Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.””
(Genesis 15:1)

It could have been immediately after Abram got home from battle, it could have been later. All the Word tells us is that it did not happen before the events of Lot’s rescue and the interaction with the kings of Salem and Sodom.

Abram had something on his mind. We can see this not just from the conversation that follows this verse, but in God’s opening. He exhorted Abram not to fear. Not to worry. Not to be concerned about what was concerning him. Before Abram mentions anything, God is right there to assure him. God meets him where he is with the foundational solution to his problem (worry). By seeing that God is both Abram’s protector and his provider, Abram will have nothing left to worry about – no matter what the specifics of this worry are.

God is presenting Abram with a choice. Abram can choose to fear or choose not to fear. Fear is ALWAYS a choice. When we see God as our Source, we have no reason to fear. When we see ourselves as needing to provide for us, we have a reason to fear. Where we have our eyes determines whether we are choosing fear or trust. There is no ‘fear response’ in a believer. We have a trust response. We do NOT have to choose fight or flee OR deal with any of the psychology of that. WE have a choice to trust or turn. We can trust in God and not fear. We can turn away from God and end up in fear. Before we make that choice, we can look and see that God is right there, arms open wide, showing us that we don’t need to choose fear because He is right there (Hebrews 13:5).

God is making two promises. He promises to BE Abram’s shield, not just provide one. God is promising to be in the thick of things WITH Abram. Not to be distant. Not to be aloof. Not waiting on Abram to learn a lesson. But to be there, right there, an active part of Abram’s life. The second promise is to provide for Abram by being Abram’s reward. God didn’t promise riches. God didn’t promise health. God didn’t promise spiritual enrichment. God promised Himself which includes EVERYTHING God has and is. Friendship. Companionship. And a share of everything God has (finances, emotions, relationships, health, etc). This was an AMAZING blessing.

In Jesus, we have access to the same blessing on the same basis of our trust in Jesus (Galatians 3:13-14).

The sage Ramban writes: ‘THE WORD OF THE ETERNAL CAME UNTO ABRAM IN A VISION. Abraham now merited that the word of G-d should come to him in a daytime vision for at first his prophecy came to him in nocturnal visions. The meaning of the word bemachzeh (in a vision) is as in the meaning of the verse, And all the people saw the thunderings, and the secret thereof is known to those who are learned in the mysteries of the Torah. FEAR NOT ABRAM. Abraham feared two things: that the four kings — either they or their successors — might increase their forces against him and he would go down into the battle and perish, or that his day shall come to die without child. [To remove these two fears from Abraham, the Eternal] promised him that He will be his shield against them, and that his reward for walking with G-d shall be very great.’

The sage Rabbeinu Bahya writes: ‘אל תירא אברם אנכי מגן לך, “do not worry Avram, I will be your shield.” One may understand G’d’s promise to Avram in this verse as including three separate assurances: 1) He should not be afraid on account of the kings whom he had slain. The words: “do not be afraid,” are only addressed to someone who is already afraid. Avram was afraid that the sons of these kings would want to avenge their fathers and attack him. This is why G’d said; “I will be a shield for you.” The second assurance concerned Avram’s having a son of his own. This is alluded to in the words שכרך הרבה מאד, “your reward will be very great.” Actually, all G’d had to say was שכרך רב, “your reward is great.” The addition of two letters ה which were not really called for indicated that by means of the two letters ה which would be added both to the name אברם and to the name שרי, Yitzchak would be able to emerge as their son. This was an assurance concerning reward in this life. The third assurance was an assurance concerning the hereafter, and it is alluded to by the addition of the word מאד, “very much,” to the promise of much reward. We find something similar in Job 35,15 ולא ידע בפש מאד, “and he does not know that it may be long drawn out.” Elihu had attacked Job for denying that G’d personally supervises the fate of individuals. He accused him of recounting his afflictions day after day, whereas he had no idea of the serenity in store for the righteous in the hereafter. Seeing that of these three assurances, only the first one was explicit whereas both the promise of children and that of an afterlife were only allusions, Avram related only to the visible, and did not understand the allusion which was included in G’d’s words. This is why he felt constrained to ask G’d: “what can You give me?” He meant: “seeing that I have no children I am comparable to a bush in the desert (Jeremiah 17,6), i.e. something that has no future”. In his reference to Eliezer, Avram meant that not only did he not have a biological heir, but his heir-apparent Eliezer was not even from his home-town Charan but from Damascus. At this point G’d began to tell Avram in detail what He had previously only hinted at. Firstly, He told him that Eliezer would not be his heir but that someone who was his biological son would inherit him. When G’d added the words הוא יירשך, “he will inherit you,” this was really superfluous and meant that the ”הוא“ of the world i.e. G’d Himself, would be his heir.” He meant that he, Avram, would be the heir of G’d inasmuch as the name הוא is one of the attributes of G’d. This is a familiar concept from Exodus 34,9 ונחלתנו, “and make us Your heritage.” Nachmanides adds that the words (verse 4) והנה דבר ה’ אליו לאמר may be understood as G’d interrupting Avram in mid-sentence and assuring him that he was wrong, that Eliezer was not going to be his heir.’