v
The hindrance of FEAR of MAN,
Jer. 38:17-23.
At the beginning of
these posts we noted the arrogance of
Jehoiakim as he cut the scroll and threw it into the fire. Today we have the account of Zedekiah. You might think he was not as arrogant and
you might even feel some pity for him. He
is in a predicament, or as we say, between
a rock and a hard place. If he
disobeys God’s word he will suffer at the hands of the Babylonians; if he obeys
God’s word he will suffer at the hands of the Jewish exiles in Babylon.
If you think like
that, then you suffer from the same problem as Zedekiah. You are susceptible to the same hindrance. He actually was very arrogant against God,
being unwilling to trust God’s word; thus he called God a liar. His problem was that he feared men more than
he feared God.
Proverbs says, The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever
trusts in the LORD shall be safe (secure, set on high; Prov., 29:25). This is a perpetual temptation for the people
of God. Remember in Jesus day how people
would not follow Him openly because they feared what their fellow-Jews would do
(John 9:22; 12:42). They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (Jn.
12:43).
This is extremely dangerous.
In Zedekiah’s case he decided against God and suffered at the hands of
God’s servant Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 52:8-11).
Remember that along with idolaters and the sexually immoral, the cowardly and unbelieving will have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death
(Rev. 21:8). Jesus warned: Do not fear those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. But rather fear
Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Mt. 28). Hear what Merrill Tenney said on this
passage:
Unbelief is not a polite unwillingness to assent to some
fact, but is a flat refusal to listen to His truth and to acknowledge His
claims on one’s personal life. ‘He that
rejects me, and receives not my sayings,’ (v48) is Jesus’ definition.
Now hear the word of the LORD through Isaiah in Isa.
51:7,12:
7 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people in
whose heart is My law: do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their
insults. 12 I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the
son of a man who will be made like grass?
To
conclude our studies on hindrances let us ask again the related questions:
·
Do you obey whole-heartedly?
·
Are you fully surrendered to the Lordship of
Christ?
·
Have you counted the cost?
·
Is your obedience for His glory?
·
Do you fear God or man?
No comments:
Post a Comment