Fear God and Obey His Commands

This post announces that God is shortly about to manifest His Fear to the world. He has done it before – in Egypt to deliver the Israelites from slavery. His Fear then brought the Egyptians to their knees in submission. While God’s Fear will manifest in various areas of human existence, this post is focused on how it will pan out in the global economy. (August 2021)
Texts – please read the Bible passages (below the post) as you read the post.
Key Points
- We begin this post by looking at a passage of scripture in the Bible. It is Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. The passage admonishes us to fear God and obey His commands, and that it is everyone’s duty to do so. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which the majority have goaded themselves into believing they will get away with disobeying God’s commands. Some of us go as far as questioning God’s existence.
- God does truly exist. He is the reason the world exists today as we know it. We exist because God created us and preserves our lives and societies by His life and commands. It is God who upholds all things. He keeps our lives and societies moving. You slept last night and woke up this morning because He commanded it to be so (Hebrews 1:1-3; Psalm 3:5). If therefore God’s command is the difference between life and death for every one of us, how dare we disobey His commandments in the way we live and conduct our affairs.
- In the global economy (the markets) many of us have disobeyed God’s commands. Isaiah 2:5-9 declares our guilt. Some of us have practiced occultism to corner gains in the market. Many of us pursue money and wealth; we live solely to be successful financially. Our pursuit of money and wealth have replaced God’s worship in our hearts. The scripture in Isaiah 2:5-9 concludes that God will not overlook our disobedience. He will humble us and bring us low.
- God will humble us by withdrawing His commands by which He upholds our societies and economies (Isaiah 3:1-9). These commands of God that will be withdrawn are those that have historically given us leaders who possess an appreciable level of morality. The peace and quiet our societies enjoy today has been because our leaders abide by a set of good values (to some extent) as God has granted them grace. However, when the commands of God that uphold our leaders are removed, we will be left with leaders who act and make decisions based on dishonourable values. Integrity, truth, equity and courage in decision making will give way to lies and unwholesome behaviours and decisions. It will be like the adults have vacated the helms of affairs and children are now in charge. In addition to this, the world will also witness the rise to prominence of dishonourable persons among us. Some of the honourable leaders that have managed our politics, governments, economies and businesses will give way to those who lack a moral compass. Furthermore, people who have base instincts will become emboldened by the new set of leaders to act immorally and oppress their neighbours.
- The poor decisions of our leaders, and the oppressions we will inflict on each other, will lead to geo-economic conflicts, economic depression and investment losses. This is the message of Isaiah 3:1-9. This state of affairs will start out with the withholding of investment cash by investors due to the perceived unstable economic environment (Isaiah 2:10-11). The lack of investments in the market will give rise to low revenue generation and declaration of losses by many businesses. Bailouts and concessionary loans to reflate the economies will be inadequate to resolve the situation. International trade will also be negatively impacted (Isaiah 2:12-18). When all attempts to revive failing businesses have failed, they will be made available for sale at ridiculously low share prices (Isaiah 2:19-21). This will mean significant layoffs and serious economic crisis.
- It is God who created Heaven, Earth and Hell. Heaven is a place where the commands of God are strictly obeyed. This is why heaven is paradise – a place of lasting peace and prosperity. The Earth is a place where people are free to make a choice as regards obeying God’s commands. Sometimes we obey, sometimes we don’t. Some of us obey, some of us don’t. This is why the earth has been a mixed bag of good and bad occurrences (Matthew 6:9-10). On the other hand, Hell is a place where no one remembers the commands of God, and so cannot obey them (Psalm 6:5). This is why hell is a place of chaos, strife, darkness, sorrow, tears and death. God created these 3 places to let us know that His commands sustain life, peace and prosperity (Job 36:11-12). When we disobey them, we can expect our lives to become hell on earth (Psalm 9:17).
- God humbled Egypt when Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites from being slaves. God turned the country into a literal hell using the 10 plagues (please read Exodus chapters 7-11). As God withdraws His commands by which He gave us honourable leaders, and dishonourable leaders take their place; the global economy, national economies, and businesses that flourish today will experience hellish market conditions as a result of their poor decisions. This is the combined message of Isaiah 2:10-22 and Isaiah 3:1-12.
- However, while some will be going through hellish experiences in the market, those who fear God and obey His commands will enjoy provision and prosperity. This is the message of Isaiah 3:10-12. Let us fear God and obey His commands, so we can experience heaven on earth and not hell.
The mercy and grace of God be with us all. Amen.
Texts – please read the Bible passages (below the post) as you read the post.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 – …Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. (NLT)
Hebrews 1:1-3 – Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (NLT)
Psalm 3:5 – I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. (NKJV)
Isaiah 2:5-9 – Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans. Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low – do not forgive them. (NLT)
Isaiah 3:1-9 – The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water, all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders, army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers. I will make boys their leaders, and toddlers their rulers. People will oppress each other – man against man, neighbor against neighbor. Young people will insult their elders, and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable.
In those days a man will say to his brother, “since you have a coat, you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of ruins!” But he will reply, “no! I can’t help. I don’t have any extra food or clothes. Don’t put me in charge!” For Jerusalem will stumble, and Judah will fall, because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him. They provoke him to his face. The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves. (NLT)
Matthew 6:9-10 – Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. (NLT)
Psalm 6:5 – For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave? (NLT)
Job 36:11-12 – If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. (NKJV)
Psalm 9:17 – The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (NKJV)
Isaiah 2:10-22 – Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.
He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan. He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills. He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall. He will destroy all the great trading ships and every magnificent vessel. Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.
Idols will completely disappear. When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. On that day of judgment they will abandon the gold and silver idols they made for themselves to worship. They will leave their gods to the rodents and bats, while they crawl away into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. They will try to escape the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they? (NLT)
Isaiah 3:10-12 – Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned! But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve. Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road. (NLT)