Who’s Afraid of Whom?!

Numbers 22:2-3 (NASB) Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 So Moab was in great fear (terrified) of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel.

Christians who know the Lord and spend time with Him still often live their lives terrified of the enemy, wondering whether they’ll have enough money to take care of their needs, wondering if the Lord is really for them, whether they count in His kingdom, whether they have purpose or not, whether sickness will smash them, whether relationships will be fixed – they have all sorts of preoccupations that distract them from pursuing Jesus and completing their assignments in Him.

But who is really afraid of whom? What is the reality here? In out text, Israel was oblivious to the great fear (and verse three does says great fear) their enemies had toward them. The truth is that the enemy is greatly afraid of YOU, believer! Knowing this, will you rise up and snatch away the souls the enemy has has been holding? Will you enforce the victory that Jesus accomplished over darkness? Will you wake up and be about your Father’s business?

Let the scriptures remind you of how afraid the enemy is of the people of God:

2 Chronicles 20:29 (NET) All the kingdoms of the surrounding lands were afraid of God when they heard how the LORD had fought against Israel's enemies.

Joshua 5:1 (NIV) Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

And remember what Rahab the prostitute said to the spies that Joshua sent to Jericho:

Joshua 2:8-11(CSB) Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan. 11 When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.

Do you see how the people of Jericho had detailed information about Israel’s victories? It would surprise us if we really knew how the enemy has kept track of what the Lord has done through us and how it drives him to great fear.

A few years ago, I was alone in a restaurant and greeted a stranger, an older man, at the next table. Immediately he said to me calmly, “The enemy comes against you like he does because he is afraid of you, what you might do against him.” The man told me his first name and we talked very briefly about the Lord before I left. I wondered that day if I had spoken with an angel. The Lord gave me understanding and clarity at a time when I thought I might be in some trouble with the Lord. I am so grateful.

But this is reality! The enemy is frightened of US! Why are you frightened of him?? He sees how the Lord goes with us and how the Lord has used us in the past, and he is terrified. He will connive to hinder us as Balak did in Numbers 22, and we will not even know about it. Israel knew nothing of how Balak hired the prophet Balaam, who compromised because of covetousness, yet the Lord fought for them behind the scenes, frustrating every effort of the unfaithful prophet to curse Israel. Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” The Lord will frustrate even the most elaborate schemes that the enemy tries to craft against you.

So leave off this distrust of the Lord, this fear that He might let You down, that He might not do what He promised, that you don’t measure up (He has measured up FOR you through the cross.) Leave your preoccupations about petty troubles. Leave your never-ending distractions and do all that the enemy has been afraid of. Do all that the Lord has shown you, but that you have buried under activities that are not eternal. Step over the petty irritations from the enemy about disappointments and awkwardnesses and strivings in relationships. Stop letting the enemy jerk you here and there and make you tend to lesser things. Do what the enemy fears you might! God has assigned you to plunder darkness!

Isaiah 51:12-13 (NASB) I, I Myself, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like grass,
13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?