Peter F Connell

Yirat Shamayim Peter F Connell

Yirat Shamayim is more than a call for a revival of the doctrine of the fear of the LORD; it is also a call for us to re-examine our understanding of what the fear of the LORD is. If you have the general concept that the "fear of the LORD" is merely a reverent respect for God and His Word-that it is simply that in your service to God, "reverence must find a place" (as one author said)-then this book is for you. Both ministers and laity alike will benefit from reading this book. It unfolds a biblical understanding of what "the fear of the Lord" meant to the Old Testament patriarchs and to the early church. Readers will see that the concept of the fear of the Lord was central to their thinking, and was quite different than the modern conception of what was meant when Solomon penned that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." It is the author's intent to relate how that the doctrine of the fear of the LORD has been inappropriately relegated to a side issue; that our conception of this doctrine is, largely, a misconception; that the doctrine of the fear of the LORD-what devout Jews have called Yirat Adonai or Yirat Shamayim (literally "fear of Heaven")-is actually a central doctrine of our Bible that has been too-long neglected-and neglected to our detriment; and that this dearth of a proper understanding of and emphasis upon the fear of the LORD in our teaching and preaching has contributed to-and is contributing to a spiritual decline in many churches. It ends with a call for ministry and laity alike to restore a proper understanding of the fear of the Lord in the church.