Micha 4:4 (NASB20) Instead, each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, Because the mouth of the LORD of armies has spoken.
Through Micha God pronounced judgment on Israel, but He also promised them that He would save them and gather them to Him on His holy mountain. God says that He will send them as captives into Babylon but that from there they will be rescued and redeemed from the hands of their enemies.
Israel turned away from God, so He turned them over to their enemies, but He never gave up on them. He still gave them promises of future blessings, and He revealed to them His long term plan to gather them to Him.
I think that sometimes we tend to lose sight of God’s long term plan, and we start to doubt Him because things are not going easy for us in the here and now. But we have to remember that God is outside of time — a day is like a thousand years to Him, and a thousand years is like a day. He promises blessings to us, but He also makes promises that are not going to happen until our generation has passed.
Even Jesus spoke in terms of generations — in Matthew 24:34 He said, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” And He was talking about the fulfillment of the end times. To us a generation is about 100 years, but God could mean it as a couple thousand years.
The point is that we can’t be impatient with God. Just think of how patient He is with us! We have to endure whatever we are going through, and faithfully walk the path that God has laid before us — one step at a time. God rebukes in the near term, and He does it for our own good, but His long term plan for us — His eternal plan for us — is for us to rest with Him in His kingdom, and for us not to be afraid of anything ever again.
Zephaniah 3:12-16 (NASB20) "But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the LORD. "The remnant of Israel will do no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they will feed and lie down With no one to frighten them." Shout for joy, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Israel! Rejoice and triumph with all your heart, Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will no longer fear disaster. On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: "Do not be afraid, Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp.
Zephaniah is in full agreement with Micha. Through Him God tells Israel that because of their rebellion they will be captured by their enemies, but that He will eventually rescue them and gather them to Him on His holy mountain.
This whole passage speaks to the heart of what it means not to fear, but to trust in the Lord. Fearlessness does not come from our own power — it comes from humility, and taking refuge in the name of the Lord.
And when you are not afraid, or insecure, there is no reason to tell lies or be deceitful. When you rest securely in the hands of God you have nothing to gain by deception. What you do gain is a joy that will erupt out of you in shouts of praise to the Lord.
There will come a day, and then eternally ever after that, when the fears and doubts and shame and regrets of this life will have no hold over us. They will no longer play any role in our lives, and have no influence on our relationships with each other or with God. We will have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
That peace is promised to us one day. But there is no reason to wait for one day to come. You can rest in the Lord now. You can put your full faith and trust in Him now. You can be fearless and honest in Him now. Do not be afraid, but trust in the Lord.
Haggai 2:5 (NASB20) 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit remains in your midst; do not fear!'
The promise that God is talking about here can be found in Exodus 29:45-46. God promised Israel that He would dwell among them.
Haggai was a prophet when Israel had returned from exile and were rebuilding the temple.
Through him God promised that this temple would exceed the greatness of the first, and that the nations would bring their wealth to it. But He also said “in this place I will give peace.” The peace He gave us in that place is Jesus.
The nations did build up that temple. Herod, who was not a Jew poured (Roman) money into building it up into a majestic monument, and from it he, and Rome, profited greatly from the offerings of all the pilgrims that visited it. Jesus saw it and was so upset by it that He started flipping tables over and chasing people away from it.
But God gave us something through Jesus that the temple could never give. He gave us eternal peace. A peace that cannot be taken away, or torn down, or taxed. God gave us Himself, and that’s all we really need. He promised that He would dwell among us, and what a wonderful blessing it is — beyond all other blessings — to feel the presence of the Lord with us. In His presence there can be no fear. There can only be joy and praise.
Zechariah 8:13-15 (NASB20) 'And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.' "For this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Just as I determined to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to anger,' says the LORD of armies, 'and I have not relented, so I have again determined in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!
God’s plan is not for us to stay in a state of rebellion, disbelief, dishonesty, and grief. He does allow us to experience these things — and it might seem like He let’s us experience them a lot sometimes. But His plan is for us to experience peace, and joy, and strength, and truth.
I can’t claim to know why this is, but I think that maybe the reason God let’s us go through so much pain and struggle now is because He wants us to have the experience of desperate dependence on Him, and our life now is the only time and place where that can happen.
I mean, when we are with Him in paradise we will be full of joy and praise and will never again get to experience grief, or sorrow, or fear, or struggle. God is allowing us to be exposed to parts of life now that we won’t get to experience ever again when we are in Heaven. I’m not implying that we will miss those experiences, but they do give us a broader perspective on God’s goodness and glory. And I think that our relationship with Him will be that much deeper because of it.
That’s a bit of speculation on my part, but what I do know is that He is mighty and powerful, and that He does love us and have a wonderful future planned for us. All we have to do is trust Him, and not be afraid to put our whole life in His hands.