I just had some leftover thoughts after our discussion on Thursday. It seemed to me like we were treating the fear of God like we would treat the fear of spiders or some other phobia. We were saying how God had to "resort" to these underhanded tactics in order to get others to obey. I wasn't very satisfied with this reading. True, God is a little heavy handed at times. Frogs and locusts and flies aren't fun, and this would scare quite a few people. But it isn't for fear of these retributions that the Hebrews choose to worship Him above all others. Moses says "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin" (Ex 20:21). For me, the original sin, Eve's eating of the apple, was an example of not fearing God. She obeyed a snake before her Lord. God is not resorting to anything. He had this as rule number one the whole time: Fear me, obey me and you will be blessed above all others.
Harder to explain is the "hardening" of Pharaoh's heart. At times it seems that God is the one doing the hardening. "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt" (Ex 7:3). At other times it seems that the Pharaoh has a choice and that God has given him a window of opportunity, but he chooses not to listen (Ex 7:22). It does seem that he is showing off. But I wasn't sure for which side.
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The question of just what "the fear of the Lord" means is an old one, and becomes the more urgent as later books of both the Tanach and the Christian New Testament place a (contrasting?) emphasis upon another emotional relation to God -- namely, love. Indeed, the New Testament will say "Perfect love casts out fear", which seems at least in tension with such claims as "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Nor is the idea that God wants a loving relationship with humans a Christian innovation, as the Pentateuch also urges people to love God with all their hearts.
Some possible interpretations that have found followers over the years:
1) The expression "fear of the Lord" is not really about FEAR in the ordinary sense, but is more like the kind of feeling that goes along with conscience.
2) Fear of the Lord may be the BEGINNING of wisdom, but it is not the end point of it. If God's relation to Israel (or to humans generally) is like that of a parent and a child, there may be a place for doing what is right out of fear of punishment at some stage of development (and it is better for a child to not drink the pretty bottle of bleach out of fear of punishment than to drink it), but ideally this will be replaced by other things, like UNDERSTANDING what is right (wisdom), and loving the parent and wanting to be more like her or him.
3) Some might see an historical development of Jewish (and Christian) understandings of God, from an older understanding based on fear, perhaps more like that of pagan religions, to one emphasizing wisdom and love. Not so much that God changes, but that people's UNDERSTANDING of what God is like, and what God wants from people, changes and evolves.
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