EXODUS 20:20 — KING JAMES VERSION 0 0
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”
Moses said to the people: do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning. Moses interprets the community's experience: do not be afraid — the same command Moses gave at the sea. The theophany is a test — not an examination with pass/fail but a formative experience designed to produce a lasting disposition: the fear of God. The fear that keeps you from sinning is not the terror of the theophany (which produced the request for distance) but the reverent awe that results from having stood in the presence of the holy. Proverbs 9:10 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom — the wisdom that keeps Israel from sin begins with the Sinai encounter. The test succeeded when it produced enduring reverence rather than permanent paralysis.
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