Whom do you fear?

Jer. 37-39 Men OR God?

Our arch-enemy wants us to fail and not just fail but fail BIG TIME! His biggest tool is fear. He knows that if we fear God, we can be conquerors, but if he can change that to fear of men, he has won, and we have lost. Take King Zedekiah, a prime example of Prov 29:25 “The fear of man is a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” Zedekiah lived by fear. He sent for Jeremiah in secret to know what God had planned. Jeremiah told him to yield to the Babylonians, but Zedekiah’s fear overruled him, and he sought to escape through a tunnel at night. He chose not to do as Jeremiah said, and the fruit of his fear came to pass. The Babylonians found Zedekiah; Nebuchadnezzar killed his sons, took his eyes and bound him, and sent him packing to a Babylonian prison.

God has his way of proving His Word is true. Zedekiah is a sad tale of what happens when we yield to fear.  So, here’s our question: How did Zedekiah’s fear work for him? How does that fear work for you and me?