Fear ME more than the adversary

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31).

For our sakes God overpowers us so that we can do the things He commands.

My wife, Zeny, grew up in poverty-stricken Bom Jesus Da Lapa, Bahia, Brazil. As a child she lived without her parents, and under the guardianship of her very poor grandmother. They lived hungry, barely surviving. So my wife was farmed out to work for people. One lady she worked for had a few fruit trees and would have little Zeny carry the fruit in a basket to be sold at the market. So she put the basket on her head and walk to town. On one instance some bully girls who were older and bigger than Zeny waited for her to pass by, and, from their perch above the sidewalk, were able to take Zeny’s fruit before she could prevent them.

When she returned from the market she had to answer to her employer why the money from the fruit was so low. She explained about the girls taking the fruits. And for that the woman gave her a big whipping. (In some countries there are no child-protective laws.) She told Zeny if she didn’t get all the fruit to market the next day that she would be whipped again. So if those girls were there again, she would have to fight them. But Zeny didn’t want to fight them. They were stronger than her. It was two against one. They were mean. But she didn’t want another whipping by the woman she worked for.

Sure enough, those bullies showed up again, licking their chops. So, just to get past their blockade, Little Zeny tore into them (as she tells the story) with teeth and nails. A little girl turned into a raging Tasmanian devil, and those bullies fled for their lives. It was the day of retribution on them. Judgment Day. (By the way, fighting isn’t the Lord’s best plan, but He works with honest, down-trodden people, even though they might not perfectly know His will.) Those girls never bullied little Zeny every again, and I believe she learned a lesson that day. With sufficient motivation from a higher, more powerful authority than the enemy, we can overcome every obstacle.

On a spiritual level, this same principle applies. We are weak. We have the grasshopper complex. All those mean people are giants and their towns are walled up to heaven. But the Lord of hosts says, “I will go with you, therefore you are well able to go up and possess them.” But, we tremble in our boots when we look at the obstacles because they seem too great. So we say, “Lord this isn’t a good idea.”

“Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.” “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. ” (Jer. 1:6-8). “Thou shalt stand before Me; and…thou shalt be as My mouth.” (Jer. 16:19).

“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?...” (Ex. 3:10,11).

“And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee….” (Ex. 4:1).

“And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (Ex. 4:10).

The Lord’s anger began to rise.

“And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt end.” (Ex. 4:11-13).

Now it was time to bring out the big stick. Cajoling didn’t work, but the children of Israel needed to be delivered from slavery. Now it was time for the Lord to raise His voice and scare Moses straight. “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses”, and He said,

“Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.” (Ex. 4:14-16).

Using Aaron was Christ’s last option because He knew Aaron, that he needed a lot of faith and self-discipline to be the kind of leader that would keep the people focused on obeying the high standard. He needed help as much as the sin-loving people needed it. But, his advantage, compared to every other Israelite, was the close loyalty he would have for his brother. Moses was fully loyal to his God, and Jesus knew Aaron’s brotherly fealty would not interrupt the mission for which Jesus sent Moses—to raise up a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

In another case, Lot was too afraid to leave Sodom. “Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” (Gen. 19:19,20).

“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground….and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.…

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave.” (Gen. 19:24,25,30).

He was too scared to live in the wild the first time, but he wasn’t too scared after he heard the crashing bedlam upon the cities of the plain.

A final example of this is with the Lord Jesus Himself. But this time the issues weren’t selfish or self-preserving. It was Gethsemane. The plan of salvation was finally to be brought to its climax. He must be separated from the God who He had ever loved to dwell in.

“O how love I Thy Law! it is My meditation all the day.

Thou through Thy commandments hast made Me wiser than Mine enemies: for they are ever with Me.

I have more understanding than all My teachers: for Thy testimonies are My meditation.

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts.

I have refrained My feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy word.

I have not departed from Thy judgments: for Thou hast taught Me.

How sweet are Thy words unto My taste! yea, sweeter than honey to My mouth!

Through Thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” (Ps. 119:97-104).

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy word….

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are….

And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;

That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.

And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one:

I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.

Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me.

And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:4-6,11,19-26).

“When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples.” (John 18:1).

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.

And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.

And He came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.” (Matt. 26:36-44).

Christ’s greatest fear has been our greatest thrill--separation from God. But for our sakes He must endure the death that would result from separation from His Abba. Like a electrocution, it brought from within Him a fire that devoured Him. But at least He sensed that His Father was near and in control, that His offering was under the supervision of His Father, and not the adversary.

“I [will] bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.” (Eze. 28:18).

This was Jesus’ promise to Satan, but every judgment He has brought upon His creatures, He has taken upon Himself. Even the wrath upon Sodom and Gomorrah He suffered. He was the great burnt offering. No one can say that He has abused them in His punishment or abused His authority, because, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, He has already received much worse. He knows what punishment is, both in anticipation and in the actual experience.

As the Son of God struggled with the decision to go through with it all, the Father moved forward with the plan of salvation. It was His Father’s decided forward motion that helped Jesus go on. And surrounded by all the darkness and self-doubts it was His Father’s overwhelming power that gave Jesus the evidence of His Father’s presence. He must extrapolate His Father’s presence by His obvious power, but it was enough to encourage Him to go on with the sacrifice.

During the previous 33 years He had been trained in the wisdom of faith by extrapolation. Now all that greatly needed training came into play. He had also been trained to fear His Father, which prevented Him from fearing Satan every day of His life. He was given no advantages over us. His access and efforts to know God were exactly the same as ours have been. That is why He can comfort us in our difficulties to please His Father.

“Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:17,18).

By the power of His Father the great offering was made and the Son was the only one who could make it. Thus it is said of Him,

Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange, — the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with glory. ― D’Aubigne, London ed., b. 12, ch. 2 The Great Controversy, p. 212.