The Fear of God vs. The Fear of Man - ANB W2, D3 - 3.13.13

Wednesday, March 13                                         The Fear of God vs. the Fear of Man

Ezra 5.1-5

The message delivered by Haggai to the people of Israel had been received. Zechariah had also conveyed the Word of the Lord to the people in Jerusalem, beckoning them to return to the Lord their God. We see in verse two what happens when the Word of God is spoken to the people who are to be in leadership. Remember Zerubbabel? He was the priest we talked about last week who was to be leading the people in the construction of the temple. He was the priest who led the people of Israel in worship once the foundation of the temple was complete. But, he also was the priest who allowed civil authorities to cloud his judgment and ceased to follow God’s direction. Haggai and Zechariah had come into town and given the Israelites a God-sent tongue lashing. Yesterday and Monday we talked about the Word of God delivered to the people, but the leadership took it especially hard. They knew what they were supposed to be doing, but they weren’t. So, Zerubbabel puts his big boy pants on and resumes the leadership he was appointed for and begins once more to reconstruct the temple.

This did not sit well with Satan. Once again we see how much he hates the worship of God and once again we see him using the civil magistrates to stir up trouble around the construction of the temple. See, Tattenai was not a bad person; he was just a person who did not know God. He was a governing authority who was loyal to his king, King Darius of Persia. We learned in our study of the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah that King Darius had been on the throne for roughly two years. The first two years of Darius’ reign was plagued with revolt after revolt, as was the normal case when there was a change in power and people groups want to reinstate their independence before the new regime can establish their authority. Tattenai, in his own mind, was being loyal to the throne and seeking the authority by which Israel was rebuilding their temple. Was this another revolt? Or was their some foreign deity causing the people of Israel to act? For him, it was his duty to the throne, but for us as children of the Living God, we know that Satan had his hand in the middle of it, once again trying to frustrate the plans of God by using people who did not know God.

The exciting thing to take note of is the diligence of the Israelite workers. There is no indication in the text that they ever answered the interrogation of Tattenai and his officials. They pressed on, knowing that what they were doing was of God. Years earlier these same Jews would have shrunk back in the fear of man and what could happen to them physically for their “defiance”. But these men were now full of boldness and showed backbone because of their fear of God. See, the fear of man tells us that what God gives us to do can’t be done. The fear of man allows petty earthly problems to cloud our judgment and cause us to lose focus on what it is that we should be doing. The fear of God is a holy and reverent fear that provides for us a way to accomplish our task. Because the Israelites did not shrink back and allow Satan to get them off track, God made the provision for them to continue working for months as they waited for a word from Darius (v. 5).

Where does the fear of man cause you to lose sight of what God has called you to do? No matter how many times we have backed down from a challenge in the past, God always presents us with new opportunities to achieve new heights by His power. As we look to our future, there will be a naysayer or two within the crowd, questioning our ability to do what God lays out ahead of us. There will be those that voice their doubts about our ability to proceed and may even question our intentions, asking us whose authority we are acting on. But like the children of Israel we must press on. We must place our trust in God that He will provide for us a way to complete the task He has called to.

Prayer:

Lord, where is my fear? The world around me tells me that what You want to do cannot be done. Please give me the strength to press on and work for You. Do not let me fear man, but let my love for You be an outpouring of diligent work for Your glory.