Lovers of God

A man of God lets God defend him

If you are a man of God you will sense that God defends you. When people have a complaint against you God takes them to task.

Ps 105:13-15 13 And they wandered about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. 14 He permitted no man to oppress them, and He reproved kings for their sakes: 15 "Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm."

A man of God does not need to defend himself. He does not need to fight for his rights. He can request for them, but he does not need to fight for them. He does not need to seek others to support him in a conflict. He only seeks the support of God.

God lets Noah curse Ham’s son Caanan with subordination because Ham did not hide his father’s nakedness.

A good leader hides the nakedness of others.

God defends Abraham even though it was Abraham who misled Abimelech.

Gen 20:1-3 1 Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar. 2 Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married."

Even if the fault is legitimate you still should not take advantage of it.

God had a special plan for Sarah – she was to be the mother of the Jews. If Abimelech took her as his wife then Abraham and Sarah would not be able to establish the Jewish people. Therefore God intervened on Abraham’s behalf.

Joseph’s brothers tried to kill him in jealousy but God defended him.

Potiphar’s wife tried to destroy Joseph’s testimony to protect her own, but God made it work out for Joseph’s good by using it to bring Joseph before the king.

Num 12:1-1 1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); 2 and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it.

The Jews were supposed to take wives from among themselves. But Moses, because he initially lived apart from the Jews, took a Cushite wife. And his own siblings (not the others) had a problem with that!

We may live in a family where there is a man / woman of God. And we may see a fault in them and despise them and mock them, not recognizing that in doing so we put ourselves against God.

Are you like that? When you live with a man of God do you use his faults to put them down in your mind?

Sometimes, our illnesses are because of that. God struck her with leprosy. And she was separated from the people for seven days. It was like God saying to her that she was no longer considered among His people.

God was so angry with Miriam that even when Moses prayed for her healing God did not heal her immediately. There is no record of Miriam repenting. And there is no record of Miriam again until her death is mentioned.

So suppose the person in your family is not a man of God. Can you still find fault with them?

I would be careful. We may think that someone is not a man of God but he may be, and God may have more regard for him than you imagine. After all, a prophet is not recognized in his own home.

2 Ki 2:22-24 22 So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. 23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number.

Young people can be so foolish, and criticize someone for their looks – especially in middle school and high school. You need to be careful – the boy / girl you criticize may be the apple of God’s eye, and you don’t want to get into trouble with God.

But are we careful in our criticisms? Or do we just go around criticizing everything we see.

Are we especially careful in our criticisms of those who do the Lord’s work?

When someone has evil intent towards God’s people God notices that and keeps record of that and deals with them at the proper time.

It was by no accident that Esther became queen, and by no accident that Mordecai learned of the plot to harm the king and obtained the king’s favor by revealing the plot. When Haman decided to destroy the Jews he went against God and was destroyed himself.

Esther 8:7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.

Hitler suffered a similar fate and took his own life.

Today, God defends those who are His children.

King David was dancing in his underwear in public. In the eyes of most people, that would be questionable at best. But, sometimes, it is best not to question the questionable! Michal did not know that. Do you? She despised him for that.

2 Sam 6:16 Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

2 Sam 6:23 Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

She never repented of that.

God cut her off.

So the question is: are you sensible enough to know that there are times when you should not question the questionable? If something is questionable, let God question it; why should you?

Now all this is in the Bible, and it is there for our instruction, and aren’t we silly if we don’t get it year after year?

We all know how God protected Daniel from the lions and destroyed all Daniel’s enemies in the lion den instead.

We all also know how God protected Daniel’s three friends from Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made the furnace seven times hotter for them, and God let Nebuchadnezzar be insane for seven years.

So if you are a man of God, don’t be afraid when others are trying to take your job or your life.