Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. (Jeremiah 42:11 ESV)
Our cats are not allowed in the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom is, of course, their favorite room. At times they sit at the door and whine. Sometimes they wait around the corner for the door to open so they can leap through the entrance. Usually they follow us as we walk past the door, hoping for an opportunity to explore that magical room.
Even though they are cats, I often tell them, “You can’t be in that room!” (I do not think they care what I say.)
When the cats get in the spare bedroom though, I say the same thing. I scowl at their temerity, I try to herd them back out, and I say, “You can’t be in that room!”
Johanan, a captain in Judea’s desperate army, saw that the Kingdom of God was in trouble. Internal and external enemies were winning. And Johanan, already a man who struggled with faith, became very afraid.
And Jeremiah told him to stop.
It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And so when God tells His people not to be afraid, He often is warning them to stay out of that room. He is warning us to not fall into fear.
But here, Johanan is already afraid. Afraid enough to make bad decisions. Afraid enough to be filled with fear. Afraid enough to summarize his very personality as, “Afraid.”
And Jeremiah tells him to stop.
“Do not be afraid,” present differs from, “Do not be afraid” future tense.
Present tense is more urgent. Present tense is more dangerous. Present tense is more intense.
But God answers present fear and future fear in exactly the same way.
He is with us. And He will help us. And that can be bigger than any fear.
Fear not, because tense doesn’t matter.