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Men of The Bible

By Glenn Davis

The men of the Bible were real people, experiencing difficult problems and situations. Some overcame great obstacles and challenges.  Others surrendered to fear or selfishness.   Some were heroes, others were villains, and like the men of our modern world, most had both potential to go either way and a little mixture of both. Only Jesus Christ ever portrayed the perfect and complete vision of manhood.  The men of the Bible, just like the women of the Bible, have valuable lessons for both men and women today.  In some cases, they give courageous examples of what we should do, and in other cases, they serve as a warning of what we should not do.

How would you like to make God’s list of the three most righteous men?  Do you have any idea who made the cut?  Abraham was known as the intimate friend of God, the father of the faithful, but he’s not on the list.  Moses was a great leader who did mighty miracles, delivered the Law from God and knew God deeply, but he didn’t make the cut.  How about David, a man after God’s own heart and the greatest king of Israel?  No. What about Elisha, the greatest miracle-working prophet of the Old Testament? No. Ever consider Ezra?  In modern times, we don’t think about him too much, but he was most likely the one who was used by God to edit and place most of the Old Testament into the form we have today.  Jews regarded him just under Moses in importance.  But no, he’s not on the list either.  So who did make God’s top three most righteous men list?

…even if these three men - Noah, Daniel and Job - were in it, they could save only themselves by the righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezk. 14:14, NIV

In this passage of Scripture, God declares His judgment on Jerusalem and states that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would save only themselves. God is contrasting these men with the wickedness of Jerusalem, so obviously, the men He chose were His top three.  Were these three men on your radar as the most righteous men of the Old Testament?  How did they earn that position?  It might be worth considering.

Men Of The Bible

But we can learn from all the men of the Bible.

David, for example, was a great, courageous man.  He was known as a man after God’s own heart.  He loved to worship and sit in God’s presence.  He was a fierce fighter.  He was known for his loyalty and ability to wait for God to work things out, rather than grasp for power himself.  Yet, he fell into the sin of adultery and tried to cover it up with murder.  When confronted, he repented, but he lived with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life as his family imploded.  In a moment of weakness, he gave in to his lusts.  Some men today identify.  God has a great purpose for their lives, but they are derailed by submitting to pornography or other evil appetites. [Women, too, can be tempted by pornography, and many “Romance” novels fit this category.]

Samson is another example of a man who was called of God, yet chose to allow his selfish desires to rule over him to his own destruction.  

Joshua and Samuel were great men.  

Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land.  He loved God and was loyal and courageous.  He faced advanced, demonized armies and defeated them with his band of exslaves. In many ways, he was a great example, yet he failed to provide a successor, and within a generation, Israel was following the ways of the Canaanites they had conquered.  The Canaanites didn’t need to win the physical war; they won the cultural war - just as humanists and communists are doing today.

Samuel was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament.  He was dedicated to God before his birth.  He grew up in the temple and learned the ways of God.  He taught the people and judged them fairly according to God’s Word.  He was a king-maker…and a king-breaker.  Yet he failed to train his own sons, and they abandoned God’s ways, which undoubtedly broke his heart, as the hearts of many parents today have been broken by wayward children.

Of course, there were villains who were given to evil.  King Ahab was controlled by his passions and manipulated by his wife.  Cain, who was the first murderer and probably, according to Jewish historian Josephus, a criminal mastermind.  How about Sanballat and Tobiah, who did their best to threaten, hinder and intimidate Nehemiah in order to stop Jerusalem from being rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity?  Of course, the greatest villain of all was just a normal man who let his selfishness and greed lead him to the betrayal of Jesus Christ.  The name of Judas will forever live in infamy.

Christian men cannot hope to lead their families, workplaces, communities, and nations if they cannot first rule themselves.  Choosing to deny and starve ungodly desires is only passing kindergarten in God’s school for men.  We must learn the lessons from the men of the Bible that they have to teach us, both good and bad.  We must learn to walk with God, seek His way, and work with the Holy Spirit to implement the victory of Christ by expanding the kingdom of God on earth before His return.  [To do this, we must jettison false “end times” views.]

The articles linked to this section of Free Bible Study Lessons will explore the lives of the men of the Bible, the famous and the obscure, the good and the bad and will draw out the lessons from their lives which will help both men and women live Godly lives in our present world.

Men Of The Bible
More Information

Why Did God Kill Uzzah For Touching The Ark? *** In The Place Of Temptation *** Do Not Let Failure Define You *** The Strange Case Of David And Bathsheba *** Jonah: The Man Who Loved His Country More Than God

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