Fear

Tragically, in the very next chapter, Saul does exactly what he's not supposed to do.

Let's take a look at this text together this morning.

Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel. 1 Samuel 13:1 (ESV)

Let me just stop right here and maybe poke at a fear for a second. This verse, if you've got different translations of the Bible, it may read a little bit differently. Let me tell you why: we don't actually have the text for this verse. It's been corrupted. Some of you may be going, "Oh, can't trust the Bible now because of the way that transmission goes." Here's what we know: it's a very standard formula.

The king was this old when he became king and he reigned for this many years.

But in the long, arduous process of transmission and translation and this text being... This is a unique situation. When I started digging into this verse, this was two weeks ago, I called up my friend who teaches Old Testament at Grand Canyon.

And I'm like, "Dude, 1 Samuel 13:1 isn't there." And he's like, "I know." I'm like, "Does that happen anywhere else?" He's like, "No." I'm like, "That's really interesting."

Now, does it change anything about the nature and meaning and truth of the text? Absolutely not. Here's what I know: Saul wasn't one year old when he became king. This is the translation trying to grapple with what's going on. So here's what verse 1 is trying to tell us: Saul was king and he reigned for a certain amount of years.

Now, the Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Acts, in one of his sermons, that Saul reigned for 40 years. Acts 13:21 (ESV)

So I'm cool with going with that, and we'll leave that there.

Let's go to verse 2.

Saul chose 3,000 men of Israel. 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash, in the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. 1 Samuel 13:2 (ESV)

So Saul, as king, now begins to gather for himself his first standing army. He gathers 3,000 men, keeps 2,000 with him in Michmash, and 1,000 go with his son Jonathan, and they're hanging out in Gibeah, which is the hometown of Saul.

Michmash and Gibeah probably don't mean much to you if you don't know the geography of Israel, but these are important strategic cities and locations that transition from the mountains and the hills down into the very fertile and important valley. When you control Michmash, when you control Gibeah, you control trade, you control military powers. These are strategic. Saul didn't just go, "Hey, where should I hang out?" He's choosing very intentionally where he's going to be because the primary enemy of Israel at this moment is the Philistines, and they lie to the west in the coastlands. So he's trying to set up himself in strategic locations where he can deal with the Philistines.

It says, the rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.

Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba. And the Philistines heard of it. 1 Samuel 13:3 (ESV)

Generally, you hear when you lose a battle, right? So Jonathan, Saul's son, who he's been entrusted with a thousand fighting men, is in Gibeah. He goes to this garrison at Geba, which is close, and he attacks the garrison and destroys them. Of course, word gets back to the rest of the Philistines.

It says,

Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear." 1 Samuel 13:4 (ESV)

So they've heard of it. Now Saul's making a big deal of it. Saul and Jonathan are picking a fight with the Philistines. They wipe out this little garrison. The enemy hears about it. Saul's blowing his trumpet, sending out runners. "Hey, let's celebrate. We beat the Philistines." They are picking a fight.

And the Philistines rightfully see this as an act of war.

So all of Israel heard it was said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. 1 Samuel 13:4 (ESV)

That's just a great phrase. You don't want to become a stench to anybody, right?

And it says,

And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. 1 Samuel 13:4 (ESV)

So now they know that something's coming. The people are called out to join Saul because they picked this fight.

And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel. 1 Samuel 13:5 (ESV)

Now how many fighting men did Saul have in his first little standing army? 3,000.

The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore. 1 Samuel 13:5 (ESV)

Great little figure of speech. There were a lot of soldiers. How many has Israel got? 3,000. How many Philistines show up to fight? A horde. A massive army.

They poked the bear. And you've got to be careful when you poke the bear. The bear showed up.

There's a lot of symbolism that's being evoked as Israel, this tiny little people Israel, is now confronted with this massive power led by chariots and horsemen and foot soldiers. It begins to take us back to that defining moment in Israel's history when they were led out of Egypt and they were chased by Pharaoh and his chariots and his army. They found themselves backed up into an impossible situation between the army and the Sea of Reeds.

It starts to evoke this idea that here, once again, Israel, this small, inconsequential people, are surrounded by this overpowering military army full of chariots.

The funny thing is, you look at where they are. Chariots are basically useless in this environment. You don't fight with chariots in a mountainous region on these trails cut through the hills and mountains where they can barely turn around. But I tell you what, 30,000 chariots show up, you pay attention. This is a show of force, right? They're letting Israel know, "We're not going to let you take off a garrison here and a garrison there. You want to go? Let's go."

So they come up and encamp at Michmash to the east of Beth-Avon. 1 Samuel 13:5 (ESV)

Interesting. So there are some interesting things in this text just in the language.

So it opened up in verse 1 that Saul was at Michmash in the land of Bethel. The city of Bethel has this rich biblical history. Bethel means the house of the Lord, right? It's where the vision of God meeting and heaven and earth being bridged with a mighty ladder and angels ascending and descending. Genesis 28:10-22 (ESV)

That's where Bethel started, this place where God met with his people.

Now it says that the Philistines come up to Michmash to the east of Beth-Avin. Beth-Avin is not some other city, most likely. It's certainly not one that we've found archaeologically or anything. But Beth-Avin is used in the Hebrew scriptures, especially by the latter prophets, as a corruption of Beth-El. Beth-El is the house of the Lord. Beth-Avin means house of vanity or house of wickedness.

So get this in your mind, what's happening? Saul's feeling good about himself. He's feeling good about this little 3,000-person army that he's got. His son goes and picks a fight because they're the people of God. But are they? I mean, they are, but they haven't been living that way. They haven't been honoring God.

The very fact that the Philistines are their people in so much dominant power... We're going to see later in this text that they have been dominating Israel economically, militarily, strategically. The very fact that that is happening clues us in to the nature of Israel's spiritual condition.

Because Israel at this time in this land operated under the terms of the covenant. If they are faithful to the covenant, they will be blessed and their enemies will fall before them. They will have peace and rest in the land. But if Israel breaks covenant, if Israel is unfaithful to Yahweh, if instead of a house of God, Israel is a house of vanity or a house of corruption... They will receive from the Lord the terms of the covenant, the curses that come upon them. They will be plagued by enemies. They will be disciplined and judged by other peoples.

So we know, right, in the context, and I think the author in this chapter is like cluing us in, just this subtle change from Bethel, house of God, to Beth-Avon, the house of vanity, the house of corruption, that Israel is really in trouble here. Their hope that Saul, their hope that having a king like all the other nations of the earth is going to turn things around... Oh, what a tragic, misguided hope that turns out to be.

So they encamped at Michmash to the east of Beth-Avon. And when the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble... 1 Samuel 13:6 (ESV)

That's a little bit of understatement, right? It's like you show up for a basketball game, a little pickup game, and then all of a sudden five guys walk onto the court and they're all professional NBA players. You're like, "Yeah, this isn't going to go so well."

Yesterday's tournament, who won all the prizes? The four guys from pink. Shocking. Right? What? I couldn't compete with the pros?

So the men of Israel, they look and they see that they are in trouble for the people were hard pressed. 1 Samuel 13:6 (ESV)

You've got a standing army of 3,000 and a Philistine horde shows up. Right?

And so the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. 1 Samuel 13:6 (ESV)

That's not a happy statement. These are terms of judgment. Israel's supposed to dwell peacefully in the land that God had promised them and given to them. But instead, where are they? They're hiding in tombs. They're hiding in caves. They're hiding anywhere they think they might find safety from the Philistines who are coming after them.

Then it gets worse.

It says some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. 1 Samuel 13:7 (ESV)

So it starts with this kind of Exodus imagery. Here we have tiny little Israel confronted by this massive army with chariots just like they had. But now they're running and they're fleeing out of the land that God brought them into.

Think about all that God did to bring them out of Egypt, sustain them through the wilderness, guide them across the Jordan into the land, give them his grace, his power, his leadership to drive out people. And now they're turning, running back across the river, back out of the land of promise.

Saul finds himself still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. 1 Samuel 13:7 (ESV)

It's not really a happy picture. Saul and Jonathan poke this bear, and they just find themselves undone. So here's Saul now leading this terrified, broken, fearful, covenant-breaking people astray who are running away in fear.

Verse 8 says, Saul waited for seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. 1 Samuel 13:8 (ESV)

We don't get any information about the conversation that Samuel and Saul had. Here's what we know from the text. Samuel told Saul very clearly, "Wait here for seven days and then I'll come." Wait here for seven days.

And he waited for seven days. And let's be honest, that would be a brutal seven days. Saul's not living at large in some palace or something. Saul's hiding in caves. Saul and his army are scattered in the hills, hiding to the best of their ability from the enemy that's trying to root them out.

For seven days, Saul is watching groups of his people sneak out of camp and flee across the river. His army is dwindling in front of his eyes. Let's be honest, it's a long time to watch your army melt away with the enemy amassed on the horizon. I think it's fair to say Saul was feeling some fear.

Samuel did not come to Gilgal. And the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, "I got to do something. Can't wait any longer. I got to do something." So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. 1 Samuel 13:8-9 (ESV)

So what's Saul trying to do here? Saul's like, "We're in trouble. I thought I was going to be able to lead an army just like all the other nations and we were going to be okay." He comes very quickly to the realization, if we don't have Yahweh fighting for us, we're in trouble.

So what does he do? He goes to ritual. He goes to trying to impress God, trying to demonstrate some attitude of faithfulness. "I know what we'll do. We'll make some offerings to Yahweh, to the Lord of the covenant. We'll make some offerings to Him and He'll be so pleased with our offerings that He'll come and He'll fight for us."

They want to deal with their disobedience through acts of ritual and sacrifice that are at their core disobedient. It's understandable, but completely illogical.

See, Saul has been anointed as king. He's to lead the people as king. He's to fight for the people as king. He has not been anointed as a priest. He has not been anointed as one that's going to serve in that mediatory role that is called to offer sacrifices.

Because you've got to understand, Israel did not live in an environment where anyone could just offer sacrifices to Yahweh in any way that they chose or saw fit. The worship of God, the sacrifices of God, had been ordained and laid out in the terms of the Torah, the covenant.

So yes, he's been anointed as king. And yes, he's even prophesied as a prophet. But he's not been anointed. He's not been called. He's not been empowered. He's not been chosen by God as one of those that are called by God to offer a sacrifice.

I think we can read between the lines. That's what he was waiting for Samuel to show up and do. He was waiting for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifices and call upon the Lord and pray for the people, something Saul had been called by God to do. Samuel had been called to do something that Samuel had done on many occasions up till now.

But he chooses not to wait. He jumps in. He caves to his fear.

"Bring the burnt offerings here to me and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. And as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. 1 Samuel 13:9-10 (ESV)

Like there's just this, of course, like it's like, I can just picture this in my head. Here's Saul and he's terrified. He's like, "I got to do something. I got to take control of this." He's being driven by his fear of the Philistines more than he's being driven by his fear of Yahweh. So I'm going to offer these sacrifices.

So there he is holding the knife, his hands covered in blood. And up walks Samuel. Can you imagine that moment? Can you imagine the pit in his stomach? I mean, talk about getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. The timing is impressive.

And so it says, Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 1 Samuel 13:10 (ESV)

Oh, I wish we had that conversation a little bit more. But boy, Samuel's words are important.

Samuel said to him, "What have you done?" 1 Samuel 13:11 (ESV)

What have you done? You may not recognize it as an echo, but this is an echo that resonates throughout the storyline of the scripture. What have you done?

It starts right in Genesis 3 when Eve has her conversation with the serpent and the calf. She sees that the fruit is good to eat. She takes it. She eats it. She gives some to her husband. He eats it. And then they hear Yahweh walking in the garden and they're terrified. So they hide themselves and God calls out to them. "Where are you?" And they come and God looks at Eve and he says to her, "What have you done?" Genesis 3:13 (ESV)

This is the same phrase. Same word, same question. It's the same question that God can rightfully look at every single one of us and say, "Oh my child, what have you done?"

And Saul did what Adam did. Saul did what Eve did. He goes into full-blown PR, excuse-making.

"Well, when I saw..." 1 Samuel 13:11 (ESV)

Are you seeing the connections to Genesis?

"When I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come in within the appointed days and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash..." 1 Samuel 13:11 (ESV)

Remember when they started the chapter, who had Michmash? Saul did, right? They poked the bear. The bear's like... So now they're hiding in caves. The Philistines got Michmash. The Philistines have all those strategic points and positions and places that Saul wanted for himself.

He says, "When I saw that..." Oh, this is good. He goes, "I said to myself, well, now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of Yahweh." It's like, "Oh, they're going to come, and Samuel, you're late, and people are leaving, and they're going to come against me, and I don't want them to come against me without sacrifices having been offered."

And so I love this phrase. "So I forced myself." 1 Samuel 13:12 (ESV)

Oh, don't we love to do this? Don't we love to make martyrs of ourselves when we disobey God? Oh, you're like, "No, no, I'd never do that." Trust me. This is the way sin works. This is the way the justification and rationalization of our disobedience, the embracing of the fear that drives us rather than the fear of the Lord, the capitulation to that which looks good, to that which makes sense to us, that causes us then to act according to our will rather than obedience to the will of the Lord.

"I forced myself." 1 Samuel 13:12 (ESV)

Oh, Saul. Wow. Slow clap. Right?

"I forced myself and offered the burnt offering." 1 Samuel 13:12 (ESV)

I didn't want to do it. It's just Adam. "Well, the woman you gave me gave me the fruit." Just this martyr mentality... Rationalizing and justifying his disobedience and unfaithfulness.

And here's the key point that we're going to start today. We're going to see unfold over the next couple of chapters.

Obedience trumps everything. Everything. Obedience trumps ritual. Obedience trumps sacrifice. Ritual doesn't replace reverence.

I say this quite often to myself and to you. The right thing, offering sacrifices to Yahweh, is that a good thing? Is that a righteous thing? Is that a desirable thing? Of course it is. But the right thing done in the wrong way becomes the wrong thing. It becomes the opposite of what it's supposed to be.

So you think of that parable that Jesus teaches about two men going to the temple to pray. They both go to do the same thing. They go into the temple to pray, right? And the one, the Pharisee, stands up and says, "Man, I'm so glad I'm better than everybody else around here. Like, I'm so awesome. I got it right. Everybody around me, they're so jacked up. God, you should be so happy that I'm talking to you. You're welcome." That's the heart of self-righteousness.

The other one goes and can't even lift his eyes up to heaven and simply says, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Luke 18:13 (ESV)

And Jesus says, "Truly, I tell you, that one goes away justified while the other doesn't." Luke 18:14 (ESV)

See, the right thing done in the wrong way becomes the absolute wrong thing. We don't get to justify our disobedience by saying that the thing that we're doing is in and of itself a good thing.

What does God want from us? What does God want for us? He wants us to obey him, not because he's a tyrant, but because he's a loving father.

And I want to be really crystal clear on this. God knows what's best for you better than you will ever know it. If that hurts your pride, good, you heard me. That's what I'm trying to do. That's what needs to happen. If you think that you know what's best for yourself better than God does, that's your first problem.

He really does know what's best for you. He has your best interests at heart. God doesn't come up with commands. God doesn't ask us to do things in some sort of haphazard, willy-nilly fashion. God loves you. He wants you to be His imager. He wants you to walk in joy and peace and hope and life. He doesn't want you to hurt yourself further with sin and disobedience. God calls you to obedience because he knows what's best for you and he loves you more than you can ever imagine. When we lose sight of that, oh, we make all sorts of mistakes.

So Samuel says to Saul, "Oh, Saul, you've done foolishly." 1 Samuel 13:13 (ESV)

You know, just as Saul's installation was progressive, like first he was anointed privately by Samuel and then God did a bunch of stuff and then they cast the lots and he was the one chosen. And then later after he'd gone to his first battle, the people gathered around and they formally installed him as king. Just as Saul was progressively installed as king, now he's going to be progressively removed as king.

"You've done foolishly. You've not kept the command of the Lord your God with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever." 1 Samuel 13:13 (ESV)

You're looking at this Philistine army. Saul, you're thinking that that is more powerful than the promise and pledge of God. And you let that fear define you. You let that fear drive you to not honor Yahweh, but to honor the power of the Philistines and act according to your fear of them rather than your fear of God.

Saul, you have no idea what you've lost. The Lord would have installed you and your family in this role forever. Forever.

"But now your kingdom shall not continue. Your son Jonathan who picked the fight with you, he's not going to sit the throne. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart." 1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV)

The problem is not really that Israel has a king or that Israel wanted a king. It's what kind of king did they want? And what kind of king did they get? They need a king that has a heart like God's heart. A heart for faithfulness, a heart for righteousness, a heart for justice. Saul, you've proven the character and nature of your heart. You've lost it. And the Lord is going to pick another.

"And the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what Yahweh the Lord commanded." Samuel rose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him about 600 men. 1 Samuel 13:14-15 (ESV)

600 against 30,000 chariots. Thousands of horsemen. Unnumbered foot soldiers. 600 men.

600, which to every human vantage point and appearance is—we know who's going to win. But this is not from a human vantage. These are not just two human nations going against each other because these are the people of God. And has he not shown over and over again that he can take something that is small and use it to topple something that is large? Has God not shown over and over and over again that he is able to deliver his people? That it's not by might, it's not by power, it's not by sword, it's not by spear, but it is by the Spirit of God? Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)

This chapter moves on and it ends brutally. It's just rough. It's dark. Here's Saul who's now being disinherited by God. Here's his army, down to 600. And they're going up against this horde of Philistines. And if you think that's bad, it gets worse, right?

It says, Saul and Jonathan, his son, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned towards Ophrah, to the land of Sheol. Another company turned toward Beth Haran. Another company turned toward the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim towards the wilderness. 1 Samuel 13:16-18 (ESV)

So the Philistines now are arranging themselves. They're sending out three different companies. They're surrounding them. They're taking control of all the strategic points of access. They are going to destroy Israel.

And we get this little detail thrown in so that you can understand more of the context.

It says, Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel. For the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears." But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle. 1 Samuel 13:19-20 (ESV)

Up until this time, Philistines have been so dominant that they've been able to limit the Israelites from making iron weapons of war. By controlling the blacksmiths, they controlled what people had to bring to war. Let alone what they had to harvest crops or all that sort of stuff.

So the Israelites didn't have chariots. The Philistines had chariots. The Israelites didn't have swords. The Philistines had swords. The Israelites didn't have spears. The Philistines had the spears. Why? Because they controlled the technology.

It says, and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 1 Samuel 13:21 (ESV)

So not only that, the Philistines are getting wealthy off of this technology that they're controlling and not allowing the Israelites to have.

So on the day of the battle, right? So there's 600 up against the horde. And on the day of the battle, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 1 Samuel 13:22 (ESV)

Two swords against a horde. Two swords against a horde. That would have been a good sermon title. Or a band name. You're welcome.

And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. 1 Samuel 13:23 (ESV)

So the chapter ends rather bleakly. There is a lesson coming from this bleakness. Next week we'll see. We'll see in real time that God doesn't need swords or spears for the victory. That God is the warrior that fights for Israel.

Right out of the gate, Saul fails as king because of fear. The author wants us to see that. The last chapter ends with Samuel going, "Don't be afraid. Don't fear the enemies, the peoples in this land. Don't put your eyes on that. Fear the Lord. Trust the Lord, the one who brought you out of Egypt, the one who brought you through the Red Sea, the one who led you through the wilderness, the one who brought you across the Jordan, the one who has been faithful even when you have been faithless. Put your eyes on him. Trust him." And the very first thing Saul does is put his eyes on the enemy and act in radical disobedience.

Church, Saul's not alone in this. I can't read this text from a position of, "Oh, look how stupid Saul is. I would never do that," because you would and you do. We all allow fear to drive us.

My prayer this week, my prayer this morning again was, "Lord, I'm certain that there are areas of my heart and mind that are more afraid of this world than they are of you. And I don't know what they are. I know what some of them are. But I'm sure there's areas of my heart that I'm not even aware of. God, search me and try me. Test me and see if there's any anxious way within me. Show me, Lord, where I'm letting the fear of man, the fear of the enemy, the fear of this world, the fear of what I perceive as good and true and beautiful. Show me, God, where I'm letting that drive me rather than letting the beauty and goodness of Jesus light my path and guide my steps."

Saul's not alone. Far too often, we allow fear to hold us, and fear is a killer, a deadly enemy that leads so many to grievous evils. I think it was the great prophet Yoda who said, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." All truth is God's truth, church.

Fear is a killer. Fear is a killer. It kills our faithfulness. It kills our obedience. It comes in between us and the one who loves us and wants so much for us. Fear leads us into death and brokenness.

The lesson of this chapter, it's not just that Saul broke covenant. Saul let fear drive him to disobedience and in so doing, lost so much of his inheritance. It's a lesson for us. Don't let fear cripple you. Don't be driven by fear.

Let's be honest. There's a lot of stuff to be afraid of right now. There's stuff politically, globally, economically. There's stuff to be afraid of emotionally, relationally. There's so many enemies and giants in the land. We have an enemy who seeks to kill and destroy us.

The call to us is the same as the call to Saul and to Israel. Do not be afraid.

Saul is not the seed after all who will crush the head of the serpent. But Jesus is. Saul does point us to Jesus, maybe not in the way he would have liked to, but as the counter example. While Saul was motivated and moved and driven by fear into disobedience, Jesus, the true king, did not let fear drive him.

Jesus is everything. Everything.

It got me thinking this week. Saul was anointed as king, but he wasn't anointed as priest. He didn't hold all the offices. This is one of the most beautiful things about Jesus: that in the time of Israel, God gave them three offices of leadership—prophet, priest, and king—and they were separated. But in Jesus, they're brought together. Jesus is the true prophet. Jesus is the true priest. And thank God Jesus is the true king who once and for all crushes and will crush the head of the serpent.

He is the prophet, the word made flesh.

Long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. Hebrews 1:1-2 (ESV)

When we look to Jesus, He is the Word made flesh. He is the true and faithful speaker and communicator of who God is. If you want to know what God looks like, if you want to know how God acts, if you want to know what God is thinking, who do you look to? You look to Jesus, the true and great prophet.

He's not only the true and great prophet, He is the true and great priest who will not only offer sacrifice, He will offer Himself as the sacrifice.

As Hebrews 7 says, “it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those other high priests, to offer sacrifices daily for his own sins, which he didn't have, and then for those of the people, since he did this once and for all, when he offered himself.” Hebrews 7:26-27 (ESV)

Jesus is the true and great prophet. Jesus is the true and high priest. And he's the true king to whom every knee will bow. In the heavens, on the earth, under the earth, every knee will bow before King Jesus.

There's so many texts that affirm and declare and rejoice over the kingship of Jesus. But I kept coming back this week to John's vision in Revelation of Jesus.

on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Revelation 19:16 (ESV)

I just like this because Jesus is tatted up. That's what it says, church. That's what it says. Boom! Who are you? King of kings. Lord of lords. Why is it on his leg? Because every knee is going to bow. Right? And you're looking. There it is. He's the king. He's the king. He's the prophet. He's the priest. He's the king.

Jesus is the sum. He is the alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. He's the source from which all things come and the source to which everything goes.

And Jesus' church never caved to fear. And there's so many great things about Jesus. Let's just think as we wrap this up.

Jesus never gave in to fear. What a thought that is. There's a lot of things. We look at Jesus and go, "That's not like me." This is one of them. Every single one of us knows what it is to cave to fear and to allow our fear to drive us, not to God, but away from God. Jesus never did that. From start to finish.

Think about Jesus in the wilderness after his baptism, fasting for 40 days and nights, oppressed and harassed by the enemy. Didn't give in to fear. Didn't give in to doubt.

Think about Jesus in the garden right before he goes to the cross, crying out to God. His friends falling asleep. They can't even pray for a little bit. Falling asleep, leaving him alone with no one to comfort and stand with him. Does he cave to fear? No, he sweats blood. He asks for another way, but he does not cave to fear.

Jesus was tempted. Jesus was threatened. Jesus was tested. But he emerged obedient and faithful.

I love what Luke 9:51 says:

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 (ESV)

He faced his fears. He didn't cave.

Let me remind you of Hebrews 2. It says, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Hebrews 2:14-15 (ESV)

Jesus came and did what he did. Jesus came and died our death. Jesus came and took the full brunt and force of evil and the enemy on our behalf so that we might be set free from fear. Jesus not only resisted fear, he emptied it of its power and he set us free from its grip.

So Paul urges us in Romans 8, you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Romans 8:15 (ESV)

Listen, you never have to ask yourself, "Hey, is this fear that I'm feeling coming from God?" No. Because God doesn't give us a spirit of fear. God, that's not how he works. God doesn't cause us to put our eyes on other things other than himself. No, we're supposed to run to him as a little child. Says, "Daddy, Abba, help me."

So Paul writes to Timothy, his young protege in the faith. He says, for this reason I remind you, fan into flame the gift of God. 2 Timothy 1:6 (ESV)

Timothy's been called. Timothy's been gifted. Timothy's been anointed by Paul himself, right? He says, "Through the laying on of my hands. You've been set apart, Timothy. But that in and of itself doesn't mean you aren't active. You've got to fan that into flame. You've got to keep your eyes on the prize, so to speak. Don't get distracted. Don't take your eyes off the one who has called you."

For God gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

Jesus came and sets us free from fear so that we might be free for faithfulness. For faithfulness I can think about right before he goes to the cross right he sets his face to go to jerusalem he's not going to turn to the left or the right he goes he faces his fear and they're in the upper room discourse right before he's going to be betrayed by judas and then he's going to be whipped and publicly humiliated and he's going to be crucified and he's going to die he says to his followers and his friends he says peace i leave with you say fear i leave with you

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 (ESV)

Don't get it twisted. Jesus is not saying fear is not going to exist. He's not saying that you're not going to come up against and experience fear. What is he saying? He's saying you have a choice. You have a choice when you come up against fear. I'm here to give you peace. So when you encounter fear, you've got to make a choice. Are you going to trust me or are you going to trust the fear? Are you going to lean into me or are you going to lean into your fear? Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Paul picks up on this in Philippians when he says, do not be anxious about anything. Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

You're like, "Yeah, right." But he means it. This is Scripture. He means it. Death, persecution, suffering, loss of reputation, whatever it is, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

You've got this choice. You're going to come up against fearful things. That's a given. The real question is, what are you going to do when you come up against those things that are too big, too powerful, too overwhelming for you? What will you do with the fear and anxiety that comes as a natural part of living in a sin-broken and corrupted world?

Jesus says, "Hey, I'm here to give you peace. Why don't you lean into that?"

So Paul says, "Hey, when you're stressing, when you're scared, when you're coming up against it, make this choice. Bring it to him. Bring it to him. Don't let it drive you. Let it drive you to your knees before him."

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in King Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

This is why so many saints of old have marched joyfully to their deaths, have endured persecution with praise on their lips. It's not that God makes everything easy or beautiful for them. Oh, he will do that. But not quite yet. But in the here and now, when we come up against it, if we will cast our cares upon him, if we will give him our anxiety, if we will fear him more than we will fear anything else, there is a peace. There is a peace of God that's beyond human understanding. It's past our logic and reasoning. But it is very, very subjectively experienced. The peace of God can guard your hearts and minds in Jesus the King.

Who wants that? I want that. Like more and more and more and more. I want my heart and my mind to be guarded by Jesus. I want to fear him first and most. I want to trust him first and most. And I want his peace to sustain me no matter what he leads me into.

Because even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will, what? Fear no evil. Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

Church, hear then the word of the Lord in Isaiah.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

Church, may we trust that Jesus is the righteous right hand of God. May we not fear man more than we fear God. May we not fear death more than we fear the author of life. May we trust that God is with us, that he knows us, that he loves us. And may we cast our anxieties and cares upon him knowing that he loves us. And may the very peace of God, not the peace of man, not the peace of money or mammon, not the peace of United States or the military, may the peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Jesus, our great King.

Somebody say amen this morning.

Amen and amen.