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"'Do you not fear Me?' says the LORD"

Text: Jeremiah 5:22

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

The “fear of the LORD” may be understood as a basic sense of reverence of God. The very Being of God warrants this sense of high regard for Him.

“‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.'”
Jeremiah 5:22-23

1. “‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence'”

a) There was no fear or reverence of God.

b) The presence of God evoked no appropriate response.

c) The word “tremble”

i) It is not out of place at all.

ii) In the Scriptures, whenever an angel appears, the first response is that of being afraid (“tremble”).

iii) In the case of Judah in the days of Jeremiah, nobody reverenced God.

2. Some reasons adduced as to why there should be this reverence of God

a) “Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?”

i) The power of God is involved.

ii) By a perpetual decree, the sandy seashore is the boundary of the sea.

iii) The sea cannot pass beyond the shoreline.

iv) It was God’s powerful and perpetual decree that is behind this phenomenon.

b) “And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.”

i) The waves of the sea represent the power of the sea.

ii) But the powerful waves cannot prevail over God’s decree.

iii) The waves may roar mightily as if in a rage, but God’s perpetual decree stands.

c) The event of a tsunami

i) God may suspend His decree.

ii) A tsunami can create havoc on the land but the waves have to go back to where they came from.

iii) The power of God’s perpetual decree stands.

3. “But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed.”

a) The people of Judah are in mind.

b) The heart of the people is described candidly.

i) It is defiant.

ii) It is rebellious.

c) Consequences

i) The people had revolted against God.

ii) They had departed from the Lord.

d) These things display what God had commented on.

i) The people do not fear God.

ii) They do not tremble before a great and all-powerful God.

e) The hardened and rebellious heart

It cannot and will not fear God!