CHAPTER TWO

Part 3

The Cry of a Desperate, Persecuted Man

Selected Verses From Psalms Chapter 22 With Commentary

Psalms 22:11:  Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.****Ever feel like the whole wide world was against you and no one understood you or cared to help you in your hour of trouble? The Psalmist David suffered such anxiety and desperation.  In I Samuel 26:20 David declares that he feels like a flea being pursued by a mighty  king, or a partridge being hunted in the mountains. King Saul, with his royal hatchet men  in tow, and powerfully armed, persecuted and hunted for the life of his frightened son-in-law.  Why? Because the insecure king feared he might lose his throne to a far better man. Deep down, bullies know they are rotten to the core, so they want to cut others down.

Verse 12 Many bulls have compassed (surrounded) me: Strong bulls of bashan have beset (overwhelmed) me around.*****The word “bully” sounds a lot like “bull”, doesn’t it?  Ask any cowboy what would happen to a greenhorn who  got thrown into a bullpen with a bunch of wild horses or bulls that haven’t been broken yet. Anyone who couldn’t subdue the wild beasts would be trampled underfoot. When a cowboy “breaks” a horse, he doesn’t hurt it.  He works with the animal to tame it, in order   to bring it under control so that it submits willingly to authority and becomes a useful creature instead of a destructive one.  Bullies are like unbroken wild animals who go out to break others to bits emotionally, socially  or physically.

Verse 13  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening (seeking prey) and a roaring lion.*****Bullies have big mouths that love to gape (open wide) just like a menacing lion will open its mouth wide to roar to paralyze its prey with fear.  Then the lion rips up the weaker creature with its big scary mouth.  Much of mankind’s wickedness proceeds from his mouth, which he uses to destroy his fellow man. Dogs bite, and so do bullies.

Verse 14:  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.*****When extreme fear of violence overtakes you, you feel like your guts are going into meltdown! You feel doomed because you can neither flee the situation nor adequately fight it. A deadly cocktail of hopelessness, shame, and despair overpowers you.

Verse 15:  My strength is dried up like a potsherd (pottery shard); and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.*****Bullying is a living death which shatters your inner strength to resist the evil.  I have known some pretty scary situations where my mouth went dry as dust. Like David fleeing his enemies in the wilderness,  I have felt like a dust dweller, a helpless flea who was there only to be trampled upon.

Verse 16:  For dogs have compassed (surrounded) me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.*****This verse is one of many in the Psalms which prophesy of the sufferings of Christ Himself. Notice, the words “dogs” and “wicked” occur in the same context. Evil, violent men are lower than dogs. They gather in packs to close in on their prey and surround their victim to destroy him.   In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was surrounded by enemies armed with weapons (Matt.26:47). He was surrounded by evil, scheming religious leaders intent on His destruction (Matt.26:57-68). Roman soldiers surrounded him to mock and abuse him (Matt.27:27-31).  They did this fearlessly, because Jesus was outnumbered and because they feared no immediate punishment from God.

Verse 17:  I may tell (can count) all my bones: they look and stare upon me.*****The ruthless Romans used a flagrum to beat condemned prisoners with. This horrible instrument of torture was like a cat of nine tails tipped with heavy lead pellets.  A flagrum could easily shred the flesh of any victim unlucky enough to be on its receiving end.  Jesus was so badly beaten the flesh was ripped off His ribs, and they  were easily visible.  Bullies are dogs who go on the attack to destroy someone, then they turn into bloodthirsty vultures who will rip the walking dead to shreds, either emotionally or physically.

Verse 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture (gambled for my clothes).*****The wicked Romans were not content to torture and mock Christ, beat Him to a bloody pulp and nail Him to a cross.  They shot dice to see who would get His humble garments, His only earthly possessions, as He hung naked on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth. Bullies rob you of every last trace of your dignity and leave you emotionally naked, exposed to scorn and bleeding inside.

Verse 19:  But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.*****As Christ was being killed, His enemies and their father the devil seemed to have the upper hand. But Jesus’ suffering and death were allowed by God to pay for our redemption  from sin.  Christ trusted that God would judge righteously (I Pet. 2:22).

Verse 20:  Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling (Heb. yachiyd, only son) from the power of the dog.*****God’s only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, fell under the power of the dog, or wicked man, for a while, until His mission to offer Himself as a Sacrifice for sin was accomplished. But satan could not keep Jesus in the grave. Christ rose in power and glory, and lives forevermore, seated in glory at the right hand of God the Father (Heb.10:12-14). And He awaits the day that all His enemies will be put under His feet (Psalms 110:1; Acts 2:33-35).

Verse 21:  Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns (wild bulls).*****The proud lion opens its mouth wide to roar and to rip its prey with its sharp fangs. Bullies never do seem to shut up, do they? They use their cruel mouths for the destruction of others.  A wild bull is proud of his big, pointy horns, and they make him feel superior to the rest. .  A bull uses his horns to stab his competitors, and generally to throw his weight around to show who’s boss.  A human bully is like that.  He might go around flashing a big stash of cash, or threatening others with weapons or his own personal army of subordinate bullies.  But even the cruelest oppressor or dictator on earth will one day die and stand before God, Who won’t be so impressed by how cool he is.

Isaiah 51:12-13:  I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, that shall be made as grass; And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy?  And where is the fury of the oppressor?

This is the ultimate fate of satan, father of all bullies:

Isaiah 14: 15:  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Verse 16:  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;**** Imagine that same devil who caused all the wars, sin, crime and heartbreak in the earth humbled by God and cut down to size so that he is now the laughingstock of the universe!  What marvelous justice that would be, dispensed by Almighty God!

Verse 17  That made the earth as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?****Satan is the architect of every war and environmental disaster in the history of mankind, and he has kept multitudes bound in sin and bound in chains of fear of the power of darkness.

Ezekiel 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: Therefore I will cast thee out as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.*****Lives have been snuffed out in the ruthless quest for riches and gain.  Babylon’s wicked merchandise has perverted the minds of youth to glorify violence in video games and various computer pastimes. Satan, who once occupied the position of covering cherub before the Throne of God, will be cast out of the heavenly places and destroyed.

Verse 17:  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of they brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.*****Satan, formerly Lucifer, the most beautiful of the angels, got so proud of his looks it corrupted his wisdom.  He became arrogant and rebellious toward God.  But someday God will humiliate him in front of the kings of the earth.

Verse 18:  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities (sins); by the iniquity of thy traffick (buying and selling); therefore I will bring a fire from the midst of thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.*****Satan has his own perverted system of religion which has been corrupted by materialism and greed.  He is destined to be reduced to ashes in the sight of all. 

Verse 19:  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.***All who behold satan’s doom will be terrified at the prospect of sharing his fate.  Someday satan will be rendered totally helpless.

The final destruction of satan will occur after Christ has ruled Planet Earth for one thousand years, and satan is temporarily released from his prison to test the loyalty of mankind one final time.

Revelation 20:1:  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand:

Verse 2:  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and satan, and bound him a thousand years.

Verse 3:  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled (expire): and after that he must be loosed a little season.

What a blessed, glorious period that will be for mankind!  People will walk the streets free of the fear of crime!  During that wonderful Reign of Christ on earth, it will be the sinner, not the righteous person who will be the odd one out!  

Revelation 20:6:  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.*** Ruling with Christ is the destiny of all who exercise  repentance toward God and faith in Christ. Hallelujah!

Isaiah 14:7 says it wonderfully: The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. ****No one can say the earth is at rest today, with hundreds of wars raging all at once, crime statistics up, and the cutthroat competition in the workplace, etc. But when the Prince of Peace returns to reign,  peace will reign in all of nature and a restful quietness will prevail in the earth.  

Isaiah 55: 12:  For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.***All of creation will rejoice about being freed from the “bondage of corruption” it knew during the long reign of satan on earth (Rom.8:20-21).  

Revelation 20:7:  And when the thousand years satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Verse 8: And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. ****Notice, after one thousand years of paradise on earth, the devil still has no problem of finding mortal sinners to volunteer for his army of rebellion against God’s perfect government. Some people just aren’t satisfied with a perfect, restful environment and the goodness of a gracious, merciful God. Bullies hate peace and can’t stand to see others happy.

Satan-One Dastardly Daddy

The Hebrews had a highly descriptive name for one of the chief devils: Beelzebub, “the lord of flies”.  Pesky insects, by  their tireless persistence, wear you down.  They swarm around you, buzzing and waiting for you to relax your guard, so they can zero in and bite you.  Bullies are the same way.  Even verbal bullying withers the soul of a person by inches.  Jesus couldn’t have put it more succinctly when He addressed some Jewish religious leaders who saw the truth His teachings, yet refused to accept them:  YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father you will fulfill.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not live in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.  Which one of you can justly accuse me of sin?  And if I’m telling the truth, why won’t you believe me?  He who is of God will heed God’s words.  You refuse to heed His words because you are not of God (John 8:44-47).  No one who truly belongs to Christ can pledge allegiance to a swarm of bullies.

There is a malignant spirit at work  in the world, at war with the Spirit of Christ, Who is Love Incarnate.  By their fruits you shall know them, He says in Matthew 7:20.   The fruits of the bully’s life reflect the nature of his father satan: steal, kill, and destroy.  Satan incites the wicked to rob others, to engage in extortion, even to wage wars in order to satisfy that demonic drive to conquer less aggressive souls and prey on them. Christ has courageous soldiers who stand for righteousness, but the devil’s troops are a cowardly pack of dogs.  My dad used to tell me, “Don’t ever act scared around  a strange dog.  They can smell fear.”  Sure enough, bullies could discern that I sensed their meanness. My subconscious, cringing body language gave me away.  Like all wild beasts, bullies can detect fear.

Bullies brandish all the trappings of warfare: knives, guns, iron fists. But they don’t enjoy fighting unless there’s no pain in it for them. Six big, strapping youths pitted against one skinny “nerd” is hardly a fair match.  But the devil doesn’t fight fair; he fights dirty.  Through daily anxiety on the bus, and verbal intimidation at school, satan was trying to kill me by  degrees, and harden my heart against a God Who supposedly presided over the religious country clubs many of my enemies’ families belonged to. Later, when I learned to tell the difference between truth and hypocrisy, I realized that it is an insult to Christ to call loveless entities by His name.  You must, in your own mind, divorce bigoted hypocrites from the Christ of the Bible!   I John 3:15 says:  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.  

My tormentors gloated over my deterioration.  I seldom smiled.  The carefree giggle of a young girl was unknown to me.  Life was a grim ordeal.  I was at war, struggling for  mere survival, as I daily drew fire from snipers for the crime of just being me. I slinked into the shadows, fearful of being spotted and teased. Bullies are  always looking for something of God’s creation to destroy, some quarry to hound to death.

Recently I looked at a photo of myself at seventeen.  I honestly don’t  appear  much younger in that picture than I do today.  Now, the Holy Spirit in me causes my eyes to shine with joy. But back then, my face was blotchy from stress, and my eyes  had the terrified look of a deer running away from a hunter.

Before I began writing for the Lord, I had several dreams of lingering around my old high school, as if there were unfinished business to attend to.  The multi-colored buildings of Wormwood High came into view.  A feeling of revulsion would sweep over me, and I’d run like mad to escape that vast campus.  I’d never quite make it to the edge, when I realized I was trapped there because there was no way to get home.  No other address on earth is more loathsome to me than 666 Lucifer Lane.

Satan’s Motive

Why does Satan incite bullying in the first place?  Why does he persecute the elderly, the bald, the poor, the short, the tall, the plain-faced and odd-sized individual?

I believe the answer stems from satan’s own origins.  Before his fall, he was the most beautiful of heavenly angels.  His original name was “Lucifer”, or “day star”.       In Ezekiel 28: 12-15, God makes a lamentation over the demonic king of Tyrus, the fallen angel Lucifer.  Thus says the Lord God, `you were once an example of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.   God goes on to describe all the beautiful precious stones which once adorned this entity. In verse 14 He says:  You are the anointed cherub (of exceedingly high rank in the presence of God).  I have ordained it to be so.  You were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  You were perfect in all your ways till wickedness was found in you.

How great is your fall from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!   How are you cut down  to the ground, you who once weakened  the nations!  For you have said in your heart,  I will ascend into  heaven.  I will exalt my throne above   the stars of God:  I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I  WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH  (Isaiah 14: 12-14).

Notice all the “I will’s in that arrogant passage. The ungodly love to make pompous boasts.  In verse 15 God pronounces Lucifer’s ultimate doom: You shall yet be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.   God  promises that all who are haughty  will be brought low. He says in Isaiah 13:11:  And I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their sins; and I will bring an end to the arrogance of proud souls, and  subdue the haughty oppressor.    Evidently Lucifer had occupied the highest position in heaven’s hierarchy of angels.  But instead of being thankful to God for his beauty and exalted office, his attitude began to sour toward his Creator.       Lucifer ‘s ego swelled up because of his dazzling beauty.  He considered the humble material God had formed Adam from.

Quite possibly  Lucifer knew that God’s ultimate goal in creating mankind in His own image was to  eventually grant him authority over all created things (see Hebrews 2: 6-8).  Verse 8 indicates that  some things are now under the dominion of man, but not yet all.  Adam was given dominion over the earth.  In order to qualify for eternal life and rule over all creation with Christ, he had to first be subjected to a period of probation, to test his loyalty to God’s authority.

Lucifer chafed at the thought that a man formed of clay would one day rule over him.  He did not trust the loving wisdom of God, Who does all things well.  He didn’t agree with God’s plan one bit. So Lucifer decided to recruit a gang and fight to defend his turf.

He mapped out his own strategy for seizing God’s Throne and usurping the government of God’s universe. He rallied his troops and led a mass rebellion in heaven.  He would try to dethrone Almighty God.  Many theologians believe that one-third of the heavenly host sided with satan in that conflict.  This belief is probably based on Revelation 12:4, which describes how the symbolic red dragon (satan) drew one-third of the stars down from heaven with his tail and cast them to the earth. During the Great Tribulation, all Lucifer’s demons will be cast down from the heavenly places to the earth, following a battle with Archangel Michael and his army (see Revelation 12:7-9).

Lucifer’s coup military failed. Stripped of his exalted position,  he and his angels were exiled from heaven, in anticipation of that distant day when they would be consigned to the Lake of Fire for eternal torment.  Divested of his original sinless nature, Lucifer became a loathsome, warped monster whose sole motive was revenge against Almighty God.  He became known as “satan” (Hebrew for “adversary”).

The most tragic story of betrayal is recorded is recorded in the third chapter of Genesis.   Satan achieved the fall of Adam and Eve by beguiling the couple into sampling the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the one tree of the Garden which God had reserved strictly for Himself.  God had said, “The day you eat of that tree, you die.”  Once they’d eaten, the guilty couple died spiritually.  They fell from their original state of innocence.  Harmony with God and enjoyment of His immediate Presence was replaced with dread of His great Holiness, and fear of His retribution for their act of rebellion.  A gradual process of physical deterioration ensued.  Adam died physically at the age of 930,  within one of God’ s millennial days; to Him, 1000 years is as one day  (II Peter 3:8).  Compelled only by divine love, Christ would, many centuries later, come to earth to offer Himself as God’s  sinless Sacrifice for sin in order to obtain salvation for repentant sinners (John 3:16; Romans 5:8-9).

The destiny of redeemed children of God is to reign with Christ in His eternal Kingdom.  The devil resents this, and scorns the descendants of Adam who dwell in imperfect bodies of flesh and blood.  He uses his own human children to inflict torment on all those who are vulnerable, both saved and unsaved.  Bullies comprise one of the many channels through which satan vents his spite against the Creator.  They conform to the ugly nature of their father satan.  II Timothy 3:1-5 records all the components of fallen human behavior which are trendy in these “last days” of God’s patience with this wicked world: 

Know this also, that in the last days dangerous times shall come.  For men shall be self-centered, greedy, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, breakers of treaties, perjurious, promiscuous, fierce, DESPISERS OF THOSE WHO ARE GOOD (bullies detest gentle, sensitive souls, whether they profess Christ or not), traitors, arrogant, conceited, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.  

     This passage is a perfect description of a TV-jaded generation which has been taught not to have scruples about anything, that nothing is wrong so long as you don’t get caught.  Bullies are one putrid fruit of this morally bankrupt generation.

Terminal Bullying-The Road to Suicide

One sinner destroyeth much good (Eccl.7:18b)

I could easily have committed suicide to escape the monsters who fired the devil’s doo doo at me day in and day out. Only the thinnest veneer of restraint kept me from going over the edge.  One boy  said:  “C....., if I looked like you I’d kill myself.”  I glared at that monster, thinking:  I won’t give you the satisfaction!  No matter how long it takes, even if it takes the rest of my life, I’ll win in the end! 

No doubt he would have thrown a wild beer bash if I’d blown myself up in the gym.  The Wormwood Ragsheet  would have sported a headline in 3-inch type:  “C..... ERADICATED!”, I was hated so much.  I honestly felt it was my anger that gave me the will to go on living. I didn’t want to give my stinking enemies the thrill of victory. And within me I heard a faint voice, the all-but-forgotten vestige of a brief  salvation encounter which never had the chance to blossom or grow.  It  seemed to say, very faintly through the deafening din of battle:  “Hang in there, Pat. You’ll survive somehow.  Someday you’ll emerge triumphant over all of this.”

 As I reflect upon the many undeserved words of hate fired at me my response is:  “Mr. Devil, you must have left your brains behind when they kicked you out of heaven.  Jesus outsmarted you by allowing you to crucify Him in order to give me eternal life and assure your future destruction.”

Even before I became acquainted with the God of Love and Perfect Wisdom, I knew that this world, so alienated from His goodness, was utterly without hope; for it has rejected the Prince of Peace and chosen the prince of darkness.

Some people can’t triumph. The saddest story I ever read was of a young suicide victim.  She was just a small child.  She was bullied at school to the point of madness.  When the Christmas holidays came, she found blissful respite.  But when school was about to resume, she grew panicky.  She pleaded with her mother not to be sent back to school.  Her mother thought she was exaggerating the difficulty and wouldn’t listen to her plea.

Before she hanged herself in her bedroom, the little girl left her mother a note:  “I hate you, Mom.”

How chilling.  Doubtless, that poor child had never heard of the love of Jesus.  Certainly not in her godless secular school.  Her little being had cried out for love, but all she’d ever learned in school was how to be afraid and how to hate.  My blood always boils when I read of such tragedies caused by the cruelty of others.  There is a righteous variety of anger, as well as a sinful kind.  Righteous anger should lead to sensible actions, and Spirit-inspired prayers to the All-wise God Who alone judges the souls of men righteously. Rash courses of action should be avoided.   There are times when God takes vengeance against unrepentant sinners, but that is His prerogative, not ours.   If more righteous indignation over evil existed in this world instead of passive acceptance, what a difference it would make to mankind!

It is a heartrending tragedy when a victim’s  ingrained survival instinct is overpowered by the urge to  escape a hostile world.  Compelled by law or circumstances to remain captive in school and “tough it out”, the victim is subjected to daily ambushes, teasing, vandalism of personal property, and any perverse tortures which wimpy school officials will tolerate.  The very soul of the victim feels squeezed between a rock and a hard place.  Finally, death seems to be the only honorable route of escape.  School, a chamber of horrors, has now become an execution chamber for a rejected soul.

When people aren’t strong enough to survive bullying and end up taking their own lives, their blood is on the bully’s hands.  The tormentor is a murderer, just as much as if he had blown his victim away with an AK-47.  The laws of this world might excuse him, and chalk it up to happenstance.  The bully might even “get a buzz”  out of the tragedy, and feel more macho for pushing somebody  else into a premature grave.  He may grin triumphantly just like a genocidal Nazi, knowing that he’s wrung every last possible tear out of his prey.  Smugly smiling, he boasts he got away with it. One British school neglected to protect a girl from long-term, systematic bullying.  When she could take no more, she made a suicide pact with a friend, who survived it.  But the girl didn’t.  Unsurprisingly, the court absolved the school of any blame for the girl’s death. But God holds that wimpy school and her tormentors responsible for the blood of that girl, even if she died by her own hand. The seeds of death were sown in her soul by the bullies.  No wonder there’s such a bullying epidemic. Even if a bully kills his victim, he might get a laughable sentence “because of diminished responsibility.” And he’ll pat himself on the back for getting a cheap thrill in exchange for a year’s probation, max.

The very latest craze in the UK is “happy slapping”.  A yob (young & obnoxious) will go up to a complete stranger on the bus and assault him or her while his friends record the incident for transmitting and viewing on their cell phones.  They might wear a baseball cap with a hood so surveillance cameras can’t catch them.  But God knows who they are and their day of judgment is at hand.

Today  hellfire and damnation is taboo sermon material in modern churches, though Jesus said much more about hell than heaven in the Bible.  Instead, a cost-free, downy-soft “love” is being pushed from the pulpit, one which glosses over God’s role as judge of the wicked.  According to Ezekiel 13:22, God not only rebukes false prophets who condemn the innocent, but those who promise the wicked they’ll getaway with it, thus encouraging them to go on being wicked. Sinners have no incentive to repent of their wicked ways if they think God’s got nothing against them.

But God keeps accurate records in heaven.  No computerized accounting program can approach His pinpoint accuracy.  Not even one bird falls to the ground unnoticed by His ever-vigilant eyes (see Matthew 10:29-31).  Human beings  are of infinitely more value to Him; for His own image, though tarnished in mankind through Adam’s fall, is indelibly stamped upon each human soul.  Sinners, especially rich or popular ones, might altogether escape the consequences of sin in this world.  But God’s keeping track of all their dirty deeds.  There is no statute of limitations on His justice, however long in coming it might be.  One day sinners will fearfully bend the knee to their Great Judge, Who would have become their loving  Savior had they repented.  Vengeance upon the unrepentant is God’s prerogative, and He will surely repay (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).

Some will say it’s a bit extreme or even un-Christlike to label bullies as murderers, and I’m being way too hard on them, or, heaven forbid, judgmental.  But why is it that the seriousness of the sin of terminal bullying is downplayed by soft-hearted religious sentimentalists? Why are Christians so eager to make sinners feel better about themselves, while neglecting to warn them of the terrible wrath of God? 

I’ll tell you just a little of how deadly serious terminal bullying is in the sight of God.  Anyone with eyes to see will admit that if you throw even a tiny pebble in a pond, there are widespread ripples.  Fish are frightened from the spot.  Maybe birds are started from their nests when they hear the sound of the rock splashing the water.  I’ll cite an imaginary scenario, which I’m certain has occurred countless times.

To begin with, all have sinned and come short of God’s glory, bullies and victims alike (Rom.3:23).  The wages of sin is death (Rom.6:23).  Granted, all die physically, whether they’re saints or sinners, but spiritual death and ultimate consignment to hell is the fate of those who don’t accept Christ as Savior.

 “Rhonda” begins life as a loving, smiling baby, who brings happiness to her friends and family.  Oh, she goes through her “terrible two’s” just like most other kids, but before she starts school Rhonda is content with simple pleasures of life. A piece of candy, a hug, drawing pictures for her parents who dote on her.  Rhonda feels joy and wonderment in the sight of a new litter of puppies or the sweet singing of the birds.  Rhonda enjoys learning and asking questions.  Rhonda loves to meet people who come to the house to visit her parents. In short, Rhonda is a very happy little girl who loves life.

Rhonda doesn’t fare too badly in elementary school. But shortly after starting  junior high, her dad gets sick and loses his job.  Rhonda’s mother cannot work because she has two small children to care for at home, and can’t afford day care. And someone has to nurse Rhonda’s sick dad.  So money is very tight.  At the vulnerable age of twelve Rhonda must buy most of her clothes at the thrift shop, including her shoes.  Rhonda can’t have all the electronic toys and C.D.’s her classmates prize.  She can’t go out with them to fun parks unless somebody treats her.  One day the pebble gets thrown into the pond.

A rather timid classmate has mentioned to Rhonda that she ought to come to Christ.  But Rhonda doesn’t really understand.  She’s like green fruit not yet ripe enough to be harvested by a soul winner.  Rhonda needs more time to think it over.  Right after that encounter, a classmate makes fun of Rhonda’s second-hand winter coat.  The bully calls Rhonda a smelly rag bag, and she doesn’t take the taunt quietly.  Before long the circle of bullies zeroing in on Rhonda widens.  Rhonda resents it, and the madder she gets, the meaner the bullies get.

Rhonda complains to her parents, who tell her to stand up for herself and quit being a crybaby.  Her teachers try to humor her into rising above the abuse. Finally a boy stomps on her toes while a girl grabs Rhonda’s books and throws them across the street.  Rhonda rants angrily against any god who would let all this bad stuff happen to her. The student who witnessed to Rhonda pleads with her to just be more patient and understanding toward the bullies, and try to look for good in them, because there’s good in all people, even the worst of them.  Rhonda ought to just be meek and turn the other cheek.  Her Christian classmate doesn’t want to go out on a limb and say that God is able to fight on Rhonda’s behalf against the devil oppressing her.  So Rhonda is advised not to get bent out of shape about the abuse because after she dies a better life will be hers if only she will trust Christ for salvation. The well-meaning churchgoer, who has been raised to believe this, says “God helps those who help themselves”, and “miracles are done away with”. Besides, God is way up there in heaven, so He really can’t do much about making Rhonda’s life any better. So Rhonda isn’t much impressed by what her church friend has to offer. In her most miserable moments she yells at God and swears that she hates Him for letting others hurt her.

     One day a boy tells Rhonda that she ought to put herself out of her own misery because she’d always be nothing but poor “Ragbag Rhonda”. So guess what Rhonda does? Rhonda “helps herself” in the only way she knows how.   This green fruit never had a chance to ripen so it could be harvested into the Kingdom of God.  Rhonda takes that evil scumbag’s advice…and a bottle of pain killers washed down with alcohol.  Of course her death makes the news for a day or two and the school cries crocodile tears, pretending to be scandalized that “it could ever happen here”. All the teachers blame Rhonda for being a misfit who should have had a thicker hide.  But what gives people the notion that emotional pain is imaginary and unreal?  The principal pontificates on the need to “learn lessons from this tragedy so we’ll be able to move on from here”.  But any lessons learned will soon be forgotten as Rhonda’s tormentors congratulate themselves for a job well done and go look for someone else to hound to their grave.  Mission accomplished.

What is the end result of this sick scenario?  Victim or bully, any person who rejects Christ and hates God ends up in hell.  If God had been glorified as being a great Deliverer (II Sam.22:2; Psalms 18:2),  Rhonda might have lived to accept Christ and find peace with Him, but her probationary period on earth was cut drastically short by evil bullies, and particularly the nasty boy who advised her to commit suicide. 

Think of it.  Rhonda might have met a wonderful Christian man someday and raised a family who grew up to love her. Children who would have given birth to succeeding generations of people who might have brought glory to God’s name and brought joy to His heart.  But oh, no, God was robbed of all that by bullies! Bullies who not only killed Rhonda’s body but pushed her poor soul into a deeper hell.

Terminal bullying has everlasting consequences, not just temporary ones.  So don’t tell me I’m being too harsh when I criticize evil bullies. The wonder is that it’s still possible for God to forgive bullies who are like the ones in this hypothetical story.  The miracle is that God would allow such people into the very heaven they denied Rhonda!

I had not originally planned to include prophecy in the format of my book, but my sole priority is following the Lord’s leading. One of the major beliefs I hold as a Spirit-filled Christian is that God still manifests His power through the nine spiritual gifts listed in I Corinthians 12:8-10.   I have particularly had the Gift of Prophecy flow through my life for over 35 years  and have just written a book of messages entitled: Behold, I Seek My Own, available to read freely online by logging onto www.christianityoasis.com/puritypublications/5022/beholdiseekmyown.htm

. 

These words were given  to warn the wicked and comfort their victims, and to strengthen their  confidence that God is able to undertake for them.

I Will Rid the Earth of Evil Beasts

Ecclesiastes 8:11; Isaiah 57:20; Ezekiel 34:25-28; Zephaniah 3:13

Truly, saith the Lord, the wicked are as the restless sea which is forever casting up mire and dirt.  They are like sharks which cannot rest unless they have torn some poor soul to pieces.  They cannot stand for their abiding place to be peaceful and restful so they continually stir up strife and trouble wherever they go, knowing that they stand a very good chance of escaping earthly justice.

The day will come when I will make a clean riddance of evil beasts upon Paradise Earth and all the innocent will be at rest and abide safely in the land which I have given them.  Throughout My Millennial Reign upon earth, My people will walk confidently out in the open any hour of the day or night.  Even the wild beasts will be at peace of them, for it is only the evil beasts bent on sin and iniquity and the two-legged beastly children of the devil which will be cast off the earth, so that they  trouble and torment its inhabitants no more.

I created this planet not for rebellious sinners and evildoers but for My children, and I will shortly usher in My Day of Peace and Rest during which My sons and My daughters will lie down safely and none shall make them afraid ever again, saith the God of Heaven.

God’s Warning to the Unrepentant

Psalms 11:5; Isaiah 66:44; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 12:5; II Thes. 1:8; Rev. 20: 12-15

I the Lord am the only escape from that fire which is to come, a fire far worse than could ever rage in this world, an everlasting fire which is as inextinguishable as My just wrath against all wickedness.

Why do I hate sin and perversion so much?  Because it destroys innocent souls which I have made in My own image.  Daily I am grieved at the bloodlust of evil men.  By day and by night the cries of innocent babes and children arise to My Throne.  I hear the screams of little children victimized by  brutality and by the lust of men so evil they are beneath the vilest beasts of the earth.  I am well able to restore purity and peace in precious souls who had to suffer in such a world as this, but I can do nothing for those who refuse to forsake their sins.

I see many people in middle age and old age reminiscing with loved ones and friends about the pranks they pulled when they were young, the mean things they did to others in the name of “fun”.  These perverts still make sport of  the ones they victimized.  They laugh and joke about the lonely soul  they  singled out for derision and isolated in the freezing solitary cell of utter loneliness.

Well, I have news for such sinners.  Hell is a furnace of fire, but it is also a place of utter loneliness.  What you sow you shall reap.  Billions of bullies will end up in hell for their wickedness. Every single one of them imprisoned in that dark  region of torment will endure a rejection far worse than they ever inflicted on their fellow human being, and they will feel the icy cold of  desolate loneliness clawing at their cruel hearts. And the presence of other sinners in hell will provide no relief for their well-deserved punishment! In this world even the basest of sinners will show outward loyalty to their like-minded comrades, but in that evil place of torment not a trace of  love and compassion will  be present.

I say to such ones:  Don’t brag that you’ll be throwing wild parties in hell, and all your friends will be down there too.  When you’re crying with remorse and need comfort, they’ll be unwilling and unable to comfort you because they will also be in the same wretched state of torment. Love and caring will be totally absent in those who gave their whole lives to victimizing others. They will be utterly wrapped up in their own miseries. Every last vestige of civility will have faded from their personalities, and they will, in hell, be finally stripped of their masks.  Their wild savagery will be manifest for all to see, and by then they will be beyond all hope of redemption from a condition of sin which will be permanent. Every trace of what passes for goodness will be utterly gone like a mist faded away, for those debauched souls  will not have founded   their lives upon that One Whose righteousness alone is enduring.

When there are no innocent souls available for them to harass, the wicked will make each other’s hell  even worse by showing their true colors:  mean and selfish beasts who exist only to stoke the fires of their perverted lusts.

The worst punishment in hell is this: I won’t be around to comfort anybody who chooses  to go there!