Expert: Marvin Howard - 5/18/2006

Question
I have looked at that verse and read it through many of times, as well as, reviewed the scripture around Jonah 1:9, but I still cannot find the relevence in that particular scripture to my question of "more scriptural reasoning to not calling yourself or being called Reverend." Could you please help me to see how and why that scripture is applicable to my question, thank you.

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Followup To
Question -
hello, I am a member of the church that is always looking to learn more about God's holy and divine word.  I know that no one in the bible was ever called reverend or ever described as reverend except for the name of God, but is there any other scriptural reason as to why ministers should not call themselves or be called by others Reverend?
Answer -
Hi!

Hassan, in my human frailty, I failed to bracket the translated word in Jonah 1:9. I apologize. Here it is, corrected, that you may see more easily.

Jonah 1:9, "And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I {fear} the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land."

Answer
Hi!

Hassan, I replied to your question, at length. I looked it over, after I sent it, and saw that I missed a small set of punctuation marks. When I sent the reply to correct my error, I think it wiped out my original answer, overwriting it. I saved it, and will rewrite it here. I am sorry for the inconvenience. This has taught me something about this website.

Here is the answer I sent you originally, corrected and in its entirety.

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Hi!

Hassan, thank you for asking this question. It always does me good to see others seeking the truth.

Your question almost answers itself, containing the basic form of the answer. Beside “reverend” (lower case “r”) being the name of God (Psalm 111:9), it has a deeper meaning. To help you understand more clearly, we are going to take a deeper look at the definition, as it is rendered from the original Hebrew and other references where the same Hebrew word was written.

yaw-ray'
A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten: - affright, be (make) afraid, dread (-ful), (put in) fear (-ful, -fully, -ing). (be had in) reverence (-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).

First, let us note the similarity of this word with another name of God, Jehovah.

yaw
Contracted for H3068, and meaning the same; Jah, the sacred name: - Jah, the Lord, most vehement. Cp. names in “-iah,” “-jah.”

yeh-ho-vee'
A variation of H3068 (used after H136, and pronounced by Jews as H430, in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound, since they elsewhere pronounce H3068 as H136): - God.

Therefore, we see the root meaning of “reverend” is “fear.”

Knowing this, look briefly at these two verses before we continue.

Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

We are to fear God. We are not to fear man. Therefore, we should not call the name of a man, “Fear” (“Reverend”). Now, let's look at the other 31 verses where this Hebrew word is used, noting the English translation (brackets { } added by me around the translated word, MRH) of each, and a brief contextual insight.

Genesis 19:30, “And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he {feared} to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.”

Lot witnessed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah at the hand of God. Fearing other cities would be destroyed for their lifestyle, Lot lived in a cave. Lot's daughters sinned after this.

Genesis 26:7, “And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he {feared} to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.”

Isaac incorrectly feared Abimelech. This improper fear caused him to sin by lying. He repeated a sin committed twice by his father, Abraham (once to Pharaoh, and once to Abimelech), not learning from Abraham's mistakes (Genesis 12:19 & Genesis 20:2).

Exodus 3:6, “Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was {afraid} to look upon God.”

Moses heard the voice of God, and was afraid.

Deuteronomy 7:19, “The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art {afraid}.”

God showed He was more powerful than all the people of which Israel was afraid.

Deuteronomy 25:18, “How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he {feared} not God.”

Those who did not fear God were destroyed.

Joshua 22:25, “For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from {fearing} the LORD.”

The children of Manasseh were grateful for the Jordan River as a border between them and the children of Reuben and Gad, believing that they would cause Manasseh to cease fearing God; a bad thing.

Judges 6:27, “Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he {feared} his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.”

Again, God proved He was more powerful than those feared by His followers, even Gideon's own father who wanted him dead.

Judges 8:20, “And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he {feared}, because he was yet a youth.”

Gideon's son was fearful of his enemies, and was therefore unable to obey the command from God to slay them, as relayed through Gideon.

1st Samuel 3:15, “And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel {feared} to show Eli the vision.”

God overcame the fear of Samuel towards God's vision by letting Eli in on the fact that He had shown it to Samuel.

1st Samuel 31:4, “Then said Saul unto his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore {afraid}. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.”

Saul's armorbearer was afraid of God's punishment, and would not help Saul commit suicide.

1st Kings 1:50-51, “And Adonijah {feared} because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah {feareth} king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.”

Adonijah (David's fourth born and oldest surviving son) feared that Solomon (David's tenth born) would kill him to keep him out of line for the throne, and appealed to God to protect his life.

1st Kings 18:3, “And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah {feared} the LORD greatly:"

The prophet Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and Ahab knew it because it had been previously demonstrated.

1st Kings 18:12, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant {fear} the LORD from my youth.”

Obadiah expected to be slain by Ahab and Jezebel, but was willing to accept this because he feared God more.

2nd Kings 4:1, “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did {fear} the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.”

The wife of a prophet appealed to the power of God, through Elisha, to save her children from slavery based upon her late husband's fear of God.

1st Chronicles 10:4, “Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore {afraid}. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.”

My comment is the same as for 1st Samuel 31:4 (above), for it is a parallel account.

Job 1:8-9, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that {feareth} God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job {fear} God for naught?”

Job feared God so much he was considered perfect; that there was none like him. God was proud of Job for this, and boasted of it before Satan.

Job 2:3, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that {feareth} God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.”

Job feared God so much that Satan's assault failed. God reiterates His boast, and gives Satan even more power over Job.

Psalm 25:12, “What man is he that {feareth} the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.”

Even though man sins, IF he fears God, God can teach man the right way.

Psalm 112:1, “Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that {feareth} the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.”

Many different blessings are pronounced on the man who fears God.

Psalm 128:1 & 4, “A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that {feareth} the LORD; that walketh in his ways...Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that {feareth} the LORD.”

Christ would come through Zion because of Israel's fear of God.

Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: {fear} the LORD, and depart from evil.”

It is better to fear the Lord than to be wise in your own eyes.

Proverbs 14:2, “He that walketh in his uprightness {feareth} the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.”

If you fear God, you do righteous things. If you do not obey God, it is because you do not really fear Him.

Proverbs 14:16, “A wise man {feareth}, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.”

A fool says that there is no God, according to Psalm 14:1. The wise man acknowledges God by his fear, backing away from evil. The man who says there is no God is confident in his own strength, and plows right through, deeper into trouble. He cannot fear Him in whom he does not believe.

Ecclesiastes 8:13, “But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he {feareth} not before God.”

If you do not fear God, your life on earth won't last long.

Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: {Fear} God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

The whole of man, everything a man is and has to do, revolves around, and begins with, fearing God.

Isaiah 50:10, “Who is among you that {feareth} the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.”

You cannot fear God and walk in darkness. Keep trusting the Lord.

Jeremiah 26:19, “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not {fear} the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.”

King Hezekiah feared God. He was able to plead for Judah to not be destroyed, as was God's intention. Hezekiah, because of his Godly fear, was able to keep Israel from being taken captive. Now, in Jeremiah's time, they were in Babylonian captivity, and they had no excuse. If the sons of the good King Josiah (Jehoahaz and Eliakim - renamed Jehoiakim) had been good like their father, and had feared the Lord, Babylon wouldn't have them. They had no excuse, and no one to blame but themselves.

Daniel 1:10, “And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I {fear} my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.”

Daniel's slave master feared Nebuchadnezzar more than he feared God. God was about to perform a miracle through Daniel that would cause the slave master to remember him later, and remember the power of Daniel's God in time to interpret the vision of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jonah 1:9, “And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I {fear} the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah knew he made a mistake by running from God. Knowing the danger to which he subjected everyone else on the ship, he admitted what he had done, and proclaimed the identity of God to these people. He took responsibility for his actions, and volunteered to be thrown overboard to save their lives.

Thirty-two verses of Scripture contain this Hebrew word. Thirty-one of them translate the word as “fear,” or some form of the same word. Only one verse translates it “reverend.” Still, it is a moot point. To revere, or worship, someone or something is to hold that person or thing “reverend.” To revere someone or something is to hold him, her, or that thing in awe and fear. Peter refused such worship, but the beast of the Revelation (claiming to follow Peter, by the way - 1st Corinthians 1:12 & Revelation 20:4) demands it. If you meet the leader, or one of his immediate subordinates, you are expected to kneel at their feet and kiss their rings in worship.

They demanded this preeminence over God long before there was an English translation of Scripture, even claiming the title of “vicar,” or replacement. They were the first to demand that we call their leaders by such names as “father,” “papa,” “pope,” “holy father,” “most holy father,” “reverend,” “right reverend,” and “most reverend” all in the place of God. Her daughters, the denominations, walk lock-step with her on many issues, including this one. Rather than going back to God's Word for everything he did, Luther (and those after him) only fixed the few (by far the minority) mistakes of which they were aware, and listened to their mother on the rest.

The mother had to have something to which they could point and say, “See? This is a Scriptural word, and since you cannot understand anything about the Bible other than what we tell you, that's all you need to know. Call me Reverend (with a capital, and more respectful “R”).” Can you say, “Trust in me,” just like the serpent in Kipling's “Jungle Book?” Sure, I knew you could!

To call someone “reverend” is to say, “I worship you,” “I fear you,” and “You are god.” To allow someone to call you “reverend” is to accept his or her worship, fear, and belief that you are god.

Any religion that allows or recommends that its members commit this blasphemous act is not true, and any members of that religion are lost, not being Christians. Any daughter of “The Mother of Harlots” is a harlot: one that has sold out the truth for a price. Usually this price is the praise of men in the case of religion, but it can be money, as well.

Fear God, not man. Worship God, not man. Trust God, not man, no matter what he says. Always be as noble as the Christians in Berea (Acts 17:11). Check everything people say against Scripture. I do not care who they may be, and yes, this includes even me.

Thank you for the chance to answer this, and expose the error of denominationalism once again. Should you need any further questions answered, or need this answer clarified, please do not hesitate to ask me.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
preacherman_1962@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962