Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spittle.

Isaiah 50:6

This evil altar of shame is closely associated with the previous evil altar of poor self-esteem. Jesus broke them both and in much the same way. There are two instances of the face beating of Jesus (Isaiah 50:6, 52:14; Luke 22:64; Matthew 26:67). The tearing of beards was a punishment inflicted by the Jews (and others) because it was shameful. “Then Hanun took the servants of David, and he shaved off half of their beards and cut their garments off in the middle up to their buttocks, then sent them away” (2 Samuel 10:4). “then men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with shaven beards and torn garments, who had cut themselves with blades, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the temple of Yahweh” (Jeremiah 41:5). Beards often were associated throughout the ancient world with virility, wisdom, and power.

As you can imagine, virility, wisdom, and power are all areas tagged to the male self-esteem. They are VERY connected. But they separate when you delve into the negative side. Shame can accompany poor self-esteem, but it isn’t the main thrust (which is lack of worth). Shame itself is a negative force and the opposite of the positives. Consciousness of guilt opposite wisdom, shortcoming opposite power, and impropriety opposite virility – although it is a sliding scale where one can often change places with another. When we shame someone we cause them to lose honour and respect in the public’s eyes. When we shame ourselves, we do the same in private but often assume the general public feels the same way. These feelings are designed to elicit emotions that will lead you to despair, anxiety, fear, and every other crippling and broken emotion the human mind is capable of producing.

The Romans were clean-shaven, taking after Alexander the Great who demanded all his men be clean-shaven (less to grab or tangle in battle). As such, it has been suggested that some of the soldiers would have enjoyed mocking a condemned Jew by pulling out his beard. Whether they took pleasure in it, followed directions for shaming a man, or any other reason, it was clear that Jesus’ beard was removed. The word used in Isaiah means to have the face peeled or the beard plucked out. Considering Jesus wasn’t recognizable as human when He got to the cross (Isaiah 52:14), I favour peeled.

Jesus removed our shame from us (Romans 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6; Romans 5:5), our consciousness of our guilt (Hebrews 10:2; Romans 8:1), our feeling of shortcoming (2 Peter 1:3; Acts 1:8; Isaiah 41:10), and our feelings of impropriety (1 Corinthians 12:22-25; Galatians 2:20). In Jesus we have all these things. We can engage them to counter whatever negative feelings might arise through the power of Ruach HaKodesh which is at residence in us. He is always there to bring to our remembrance those things that Adonai has said about us – especially the promises of the Word. What a GREAT thing to be reminded of. What a GREAT comfort. When we are feeling down. When we feel like failures. When we feel that we are thinking and doing things that we shouldn’t. Ruach HaKodesh reminds us of what Jesus DID and who WE ARE in Jesus. So we can put away broken thinking and broken behaviour with ease by grabbing on with both hands and all our hearts to what JESUS made available to us. We get to be like HIM! We can take real comfort in that.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Deuteronomy 28:11; 3 John 2

“And Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous, in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give to you. . . Dear friend, I pray you may prosper concerning everything and be healthy, just as your soul prospers.” First the Kingdom, then our world. As it is in heaven, so be it on Earth. This is the direction of the Blessing. From the top down. And unlike in our world, this works. Because it isn’t trickle down but FLOOD down. As we prosper in Him, we are CAPABLE of handling other Blessings. If HE isn’t our focus, we’ll end up losing sight of Him and destroy ourselves in our excesses. If you don’t think YOU’LL do that, look at the history of Israel in Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel. Consistently losing focus because of their lives of plenty. It can happen to anyone. That’s why Adonai has to be first. If we aren’t humble, we can’t handle it. Abraham was promised that he and his descendants would be BLESSED and a BLESSING to the whole world. That promise is ours (Jew first, and then Gentile). “And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). As we conform to Adonai’s thinking, we learn HOW to walk in Blessing. HOW to be generous. HOW to NOT hang onto things. We start seeing Adonai as not only our SOURCE, but also the OWNER of ALL things. We’re only borrowing them until someone else needs them. We could give away everything today and be happy because we know something else good is coming. That’s how it works. Ever forward. Always blessing. Greed for nothing, joy in receiving, more joy in giving. That’s how Jesus was and He had a LOT of resources. He was NEVER without. He was also ALWAYS giving. He knows what it’s like here. He made the Way open to us for us to do as He did. Live as He did. Prosper with the Father as He did. All we need to do is listen and then obey. How simple! He keeps nothing back from the obedient children who seek Him with all their hearts. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8