Day 8 - Gen 21:16-20 & Ge 28:16

Do Not Fear
Genesis 21:16-20 - ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰ And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

Fear God
Genesis 28:16-17
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." [17] He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."





When hope was gone, God hears the voice of the boy, and responds to Hagar. His words "Fear Not" are followed by a promise to make Ishmael into a great nation, but also a supernatural opening of her eyes to see as well. A great reminder that, God not only hears our cry and commands us not to fear, but to trust in him as well. Jacob gets a similar experience after he wakes, and God opened his eyes during a dream. Jacob now experiences a new understanding of the closeness of God and grows in His fear of God. I think part of the reason we don't fear God is we don't know or believe in His closeness. It is similar to the pride we experience in long periods of stability and comfort and then a windstorm or a huge thunderstorm or flooding or when a 9/11 happens, it reminds us of our smallness. God is close and sometimes we are reminded of our smallness when God shows up unexpectedly. It leads to a proper fear of a powerful, almighty and holy God.