Study of DO NOT BE ARAID

I decided to study that and see if I can find all 365 of the occurrences of do not be afraid or something similar.    I've only begun to research on www.BibleGateway.com- using the New International and the New Living Translations- and I only used the phrase 'Do not be afraid".  So I've only found 70-80 times that phrase is spoken so far.  But it is amazing what God has already shown me!

First of all, it is interesting to see who is saying it 

and to whom they are saying it.

Sometimes it is the Lord, 

or angel of the Lord, 

or spirit of the Lord 

saying it to someone, 

or to a whole group of people.

Sometimes it is a person who heard it from an angel that says it to the next person.

The first few times I found Do not be afraid said, it was spoken first to Abram, 

then Isaac, then Jacob- a whole family being reminded "I am the God of your Father Abram, Do not be afraid."

And it was interesting to note that it was said to Hagar too- after Abram and Sarai rushed things and tried to manipulate how God's promise to them would be fulfilled. 

The Lord said it to Moses and Moses told the people- over and over and over again.

And Moses told Joshua- several times- especially when Moses was preparing Joshua to be the leader.

And then Joshua told the people

And then God told Joshua

and told Joshua

and told Joshua

and told Joshua

(I guess Josh was like me- forgetful)

David said it to Solomon

It was said by angels, by the spirit of the Lord, by the Lord

before battles

during battles

after battles

Do not be afraid was said to those who were afraid...

to go down to Eygpt

of him

of the nations

of enemies

of armies greater than yours

of them 

 (oh how many times are we afraid of 'them'- and we don't even know who 'them' is)

of dying

of failing

of terrors by night

of the arrow that flies in the day

of people's scorn, nor fear their insults

of their predictions

of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul

of what you are about to suffer

Do not be afraid was most often said with a promise from the Lord as well....

I will protect you

I heard you

i am with you and will bless you

I will make your family great

I have handed him over to you

i have given you victory

I the Lord your God will fight for you.

the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.

I will personally go ahead of you.

I will neither fail you nor abandon you.

the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

You will not die

you will be successful if you...

the Lord is with you

Your God is coming!

for I am with you

I will gather you and your children...

The Lord who made you and helps you says...

I proclaimed my purposes for you long ago.

I will bring you home again from distant lands

Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet and no one will terrorize them.

I am with you

I will give you the victor's crown

and that's just some of them!

But there are also some commands that come with the words Do not be afraid.

Do the same to him as you did to...

Treat him just as you treated...

Go out to fight your enemies

Do not panic

Take all your fighting men and attach

Then you must...

Carefully obey the decrees and regulations...

Do not be discouraged

Listen to the Lord who created you

Get up and prepare for action

Go out and tell everything I tell you to say

Do not act like other nations

Go and tell my brothers to go...

See

Do not let your hearts be troubled

Keep on speaking, do not be silent

Stand trial before Caesar

Be faithful, even to the point of death

_______________

Hmmmm!  So where is he saying do not be afraid to me?  or to you?  

Who or What are we afraid of?

What promise is he making with it?

What command is he giving?

Seems like, this is a good time to stop to notice what we are hearing!

No matter what, his words to us are 

Do not be afraid, for I AM!