Suppose we had been with Moses at Horeb. Climbing with him, with the same inner impulsion, out of the valley full of doubts, up in search of a God he knew must exist but was only learning how to understand. Suppose we had seen that burning bush, which did not burn, and there heard for the first time what Moses was divinely inspired to hear: “I AM THAT I AM.” Exodus 3:14;
Suppose we too had stood with Christ Jesus when Lazarus, already four days dead, came forth; or suppose we had been in that locked room, after his crucifixion, when the Master appeared to his disciples. Would not a deep sense of awe and wonder have brought us to our mental knees to acknowledge a power not our own?
God-inspired awe is a very helpful constituent of human thought. It causes us to bow our heads in reverence and let in healing, Christly truths, which we and the world so desperately need. Awe is not, however, an attribute of God. Infinite Mind cannot be in awe of anything. Nothing can exist but the great First Cause and His creation. To Him there is no beyond, only within. But a right sense of reverence for God prevents us from being, to use an expressive biblical term, “stiffnecked,” from rejecting God, and therefore from suffering the inevitable disastrous consequences. It is in this sense that the Bible admonishes, “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Psalms 33:8;
