“Who are you that…live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?” [Isaiah 51:12-13]
Things often influence us out of proportion to their value because of their closeness. For instance, the moon is a very small insignificant body compared with the sun, yet it has far more influence over the tides and many other matters in the world than the sun has, simply because it is so much closer to the earth than the sun is. The life that is to come is infinitely more important than the life that now is, and I hope that, in our innermost hearts, we consider that the things that are seen and temporal are mere trifles compared with the things which are not seen and eternal; yet it often happens that the less important matters have a greater influence over us than those which are far more important, simply because the things of earth are so much closer to us.
Heaven is infinitely more to be desired than any joy on earth, yet it seems so far off, and therefore these fleeting joys here may give us greater present comfort. The wrath of God is far more to be dreaded than the anger of man, yet sometimes a frown or a rebuke from a fellow creature will have more effect upon our minds than the thought of the anger of God. This is because the one appears to be remote, while, being in this body of flesh, we are so near to the other. Now, beloved, it will sometimes happen that a matter, which is scarcely worthy of the thought of an immortal spirit, will trouble and worry us from day to day. There is some oppressor, as the text puts it, whom we dread and continually fear, yet we forget the almighty God, who is on our side, who is stronger than all the oppressors who have ever lived, and who has all people and all things under his control. The reason why we act this way is because we think of God as if he were far off, while we can see the oppressor with our eyes, and we can hear with our ears his threatening words.
I want, this morning, to be the means in the hands of God of turning the thoughts of his people away from the distress of the present to the joy and comfort which, though more remote, ought still to be more powerful over the mind and heart because of the real inherent greatness.
I. And, first, I want to speak upon this point – that MANY FEARS, WHICH ARE EXPERIENCED BY CHRISTIAN MEN AND WOMEN, ARE REALLY GROUNDLESS.
Our text says, “You live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction, but where is the wrath of the oppressor?” The probable meaning of this verse is that the oppressor never came, so those living in fear never did feel the force of his fury; and, in like manner, many of God’s people are constantly under apprehensions of calamities which will never occur to them, and they suffer far more in merely dreading them than they would have to endure if they actually came upon them. In their imagination, there are rivers in their way, and they are anxious to know how they shall wade through them, or swim across them. There are no such rivers in existence, but they are agitated and distressed about them. An old proverb says, “Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it;” but these timid people are continually crossing bridges that only exist in their foolish fancies. They stab themselves with imaginary daggers, they starve themselves in imaginary famines, and even bury themselves in imaginary graves. We are such strange creatures that we probably suffer more under blows which never fall upon us than we do under those which do actually come. The rod of God does not strike us as sharply as the rod of our own imagination does; our groundless fears are our chief tormentors, and when we are able to abolish our self-inflictions, all the worries of the world become light and easy. However, it is a pity that Christians who have the gift of faith in Christ given to them, should fall into so guilty and at the same time so painful a habit as this of fearing the oppressor who does not come, and who never will come.
Some people are very troubled by the fear of man.
That is exactly the case mentioned in our text: “the wrath of the oppressor.” He was a very oppressive man, hard, unfeeling, proud, strong, exacting, and they were afraid of him. In addition to this, he must have been a person of impulsive temper, one with whom you could not reason, and so passionate that they were not merely afraid of the oppressor, but of “the wrath of the oppressor.” He is the kind of person whom you don’t know how to meet, or how to escape from him. If you run away from him, he will pursue you in his wrath. If you remain quiet, your patience will not make him quiet; and if you resist him, his wrath will be so much the greater. That appears to have been the character of the oppressor feared by those with whom the Lord was reasoning with at the time; and we have known believers who have been afraid of what a certain powerful person might do if they acted as their conscience told them they ought to act. He would evict them from their property, or they could lose their jobs as a result of this person’s influence.
Perhaps the fearful one is some young person who has a relative who hates religion, and what this powerful relative may do they cannot imagine; or the oppressor is an arbitrary employer, and if his employees don’t obey his orders exactly, even though those orders happen to be wrong, they will lose their jobs. They may be out of work for months, and they and their children may then go without food. They imagine a long series of trials and troubles that will come upon them because of “the wrath of the oppressor.”
Now, sometimes, there is a reason for this kind of fear, for men sometimes act in a very intimidating manner to others, and the very persons who talk most about being liberal in their views are generally the greatest persecutors. If I must have a religious enemy, let me have a professed and avowed bigot, but not one of the “free thinkers” or “liberal theologians” as they are called, for there is nobody who can hate like they can; and these lovers of liberal-mindedness who have no creed at all, think it is their special duty to be particularly contemptuous to those who have some degree of principle. There is no doubt that there are still trials of cruel mockings to be borne by those who are true to Christ. “The cold shoulder” is given in society; in other company, harsh words are used, and coarse jokes are made. Christians must expect to bear the opposition of men and women. It has always been this way, and it always will be. If you turn from the ways of the world, and basically accuse the world of being wrong, the world will resent it. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” [John 15:19]
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
