#DailyDevotion Do Not Fear The Evil One. The Lord Goes Before You To Fight For You.
October 29th
Read Deut 31:1–29
Deu 31:6-8 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (7) Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. (8) It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
The Lord God is speaking to Moses to speak to the Israelites. They are about to enter the land he had promised them. But there are many people there, great and powerful people. The Lord though had been preparing them for this day through the many skirmishes up to this time. That they may trust the Lord as they go in he encourages them with these words: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” and again: “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Be strong. Be courageous! Do not fear! Do not be dismayed! Why not? Because it is the Lord God who goes before and who goes with you Israelites. As long as they remembered this and trusted in this they would be victorious. It is no doubt it is these words that David recalls and acts on when he faces Goliath and the Philistine armies as his day.
Jesus, who is the Lord, has made similar promises to us, His Israel, the Church. Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” With these words Jesus encourages us, His Church to be bold in our witness of the Gospel. We need not fear nor be dismayed with the ways of the World. This World is perishing before our very eyes. The Lord Jesus goes before us paving our way and goes with us in the Spirit of His Word and the Sacraments. He provides leaders for his church who lead the way with His Word. Eph 4:11-14 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
This world is not the land we are to possess but its people are the battlefield and the spoils of the war. It is a war for human souls to bring them with us into the new heavens and the new earth where God will dwell with us and we will see Christ face to face and be like He is. Christ’s Church will not fail or fall though it may be small. Our victory is in Christ and it is certain.
Lord Jesus Christ, ever give us men to remind us of your ever abiding presence with your Word and Spirit that we may not fear or be dismayed by the evil foe, but through faith in your promises overcome the devil. Amen.