December2

Holy Fear

But◦ it came··to··pass, while he served··as··priest before▫ God in the order◦ of his daily··ministry... And◦ an angel of the Lord was seen by him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. And seeing◦ him, Zacharias was disturbed, and fear fell on him. And◦ the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall give birth to a son for thee, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:8-14)

Speaking generally, “fear” is of two kinds—fear in what is not sacred, and fear in what is sacred; fear in what is not sacred is the fear in which are the wicked; but fear in what is sacred is the fear in which are the good. This latter fear (to wit that in which are the good) is called reverential or sacred fear, and is the result of our wonder at and longing for what is Divine, and also of our love. Love that is devoid of reverential or sacred fear is as it were devoid of savor, or is like food unseasoned with salt, and consequently insipid; but love that is attended with fear is like food that is seasoned, but yet does not taste of salt. The fear of love is a fear of injuring the Lord in any way, or of injuring the neighbor in any way, thus of injuring what is good and true in any way, and consequently of injuring the sacred things of love and faith and the consequent worship. (Arcana Coelestia 3718)

As regards the fear of the Divine in which they who are in falsities and infest will be, be it known that fear is the only means of restraining the infernals and holding them in bonds. For fear is a common bond, both for those who are upright, and for those who are evil; but for those who are upright the fear is internal, which is fear for the sake of salvation, namely, lest they should perish as to their souls, and so lest they should do anything contrary to conscience, that is, contrary to the truth and good which are of conscience; consequently they have fear lest they should do anything contrary to what is just and fair, thus contrary to the neighbor; but this is holy fear insofar as it is conjoined with the affection of charity, and still more as it is conjoined with love to the Lord. Fear then becomes like that of little children toward the parents whom they love. Then, insofar as they are in the good of love, so far the fear does not show itself; but insofar as they are not in good, so far it shows itself, and becomes anxiety. Such is the “fear of God,” so frequently spoken of in the Word. (Arcana Coelestia 7280)

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