Fear that cares

Je 23:3-6 - Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Again, God is putting in provisions for his people so that they are cared for and so they will not fear. It is a priority for God that His people fear Him only so that they will not fear anything else. It is the cornerstone of his Sovereignty. If we fear death or need or people, than we remove him from the throne of power that He sits on. God will bring in shepherds who will follow a Shepherd who will guide and encourage and lead you for the purpose that you would know that God cares for you and to remove your fears.

2 Ki 17:31-41 - They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Though the words fear are not written in this passage, it is a clear example that the people did not fear God. When you fear God, you cannot fear anything else. Fear and worship go hand in hand. Fear comes out of worship and worship drives us to fear. We will fear what we worship. We worship what we fear. In this passage, they” worshipped” God and they worshipped their idols. God had warned them that you can’t do both. This is such a great complement to the previous verse about not fearing beause God has one answer to fear: Himself. He longs to care for you and provide you with the assurance that you need not fear. But, are we willing to let go of our fears and trust our father.

Fear that glorifies

Je 17:7-8 - “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Trusting in the Lord, fearing the Lord, enables us to live without fear and without anxiety. When the heat comes, and it will come, because we trust in the Lord, not only can we be free from the travails of the soul, we can also still bear fruit. What an amazing promise. This concept of bearing fruit in spite of and because of the heated times in our live is an unfamiliar one to us. The book of James and the book of Romans both illustrate how trials and suffering bring about faith and perseverance and character so that we can become mature and complete. Instead of fearing the heat, we can welcome it in joy knowing that God will use it to deepen our trust in Him.

2 Ch 17:9-10 - And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.

As we grow in the fear of God, not only will we that change how we view sin and life, but in this case, the fear of God fell upon the land as well. Perhaps, the fear of God is similar to the light in Matt 5 which produces good works in us and gives glory to God in Heaven because of it outward effect.

Fear is simple

Je 10:6-7 - There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.

There is no one who is as great and mighty and wise as our God. Therefore we are not to fear anything but fear our God. Not only is it truth, it is what God is due. It is required by us to do. We must fear Him.

Fearing singleheartedly

Je 10:1-5 - Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

In the western world, we do not seem to struggle with fearing idols as much as in other parts of the world. But, there are definitely things that we are scared of including, superstitions, dreams and newspaper rumors and much more. God is saying that all hand-made things are not to be feared. There is nothing that can happen to you apart from God’s knowledge and sovereigngty and only God gives good gifts. We need to find refuge in our father as the giver of all good gifts and the sovereign one in control of everything.

2 Ki 17:5-13 - The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the Lord to anger. They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.” The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

This is a long passage but I think you see the correlation to the previous passage. Because the Israelites did not fear God, God, in His anger, allowed them to be captured by Assyria. The reason that was given for this was that they worshipped other gods instead of fearing the only God. Fearing God is something that must be done with our whole heart. You can’t fear God and worship other gods. It is one or the other.

Fear so you don't fear

Je 1:17-19 - But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

What a great challenge to dress yourself and get going. I love the promise behind the command, which I will will be with you, and I will deliver you. You will not be dismayed because I am on your side. But the warning is this: if you are dismayed or fearful, than I will dismay you before them. But if you fear me, Jeremiah, God says, than, there will be nothing to fear. But, God doesn’t promise it will be easy. There will be a fight, but they will not win.

Ps 34:4-8 - I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

This Psalm is the perfect companion to the challenge of Jeremiah. When we seek the lord, we wil be delivered from all my fear. He won’t be delievered necessarily from the fight, but from the fears, which is the only thing Jeremiah was warned against. If you are dismayed, I will dismay you. That was the only fear that Jeremiah should have had. The promise here is that an an angel will encamp around those who fear him, and he will deliver them. As we press into God we will, at the most scary times, taste and see that He is good and we will be blessed as we take refuge in Him!

Fear reformed

Je 1:4-9 - Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

The issue for Jeremiah was fear. Fear of being to be young and fear of not knowing how to speak. God addresses this fear by ensuring him that God would do the sending, the giving of words and the delivering. The only thing that Jeremiah had to worry about was not being afraid. We can’t forget that Ephesians 2:10 says that God has created us in Christ Jesus to do good works which He has prepared in advance for us, each, to do. Not only had He a call on Jeremiah’s life, he also has a call on our lives. He will see to it that we are sufficiently equipped to do His works for Him, but we must trust and not fear. And, yet, there are more than 25 more times in the book of Jeremiash that God has to utter these same words: “Fear Not!” God is both firm and gracious in his reminding of us of his His sovereignty and sufficiency.

Jdg 7:1-3 - Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

This is such an amazing story of how God decimated Gideon’s army so that God would get the glory and not the Israelites. And, it is even more amazing that the first and most decisive blow was the 22,000 people who left because they feared. I wonder what we miss out on because of fear, and how displeasing this must be to God. I am thankful that Jeremiah obeyed even in his fear.

Fear leads to peace

Is 54:11-14 - “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

This is a wonderful promise of the new millennium and the promise of all that is to come. But, I also think it give us a command for today. How often we are afflicted and storm-tossed and not comforted. It is like being in the boat with Jesus who is sleeping in the storm while we are worried and fearful and uncomforted. When Jesus calmed the waters, what was his rebuke, but that they lacked faith. The command of God is for us not to fear and the promise is that His righteousness will be established through our trials and in our trials. It is true that for now we experience life in the storm, but we have a hope in this storm that has power enough to calm our storm and calm us in our storms.

1 Ki 18:2-5 - So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”

This is a great story of fearless living in a fearful time. Obadiah feared God only and thus trusted God in the storm that he was living in. This a great application to the truth of what we are learning. When we fear God only, it enables us to be free from the oppression of evil and shame, and to be at peace.