What does fear the Lord mean in the Bible?

Answer 1

Two reasons spring to mind for fearing God.

The first one is that He regards those who fear Him as "WISE" people.

"The FEAR OF GOD is the BEGINNING OF WISDOM..." (Prov.9:10).

According to this biblical formula, then... when He prophesys of "the wise" in the "end times"... "the wise" will be those in the last days who acknowledge, trust and FEAR HIM!

"...I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the Words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but THE WISE shall UNDERSTAND... (Dan.12:8-10).

According to The Bible... anyone who doesn't fear God will understand the Bible. And anyone who doesn't fear Him... He regards as "wicked."

The second reason to fear God, is because it's one of the two main things He lists for those who wish to survive Judgment Day:

"...Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: FEAR GOD, and keep His Commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Eccle.12:13-14)

Being given Eternal Life and living forever won't be possible unless a person fears God. And I'm pretty sure that's what most... if not all... men want.

Additional thoughts:

The Bible says we should FEAR God because he deserves our FEAR (deep respect) .

Revelation 14:6-7 This does NOT mean that we should be in morbid DREAD of God, but that we should have the proper love and respect for him, who is, afterall, our creator and the creator of the universe(Revelation 4:11).

A good illustration might be the ocean. People who work on the ocean often have a deep LOVE for it, but they also UNDERSTAND it, and know their own limitations and how to RESPECT it's strength and power. Our God, has created everything from a gigantic universe, HUGE beyond our ability to fathom, down to tiny microorganisms, that we will NEVER see without a microscope, and yet they are living works of art. He is a powerful and awesome spirit living WAY out in the heavens, but he can, and WANTS to, hear our thoughts.(Proverbs 15:29) He LOVES his creation, and cares deeply for us,(1 John 4:8) so because of the love and respect we have for him as a person, we would NEVER want to hurt him....we are, infact, in FEAR of hurting his feelings. Not because we fear he'll punish us....but because we LOVE him so much, it would break our hearts to cause him pain. (Psalm 78:40&41)That's why the scripture at Proverbs 8:13 says : "The 'Fear of God' means the hating of bad" Because we don't want to hurt God, we will HATE and stay away from things that he calls 'bad'. (Proverbs 16:6)

For centuries churches have taught that "the fear of God" means that God punishes sinners eternally in hellfire. This doctrine is NOT scriptural, and does not teach about the God of love and justice. (Genesis 3:19; Deuteronomy 32:4; Romans 6:23; 1 John 4:8) Others take the opposite approach and never mention the fear of God, but teach that God accepts almost anyone regardless of the kind of life he lives. That too is not a Bible teaching. Galatians 5:19-21.

Being in FEAR of God means to live our lives in a way that pleases God, because he deserves our honor and obedience, and we respect him and want his smile of approval. Taking time to find out who he is, and what he wants from us. (John 17:3) Jesus took GREAT pleasure in being in " fear of God"(Isaiah 11:1-3) because it supplies confidence and security (Proverbs 14:26-27). When someone in charge is in 'fear of God' that authority will be exercised with righteousness (2 Samuel 23:3-4) and peace (Acts 9:31)(Proverbs 15:16)(2 Chronicles 26:3-5)

If we work toward this kind of relationship with God, and learn the proper fear of our heavenly father, we can have a part in making God's heart rejoice (Proverbs 27:11)

(Malachi 3:16) and will be rewarded for our loyalty.(Galatians 6:8&9)

Answer 2

Respect