Fear

The word "fear" occurs 400 times in the Bible in 385 verses.  It's obviously a significant subject, it is mentioned so many times.  It's used in a good way and a bad way.  In a good way, it's very good, even to the extent that it could be put in a sentence that gives the very purpose of mankind (Ecclesiastes 12:13):

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

On the other hand, it could be argued easily that fear is the greatest tool of Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15):

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Satan uses in particular the fear of death to keep people in bondage.  Jesus alludes to this in Matthew 10:28:

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

If you walk back the fear of death, you will get to lesser fears that relate to losing out on something in light of future death.  It's still the fear of death.  This might be fearing the loss of popularity.  It treats this life like it's all that there is and since death ends all there is, decisions must be made that elevate this life than the life to come.  People become convinced they will miss something important if they don't get it in this lifetime.  This is all still the fear of death that keeps people in bondage.

The Hebrew word for fear is yaw-ray (self-pronouncing) and a form of it is found first in Genesis 3:10:

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

That Hebrew word is found 385 times.  "Afraid" is in the KJV 193 times.  Here it is translated, "I was afraid."  This was both good and bad.  Man should have been afraid of God, but he also shouldn't have been afraid of God.  He should have been afraid to displease God or disobey God, but instead he hid from God because he was afraid.  It does show the controlling nature of fear.  The next usage is in Genesis 15:1:

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Here the LORD commands Abraham, "Fear not."  "Fear not" is a common expression coming from God, which especially make sense if fear is an instrument of Satan toward the bad.

I'm writing on fear because it is the true underlying subject of a lot of what we've been discussing here in recent days.  Many different fears of Covid-19 influence people in a wrong way.  We heard from the beginning that Covid-19 was a deadly threat and people are afraid of death.  The word “deadly” is used for coronavirus a lot.  Fear of death makes people slaves and this society may be more afraid of death than any previous one in the history of our country.

The fear of death in a very indulgent culture is greater to the extent that it becomes very compliant to what it is told to preserve its life.  The fear of death is an underlying uncertainty that leads someone to stock pile toilet paper.  It arises from fear of mortality leading to acts of self-preservation. Hebrews 2 says Jesus died to deliver us from that fear.  His death is the solution to that fear.

Satan is in charge of the world system and he knows how to use fear to control and influence people toward how he wants them to think, believe, and behave.  They become willing to pour everything into this life because of uncertainty about the next.  This life is as sure as it gets to them.  They live for it.  Nothing is more than this life because it's all they've got.  Churches aren't helping with it, because they are also making it about this life, knowing that's what this generation also thinks.  In other words, churches aren't bringing deliverance from the actual fear of death, as seen in their adherents' preoccupations.

We live in a world of fear that is controlling us.  Some leaders and the media are taking advantage of it.  For the most part, it's just very natural.  Many of the leaders and the media might be fearful too.  It's hard to interpret where there is purposeful manipulation of the situation and where there isn't.  However, believers shouldn't function according to fear of death and should help the rest of the world to do that too -- through the gospel.