Issue #2, 2025
Shalom friends,
Living in Israel is often like being on a roller coaster; just as the ride seems to slow down, here comes that huge downhill spurt and the nasty curves that shoves us one way and then the other. Of course, the Lord did warn us that the days just before His coming would be filled with "excitement" (Luke 21:28)! Also, God does use Israel and Jerusalem to test and trap the nations (Zech. 12:2-3), which explains why I often feel like the wedge of cheese on a mouse trap.
While I am totally convinced that God reigns as Creation's Supreme Sovereign (Psa. 93:1-2; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; 103:19; plus many more affirmations in both the Old Testament [Tanach] and the New Testament [NT]), which include both Israel's protection and destiny as well as my own, that does not erase the times of concern and even fear. I thank God that He tells us who trust in Him to "fear not" because He knew that if we are doing His will then there will be circumstances which arise and our normal reaction would be to fear. "Fearing not" is a decision of the will and does not come automatically with our membership in His Kingdom.
It is interesting to see that the first time the phrase "fear not" appears in Scripture is Genesis 15:1: After these things the word of YHWH came unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward'.
And the last time we read this phrase is in Revelation 1:17 where John describes his encounter with the glorified and risen Messiah: When I saw him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, 'Fear not; I am the First and the Last: I am He that lives, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell [Gk; Hades] and of death. Amen!
So God is our shield and great reward; He is the Beginning and the End; He conquered death and is now the Resurrection and the Life, and He has the keys of hell and death. No wonder He can tell us that we need not fear as everything is under His sovereign control – whether it feels like that or not!
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