March 2001

[Part 113]

“Issues of the heart”

[Part Thirty-one]

Hope For the Fearful Heart! [O]

“FEAR HATH TORMENT”

               The first time fear is seen in Scripture, it is when, “God blessed Noah and his sons saying, ‘Be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth; and as you do, the fear and dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth and every fish in the sea for they are delivered into your hand.”(Ge 9:1-2) With this in mind, we are reminded that the name, Noah, [Heb 5117-18] means, “REST”! This gives two things to consider: 1) why beasts and fish would fear and dread resting; and 2) that the same Hebrew word for “Noah” is translated 59 times in the OT as “REST”! As for the first matter, we must establish that all Truth is SPIRITUAL and so can only be discerned by spirit-minded men. Natural man is a “living soul” (1 Co 15:45) and souls are comprised of intellect, emotion and will. The beasts of the earth represent the thoughts formed by man’s carnal-minded intellect; whereas the fish of the sea typify the hidden feelings that make up our human emotions.
              There is an old saying, “A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one”; and never was this more true than with man’s thoughts and feelings as they churn and regurgitate throughout our waking hours- and sometimes invade our dreams as we sleep. Most believers have discovered the most difficult thing to do in this world is sit quietly [with blank minds and steady emotions] and wait to hear the Lord’s “still small Voice” speak to our hearts as He did Elijah. (1 Kgs 19:9-10) It is written, “The Lord *passed by Elijah.” [*Heb 5674 also interprets this phrase as “translated” in 2 Sam 3:10 saying, “The Lord has sworn to David...He would translate the kingdom out of the house of Saul and establish it as the Throne of David...!“ This word “translate” is also found in Col 1:12-13, “God has delivered His saints in Light from the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son!” This speaks of transporting from one state of being to another and that is what happened here! Restating the above phrase, it reads, “The Lord translated Elijah!” This infers that Elijah was momentarily “transferred” of out of the “kingdom” of his fleshly mind, and into God’s “Kingdom” of Spirit Mind, whereby he could hear that “still, small Voice”! Father knows that man’s carnal thoughts can never completely rest, but keep spewing forth unceasingly. It is the curse of fleshly men to never be able to enter into God’s rest, no matter how hard he labors!! On the other hand, this“Rest”- which God calls “Sabbath”- is the birthright of every man of spirit!
              Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not Man for the Sabbath, therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath!” (Mk 2:27) God never intended His Holy Sabbath to be a bitter yoke of bondage- whereby men are obligated to sit in one spot for 24 hours doing absolutely nothing but contemplating Scripture, and then work like the devil the other six days!! Rather, God intended His Sabbath to SERVE HIS PEOPLE as an Oasis of Serenity right in the midst of their earthly labors! He does this by “translating” us into His Mind of Christ! Isa 26:3 tells us, “You shall keep him in PERFECT PEACE (Sabbath) whose MIND IS *STAYED ON YOU!” [Heb 5564 defines “stayed” as: “Propped up against, leaning on, taking hold of, bearing up, standing fast, sustaining, and RESTING SELF!” This must be the posture of every believer’s spiritual mind so we can hold fast as “The Lord’s great and strong wind cleaves the mountain (of our proud and unbelieving heart) and breaks the rocks (of our old, rigid, carnal thoughts)”; then “After the wind, the earthquake (to shake our foundation and overturn, dismantle and demolish the human works we built thereon)”; and “then comes the fire” (that reduces our self-will to ashes) in the face of God’s Sovereign Will!
              Craven fear stops up the hearing of God’s sheep so they cannot discern the Voice of their Good Shepherd; so He must speak forth a Word to stem the churning sea of their humanity saying, “Peace, be still!” Repeatedly He tells us, “Fear not” so as to fill our own thoughts with peace! By this, He can prepare the way for His Instruction to lead us in the Paths of Righteousness!

[TO BE CONTINUED]