Defiance of God; Reproach and the Remnant

Dear remnant, there’s no shame in being mocked for standing up for God and against all that defies God.

God is being defied today. Anyone who truly knows God, knows that!

How is God being defied? He has let the whole world know where He stands on things via, the Holy Bible, but some don’t care to know about all that. They defy God by their beliefs and by their actions. God’s people stand with God and they face great opposition because of their stand. God’s people are mocked for standing on God’s truth.

The Old Testament gives us epic accounts of God being defied and what happened to those that defied Him. Believers today can look at these faith accounts when facing giants and insurmountable odds.

Since this is a blog, and not a book, I am not going to go into detail about all the Old Testament accounts, you can read the full accounts for yourself and I urge you to.

Noah faced the great flood

Noah stood with God in the midst of a violent and corrupt world.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.Genesis 6:11-12

The people in that time defied God and apparently did not listen to the preaching of Noah or God would have spared them.

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;2 Peter 2:5

God told Noah to make an ark.

Make thee an ark… Genesis 6:14

Noah made the ark and I am sure he had to face mockery from the defiers. But, Noah persisted in the midst of it all and his family was spared. They were the remnant.

These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. Genesis 9:19

Moses faced Pharaoh and the Red Sea

It all started when Moses made a big decision.

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the REPROACH of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Hebrews 11:25-26

God sent Moses to deliver His people that were being sorely oppressed by a defiant Pharaoh.

People that don’t go to church, serve God, or read their Bibles, have an image of Moses parting the Red Sea thanks to Cecil B. DeMille. Epic scene.

But, before Moses faced the Red Sea, he had to face a defiant Pharaoh.

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Exodus 3:10-11

We know Pharaoh defied God because he said so, and it took 10 plagues before he would let God’s people go.

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Exodus 5:1-2

We will not go into all the plagues here used to convince Pharaoh to let God’s people go, we’ve all seen those in the movie, but you should really read about them in the Bible in the book of Exodus.

So, after the Pharaoh finally let’s God’s people go, Moses and the people faced the Red Sea and the defiant ones were hot on their trail. It looked as though they had no where to go. But God made a way. He is the Way Maker!

The defiance of the enemies of God is seen in the song of Moses.

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Exodus 15:9-10

For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. Exodus 15:19

After that, God’s children wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and only a remnant is eventually allowed to go into the promise land to face heathen nations and stand up for God and stand against the defiers of God. God is good. All that defy God, are defying good. It takes faith to stand!

Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. Numbers 14:28-31

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:19

David faced the giant. David believed in a cause.

He asked,

…Is there not a cause? 1 Samuel 17:29

And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the REPROACH from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should DEFY the armies of the living God? 1 Samuel 17:26

Throwing stones in the Old Testament was judgment on sin. The stone in David’s hand brought the giant down, bringing the giant down was God’s judgment.

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. . .Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast DEFIED. . .And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 1 Samuel 17:43, 45, 49

David became King to God’s people.

In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. 2 Samuel 5:5

David faced many battles in the name of the Lord, in fact, he was not only known as, a man after God’s own heart, but also as a man of war.

But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.1 Chronicles 28:3

David stood up for God and he stood against God defiers, and David prayed a lot!

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the REPROACH of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. Psalm 57:1-11

King Hezekiah was a righteous king that faced the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria REPROACHED GOD by proclaiming God could not deliver His people.

Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 2 Kings 18:28-33

But, King Hezekiah prayed.

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to REPROACH the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.2 Kings 18:15-19

in Isaiah,

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to REPROACH the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the REMNANT that is left. Isaiah 37:3-4

Hezekiah turned to God and God showed the defiant ones that He could deliver His people. It is a long text, but if you can get through Potter and Rings, you can get through this.

Hezekiah inquired of the prophet Isaiah, and Isaiah said

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou REPROACHED and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou hast REPROACHED the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because THY RAGE AGAINST ME and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the REMNANT that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a REMNANT, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: 2 Kings 18:20-35

Isaiah spoke of reproach and the remnant.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:7-11

Zephaniah spoke of reproach and the remnant.

Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the REMNANT of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride, because they have REPROACHED and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand. Zephaniah 2:9-15

We see reproach and the remnant in the book of Psalms

O God, how long shall the adversary REPROACH? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter. Remember this, that the enemy hath REPROACHED, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man REPROACHETH thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. Psalm 74:10-23

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that REPROACHETH me: for I trust in thy word. Psalm 119:41-42

King Nebuchadnezzar defied God with an image of gold, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego stood up for God, and would not bow. The bad news is, they were thrown in a fiery furnace, the good news is, God was with them in the fire.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. . .That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:. . .And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. . . If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. . .But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. . . And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. . . .He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. . . .And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. . . .Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Daniel 3:1,5-6,17-18,23,25,27-28

The presidents and princes defied Daniel’s God by creating a law to keep Daniel from praying. Daniel stood up for his God. The bad news is, Daniel was thrown in with the lions, the good news is, God was with him.

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. . .All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. . . Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. . .Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. . .Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. . .And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? . . .My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Daniel 6:4-5,7,10-11,14-16,20,22

Jesus said,

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall REPROACH you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. Luke 6:22-23

Paul wrote,

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in REPROACHES, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Paul wrote to Timothy,

For therefore we both labour and suffer REPROACH, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. 1 Timothy 4:10

PRAYER

Lord help us rejoice in being reproached for standing up for Your truth and standing against all that defies Your truth in this evil day. Help us fight the good fight of faith, laying hold on eternal life. We stand with You Lord against spiritual wickedness. We will not be intimidated because You are with us in the fire;You are with us in the midst of lions. We pray in the Spirit, and in the mighty name of Jesus according to God’s will in all matters. We stand upon Your word. You are greater and You live within us. We overcome all that defies Your truth by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Amen

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11

Read Ephesians 6

Disclaimer: i am not attempting to teach the Bible, and I am not giving advice,  I am just sharing a Bible study that was inspired by prayer.