Does "Do not be afraid" show up 365 times in scripture?

I woke up this morning and briefly scrolled through Facebook, and this meme popped up in my feed:

And it rubbed my spirit the wrong way, so I went into study mode to test if there was any integrity to the statement. Short answer? Nope. Long answer? Keep reading.

The meme seems to be generated from a now-deleted Rick Warren post from 2014. I believe Warren was endeavoring to accentuate the fact that God did not intend for Christians to spend their days consumed by fear and worry. While I can appreciate such a desire, I cannot respect pretending the bible says something it doesn’t.

I’d never wish to argue the bible encourages a believer to be racked with anxiety. It doesn’t:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

-1st Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)

So, first, how often does the bible say “Fear not” or “Do not be afraid?” One of my favorite resources to study these things quickly and dirtily is Openbible.info topic searches. It casts a broad net to try and encompass every possible implication of the idea one is searching for without necessarily sticking rigidly to the literal text. For “Fear not,” it shows approximately 100 verses, and for “Do not be afraid,” it shows about 81 occurrences. It’s especially worth noting that, as one gets closer to the bottom of these searches, the interpolation of these expressions into the text gets wildly obscure. To even get close to 100 occurrences of both phrases combined, one would have to stretch their definitions quite far.

But let’s do more than just a quick and dirty exploration of the text. I pulled out my study app and researched the ESV, KJV, NKJV, NIV, and NLT for occurrences of these terms. Even casting a wider net, I still couldn’t come near such a wild number. Another chap checked out the same in his app and only could find 119 occurrences, so we’re still short! This lady came up with less than 150, and she also points out that most occurrences (in context) aren’t daily encouragements to be fearless. Additionally, let me point out one of the ways in which such an examination could be misleading:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul….”

-Matthew 10:26 (NIV)

Wow! Christ’s words are so encouraging! Oh, but wait, He’s not done speaking:

“Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

There are many times scripture teaches us that God utilizes fear for our good:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”

-Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…”

-Philippians 2:12 (ESV)

“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.”

-Hebrews 12:29-29 (NLT)

And my personal favorite scripture encounter during my studies; “Judgement declared” from Jeremiah:

“Hear this,

O foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear.

Do you not fear Me?”

declares the LORD.

“Do you not tremble before Me,

the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea,

an enduring barrier it cannot cross?

The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.

They roar but cannot cross it.

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.

They have turned aside and gone away.

They have not said in their hearts,

‘Let us fear the LORD our God,

who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season,

who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’”

-Jeremiah 5:21-24 (BSB)

So, this meme is busted. And let me quickly share a few reasons why this bothered me so:

1.) If we contend that the bible is authoritative truth, we cannot lie about the content it doesn’t have. All we’ll accomplish is casting doubt on the bible’s veracity in the eyes of the non-believers.

2.) If we argue that the bible says something, we need to know what it actually says. This means that we:

“Test all things. Hold fast to what is good.”

-1st Thessalonians 5:21 (BSB)

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

-2nd Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

If one genuinely tests everything and correctly handles the word, one isn’t sharing untested Facebook memes haphazardly.

3.) If we believe the Holy Scriptures, we must consider all the words, not just the ones we like. This means we are to “Fear not,” AND we are to tremble before our mighty God. It means we can approach Abba as sons and daughters and that we also never forget that He is the author of creation, and our lives are in the palm of His hand. That's cause for great rejoicing AND great fear of the Lord.

In conclusion, please study the bible for yourselves, people. Don’t be reliant on poorly examined posts or unsubstantiated claims. With exception to God’s mercies of salvation, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.