Ezekiel 34:25-31
And I will confirm with them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and [My people] shall dwell safely in the wilderness, desert, or pastureland and sleep [confidently] in the woods.
26 And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing, and I will cause the showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit and the earth shall yield its increase; and [My people] shall be secure in their land, and they shall be confident and know (understand and realise) that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the earth devour them, but they shall dwell safely and none shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a planting of crops for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land nor bear the reproach of the nations any longer.
30 Then shall they know [positively] that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God,
31 And that you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are [only] men and I am your God, says the Lord God.
I guess it's fair to say that there is a lot of fear stalking the land of Israel today.
The trauma of the past week or so has made a deep scar in their hearts, no one is exempt.
Here is one account:
Even after sustaining injuries in the Hamas invasion, Diana and Moshe Rosen, an elderly couple, resisted the terrorists’ insistence to accompany them to the Gaza Strip.
“We heard loud knocking on the front door. I said to Diana, ‘They are inside the home; they are here.’”
They managed to lock themselves in their safe room, however, the terrorists shot the lock open, wounding the couple in their hands.
Five terrorists seized the couple and forced them to walk towards the Gaza border, where Moshe and Diana saw that the fence had been breached in multiple places.
“They told us to be quiet and indicated with a hand to the throat that if we speak it will be the end of us,” “We dared to tell the terrorists that we aren’t going to Gaza.”
Moshe used English words to explain their refusal.
“We told them we are injured, bleeding, and need to go to a hospital. Of course, their leader didn’t accept that. I said to him ‘ambulance, hospital,’ and he said ‘Gaza.’”
Eventually, the terrorists told them: “Okay, go,” in English.
“We turned around and walked. During those long moments, we feared they would shoot us."
Now Israeli troops must face the mamouth task of going into the lion's den in the hope that they can extracate the hostages and take out the perpetrators of the massacre.
As I walked and prayed this afternoon, an inner voice said: "none shall make them afraid".
I knew it must be from Scripture somewhere, so I looked it up and the passage above shows the promise in verse 28.
Those who lost their lives in the massacre and even the survivors knew the heighth and depth of fear and the hostages are most probably experiencing it right now. It hardly bears thinking about.
It's ironic that the Lord should pull out this particular"rapier" of the Word at this moment.
Yet it is God's Promise to His people... "none shall make them afraid".
What looks impossible in their own strength is possible in the Lord's Hand.
The Lord has made a covenant of peace - a holy promise that cannot be reversed - indeed this passage says that He confirms that covenant. He will make the "evil beasts" to cease out of the Land [v25].
The annihiliation of Israel is not on God's Agenda, no matter how many rabid extremists chant for it and terrorists attempt it: God's plan is peace - grasp it - believe it!
None shall make them afraid.
