Fear Not

One consistent theme that we see in the writings of Isaiah is that we should not fear the world; God only should we fear.  Here are some of the invitations from Isaiah:

·         “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:10).

·         “O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee” (Isaiah 43:1)

·         “Fear not: for I am with thee” (Isaiah 43:5)

·         “Fear not, O Jacob, my servant” (Isaiah 44:2)

·         “Fear ye not, neither be afraid” (Isaiah 44:8)

·         “Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings” (Isaiah 51:7)

·          “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed” (Isaiah 54:4)

·         “Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear” (Isaiah 54:14)

Two stories in Isaiah give us concrete examples of this principle.  The first is the account of Ahaz when he was tempted to create a confederacy with other nations because of his fear.  Judah was threatened by both Syria and the northern kingdom, who “went up toward Jerusalem to war against it” (Isaiah 7:1). Despite the great threat, Isaiah told Ahaz, “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted… (Isaiah 7:4,).  The Lord wanted Ahaz’s trust in Him and not in allegiances to men.  He was promised that the plans of these other nations would come to naught, and Isaiah told him, “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.  Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear” (Isaiah 8:12-13).  In other words, when the people would tell the king that Judah should unite with other nations as a matter of protection, he should not listen or be afraid like them, but trust in the Lord.  In the end Ahaz did not heed the words of Isaiah but rather made an alliance with Tiglath-pileser of Assyria for protection, and this no doubt contributed to the enormous destructions that the Assyrians eventually brought upon the people of Judah.  They conquered much of the lands of Judah, and only when they surrounded Jerusalem to take it did the Lord intervene.  After a very inflammatory speech from the Assyrians, the Lord told the people, “Be not afraid of the words that thou has heard” (Isaiah 37:6).  He had said earlier, “Be not afraid of the Assyrian” (Isaiah 10:24).  That night 185,000 Assyrians were killed by the angel of the Lord, proving that we can indeed trust the Lord and that we should not fear man.  As Isaiah questioned, “Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die?” (Isaiah 51:12)  Despite the temptation to fear man in just about everything we do, in the end, this should be a governing principle in our lives: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2).