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Anatomy of Fear
Greetings, Salutations, Pleasantries, Hugs and Blessings!
Good Grief! Kind of got carried away, there. Anyway, Howdy, Folks! Jes’ so praoud to be hyere!
Waking up to 50 degree temperatures in south Texas at the end of February is really odd. Guess I said that the other day, but my previously-Alaskan blood sure likes the snap in the air!
Coffee’s on. Mine’s poured and steaming in my face. Guess it’s time to get this coffee break under way. Ready?
We’ve been talking about the Fear of Death the past couple of coffee breaks, and there’s a whole lot more to share on that topic, but I’d like to break away today and talk about the Fear of Man.
As previously noted, this is a fear that directly affects our behavior and attitudes towards people: our family, our friends, our peers, our business associates, our employers, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam.
I want to take a totally different approach to this discussion today. Remember that old Otto Preminger movie from 40 years ago or so titled, ANATOMY OF A MURDER? It starred George C. Scott, Jimmy Stewart, Eve Arden, and a bunch of other actresses and actors whose names I forget.
Anyway, the whole idea behind the movie was to dissect – in piece by piece fashion – how a killing took place, and solve the crime.
That’s what I want to do today. Dissect the Fear of Man as it unfolds in a person’s behavior. Solve the identity of a criminal who commits crimes against humanity. We’re going to take a look at a very specific example of this in the fourth book of Moses, Numbers. The picture unfolds in chapters 22, 23, and 24.
First, a little background.
Remember the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches (Ekklesias) in Revelation 2 & 3? I’m not proposing to do a breakdown of those seven letters – not today, anyway – but let me just say that there is a direct parallel to God’s commands to Moses to wipe out the seven nations that occupied Canaan. There is a spiritual parallel, here, that is nothing less than fascinating, and the history and unfolding tale of Israel’s failure to complete what God commanded would make for some interesting discussion around the table. My point in saying this is that three of the seven nations used fear as their principal means of controlling their people and waging warfare.
That’s not my objective today, however. Just to draw a parallel to the third of the seven letters: Pergamos.
The central theme of God's dealings with them was the Fear of Man. "........Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam....and.....also, them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate."
The doctrine of Balaam? The Fear of Man?
O.K. For starters, let's just take a look at Balaam.
Balak, the king of Moab, sends his counselors and advisors to Balaam, asking Balaam to pronounce a curse upon Israel. Of course, Balak sends along "the rewards of divination" -- a nice metaphor for a heap of money, and other goodies -- as an enticement.
Why? Why would money be an enticement to anyone to pronounce a curse -- especially when the one being enticed is reasonably well off, and has at least two servants?
First, the motivation behind the enticement: "Moab was sore afraid of the people...." Get it? It's called "The Fear of Man." Those who suffer from the Fear of Man seek to impress man.
Secondly, those who fear man believe that money brings status: hence, respect, power, and even fear, from other men. Those who suffer from the Fear of Man also believe that all other men suffer from the Fear of Man. It is a subconscious, driving force in their lives.
Did Balaam suffer from the Fear of Man?"
Look at his actions!
Twice, the "honorable men" from Moab came to entice him. The Lord has already said, "No!" So they come the second time with an offer Balaam can't resist,
"I will promote thee to very great honor." Not enough? OK. How about this?
"And I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me."
Wow! How's that for power and authority!
Did Balaam suffer from the Fear of Man?
Look at what he did.
First, he says all the right words, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less, or more."
Riiiight!
Oh, we must impress them with our righteousness, mustn't we? We really have to let them know that this is "my God," and not "their God." We are very elite, and exclusive, aren't we? See the religious spirit here, as well?
But, look at what happens next.
"Now, therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say to me more."
What!? Balaam, you schmuck! The Lord has already made it explicitly clear that you are not to curse Israel; that they are blessed -- by Him, no less! God is going to change His mind, maybe? Riiiight! Just so you can be promoted to honor by Balak, and receive all that money!
Balaam! You're in trouble! You can't go back and ask the Lord if He changed His mind -- especially after He has made His will explicitly clear -- and not expect to pay the consequences.
"And God came unto Balaam at the night, and said unto him, 'If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, thou shalt do."
Reeeaally? Has God changed his mind? I don't think so!
"And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him."
Wait a minute! Why would the Lord be angry with Balaam for going, if He told him it was all right to go? Easy. It wasn't all right for him to go.
Say that again! You mean.........
That's right! When we respond to the Fear of Man, instead of the expressed desire of the Lord, we're going to pay the piper. The Lord will even orchestrate the circumstances which will take us into trouble, just to bypass our intellect, and give us the opportunity to respond to His Spirit.
So what happened with Balaam?
An angel that he couldn't see, stood in the way, and blocked the path of the donkey. The donkey sees the angel (now there's a graphic illustration for you!), turns and heads into an open field. Balaam starts beating the donkey, and it heads another direction. The angel of the Lord moves and stands again in the path of the donkey, right smack through some vineyards. So the donkey, trying to avoid the angel, bangs up against a stone wall separating the vineyards, and crushes Balaam's foot. Balaam, in his fury, begins beating the donkey unmercifully. Once more, the donkey heads down the path. Once more, the angel of the Lord stands in a place too narrow for the donkey to pass. This time, the donkey collapses, and dumps Balaam on the ground.
Think Balaam has gotten the message, yet?
Nope!
See what the Fear of Man does to a person!
Balaam takes his staff and begins beating the donkey -- and the Lord opens the donkey's mouth to speak.
"What have I done to deserve this," says the donkey.
Says the donkey? Imagine Balaam's shock. Who ever heard of an animal speaking coherently and intelligently? This is nothing less than supernatural. Think Balaam gets the message?
Nope.
See what the Fear of Man does to a person!
"I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee."
Whoaa! Now, wait a minute, Balaam. How stubborn and obstinate can you get?
"Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face."
I'll bet!
"And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, 'I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now, therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again."
Huhhh? Good Grief! How stupid can you get? This has to be the ultimate in obstinacy and hard-headedness!
See what the Fear of Man does to a person!
Notice Balaam's words. "I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me."
How obtuse! One does not sin because the angel of the Lord is standing in the way. One does not sin because they are beating their animal. And that is not justification for the beating of animals -- it is just not the point. They sin because they continue to press forward when the Lord has said, "No!" They sin because they prefer the rulership of the Fear of Man, and respond to an evil spirit instead of the Lord.
But wait! It gets even worse!
"Now, therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again," says Balaam.
"If it displease thee?"
To even consider making such a remark, and responding in this manner, demonstrates that Balaam still intended to press forward -- in spite of the Lord's supernatural manifestation of the angel with the sword, and the donkey speaking to him. Any reasonable person, not plagued with the Fear of Man, would have left bag and baggage, servants and donkey, and split for home like the Chinese man in northern Alaska who saw the polar bear sniffing his footprints in the snow behind him: "You likee my tracks? I makee you lots more."
But the Fear of Man is not reasonable. Neither are those who are ruled by it. They become irrational, obstinate, and blind!
So the Lord let Balaam go on with Balak's "honorable men" -- and let him become the epitome of the Fear of Man as he headed to his ultimate death (see Numbers 31:5) -- to be commemorated forever in Israel as: "Balaam," whose counsel "caused the children of Israel to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor."
What was Balaam's counsel? Bear in mind that the counsel coming forth from Balaam was no longer that of Balaam, since he had yielded himself completely to that wicked spirit, The Fear of Man. It was The Fear of Man doing the speaking.
Then why was it referred to as "the counsel of Balaam?" Because it was Balaam who gave himself over, willingly........Hmmmmm.......check that! Stubbornly! Rebelliously! To fear.
See what the Fear of Man does to a person!
So what was Balaam's counsel? To sacrifice unto Baal. To eat the things which were offered to idols. To intermarry with people of another race whom God had forbidden. To commit adultery against the Lord.
See what the Fear of Man does to a person!
It causes the worship of dead, dumb things. It causes people to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, food which has been offered to -- and from -- the Beast (who is very much alive and functioning in our society today). It causes people to give attention and preeminence to things which distract one from a very personal love-relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It causes men and women to marry interracially with those who have no real relationship with the Lord -- under the guise that they "will lead them to Christ." Suuuuurre! Or under no guise at all, but just because they have determined to do it because "they want to."
(Lest anyone misunderstand my intent, let me pause for a moment to clarify "interracially." Those who have entered into a genuine love-relationship with the Lord, and live a life of worship towards Him, become alien to this world and all that is therein. We become a "new race,” a supernatural race, with supernatural abilities, living in a natural world. To intermarry with a race of "naturals" -- except when specifically directed to by the Lord -- is to bring compromise and disaster.)
OK. I know I’m gonna get in trouble with that one. Don’t go jumping to conclusions. I’m not trying to start some new stupid doctrine of exclusivity. Nor am I a racist. My family is living proof of that! I’m just trying to give you a graphic picture of contrasts.
But, we are not done, yet, with the letter to Pergamos, or with the Fear of Man.
In case it has not already become obvious, The Fear of Man is a liar.
And I just realized I’m going to run out of time and space if we keep going with this discussion today. We’ll continue our anatomical breakdown of the Fear of Man with some other parallels and illustrations tomorrow.
Finish your coffee, folks. Maybe tomorrow we can add a cinnamon bun or something like that.
Blessings – lots of them – on all of you! Continued
Regner A. Capener
EKKLESIA HOUSE
RR-15, Box 6180
Mission, TX 78574-9589
(956) 583-5355
Chat
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This article may be reprinted, reposted, copied and re-used – in whole or in part – with proper attribution.
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