“In that day,” says the Lord, “the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be appalled.” Jeremiah 4:9
Jeremiah is telling us that because of God’s judgment there will be fear in Judah. The definition of fear is an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger, real or imagined. This is the kind of fear that people facing God’s judgment feel. There is another kind of fear, fearing God means having respect for Him and obeying Him. It means that you acknowledge Him to be your Creator and thus to have the right to be your Lord. It means that you act out of reverence for Him. So what will happen to us if we don’t fear God? He has the right to judge us. Do not defy Him, but acknowledge Him as your Creator, Savior, and Lord. Give over your life to Him, live it out of reverence to Him, and be saved from condemnation. “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” (Romans 1:18) This is the fear that Judah was facing. We don’t need to fear God, but we need to show respect for Him. We need to realize that God is all powerful, but He is all loving also. We need to realize that God will meet all of our needs, but not all of our wants. He will walk hand in hand with us through this world and at times carry us.