Fear Not, My Servant Jacob

“O you sword of the Lord, how long until you are quiet? Put yourself up into your scabbard, rest and be still!” Jer. 47:6. This is how people speak to the sword of the Lord: “Put yourself up into your scabbard, rest and be still. Let us have peace; let us sleep a little longer. Let us speak about love. Send for a whitewasher who can preach peace to us. After all, we are all His holy people, a people who adorn the doctrine of Christ by our lives and actions, a people who patiently bear our cross and whose hearts are entirely devoted to searching out the laws of the Lord. Rest, O sword, be still and quiet. Let us have peace, for we are a people, an attentive people, who are more easily enticed than threatened.”

“How can it [the sword] be quiet, seeing the Lord has given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the seashore? There He has appointed it.” Jer. 47:7.

Fear not, my servant Jacob. The sword will not strike you but rather defend you. Let it flash brightly and carry out its work, because it will not come near you; you will rest securely in your own vineyard, within the safety of your dwelling. Yet outside, the sword of the Lord flashes threateningly from Ashkelon to the seashore. Woe to those who have abandoned their secure dwelling and have gone to Ashkelon so that the people might be multiplied. This flashing sword will surely strike its target. If you cast your stones at it, it will laugh at your defense. It will complete its work and will not return to its scabbard until the Lord gives His command.

“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.” Jer. 48:10.

If you fear the war, dear soul, then stay home, because the Lord does not want anyone to plow with an ox and a donkey together. Deut. 22:10. Do not do anything that would tax you beyond your strength; instead, be completely at rest in everything you do.

This will benefit you. The sword will bring you into a deeper rest, and the land you possess will be increased. As the sword of the Lord passes over the land from Ashkelon to the seashore, you will dwell securely in your pleasant garden.

“For what man is he that can know the counsel of God? Or who can think what the will of the Lord is? For the thoughts of mortal men are miserable.” Wisdom of Solomon 9:13-14.