Fearing God is not a matter of being terrified of Him as if He is always angry, or arbitrary and capricious in His dealings so that one should always be wary of what He might do. Rather, believers fear God’s wrath if He is not obeyed. Thus “fear” functions as a shorthand for “fearing the consequences of disobeying,” and often for just “not believing in or taking Yahweh seriously” (Jer. 5:22; 32:39).