Proverbs 28, verse 1, bold as a lion

 

Proverbs 28:1 ¶ The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The Hebrews were warned that if they, being a people created by God, rejected His standards, despised His judgments, and turned their back on a national relationship with Him then He would bring all kinds of ruin on them, in Leviticus 26:14-39. One of the punishments that God would bring would be faintness of heart, fear, paranoia, and running from an enemy that wasn’t even pursuing them.

Leviticus 26:37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

But, just before that, He had told them that their obedience to Him would translate into great courage against their enemies, with God on their side.

Leviticus 26:7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

The Christian has no earthly nation from which to fight. His warfare is not of the flesh (2 Corinthians 10:4). The Bible believing Christian conducts no war of murder and slaughter of men in the name of God. His warfare is spiritual in conquering sin and deception.

The righteous, under the doctrines of Christianity in the letters written by Paul, are righteous by view of the fact that they have the Spirit of the righteous Christ in them. They have no righteousness of their own based on the flesh as the Christian knows that He can’t keep God’s standard of His own will.

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

 

But, if a Christian is not submitted to Christ through His words written in His Book and if they adopt a manmade religion of ritual and obedience to the law of men who place their own authority higher than God’s…….

2Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

…then by comparing this Proverb written under the Law to the Christian, who is a type of the nation of Israel of old, we can see that fear, paranoia, hatred, and being deceived will be his or her fate. Christians who have not submitted to God’s word will live in fear of everyone; the government, homosexuals, Muslims, the Vatican, secularists, or anyone they perceive as being an enemy of the God of the Bible, and by extrapolation, their enemy. They will burn Korans, scream unintelligible Bible verses through megaphones at “gay pride” parades, dare the government to take their weapons from their “cold dead hands”, rail against Rome, and spew venom at public schools and anywhere where their version of the Christian faith is not promoted.

The Christian who has chosen to turn His back on God’s word and to follow men, shutting their ears and eyes to what God has said, and chosen the religion of faith in a demagogue on television, in the halls of Congress, or behind any given pulpit in the land will run when no one pursues, and will be unable to stand. Why? Because he or she does not have the assurance that God will triumph in the end, that Christ is returning to take over the kingdoms of the world, or that he or she is actually on the winning side. He or she wants to build a physical kingdom of God on earth as they see it without the King present and without His authority to do so.

Why? Because they have itching ears….

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The faithful Christian will be bold as a lion when facing death, sickness, temptation, and the wickedness of this present evil world. He will face persecution without fear or uncertainty and live with peace and joy in his or her heart even when life itself is in the balance. His fortune, his earthly home, even his own flesh will be of less importance to him than Christ’s glory and triumph over a sinful world and the sin of his own heart. He will be thankful of everything God gives or permits including illness, loss, grief, poverty, and pain just as he will give thanks for all of his success, pleasures, and happiness to God alone. He will not be angry or love violence or take pleasure in sin as entertainment. He will unite with a local church body in worship and good works spreading the gospel of Christ, read His Bible, hear it preached, pray constantly, and focus on heaven, not the earth. He or she will feed the hungry, comfort the sick, and attend to the things of God, which do not include greed and selfish promotion.

Are you running now? Or standing bold as a lion? Your salvation is not found in the halls of Congress or the White House. Your enemy is not some deceived, lost person who is a child of Satan. Surrender to God’s word and be made fearless.