25).<\/p>\n Paul talks about having reverence for God in Ephesians 5:21 with respect to \u201csubmitting ourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ\u201d<\/span> and we should \u201coffer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,\u00a0for our God is a consuming fire\u201d<\/span> (Heb 12:28c-29) because even Jesus \u201coffered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence\u201d<\/span> for God (Heb 5:7) in the Garden of Gethsemane. \u00a0\u00a0Believers have or at least should have a fear or reverence for God for He is so holy that He is totally other and is transcendent above His creation.\u00a0 To have reverence for God<\/a> is to stand in awe of Him for all that He has done to redeem us.\u00a0 This redemptive love should make us stand in wonder and amazement that He would die for us while were still His enemies and \u201cGod shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us\u201d<\/span> (Rom 5:8).\u00a0 This is the primary reason that when I pray, if at all possible for where I am at during the day, I fall on my face and at times, lay prostate on the ground in showing God that He is above all things and that He is worthy to be praised, adored, honored, respected, feared, and reverenced.\u00a0 \u00a0This is what many of the saints did in the Old Testament or in the New Testament when they came into the presence of God.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t yet repented and trusted in Christ, you have every reason to fear God because your day of judgment is coming at the day of your death (Heb 9:27) when all flesh will be judged according to what they\u00a0 have done in this life (Rev 20:11-15) and if you haven\u2019t had the righteousness of Christ imputed to your account (2 Cor 5:21) then know this; \u201cwhoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him\u201d<\/span> (John 3:36).\u00a0 Either you can have Christ pay for your sins or you will have to pay for them in all of eternity.\u00a0 Adam and Eve had this kind of fear because of their sin and that is why they hid and Adam told God; \u201cI heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself\u201d<\/span> (Gen 3:10).\u00a0 A child tends to hide from their parents when they know that they\u2019ve done something wrong.\u00a0 There is no need to fear because \u201cwhoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.\u00a0For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.\u00a0 Whoever believes in him is not condemned [but] whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God\u201d<\/span> (John 3:16b-18) because Jesus says \u201cWhoever is not with me is against me\u201d<\/span> (Matt 12:30a).\u00a0 Believe me, you don\u2019t what Christ against you\u2026you want Him with you\u2026or you really have to fear God in a much broader and more terrifying sense.<\/p>\n Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know<\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer\u2019s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus<\/a> or check out his book\u00a0 Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does reverence mean?\u00a0 How does the Bible define reverence?\u00a0 Let\u2019s examine the Scriptures to see. Root Meaning of Reverence The Hebrew word for fear is \u201cyare\u201d and it literally means \u201cto fear, be afraid, or to revere.\u201d\u00a0 Other meanings of this word in Hebraic (Qal) are to \u201cstand in awe, to have a deep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,213,280],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-answers","tag-bible","tag-definition","tag-reverence"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Clergy Be Called Reverend?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Fear or Reverence of God<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/348\/2014\/05\/Ephesians-5-21.jpg\" "\\"Ephesians")
<\/a><\/p>\nConclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n
Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts<\/a><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/348\/2013\/03\/Jack-Wellman.jpeg\" "\\"Jack")
Article by Jack Wellman<\/span><\/h2>\n