Tag: The Fear of Man is a Snare - Jeremiah 37-41

Jeremiah 38:1-5 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.”

Tag:   The Fear of Man is a Snare

Solomon the King, in Proverbs, wrote the following:

Proverbs 29:25 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))

The fear of man brings a snare,

But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.

Doing things out of fear of men is a dangerous and slippery slope.  When we live worried about what other’s think we “worth-ship” their opinions as though they are God.   In the above passage we are reading about the prophet Jeremiah and how he boldly spoke for God, telling the people of Judah to give in to their potential captivity.  This was rebellious talk to some of the leadership and they wanted to throw Jeremiah into a pit to stop him for telling everyone this message.  The King, Zedekaih, OUT OF FEAR OF MEN allowed them to do this.   He would, later, out of the fear of men, do the same thing:

Jeremiah 38:19-20 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))

Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.” But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live.

When we worry about what others think of us, or how they might reject us, or hurt us, we cease to obey God.   God does not want us to fear man, He wants us to fear Him.   When we fear man we create a “snare” for ourselves.  The Hebrew word for “snare” in Solomon’s proverb is “loose” or “trap” or “lure.”   When we worry about what others think of us we fall into a trap and it holds us and binds us.  We have to find a way to be released from that fear of man.  We do that by fearing God, more.   Notice what Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 10:28 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

God is the one we are to fear.  We worry and say, “What will they think of me?”   But, we should say, “What does God think of me?”