Fear No Fear

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

“So they feared Yahweh, and also made from among themselves priests of the high places for themselves, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared Yahweh, and also served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear Yahweh, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; with whom Yahweh had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; but you shall fear Yahweh, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him. The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever more. You shall not fear other gods. You shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods. But you shall fear Yahweh your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.””
(2 Kings 17:32-39)

“They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.” He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. Again he returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him. He came the third time and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise! Let’s get going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.””
(Mark 14:32-42)

The people looked to the nations around them and brought into their lives and homes the worship of idols. They chose these other gods and fully gave themselves to them. They brought on themselves the judgment God had told them for hundreds of years was waiting for the disobedient. They were cast out of the Land. Others were brought in to maintain the Land, but they were foreigners and had no firsthand knowledge of Yahweh God. Although they were told what proper worship was, they combined the two. Their own cultural idolatry with God-given worship practises. God wasn’t fooled, but the people were confused. They ended up with a hybrid religion that honoured nobody and nothing. They chose the false, instead of grasping and holding onto the truth.

The Judean Jews who were against Jesus were a small group. It didn’t even include the entire Sanhedrin, the ruling legal body of their religious life. The area where Pilate judged only fit a few hundred people – if that. This was an elite group that was against Jesus. And they were confused. They had replaced true worship with rules and regulations designed to prevent the breaking of God’s commands. Imagine enslaving yourself to a batch of VERY complicated rules in order to keep a clear and simple set of commands. They were so twisted and lost, they needed everyone to agree with them so that they could avoid feeling lost. So that they could feel pious and in control. They sold a bill of confusion to their followers to the point that when faced with freeing a ruthless criminal and freeing a totally innocent person, they picked the criminal. They had done what many before them had done: exchanged the truth for the lie.

Summary

The world is engaged in this same behaviour, but thanks to modern technology we are doubling down on the lie and infinitely increasing the scope of the confusion. There are things being hotly debated today that are clearly and demonstrably false. We are accepting of attitudes and philosophies that are clearly negative with demonstrable negative consequences. We are taking things that have been known as true for millennia and declaring them false or at the least optional. This is a crisis unlike everything that has come before. And the goal is to violate our identity. So that we will NOT see our identity in God, but will choose one of a myriad of human classifications instead. So we will see ourselves as an accountant, not as a child of God. So that we won’t pick up the authority and privileges of our inheritance. So that we won’t cleave to TRUTH – as objectively proven by God. So that we will walk in the LESS THAN leading to death and ignorance, instead of the MORE THAN that exists in Jesus (John 10:10). Just as in times past, it is a small group influencing the majority. We have a choice. And we should all choose to trust God, believe God, and align ourselves with Him. To cleave to the TRUTH and reject the LIE.