Scripture Daily

Context No. 1366 of 4322 · Tobit

Context · Reflection

Tobit 6:13-17: in context

13Then the young man said to the angel, “Brother Azarias, I have heard that this maid has been given to seven men, and that they all perished in the bride-chamber. 14Now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest I go in and die, even as those before me. For a demon loves her, which harms no man, but those which come to her. Now I fear lest I die, and bring my father’s and my mother’s life to the grave with sorrow because of me. They have no other son to bury them.” 15But the angel said to him, “Don’t you remember the words which your father commanded you, that you should take a wife of your own kindred? Now hear me, brother; for she will be your wife. Don’t worry about the demon; for this night she will be given you as wife. 16And when you come into the bride-chamber, you shall take the ashes of incense, and shall lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shall make smoke with them. 17The demon will smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more. But when you go near to her, both of you rise up, and cry to God who is merciful. He will save you, and have mercy on you. Don’t be afraid, for she was prepared for you from the beginning; and you will save her, and she will go with you. And I suppose that you will have children with her.” When Tobias heard these things, he loved her, and his soul was strongly joined to her.

On the journey, Tobias confides his fear to his companion, the angel Raphael traveling in disguise as Azarias. The young woman he is to marry, Sarah, has been given to seven husbands, and a demon has killed each of them in the bridal chamber; Tobias is his father's only son, and he is afraid that he too will die and bring his parents' grey heads to the grave in sorrow. The angel answers his fear: do not be afraid; remember your father's charge to marry within your kindred; she was prepared for you from the beginning. He gives him the remedy of the fish's heart and liver burned as incense, and then the deeper counsel: when you go in, both of you rise and pray to God who is merciful, and he will save you.

Tobias's fear is not foolish; seven men have died, and he has every reason to be afraid. What the angel does is not to deny the danger but to meet it with three things: a reminder of God's prior arrangement, a practical means, and above all prayer. She was prepared for you from the beginning, the angel says; this is not a reckless gamble but a step into what God has already ordained, and that changes how the danger looks. And notice that the remedy is not left to the fish alone; the heart of the counsel is, both of you rise up and cry to God who is merciful. The couple are to face the real danger of the bridal chamber not by their own courage but on their knees, entrusting themselves to the God who saves. There is a pattern here for stepping into the things we fear. Some fears are groundless and some, like Tobias's, are entirely reasonable, rooted in real danger; and the answer to the reasonable ones is not to pretend they are nothing but to go forward into what God has prepared, with prayer, entrusting the outcome to his mercy. Tobias could have refused out of fear and missed the wife prepared for him from the beginning. Instead, reassured, he went forward, and the text says his heart was drawn to her in love. Trust in God's provision freed him to love where fear would have held him back.

Is there a step God is calling me to that I am afraid to take because the danger is real, and can I go forward as Tobias did, into what God has prepared, meeting the fear with prayer and entrusting the outcome to his mercy?

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