Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare: but whoso puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
The fear of man brings confusion when we try to have faith in God. We read all through the book of Exodus that God, without doubt, is leading the children of Israel to the promised land in order to possess it and move in, fully. God’s intention was not to bring them to the border of the promised land and say, sorry we just can’t go in. Something happened to stop the conquering agenda that God had for His chosen people.
Right at the appointed time for the promise to be fulfilled, the Israelites chose to believe the lies of ten of the twelve spies. Num. 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. Yet, in Verse 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
The rebellion began to take root because of the fear of man. Num.13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. It seemed that it was easier for the Israelites to believe in the misery of ten fearful men than to have hope in the God-given battle cry of the two brave soldiers of God. The fear of man will stop you from moving forward in the vision of the Lord, and life.
Right at the appointed time for the promise to be fulfilled, the Israelites chose to believe the lies of ten of the twelve spies. Num. 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. Yet, in Verse 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
The rebellion began to take root because of the fear of man. Num.13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. It seemed that it was easier for the Israelites to believe in the misery of ten fearful men than to have hope in the God-given battle cry of the two brave soldiers of God. The fear of man will stop you from moving forward in the vision of the Lord, and life.
How often have we not entered the promise of God that was clearly given to our hearts? We came to a place of doubt because it was taking longer than we thought it should. So we started replacing the vision with one of our own. We see this in the story of Saul who had been commanded by God, through Samuel, to utterly destroy every Amalekite, their animals, and every possession they owned. Totally rid them from off the earth.
The judgment of God toward the Amalikites was pronounced and it was to be carried out by the army of Israel. 1Sam. 15:3a Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have. Saul did not do what God said, but did it his way. 1Sam:15:9a But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good.
Partial obedience is not obedience, and this heart attitude caused Saul to lose his kingdom. 1Sam. 13:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. The fear of man stopped the destiny of Saul’s kingdom. 1Sam. 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. What have we sacrificed in life because of the fear of man or the fear of what THEY might think?
The judgment of God toward the Amalikites was pronounced and it was to be carried out by the army of Israel. 1Sam. 15:3a Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have. Saul did not do what God said, but did it his way. 1Sam:15:9a But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good.
Partial obedience is not obedience, and this heart attitude caused Saul to lose his kingdom. 1Sam. 13:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. The fear of man stopped the destiny of Saul’s kingdom. 1Sam. 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. What have we sacrificed in life because of the fear of man or the fear of what THEY might think?
The fear of man will cause shame to manifest in our hearts and we will lose our strength toward a God-given vision. Peter, who earlier in the week had declared his unwavering love for Christ, was ashamed and fearful days later. This resulted in Peter denying he even knew Christ. Mark 14:67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. Mark 14:71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
The fear of man will keep us in a place of uncertain apprehension and bitterness. Once this bitterness takes root, shame will grow in strength. Mark 14:72b Thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Thank God there is forgiveness on this side of the cross. Rev. 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
The fear of man will keep us in a place of uncertain apprehension and bitterness. Once this bitterness takes root, shame will grow in strength. Mark 14:72b Thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. Thank God there is forgiveness on this side of the cross. Rev. 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
The fear of man comes when we have something to hide and we are unrepentant of our sin. Eph. 4:27 Neither give place to the devil. My son gave this response to his friends when they asked him why he got along so well with his parents. This happened at a party so he had all their attention when he said, “I get along with my parents because I have nothing to hide from them.” I thought his statement was profound for a young man in high school.
Why can we put our total trust in this salvation of the Lord? Num. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? That is a real blessed assurance because this truth will cause us to believe the love God has for us. 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
Fear crushes the spirit of man, but trust in the Lord keeps our souls safely grounded in Him who first loved us. I trust my Lord Jesus.
Why can we put our total trust in this salvation of the Lord? Num. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? That is a real blessed assurance because this truth will cause us to believe the love God has for us. 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
Fear crushes the spirit of man, but trust in the Lord keeps our souls safely grounded in Him who first loved us. I trust my Lord Jesus.
A timely Word for me Sir Norm. When we put our Trust in the Lord, we can rest assured He has our best interests at hand.
God Bless you and your family.
Toni:)
Good words! Galatians 1:10 comes into my mind "if I were still trying to please men …" and Job 40;8 "would you rather declare me guilty to justify yourself"
Thanks for posting!