IS FEAR A SIN? Numbers 14:2,4; 7,9.

Does fear make you guilty? Can fear be a sin? If so, is fear a sin—a) always, b) sometimes, or c) never?

When God sent ten miracles and delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the wilderness, the former slaves kept wanting to go back to Egypt. Their ingratitude and lack of faith angered God. (Not to mention their idolatry.) It happened ten times and God was increasingly angry each time. After the scouts spied out the Promised Land—and ten of the twelve were terrified and said, in effect, “We can never win; we’re all gonna die!,”—God was angry.

“All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, ‘if only we had died in the land of Egypt!’… So they said to one another, ‘let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt’” Numbers 14:2,4.

Moses and Aaron immediately fell down with their faces to the ground, and Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes and told everyone to have faith:

“The land we explored is an extremely good land… Only don’t REBEL against the Lord, and don’t BE AFRAID of the people of the land, for WE WILL DEVOUR THEM” 14:7,9.

Notice that Joshua said “don’t rebel … and don’t be afraid.” Sometimes fear IS rebellion. (The answer above is ‘b’.) SOMETIMES fear is sin. We are supposed to fear God. We are supposed to fear hurricanes, earthquakes, pestilence, starvation. But we are not supposed to fear our destiny. It is wrong to be afraid of something God promised you—and if you FEEL fear, remember the feeling may not be sin, but letting your feeling stop you from doing God’s will IS SIN.

Never let your fear turn into rebellion. “Don’t be afraid of the people… for we will devour them!”

Dear God, teach us to obey, no matter our feelings of fear. Help us to know your voice and obey you at all times! Never let us focus on things we are afraid of—help us stay focused on YOU!

ΑΩ