Paraklētos

By Kyle Blackwell

God never called His children to be cupcakes. I know that most Christians think it is okay to be trampled on because Jesus stated that if an enemy hits you on the right cheek, turn to the other cheek also. However, this does not mean we are to allow the devil to take over our lives and treat us however he pleases. 

All through the Bible there are instances that show God’s righteous anger. One story that is most interesting to me is found in the book of 1 Samuel. 

Verse 1 of 1 Samuel 11

Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

Okay, so I want to start off by saying that early in my research for this study I found that the Hebrew meaning of Nahash is serpent. I do not know about you but that would be the first alarm going off in my head that this man is not right in the head. 

Verse 2 of 1 Samuel 11

But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”

See what I mean? Serpent!!! The gouging out of the right eye served two purposes. One being that when these men are walking around with only one eye they will be recognized as one who was defeated by king Nahash of Ammon. The other is the same as how the United States made sure that the Japanese would never cause harm to them after World War 2. As part of their surrender, the Japanese were forced to end their military power for anything more than defense. The gouging out of the right eyes would also hinder the Israelites from being able to use their weapons since the left eyes would be blocked by their shields. Even though it sounds sinister, it is a very ingenious idea. The most troubling thing for me is that this is God’s people we are talking about. They lost complete trust in God. 

Verse 3 of 1 Samuel 11

The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 

I just have to say one quick thing about this. You can see just how prideful Nahash is to allow the Israelites to have a full week to go and search for help. Really? That is about as foolish as America letting the world know exactly when we were going to pull out of the middle east so that enemy forces could go into hiding until we went home. Kind of foolish. And remember what Nahash’s name means; serpent. I may be wrong but I truly believe that Nahash is a representation of satan himself. satan turned away from God because of pride. 

Verses 4-6 of 1 Samuel 11

When the messengers came to  Saul of Gibeah, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud. Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 

This is where we get to the meat of the story. Notice where the Bible says that the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul and was filled with anger. So many times, as Christians, we allow people to walk all over us as if we are punching bags. But has Holy Spirit ever filled you with a raging anger that you cannot control? I am angered every day when I see people who call themselves Christians, yet they are only christian on Sunday mornings between 11 and 12. By the way, I am not judgemental towards the people themselves, but I am angered at the weak preaching that satan has brought to the Western world. We live in America where we have the privilege of carrying around an entire Bible. Some countries will kill a person just for possessing one torn up piece of the Bible. They are willing to die for God, yet in America we treat Christianity as a joke. We are afraid to share Christ in our workplaces because we may get fired. We are afraid to share the Blood of Jesus in stores because of what people may think of us. Let me tell you something, we were not “called” to be spineless, cupcake, jelly belly christians. We were called to “GO”! 

“Go, and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19

Oh, but we might offend someone. Who cares? Would you rather offend someone or would rather offend the one and only, the Living God Almighty? The creator of all things! And if you are truly afraid to share God with others because you're afraid of what others may think, then you are ashamed of Jesus. And that is a road that you do not want to go down. Jesus stated in Luke 9:26

Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

My friends, if you have Holy Spirit truly residing within you, then you will have a burning anger and you will have a fire deep within your soul to reach the lost. You will have a fire so great that even the fire department cannot contain it. 

I think it is imperative that we stop and just take a look at who Holy Spirit actually is. In order to do this I am going to take us to a place in John where Jesus describes Holy Spirit for who he truly is. John 14:16 in the King James Version states:

And I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever

The word Comforter is not what we think it means. In English, we think of a comforter as someone who makes us feel all nice and cozy. We cannot be further from the truth. If that is all we think Holy Spirit is, then we are missing the whole reason why Jesus gifted us with Holy Spirit in the first place. We get our English word for comfort from the Latin word, fortis, which is where we also get the military word, fortitude. In Latin, fortis means brave, courageous, or strong. In Greek, comforter comes from the word Parakletos. We find this word all throughout the New Testament and it is used in different variants while describing Holy Spirit. The real translation for Parakletos is defender, advocate, helper and consoler. What this means is that Holy Spirit was given to us in order that He may walk alongside us and even go ahead of us to protect, so we mo longer fear anything the devil tries to throw at us. In fact, 2 Timothy 1:7 states:

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Sometimes it is easy to lay down and give up when the enemy comes like a roaring lion seeking to steal, kill and destroy, but we must realize that if God is for us nobody can be against us. Just like Saul, we must allow Holy Spirit to guide us through the battle. In order to do so, we must rely fully on God. We must submit ourselves to Him and he will direct our paths. 

I could continue with the story of Nahash and Jabesh but I will let you finish it on your own. It is a very interesting turn of events that happens after Saul gets involved but the message for today is to glorify the Spirit of the Almighty. We need to glorify God in everything we do and wherever we go. I can promise you that there is a path to God’s Word in whatever conversation we are in so long as we put God first in every aspect of our lives.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge -Hosea 4:6