Tag: speak evil

11.b. “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.”

Micah 5:15  And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 32:1    “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Luke 19:40    He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jeremiah 22:29    O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

Isaiah 1:2   Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

Give ear creation for God is proclaiming His anger against disobedience.  God asks a very good question, “How have I wearied you?” “What have I done to you?”  He is asking them what part of life is detrimental when following and obeying God?  What part of being in the protective, powerful, and loving arms is bad for their life on earth?  What part of promised eternal life with Him is not worth giving Him all our hearts, minds, and souls?  What part of His provisions is so bad that we want to turn away and shun Him?  If we give this any thought at all and look into how we are living our lives we might be ashamed of how we honor, glorify, follow, worship, obey, trust, and rely on Him.

1. ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’

Exodus 22:28  “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Ecclesiastes 10:20     Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.

Acts 23:5     And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

Romans 13:2-7     Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,  for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Titus 3:1-2     Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,  to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

1 Peter 2:17     Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

It surely takes godly wisdom to apply these verses.  How do you honor a leader you do not respect or trust?  How do you not speak evil of one who is authorizing the murder of innocent men, women, and children?  How do you not speak out against the Leader who is taking people into unrighteous paths for their life?  How do you follow a leader who rejects Christ?

These are human questions but are not the right way to approach the situation of a bad leader.  God wants and expects us to come to Him alone for the resolution of a bad ruler, authority, leader.  We are to go to Him confessing the sin of what we see and ask His intervention.  We are to seek Him for our refuge.  We are to rely on Him alone.  We are to find peace in the midst of trials and troubles in Him.  We are to find strength in God to face the injustice.  He is our refuge, hope, rock, fortress, and calm in the storm.

We are to pray for our leaders not complain about them.  We are to seek God not speak evil.  We are to be submissive and obedient.  There are times when we don’t like or approve of our leadership.  However we must respect and honor the position.

There may be time when you have to take a stand when asked/told to do something that is against what God teaches us.  We accept the consequence gladly as serving God is our goal.  We do not speak evil. We speak the truth.

Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”