To fear God does not mean to live in fear of Him, it means to have respect for Him in a way that one would respect their parents or someone that has authority over them. One Preacher explained it as we are to be in fear of not having Him in our lives.

To fear God means to put a fear in us to live a moral, uncorrupted life so we will not have to face the consequences of our sins.

God is our Father and loves us very much and just as a parent will punish a child for doing something bad or an employer will punish us if we did not do something according to the rules God will also give us a punishment for our sins.

Many people will read through the Old Testament and think that God is mean and hurtful, but He really is not. Yes, there have been wars just as we have today, but those who are faithful to Him survive.

While we are now saved by Jesus and do not have to live as the Israelites did it is still important to know the entire Bible as we learn since the book of Genesis 3 that Jesus would be sent to replace the animal blood sacrifices that took place before He became the ultimate blood sacrifice.

Scriptures Showing How We Are to Fear God:
"And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." - Exodus 20:19-21

"With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." - II Kings 17:35-39

"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." - Ecclesiastes 12:12-14