Adonibezek fled, but they pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adonibezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their great toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has requited me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. (Judges 1:6-7 RSV)
In Bezek, there was a Canaanite pagan practice of defeating people or even enemy forces and exposing them afterwards. It has always been pagan practice to embarrass people especially those judged as guilty.
What happened in Bezek under the kingship of Adonibezek (which actually means the god of Bezek), was that whenever a person from an enemy state was caught or whenever they went to war and conquered their enemies, they took their leaders and cut off their toes and thumbs and made them serve on their (captors) dining tables and public functions.
It is the very thing that was done to Samson. His eyes were taken out and he was subjected to serving them and staged before the public as a spectacle (Judges 16:21, 25)
It is the devil that tempts people into sinning and after they are fallen, he goes ahead and strips them naked again (Genesis 3). The lesson from Judges is a simple one, please stop embarrassing people.
I have seen husbands who find their wives cheating, beat them up indoor and then drag them on streets naked as they call upon everyone to come and see the cheating wife. I have seen wives that find their men cheating and they call a clan meeting or actually create a social media group to discuss the matter.
People stupidly in love take nude pics and share with their loved ones and upon a misunderstanding, they are posted for the public to see.
Others are holding their friends hostage just because they know their dark secrets and threaten to break the news. Many people have made millions out of embarrassing others and many people are funding their accusers every day to make sure they don’t say what they know about them.
Just because am guilty and I have been conquered does not mean I should be embarrassed. It is satanic and pagan to embarrass people and this includes even sinners.
People do not become better because they have been embarrassed, people change because they have been helped to overcome rather than being sent deeper into their failure.
Let me ask you, people, who like embarrassing others and who think it is part of the solution. God is omniscient and he literally knows everything about us.
He knows those very dirty things you do in secret (Psalms 44:21), but imagine if God was like us and he displayed all he knows about us on the heavens for everyone to see; how many of us would get out of our houses? We are blessed we worship a God who puts at heart our struggles and never breaks them to anyone (Job 10:13). Imagine if God kept reminding you of your past sins and dropping them on your door every morning.
Humiliating and shaming people is a devil’s tactic to hold them bound and legitimise the crime than do away with it. Singer Desire Luzinda’s nudes were publicised and the next thing was her adopting the shame and calling herself ‘Owekitone’ (slung for obscenity). Another singer made a mistake on a TV show with her high school grades and social media publicised it, what followed was her adding on the list of her names as 36-Marks.
Now, do you people see what evil becomes when we embarrass sinners? Evil becomes positive and others become courageous and do atrocious things with the confidence that they can live with it. Some, however, commit suicide because they can’t live with the shame.
In Genesis, the devil stripped Adam and Even naked but when God came he dressed them up.
As Christians, we must always struggle to dress and cover others instead of exposing them. I don’t intend to condone evil, but am talking of the art of distinguishing men from their mess. Proverbs 25:2 says
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
Pastors must not embarrass and shame their sheep and the sheep also must protect the dignity of their pastors. If you have any evidence you are holding against anyone, please destroy it. Don’t keep it around in hopes to use it. It is pagan to humiliate people. As you expose others, God and actually some people are hiding your mess. Be humble and Hash
God bless you and: THINK about what I am saying. The LORD will help you UNDERSTAND all these things. (2Tim 2:7 NLT)
Pr WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
iTiS Well of Worship Ministries (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 