Continuing with this intriguing theme… fear, inspired by a messenger from God.
There is a set of words that occur frequently in the Bible: “Do not be afraid.” And who says these words?
God does. Like in Genesis 15: “The LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram.”
Then it’s the angel of the Lord, like in 2 Kings 1: “The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, Go down with him; do not be afraid.”
Then it’s Jesus talking to the disciples, like in Matthew 14:27: “Immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
On the side… I heard a priest of the Svenska Kyrkan ask a bunch of kids during the church service: “How do we recognize an angel? How do we know someone is an angel?” And the answer she gave to her own question was: “They always say to us, Don’t be afraid.”
Let’s be very simplistic here. If an angel turns up and says to me, “Don’t be afraid,” then I assume that the angel has read the situation and my own inner feelings and is responding appropriately. In other words, this is not small talk. This is not the angel version of, “How are you doing?”
Does an angel cause fear, or is he pulling it up out of the recesses of our being? In other words, does God cause the fear, or do we already have it in us?
