The answer
The Holy Bible and Church Tradition differentiate between two types of fear: the fear that bears the meaning of reverence and honor; and the fear which bears the spirit of anxiety, weariness, and helplessness. The first type builds our self-esteem, rather than destroying it. And the fear of the Lord is of the first type. It is that kind of fear that characterizes the relationship that heavenly beings have with their Creator. St. Jacob of Sarug says, “The cherubim bless with melodies of fear while they are terrified, and the seraphim praise saying ‘Holy’ as they tremble … The cherub does wish to be haughty for he cannot know You (O Lord, in your essence) … The seraph covers his face with his wings when he sanctifies You, because the living fire frightens him and he cannot look at it. Who is your equal (O Lord)? And who can comprehend You when he praises?”355
In another place he says, “Fearful glory and splendor come out of the chariot to gather the heavenly ones around the great glory … The cherubim rejoice at being those who bear Him, and the seraphim sanctify Him as they gaze upon the city of the Holy One … All of them cry out because they were deemed worthy of seeing His high place … By the splendor of His light they all enjoy His blessings.” The words of St. Jacob of Sarug are in perfect harmony with St. John Chrysostom’s discourse, On the Incomprehensible Nature of God.356 The fear of God pours heavenly splendor on the heavenly beings, inflames their love for Him, and increases their honor.
What we say about heavenly beings is a lesson for us where we become aware of how fear of the Lord gives us confidence in His work within us. Thus, we cherish encountering Him and desire to meet Him face to face that He may take away all our feelings of weakness, anxiety, or weariness so that we become as those who abide with God in heaven. Then, we will sing with the psalmist saying, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him” (Ps. 89:7); “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (Ps. 19:9). Thus, the fear of God becomes the subject of our praise in eternity, and our pride among the heavenly beings.
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty
Notes
355 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 84: On the saying “Do not swear at all” (Matt. 5:34).
356 St. John Chrysostom, On the Incomprehensible Nature of God (FOTC 72).