CHAPTER TWO

Part 2

 

 A lot of today’s Christians have a sweeter attitude toward impenitent sinners than God Himself does.  The only thing they get upset about is other Christians rebuking the wicked.  But what is God’s REAL attitude toward sinners?

 

The Bible teaches you to love even your enemies, but Scripture also declares God hates "all workers of iniquity" (Ps. 5:5). "The Lord abhors (deeply hates) the bloodthirsty and deceitful man" (Psalms 5:6). There are 6 things "the Lord hates," including "a heart that devises wicked plans...a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:16-19). God also hates the wicked and the one who loves violence (Psalms 11:5).  Bullies adore violence, so it follows that God hates the hardened bully who refuses to repent of his sins. Pray for God’s help to overcome the raw resentment that inevitably comes from being abused, and steer clear of satan’s traps.  It is our prerogative to join God in hating  the devil and his evil works, and hating the wicked deeds of the wicked.  But only God has the  right to hate people if He so wills. Hatred is the hottest and most explosive of all emotions, and when handled irresponsibly, it’s like having a monkey’s finger on the nucular trigger.   At least in this lifetime, it should never be directed at people by other people. Pray for God to protect you from the temptation to feel a nucular hatred toward other mortal humans which is bound to come from being badly abused.  Channel your strong hatred of your bad experience into something constructive, like lifting up others whom the devil has ground underfoot. If hating people is ever necessary, only God should do it, because He alone is without sin and wise enough to act rightly and justly. Surrender all bad feelings to God and pray for His love, while being cautious and wary toward those who aren’t worthy of your trust. Remember that your battle is not with flesh and blood, but with the devil (Eph. 6:12).  If you feel any compassion or tenderness  at all toward your enemy, that is the power of Christ at work within you, and not any virtue inherent in your own normal human nature.

 

Bullies will indeed have their day of reckoning, when perfect justice is dispensed by the Righteous Judge of all the earth. And I saw a Great White Throne, and Him who sat upon it, from Whose face the earth and the heavens fled away; and there was no place they could go.  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:  and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life:  and the dead were judged by those things which were recorded in the books, according to their deeds (Revelation 20: 11-12).

 

Back in the 60’s everybody said: “Tell it like it is”.  I believe in calling things what they are.  The  assistant principal was a spineless, sniveling powder puff.  He would take no action against the bully on the bus.  Out of his jurisdiction, he said, for it was “off the school grounds”.

 

In desperation I went to the police to report the assault.  The boy’s father wasn’t too thrilled with getting a visit from the cops.  After he’d threatened Butch with a beating, the abuse ceased_at least temporarily, until Bully Withdrawal Syndrome began to set in.  Evidently, bullying gives the bully  a rush like crack cocaine.  It would not be too long before tiny paperwads  would fly in my direction again, then much nastier spitwads.  Just like the devil.  He’ll start out with tiny projectiles, thrown ever so subtly.  When he knows he can get away with it, he’ll escalate the conflict with more menacing missiles.

 

One son of a preacher apologized to me, probably after his dad laid into him with a belt.  It doesn’t enhance a preacher’s image to have a subordinate bully as a son!

 

I remember one spineless rattlesnake who said something like this: “I’m sorry it has to be this way for you, C- - - , but I really don’t have any choice.  So he kept up with his hog calls and “tacks in the chair” routine.  The Bible teaches  that there really isn’t much you have to do to qualify for punishment in the afterlife:

 

Matt.5:21: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

Verse 22: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause (reason) shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (worthless) shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

 

Those who pick fights and start wars are in danger of terrible judgment from God. And God won’t buy some bully’s whiny  alibi that if he’d been nicer he would have lost all his friends.  Tough beans! God doesn’t let spineless crybaby cowards into heaven (Rev.21:8). Jesus suffered for doing right, even to the death of the Cross. Any decent person, male or female, ought to  be “man enough” to make a U-Turn and go the other way when the rest of the herd is stampeding to hell.  Calling a lonely, frightened girl a hog is just as bad as, if not worse, than calling her  worthless or a fool. Bullies do the devil’s work but payday is on its way.

 

Bitten By an Ugly Dog

 

One of satan’s favorite servants was Mike Crane, a  creep who assailed me from out of nowhere.  As in most other cases, I’d never even met him before, much less said anything to him.  He informed me that I was a “fat bastard”.  Well, next to that coat hanger, ANYBODY was heavy. For good measure, he threw in a bonus:  “pus bucket.” Well, Mike’s heart was full of something even nastier, that’s why it spouted out of his mouth: the devil’s diarrhea.  If that  fiend ever married some poor woman, pity her or any kids they might have had.  Just the idea that any woman could see anything decent in that lowlife, or that he could pass on his own vile values to the next generation. 

 

Is it a sin to call a mean, nasty brute a name?  Jesus called hardened, unrepentant sinners names when the occasion called for it! Jesus called King Herod a fox (Luke 13:32). Christ warned His people not to waste their precious spiritual treasures on dogs and swine (hogs)(Matt.7:6). Surely Jesus didn’t have the four-legged variety in mind here, because nobody in their right mind would toss a Bible into a literal pig pen!  If you want to be like Jesus in every way, confront cruel people with the utter rottenness of their souls, in order that they are forced to face the fact they’re dead in sin and on their way to hell.  Any honest doctor will tell an alcoholic he’s embalming his own brain and ought to lay off the happy sauce. Evil oppressors don’t need coddling.  They need loving discipline in the form of being told the truth about what horrible sinners they are in the eyes of God. Because if they don’t shape up, God’s gonna ship ‘em out to the Lake of Fire someday! If something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s probably okay to call it a duck!

 

Jesus did preach love, patience and forgiveness.  Jesus was tender-hearted toward repentant sinners who acknowledged their need of His help. Jesus even showed compassion toward His executioners. But was He ALWAYS sugary sweet in His attitude toward cruel, abusive people? Just read Matthew Chapter 23 where Jesus interacts with some shifty religious leaders who were plotting to put Him to death. Verse 33 in particular stands out: Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?  Here Jesus is comparing the exalted religious leaders of His own society to poisonous snakes!  These were men who deliberately led people astray for power and greedy gain.  Men who robbed widows’ houses and poisoned people’s minds against the truth Jesus preached.  My King James Bible says those shady characters were in danger of being damned to hell.  Other more modern versions substitute the softer word “condemnation”.  But it doesn’t change the fate of Jesus’ enemies. Those of them who didn’t repent aren’t floating in the clouds of Glory strumming harps today. They’re frying in a devil’s hell.

 

I had my share of rattlesnakes snapping at me for offending the standards of  Western society’s sexist boy toy culture. The less you looked like Toothpick Barbie, the  more likely you were to get bullied. And  I broke another law of the late 60’s as well.  My hair  wasn’t a slick and shiny, shimmery, curtain of  mirror-glossy glory that  like everybody else’s.  It was wiry, and the humid climate didn’t help much. I wish curves and curls would come back into fashion, to make life easier for today’s teenage girls.  But it would have been nice to have had silicone gels and magic straightening guns in my teenage years! The shorter I wore my hair the more it frizzed. Mean Mike’s own crew cut looked like a horsehair shoe brush, but he razzed me about how I must have stuck my finger in a light socket.

 

Mike had the spidery figure any girl would die for, but he had a rotten heart controlled by ugly demons of hate as all bullies do.   Beauty is as beauty DOES!!!

 

I’m only human.  Many a time I’ve thought of that toothpick tarantula and hoped he got a big beer gut later in life, just  to learn him a little Humility 101! 

  

Any physical feature which didn’t conform to the typical WASP stereotype aroused the suspicions of bullies about the “purity” of your racial heritage.  Butch called me the N-word because of my anti-Establishment hair.  Know what?  Ever since I moved over to this side of the Big Pond, I’ve seen quite a few indigenous English and Irish people whose hair is just like mine. Could be I forgot a history lesson in elementary school: Only  straight-haired strains of the white race made it  to the New World to chase the American dream?  That’s what ignorant racists would have you think!

 

So what if my curly hair was a symptom of the unforgivable sin...possibly being only 99.9 % white! Now even if God was the one Who put white supremacists  in charge of the world, He probably regrets it, just like He regretted making mankind before He sent the Great Flood. To be blunt, the white race has caused more hell on earth than all other races put together, especially rich white males! It’s white multi-nationals who have ruined the environment and exploited all colors of poor working people throughout the earth. The Bible says that those who are entrusted with greater blessings are held to a higher standard of judgment.  This could mean that people of any color whatever whom God allows to lord it over all the rest are ultimately responsible to Him for  whether they use their position to help or harm others. But based on the historical record, wealthy white males have got little reason to think they’re doing God a favor by strutting proudly in His presence!

 

I have reason to think I’m at least 1/64 honest Injun, and I do go on the warpath against bullying, don’t I!  But at least I only pound on paper! It’s God’s job to mete out punishment to the unrepentant.

 

In the early ‘60’s, lots of girls with droopy straight hair would tease it into knots to get the same anti-gravity look mine had.  On sunny weekends,  the riverside would be crowded with pink bodies toasting to a  delectable brown.  Bigots are inconsistent as well as loud-mouthed.

 

I wasn’t all that huge, but Butch the Beast  tormented me over my size. Because of monsters like him I’d resorted to nervous eating as my only comfort.  Satan oppressed me at home as well as at school, making my sleep fitful.  I read occult literature as an escape.  I dreamed of developing   psychic powers so I could empower myself against a hostile world. I almost wished the end of the world would hurry up and get here just to get people’s eyes off  me.  I  suffered from stress-induced acne, which further ruined my self-image.  I did not look like those teeny-weeny plastic dolls on TV sitcoms, and I was never allowed to forget it.  I dreaded each dawning day. I used to think that if I’d been skinny as a rake and magically made my hair soft and limp I’d have been left alone in peace.  But even if you CAN count every rib and blind your boyfriend with the highlights bouncing off your shiny hair, a determined devil who can’t find fault with your sexy looks will find some other damnable excuse to destroy you!

 

Satan has a nasty counterfeit for most everything God does.  God chooses some people for honor and others for dishonor (Romans 9:20-23), for not all will accept Christ. Who’s to say the devil doesn’t also choose people for dishonor by bigots in his own kingdom of darkness? I believe that even if I’d walked back into that high school after dieting down to skin and bones,  I still would have been chosen by satan for humiliation and destruction. The devil will not set his captives free for the price of a box of Curl Free, or for the price of a three-month fast. Only the power of the Spirit of God can deliver a teenager from fear of the devil’s crowd, and spiritual warfare needs to be waged on the victim’s behalf.

 

I felt like I was in a war zone, under fire each and every day, running a gauntlet of assaults on my soul.  If they’d shipped me over to Viet Nam I couldn’t have suffered worse hatred from unearned enemies.  Daily I was assailed by the fiery darts of satan (see Ephesians 6:16).  Only the power of the Holy Ghost has restored my ability to feel any love for other people whatsoever.  All my violated heart could feel before my Baptism in the Spirit was the raw, rankling bitterness of a wounded war veteran. If I seem to be angry now, it is a righteous anger against the boldness of bullies who STILL serve satan  without fear of punishment.  I am angry enough to want to see an end to satan’s reign on earth.  I honestly don’t know how anyone can war against the destroyer of souls without strongly hating him and his evil works!

 

Bullying destroys a person’s confidence, peace and emotional health.  Sometimes it leaves lasting physical damage.  In my case it did severe spiritual damage.  Before my high school years, I had a salvation experience at a church which does not teach the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I felt good for a few days, but no one was able to teach me how to discern the workings of satan and conduct spiritual warfare against his evil works.  No one at that church taught the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which brings a deeper dimension of relationship with God, and empowers a Christian’s life.  Self-effort failed.  I was Biblically illiterate at the time and so I did not know how to wage spiritual warfare by using the Word of God. Even though I had repented of my sins as a child, I wandered in spiritual ignorance and the powers of satan gained the mastery over me.  Being in high school was a den of lions for me.  I crumbled apart inside.  Day and night I wished that those who hurt me would end up crying themselves.  I hated their guts. I fantasized about being a superhero who had the power to really make them suffer and squash them like cockroaches. 

 

Bullying destroys spiritually, not just emotionally and physically!  If someone who had actually been born again (not yet Spirit-filled) was capable of the most horrible feelings of hatred toward tormentors, just imagine how bullying must affect someone who never had been told about the Savior!

 

Those who have been victimized by persistent, systematic bullying carry shrapnel in their souls, well into their adult years. I’ll give you a clue why:  Doo doo sticks! Mucky memories remain, and you have to cast them down in the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 10:3-5).The devil loves to use these memories to wear away at you and make you relive your scenes of humiliation over and over again. Just about any insult or aggressive behavior of others is enough to cause what I call  a “triggered regression response” of the nervous system and memory, where all the bad emotional sensations and memories of yesteryear come flooding back on a tidal wave to wash away your feelings of self-esteem.

 

People who don’t share your history of being bullied just don’t understand.  Things they can easily brush off set you off inside. They’ll say things like:  “That happened 40 years ago.  Just forget it.  But if you wander in an old WWII battlefield and stumble on an old land mine, it can still set off an explosion!  Bullies plant land mines in the souls of their victims! They do their dirty work and walk away free,  grinning, patting themselves on the back for destroying someone’s soul, if not their body. Time alone does not tame a land mine.  Time does not heal anything.  I’ve had a very real sinus condition for years on end and time has not healed that. Maybe God wants to demonstrate that His strength is made perfect in my weakness, even in my emotional fragility.

 

Unless God Himself pulls you out of the pit of rekindled bad feelings, they can persist  for days or even weeks. Those old memories are like fragile scar tissue that is easily torn back open. Daily I must depend on God’s power to  fend off the enemy’s lies. He’d ride me so much about my early life I was ready to write off all my years up to 1970 as so much smelly garbage. But God showed me those were wilderness years I traveled through to get to the glorious ones, much like pioneers traveled through the perils of Death Valley  to reach green and pleasant California.

 

It helps to remind yourself you’re a survivor and if you are a child of God, your end will be glorious.  If the devil keeps needling you, say to him:  “The Lord rebuke you, you dirty liar! You’re ALREADY damned to hell! MY God says you are the father of lies and there’s NO truth in you! I don’t want or need the approval of your yes-men! The Beauty of the Lord God is in me and upon Me and His Spirit of Glory dwells within me. My destiny is to reign with Christ My  Redeemer in a New Heaven and a New Earth.  Your destiny is to be destroyed in hell, where you will be bullied throughout all  eternity by those who once worshipped and served you.”

 

Yeah, I did one hell of a long stint in the Valley of Death. And  if there were any justice in this world, I’d be paid plenty for the way protracted emotional abuse wrecked my personal confidence. This made me people-shy, so that I always avoided taking any job which called for close interaction or competition with people.  Despite my native intelligence, I definitely would not work in the business world, where people must ruthlessly fight for their place in the pecking order.  When economic necessity forced this homemaker out into the workaday world, I opted for cleaning houses or service jobs where I was not in the public eye. Once my husband and I had our own restaurant, the main advantage was I didn’t have to take abuse from cranky customers and be tempted to quit, a luxury I simply could not afford!

 

Believe me, satan isn’t content to flatten you.  Years after the original attack, he might try to harass you with flashbacks at unexpected moments. I’m not going to say everything is rosy after you encounter God, because we still live in enemy territory, this fallen world.  I still have to call upon God for deliverance when the devil rides me about those ruined years.  Unless I draw upon the Power of God I suffer feelings akin to post-traumatic stress; milder than what most war veterans experience, but still very real, something I should have received court-awarded damages  for. I retaliate by reminding satan that I am God’s dear child, and I am destined for Glory.  The devil’s destiny is God’s trash incinerator_the Lake of Fire.

 

God is FURIOUS With Unrepentant Sinners!

 

Contrary to popular religious belief, the Bible emphatically states that there are certain categories of people the Lord does NOT love!  Here is some of what Scripture has to say about God’s true attitude toward hardened, unrepentant sinners. Some archaic phrases are clarified in parentheses.

 

Deuteronomy 25:16: For all that do such things, AND ALL THAT DO UNRIGHTEOUSLY, are an abomination (hateful thing) unto the Lord thy God.

Deut.32:22: For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

VERSE 23: I will heap mischiefs (disasters) upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

Psalms 5:6: Thou shalt destroy them that seek leasing (those who lie): the Lord will abhor (strongly hate) the bloody and deceitful man.

Psalms 11:5: The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Verse 6: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares (Heb.: a burning storm), fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest (storm): this shall be the portion of their cup.

Psalms 7:11: God judgeth the righteous (Heb. God is a righteous Judge), and God is angry with the wicked every day.

Verse 12: If he (the sinner) turn not (repent) he (God) will whet (sharpen) his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

Verse 13: He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors (pursuers).***David, the one who wrote this, was being hunted down by  King Saul, who was so jealous of David he wanted to kill him. 

Psalms 55:23: But thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction (hell): bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

Proverbs 6:16: These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Verse 17: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Verse 18: An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

Verse 19: A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.***Notice, God doesn’t just hate the lies and the discord committed by sinners in this verse.  God says He hates the sinner!

Isaiah 51:20: Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets (street corners), as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.

Isaiah 59:18: According to their deeds, accordingly he (God) will repay fury to his adversaries; recompense (retribution) to his enemies; to the islands (far-off coastlands) he will repay recompense.

Isaiah 66:15: For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Verse 16: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

Jeremiah 7:20: Therefore, thus saith the LORD GOD, behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Jere.21:5: And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.

Verse 12: O House of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver (rescue) him that is spoiled (robbed) out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings (deeds).

Jere.25:15: For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me, take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Jere.30:23: Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

Verse 24: The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return (relent), until he have done it, and untlil he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

Ezekiel 5:13: Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

Ezekiel 24:13: In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged (cleansed) thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

Ezekiel 36:18: Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they have shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it.

Nahum 1:2: The LORD is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

Verse 6: Who can stand before his indignation (fierce anger)? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Malachi 4:1: For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble (straw destined for the fire): and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of Hosts, that it shall neither leave them root nor branch.

I Peter 3:12: For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers: but THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THEM THAT DO EVIL.

But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned (Hebrews 6:8)

 

 

Synopsis of  Additional Wrath Scriptures (References Only)

 

The Psalmist David was confident that God would fight to defend him and would punish sinners. (Psalms 2:4-5, verses 9 and 12; 11:5; 37:12-15; 45:3-7; 72:4; 89:20-23; 97:10).

God ceases to care about unrepentant sinners and actually mocks them when calamity strikes them (Psalms 2:4; 37: 13; Prov. 1:24-32).

 God takes vengeance on arrogant sinners.  He will punish the world for its wickedness (Isaiah 13:6-11; 49: 25-26; 63:3-6; 66:24; Malachi 4:1).

 God will take no pity on sinners he punishes (Ezekiel 5:11; 7:4; 8:18).

 God has appointed a day to  pour out His fierce wrath on sinful mankind (Zeph. 2:1-3; Romans 2: 5-6).

God’s oppressed people are precious to Him and He will avenge them (Zech. 2:8; Luke 18: 3-7; Romans 12:19; Rev. 6:10; 18:20; 19:2).

 Jesus Himself will consign the wicked to hell fire! (Matt. 13: 40-42; 18:6-9; 25:41).

 Hell is a horrible place to spend eternity (Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:19-31; Jude 14, 15).

 Jesus will execute those who refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord ( Luke 19:37).

 Unrepentant sinners ALREADY  condemned to hell (John 3:18)!

 Hardened unbelievers are ALREADY appointed to be on the receiving end of God’s wrath (Romans 9:22; I Peter 2:8).

Those who reject Christ are to be accursed (I Cor. 16: 22; Heb. 6:8).

 God will take flaming vengeance  on sinners (Micah 4: 1; II Thes. 1:7-9; II Peter 3:7; Rev. 20: 7-10).

 God’s fury will be poured out on the earth during the  Tribulation (Rev. 2:6,26-27; 5:5; 6: 1,11:18; 14: 10,19-20; 16:6; 19:11-18; 20:11-15; 21:8).

 Jesus hates satan’s works and came to destroy them  (I John 3:8; Rev. 2:6).

 

 

Where it concerns unrepentant Sinners, does Jesus just forgive and forget?

 

No!  As the Righteous Judge, Jesus calls sinners to account. Matt. 23: 35-36; Luke 19:27; Rev. 6: 15-17; 18: 4-6, 20, 24; 20: 11-15; Rev. 2:23; 6: 15-17

Christ Himself is the Judge of Living and Dead.   John 5:22; Acts 10:42; 17:31; I Peter 4: 3-5; Rev. 19: 11-18

 

 

God Compares the Wicked to Dogs, Hogs and Deadly Snakes!

 

 

Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.****While an angry bear or cougar might make camping in the woods scary for a lone woman, the two-legged variety of wild beast is what scares her the most.  Just walking down a city street in the dark is intimidating to most women and children.  Imagine pitching your tent in a park, knowing some drunk might try to hit on you as you camped out there!  But the day will come, thank God, when He will rid this earth of belligerent beasts and people will be able to safely stroll city streets or rural areas any time of the day or night. 

 

I consider bullies to be mean-tempered, yellow (cowardly) dogs who barely pass for human beings.  Is it a sin to call a vicious, cowardly, cruel creature a dog?  Did JESUS ever call anybody a dog?

 

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine (hogs), lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend (tear) you.  Is Jesus speaking here of four-legged dogs and hogs?  I doubt it.  Both the dog and the hog were considered unclean creatures by the Jews (Lev.11:7; Deut.23:18). Those who refuse to let Jesus wash their sins away and give them a new heart are unclean in God’s sight, and are spiritual dogs and hogs. The ancient Jews, proud of their status as God’s chosen people, compared the Gentiles to "dogs." When a Canaanite woman asked Jesus to cast demons out of her daughter, Jesus said to her in Matt. 15:26-28: "It is not meet (appropriate) to take the children’s bread and to cast it to DOGS."

 

Actually the Greek word used in this context is kunarion, meaning a puppy, or little dog. But Jesus called this poor woman a dog nonetheless.  In this context Jesus is testing this woman’s faith to see how she will respond, and she humbly replied that she was seeking only the crumbs which fell from her Master’s table.  Jesus rewarded her faith with a miracle.   Now if Jesus called a humble, submissive Gentile a dog, what must He think of sinners who detest Him so much they refuse to repent of being bullies, violent criminals, and blood-thirsty war mongers?

 

Another place where God calls certain humans dogs is found in Isaiah Chapter 56:

Verse 10: His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.* * *Here God rebukes the spiritual overseers of Israel for their lack of vigilance and laziness, and their failure to deliver God’s warnings to the people.  They are compared to watchdogs which refuse to bark.

Verse 11: Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds which cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.* * *This verse aptly describes modern greedy preachers who are blind to the true Word of God and make a money racket out of religion.

 

What did Jesus call His worst enemies, the hypocritical religious leaders of His own nation?  O generation of vipers (poisonous snakes), how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh  (Matt. 12:34).

 

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell (Matt.23:33)?***Far from mollycoddling these wicked men, Jesus called them deadly snakes who were headed for the damnation of hell.  Modern Bible versions substitute the softer word “condemnation” for “damnation” in this verse.

 

Paul the apostle affirms the truth of a pagan proverb in Titus 1:12, which calls an entire nation  liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies.  Talk about political incorrectness!

 

The Antichrist is referred to as the Beast (Rev.16:13; 19:20).

 

In Phil.3:2 Paul issues a warning to church members:  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision (those who preach circumcision).***Do you really think Paul was warning people to beware of the labrador retriever running loose in their alleyway?  Nonsense!  Far more dangerous were the two-legged pitbulls they would encounter in life.

 

In II Peter 2:22 Peter speaks of the dog who returns to his vomit and the sow (female hog) who was washed to her wallowing in the mire (of sin).***Surely Peter wasn’t worried about regurgitating dogs and the bathing habits of some Gentile’s bacon supply! Far from “building bridges with” those who turn their back on Christ, Peter, a consecrated apostle of Christ, refers to these people as dogs and hogs!

 

According to Strong’s Concordance, this usage of the word for “dogs” is taken from Greek: kuon.  When used metaphorically, dogs are ungodly humans with impure minds behaving in immoral ways which will exclude them from the New Jerusalem.

 

For without (outside God’s Kingdom) are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie (Rev.22:15).