Fear Not

Do not fear.  This command is found repeatedly in Scripture.  Almost every time an angel appears these are among the first words the angel says.

²² Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”

²³ Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Judges 6

I don't remember where I heard it now, but someone once suggested to me that the reason for this must be because angels are very scary and they don't want people to be afraid of them.  I suppose it is that sort of thinking that leads to so many of the angel fetishes that are popular today and are perhaps the first root of idolatry.

But if that isn't the explanation then what is?  It is striking that this is the repeated message of the angels, and in that I think we have the key.  I don't know much about angels.  Neither do you, no matter what you think.  Is this some horrible defect in our theology?  It is an issue exactly on a level with the fact that I don't know the person who delivers the mail.

That is in fact what an angel is, a mailman.  And the only interesting thing about a mailman(considered as such, that is as a mailman), is the mail.  I submit that the "Fear not" we are concerned with is not a mark of the angels concern that we not be terrified by their awesomeness but is the very heart of the message that they were sent to deliver.

And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Genesis 21:17

If we look at what is actually said, we will see that the reason why the recipient of the message should not be afraid, is given in the message itself.  "do not fear, you shall not die", "Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad".  The message is always "Do not fear because God intends good things towards you."  The reason not to fear has nothing to do with the nature of the angel and everything to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I submit that the "do not fear, you shall not die." which was spoken to Gideon does not refer to His allegedly feared imminent death at the hands of the angel and everything to do with being reconciled to God.  I think that is what Gideon wanted us to understand when he marked that location with an altar called "The Lord IS Peace"  He wants us to know that God is not interested in carrying on the war with mankind.  He is offering us a peace treaty.

And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” Genesis 26:24

The message of Fear Not, has everything to do with the peace treaty that God made with Abraham, the Covenant of Grace.  Perhaps even more to the point, it has everything to do with the fulfillment of that covenant, the living, breathing, proof of God's intentions toward us, The Lord Jesus Christ.

 

²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” ²⁹ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Luke 1

To this generation of men it seems strange to connect a child with peace, or rather we can't see it the way generations of men before us did.  Our generation is just too far distant from the idea of personal government.  But for most of human history peace treaties contained with few exceptions- a marriage between the warring countries.  The closer to the crown the couple were the more sure the peace was considered.  The thinking behind this isn't obscure or complicated.  It is simply that no one wants to be at war with their family.  We go to war for our family not against them.  If the king of Country A is married to the princess of Country B then there will always be a reason for them not to fight.  But far more significant is the hope of children.  A child, who might be heir to both kingdoms.  For such a ruler to declare war on Country B would be like declaring war on himself-utterly ridiculous.

And this is the heart of God's Covenant of Peace with Humanity.  A child who is heir to both kingdoms.  As God, Christ is King of Heaven, He is life, and peace and righteousness, as the Son of David, He is King of Israel, and the heir to the Law, as the Son of Man, He is the heir to all of Adam's sin and death.  The God of All Peace and the Man of Sorrows are one.  The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.  Not a peace that is signed and then forgotten, an offer of peace continually extended and renewed, so long as Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, an offer of peace that can never be cancelled, annulled, or changed-the Last Will and Testament of Jesus of Nazareth, it became effective on the day of His death, an offer of peace available to us now by the power of His resurrection.

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28

 So, what is the message that I have for you?  Do not fear, because God is not against you.  He is not out to get you.  He is not setting you up to fail.  Perhaps more importantly if you do fail, even if you are a failure in every sense of the word, it doesn't affect His offer of peace to you.  Your life is not a conflict.  You are not in a competition with the rest of the world for God's love and acceptance.  So long as Immanuel lives there can be no doubt."

If the world you are living in is a world of fear and competition, a world where you have to go to any lengths to avoid failure, a world where you have to be successful, the Good News for you is that that is not the real world.  This is the world where if the good guy loses He rises again the third day, it is the world where you are not judged by your performance, the world of the Power of the Resurrection.