| From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase |
Part 40 of a series. Read part 39.
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God's Messianic promises to Daniel, Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph all came with the words "Fear not." Each time this pronouncement had to do with fear of the future.
And the angel said unto them: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2: 10-11
In our last article we saw that the "Fear not" spoken by the angel to the shepherds announcing the birth of the Messiah was the climatic point of a series of such pronouncements that began nearly two thousand years before that date. God had spoken to the patriarchs, making His great covenant with Abraham, and then later affirming it to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, always with the words, "Fear not."
God's "Fear Not" to Daniel
Nearly 1400 years later, when Israel and Judah had gone into captivity because of their spiritual adultery, Daniel was in Babylon beseeching God for a word concerning the future of the nation, and an affirmation of God's covenant promise despite Israel's great sin.
God sent an angel to Daniel to explain to him that an answer had been delayed because of spiritual warfare in unseen realms - but that God's promise remained sure:
And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. (Daniel 10:10-14)
Daniel's fear was that the promises would not be fulfilled because of Israel and Judah's prolonged centuries of spiritual adultery. But God's angel reassured him that Jehovah had not forgotten His people or His covenant.
God's "Fear Not" to Zacharias
Over five hundred years after Daniel's prophetic vision, the first phase of the "many days" spoken by the angel was fulfilled. The time came for the birth of the Messiah. But first, God sent an angel to announce the coming of the prophesied forerunner who would announce the revelation of the Messiah as he began His public ministry, and would call the people to repentance in preparation. And so as Zacharias, who would be John the Baptist's father, ministered in the Holy Place of the temple,
it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:8-17)
The words, "he was troubled" in the original language indicate that the appearance of the angel caused Zacharias to be confounded within his soul. As an aged man, Zacharias had doubtless performed this part of the Levitical ritual many times - it was a matter of routine, even for a man who, we are told, was "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (verse 6). But what Zacharias saw and heard at this moment was, prophetically, an announcement of the fact that the religious routine of over a thousand years was about to come to an end. Messianic substance would soon replace long-practiced types and symbols. The eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek would soon replace the ineffectual priesthood of the line of Levi.
God's "Fear Not" to Mary
Prophetic events now moved swiftly. In the sixth month of Zacharias' wife Elisabeth's pregnancy,
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:26-33)
Mary was "troubled at his saying." In the original this is a different word from that used to describe Zacharias' earlier "troubled" reaction when an angel appeared. The word used here indicates perplexity and confusion - which was only allayed as the angel spoke further:
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (verses 34-38).
God's "Fear Not" to Joseph
The last of the great Messianic "fear not" pronouncements came to Joseph:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)
Joseph, the loving espoused husband, feared for his prospective wife's reputation. And this would indeed be a problem as the years went on. Israel's religious leaders would falsely accuse Jesus of having been "born of fornication" (John 8:41). In this, as in so much else, they erred, "not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). They did not have eyes to see, to recognize the One who preached the pure Word of God in their presence and performed the signs and miracles attesting to His Messiahship.
Mary frequently witnessed sinners' fierce opposition to the God-man to whom she had given birth, including His death on the cross. But after Jesus' ascension to Heaven we find in Acts chapter 1 that "Mary the mother of Jesus" was one of the one hundred and twenty believers gathered in the upper room waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. She did not occupy some elevated status, as Roman Catholicism would have us believe. She was there along with other women as part of this small faithful group. In fact, this is the last we read of her by name in the Bible.
But Scripture indicates that this is not the last we hear about Mary: According to Acts 2:1-5, all of those gathered in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost -
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs - we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues." We have every reason to believe that Mary was one of those. This dear, faithful lady who had been called by God to be the mother of her own Lord and Savior, and who had endured seeing Him suffer and die for sinners, was filled with the Holy Spirit and was one of those who spoke supernaturally in other languages of the wonderful works of God on the Day of Pentecost. No doubt she was also among those who thereafter "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). And no doubt she was among those who were in the temple daily, praising God and proclaiming Christ (verse 43).
What a glorious and fitting end to the Biblical account of Mary the mother of Jesus. The woman we find in the early chapters of Acts is not Roman Catholicism's caricature of the real person, the false object of the prayers of millions who walk in darkness, blasphemously elevated to the status of almost a fourth member of the Godhead as the so-called "co-redemptrix". This is the true, humble servant of her Lord and Savior, the object of His saving grace, who clung to the promises of the God who once sent a messenger to her saying, "Fear not."
Do You Doubt the Promises of God?
Dear reader, do you doubt the promises of God? Do you live in fear of the future? If you do, Scripture makes it clear that you are not alone. But God's Word also makes it clear that our doubts are without foundation:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
Satan will try to convince us that God will not keep His promises. He will place in our minds the fear that too much time has gone by for God to act or for His promises to be fulfilled. He will try to convince us that God has forgotten us. He will use all of these doubts and fears to try to persuade us that we must make our own way rather than wait upon God's way. Satan will try to deceive us into believing that we must place considerations of our apparent reputation before men above the glory of God. At the center of all these things is Satan's clever device of inciting God's people to fear the unknown.
But we must not, and we need not, fear the unknown, because nothing is unknown to our great God. He sent the Messiah into this world the first time to gain victory over sin and death at the cross. He fulfilled every detail of every promise concerning His first coming. And His promise of the future is just as sure: "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation" (Hebrews 10:29).
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ... (Romans 8:14-17)
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:14-16)
Next: Prophecy Fulfilled
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