'Fear' from a Scriptural perspective

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Firstly let us consider what the meaning of fear is or to be more concise in the .... As love binds us together in peace and liberty within the Kingdom of Heaven, ...
‘Fear’ from a Scriptural perspective

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 Firstly let us consider what the meaning of fear is or to be more concise in the various Scriptural references to fear what is the Holy Spirit specifically speaking about . Some may arguably define fear as abstract, however in Hebrew which is the language of the Torah (Old Testament) there are several words each with a different meaning which can only be described in the English language as fear. While every word in Hebrew has a only one meaning it often has multiple applications, hence in Hebrew fear and reverence are two different concepts. We often interpret Hebrew from a non-Hebraic context and in so doing loose the original meaning. For example it is written ‘And he said I heard thy voice in the garden and hid myself for I was afraid’ (Bereshit 3:10 i.e. Book of Genesis), and in another scripture ‘Thou shall fear Yähwè thy Elöhîm and serve him and shalt swear by his name’ (Devarim 6:13 i.e. Book of Deuteronomy), and this has been translated in the latter to mean ‘revere’ or ‘hold in reverence’. If this was an accurate definition why did Lord Yeshua say ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.….Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows’. We must be careful not to interpret Scriptures from an emotional perspective. In both cases what is the context or application in the original text? Could fear be an external emotion? Fear is not an external emotion otherwise ‘Thou shall fear Yähwè thy Elöhîm…’ could imply a rather unscriptural outcomes (frankly hypocritical); the inward part in rebellion while externally appearing in obedience. It is apparent fear is more than an inner working with visible signs. When two nouns are used together in Hebrew, the first noun is connected to the second and forms a concept. To help understand this please let us consider the following examples from Bereshit (Book of Genesis) where a noun precedes reference to Yähwè in the original Hebrew Scriptures, namely: Word of Yahweh (Genesis 15:1), Voice of Yahweh (Genesis 3:8), Face of Yahweh (Genesis 4:16), Name of Yahweh (Genesis 4:26), Eyes of Yahweh (Genesis 6:8), Garden of Yahweh (Genesis 13:10), Angel of Yahweh (Genesis 16:7) and Way of Yahweh (Genesis 18:19). In every example the first noun belongs to the second, i.e. the first noun is an attribute or belonging of Yahwe. Now consider Proverbs 9:10 it is written: The fear (from the same Hebrew word ‘yirah’) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. We know Yähwè does NOT ‘fear’, and while the

common understanding is that if a person ‘fears’ Yähwè they will receive wisdom, this is not consistent with the scriptures in Bereshit (Book of Genesis), hence we look elsewhere in the scriptures for understanding, keeping in mind that in Hebrew words have ONLY one meaning but different applications. The word from which we derive ‘fear’ is commonly the Hebrew word ‘yara’ which means ‘flowing from the gut’ or coming from the inside, hence in Mishlei 9:10 (Book of Proverbs) this would read ‘something that flows from the gut of Yähwè is the beginning of wisdom’ or to be more precise ‘The flowing’s of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. This is supported throughout the scriptures for Yähwè is ‘All Sufficient’ and the source of all good virtue. We learn and receive these thru all His personal attributes namely his Word (i.e. the Word of Yahwe – Bereshit 15:1), his voice (i.e. the Voice of Yahweh -Bereshits 3:8), his name (i.e. the Name of Yahweh -Genesis 4:26), his eyes (i.e. the Eyes of Yahweh -Genesis 6:8) and his Spirit (i.e. the Spirit of the Lord – Bereshits 1:2i.e. Genesi). Each application of the word fear has a different meaning which is deeper and understanding beyond the scope of this message. For the purpose of the rest of this message let us focus NOT on fear from the understanding of Job 4:14, ‘Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake’, for in Hebrew this has a different root meaning from what Adam manifested in Bereshit 3:10 (Book of Genesis) saying “…I was afraid…”. The former comes from the Hebrew ‘Pahhad’ which means literally shaking. Rather let us focus on the latter which is what flows out of fallen man not redeemed by the blood of Yeshua is what came in thru sin, namely a spirit that is totally void of the love of God. This is what is commonly called fear and includes a state of anxiety, distress, and a total collapse of confidence. The first appearance of the manifestation of the spirit of fear occurred immediately after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is written ‘Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden’ (Genesis 3:8). Hiding is a direct attempt to conceal something which in this instance was based on the entrance of fear due to disobedience. Fear is a spirit. In the subsequent verse it is written ‘... the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”, because Adam was now ‘hidden’ from Élöhîm for His eyes are too pure to look on evil (Habakkuk 1:15). Prior to the act of disobedience the first son of God would have had indwelling within him ‘the Spirit of the Fear of God’ (Isaiah 11:2). Every manifestation of fear is from spiritual activity and influence and ONLY the fear of God yields peace. ALL others are effects of demonic activity . Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of heights, fear of spiritual attack, and fear of sickness, are only a few of the numerous variants of fear. All are caused by direct influence of fallen angels (demonic spirits). who are void of love for God is love.

Fear is one of the most powerful weapons of demons and is one of the first fruits of Sin. Until Adam disobeyed Yahweh Élöhîm, Sin had no authority over Him and could not influence or oppress him for by divine ordinance there are legal modes of operation and interaction between spirits and physical beings. Disobedience opens the doorway that gives access into the human soul region, it breaks the hedge of protection and most certainly the serpent waiting outside will bite (Ecclesiastes 10:8). Fear does not need a serpents bite, just his presence. Fear is a consequence of the absence of Yahweh Élöhîm. As love binds us together in peace and liberty within the Kingdom of Heaven, so fear binds in perpetual bondage and torment within Satan’s kingdom. Fear is a demonic chain, an instrument of spiritual limitation, stagnation, poverty, and unimaginable demonic devices. Even the elect of the Lord do not have immunity from being attacked. We are however equipped to deal with and overcome every such attack using the weapons of our warfare which are mighty in Yähwè Elöhîm for pulling down strongholds. In Bereshit 12;1-3 (i.e. Book of Genesis), there was a severe famine in the land and Abraham went down to Egypt (Bereshit 12:10). Famine is the consequence of widespread societal idol worship for it is written ‘They made him jealous with their foreign gods, and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear…The Lord saw this and rejected them…“I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols…“I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague…’ A doorway had been opened for demonic oppression in the land and even the elect were affected. Moving from one region under judgement into Mitzrayim, i.e. Egypt (many years before the gods of the land were judged and their power destroyed), Abraham was evidently attacked by spirits of fear for it is written ‘As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’ While this statement is true, it was aimed to conceal the fact that Sarah was also his wife. Isaac the chosen son of Abraham responded to the spirit of fear in a similar manner (Bereshit 26:7-10 i.e. Book of Genesis), and Jacob for fear of Esau his brother and Laban his uncle, also took special measures (Bereshit 31:20, 32:6-7, i.e. Book of Genesis). Bereshit 27 also gives the account of how Jacob deceived his brother to receiving a blessing from their father Isaac in connivance with his mother Rebecca and subsequently fled out of fear. Gideon threshed his harvest of wheat in a winepress out of fear (Judges 6:11-12), Israel and their king, Saul, trembled before Goliath (1 Shemuel 17:11 i.e.Book of Samuel) and Apostle

Peter began to sink when he looked up and focused on the winds instead of our Lord ( Matthew 14:29-30) to name a few. The antidote to fear is the application of faith, for it is written Moshe ‘by faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned’ (Hebrew 1:27-29). Also carefully consider the following scriptures: And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground’. It is also written ‘and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death’ (Revelation 12:11). There is no other shortcut besides the ‘blood of Yeshua’ the lamb of God, the word of our testimony (which aligns with the Word of God), and the absence of fear. These cannot be applied without great FAITH. Thru faith please shut the door against whatever in NOT true, whatever is NOT noble, whatever is NOT right, whatever is NOT pure, whatever is NOT lovely, whatever is NOT admirable--if anything is NOT excellent or praiseworthy. It is written ‘resist the devil and he will flee’ (James 4:7). We resist thru faith in the Word of God, and the blood of Yeshua, the lamb of God. Please always consciously connect the blood of Yeshua as being the blood of the lamb of God. It is in this context that we overcome for as the sacrificial atonement unto Yähwè Elöhîm (the Lord God Almighty), the wrath of Yähwè Elöhîm no longer abides on us. It is not what the devil can do that matters in the larger context but what Yähwè Elöhîm, the Sovereign God can do, hence ‘fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell’ (Matthew 10:28). May Ruach Elöhîm (Spirit of God or Holy Spirit) give life to these words and grant you understanding in Yeshua’s name.

Shalom Brother Michael