Tag: fearful

51.o. Wilderness – 15.u. “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.”

 

 

Deu 20:1-4  “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

Deu 20:8  And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’

 Deuteronomy 3:22   You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.’

 Genesis 26:3     Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

 Joshua 1:5     No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

 2 Chronicles 32:7-8    “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.  With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

 Psalms 118:6     The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

 Romans 8:31    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 1 Corinthians 15:33    Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

 Deuteronomy 1:28    Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’

Israel, a small nation surrounded by great empires, was rarely in a strategically superior position. Despite the clear danger, they also had a clear command from God to not fear. Israel was commanded to not fear what any logical military man would fear: superior numbers, superior technology, and superior equipment. Yet, Israel was given a reason to not fear. God did not deny that the enemies of Israel would usually have more horses, chariots, and people than Israel. But God asked them to recognize a greater fact: That the LORD your God is with you. It was the job of the priest to encourage the soldiers to trust in God. Though the priests were not normally to go into battle. When Israel was obedient, and trusting in God, they could never lose. But when they were disobedient, or not trusting, they could never win – even if they had superior forces.

 To God, the size of the army wasn’t important; the heart of the army was far more important. He didn’t want people who might be distracted from the real battle by worrying about the cares of everyday life (their home, their vineyard, their fiancée’); nor did He want people who were not really trusting Him. God could do more through a smaller army that was really committed to Him than through a bigger army that was full of compromise. (Guzik)

There is a fear that most experience – It is a “sudden fear” of when something happens. A car accident that is about to happen, waking up to smoke in your home, loud unexpected noise, or being startled by someone or something you didn’t know was there. We are just born with this. Proverbs says, do not be afraid of sudden fear. When sudden fear occurs, recognize it, and do not be afraid. You would apply brakes or swerve in an on-coming accident. You would flee a burning building. You would not try to pick up a venomous snake as it slithers by.  You would be cautious, attentive, mindful, and putting things into their right place within your mind.  God is there. God is sovereign. God is all-knowing. God is all-powerful. He will never leave or forsake you.  

There is another type of fear that should not be in the hearts and minds of those who trust in, rely upon, and cling to Jesus Christ. It is the fear of an unknown outcome of a potential event of something in the near or distant future. How do these fears arise within us? How do they gain even a spec of space within our minds? If you spend any time reading or watching news outlets you will be told what to fear right now and what to fear in the future. They will lay out their narrative in convincing crafty words. Every news and weather outlet broadcast station is supported by income from advertising that pays certain fees depending on the number of viewers. How better to get more viewers than to incite fear? Stay tuned for more breaking news. We will keep an eye on this for you, stay tuned in. This is a developing story, stay tuned. New information has come to light, stay tuned. This could affect every single person, so stay tuned. Scientists confirm, stay tuned. Witnesses have stated, stay tuned. Researchers have just revealed, stay tuned. The more they can generate fear the masses will tune in and hopefully rely on them to make sense of the fear being generated. 

In contrast, God’s Word says to “Fear Not”, “Be of this world but not partakers of it”, “Be anxious about nothing”, “Trust in the Lord your God”, “God will never leave you or forsake you”, “I am with you”, “I am your rock and refuge”, “God is all-powerful”, God is ever-present”, God is all-knowing”, “the battle is the Lords”, “nothing can separate you from the Love of God.

The biggest battle we should fear is the battle with, neglect, complacency, lukewarmness, being attracted to things of this world, lust, greed, pride, envy, jealousy, arrogance, hate, anger, self-worth, self-reliance, etc….. Paul said that by the renewing of your mind, studying yourself as a workman who doesn’t need to be afraid, be anxious about nothing, guard your heart, be strong, be steadfast in your commitment, lean not unto your own understanding, be courageous, trust in Jesus Christ, be faithful, be holy, be more than babies in the Word of God and its application in your lives, hold onto what is true, rejoice, praise, be joyful, and love, these things must come to pass but do not be afraid, etc…..

Fear has no place in the heart that trusts in God. We can place all of our concerns at His feet and fully trust in Him to be with us no matter what the concern is. He will never leave you. He is ever-present. He can do all things mighty and powerful is He.

13.s. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Zechariah 11:4   Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”  So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Ezekiel 22:26    Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Ezekiel 8:18     Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Hebrews 10:26-31   For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

From Matthew Henry’s Bible commentary;  Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds woefully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they regarded it not. The Good Shepherd would feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty, denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their national covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony which hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world are enmities to God; and God hates all the workers of iniquity: it is easy to foresee what this will end in. The prophet demanded wages, or a reward, and received thirty pieces of silver. By Divine direction, he cast it to the potter, as in disdain for the smallness of the sum. This shadowed forth the bargain of Judas to betray Christ and the final method of applying it. Nothing ruins a people so certainly, as weakening the brotherhood among them. This follows the dissolving of the covenant between God and them: when sin abounds, love waxes cold, and civil contests follow. No wonder if those fall out among themselves, who have provoked God to fall out with them. Wilful contempt of Christ is the great cause of men’s ruin. And if professors rightly valued Christ, they would not contend about little matters.