We have just celebrated Shavuot, or Pentecost, the last of the biblical spring feasts, and we enter the season between the spring feasts and the fall feasts, the hot and dry months of summer.
These arid months remind us of the wilderness journey of the Israelites. Figuratively, this is the time in between the Exodus and receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and the Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).
Prophetically, this season can be viewed at the time between the outpouring of the Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) on Shavuot and the sounding of the trumpet proclaiming the return of Yeshua (Jesus). This is the season of time that you and I find ourselves in today as we await the soon return of our Messiah, while all around us we are seeing many things politically and socially that may cause us to be concerned. Every single one of these things were prophesied in the Bible to take place. While we should be concerned as believers, we should not be afraid.
Yet, many believers I speak to do seem to be afraid. Fear has overcome many of those I hear speak or post on social media. This fear among believers has grown over the past year as we experienced economic problems, social unrest, a pandemic, wars and political controversies.
Because I’ve seen and heard so many people who proclaim to believe in Yeshua and the Bible speaking and acting in fear, my studies brought me to a place where I wrote a short e-book titled Overcoming Fearlessness about the right and wrong types of fear.
However, the more I prayed and studied, the more one thought kept running through my mind. I am cautious about over-spiritualizing my prayer life or saying, “G-D spoke to me.” But I will say that I felt that I was being directed and redirected back to this concept every time I began to seek G-D for answers concerning the fear that is attacking the body of Messiah. It is this thought that I am presenting today in this post, and I ask that you would prayerfully consider if the Spirit of G-D within you confirms this word.
One reason that so many believers are struggling with fear is because the body of Messiah has been taught a message that says: “We really cannot trust G-D’s promises,” or maybe, “We cannot fully trust in G-D’s covenants.” Now, these messages are not spoken quite that boldly or directly. The message is much more subtly presented. But while the wording of the message may be spoken indirectly, and more implied than proclaimed, this message’s meaning nonetheless has caused many to question the faithfulness of G-D.
I know that at this point you are wondering what exactly is this message that has so weakened the body of believers that it has allowed fear to overwhelm and overcome them. The message that is spoken by leaders in congregations around the world is that the G-D of the Bible doesn’t really keep His covenant promises. I know you may be saying to yourself right now, “I have never heard that taught in my congregation.” Let me suggest that if your teachers told you that the Old Covenant was done away with and replaced with the New Covenant, then your teacher is teaching that G-D really doesn’t keep His covenant promises.
Before you stop reading, please consider all of the times in the Old Testament that G-D spoke the words “everlasting covenant.” Yet, so many New Covenant-believers are quick to proclaim that at least one of those everlasting covenants is no longer in effect. In other words, G-D didn’t really mean everlasting when He said everlasting. Now, in this post, we won’t have time to discuss how we as believers in Yeshua relate to all the covenants G-D made with His people in the Bible. Even Yeshua said in Matthew 5:17:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”
We must deal with the truth that if G-D made an everlasting promise to His people, then we are walking on dangerous ground if we call G-D a liar by teaching that He really didn’t mean everlasting when He said everlasting, and He didn’t really mean eternal when He said eternal.
You may be asking what does this stuff about covenants have to do with believers becoming overwhelmed by fear. The answer is simple. If we are teaching that G-D changes His mind concerning His covenant promises, or that He really didn’t mean what He said, then how can we fully trust anything He promised His people?
If G-D annulled the Old Covenant, what keeps Him from annulling the New Covenant? If His covenant promises are not sure, then how can any believer trust for protection and provision when confronted by sickness, financial issues, social conflicts and more?
When the people who are supposed to assure us that G-D is faithful instead teach us that G-D is fickle, when the people who are supposed to proclaim that G-D is the same yesterday, today and forever instead are teaching us that G-D is only kind of the same yesterday, today and forever, when those who are supposed to instruct us on how to trust completely in G-D’s promises instead tell us that we can only trust some of those promises because G-D may in the future change His mind, then none of us should be surprised when those being taught this message lose trust in the promises of G-D and become controlled by a spirit of fear. {eoa}
Eric Tokajer is the author of Overcoming Fearlessness, What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?, With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.
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