A FEW GOOD MEN

Most people will recognize the title as the marine slogan. Another common saying is that a good man is hard to find. Jesus went a little further than that and said there weren’t any good men. (Mt. 19:17) For the purpose of this essay, ‘men’ includes women, but it should be noted that women in Old Testament days were not accorded the status they are given in our day. The word ’good’, for our purpose, means just one thing; that is godly. We know, of course, that there are many unsung heroes of the faith hidden away somewhere. Elijah said once, “Lord, I’m the only one left,” and the Lord said, ‘No, there are 7,000 that haven’t bowed to idols.” But, the Bible has singled out a few good men that He used to accomplish His purpose and these we extol in this article. It should be noted also, that it is impossible to be good without the Spirit of God. Going back to the beginning, God said, “Let us make man in our own image.” Up till then, only animals were on the earth and God couldn’t exactly communicate with them. So, He made Adam and Eve and told them to propagate and rule the earth. Adam was a unique being, the noblest of all the creatures God made. He had intelligence, emotions, imagination, free will, and a conscience to guide him. He could express himself to others and others could express themselves to him. Adam was the crown of God’s creation. God gave Adam wide latitude to do whatever he wanted. He just gave him one restriction as a test. Sadly the day came that Adam and Eve failed the test. The consequences were enormous. They were cast out of the garden, their spiritual connection with God was cut off, and their eternal life was forfeited. They were now flawed creatures with a strong bent toward disobedience, and all this was passed on to their children. It seemed like God’s plan was a failure, but God didn’t waver. He came up with a better plan. Instead of working with perfect creatures untested, He would now work with sinners to help them see their hopeless situation and, hopefully, make them willing to repent of their sins and choose of their own free will, to love God and serve Him, even though it would involve many conflicts, trials and temptations. God’s new purpose is well described in 2 Chron 16:9 where He says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” To find a few good men was a tall order. It took a while, but God is never in a hurry, and He kept looking.. Years passed by, and then He found such a man. His name was Enoch. God was so pleased to find him that He took him to heaven without waiting for him to die. What was Enoch’s secret of success? Simply that he walked with God. (Gen. 5:24) God kept on looking, but things weren’t looking good. Soon Adam’s progeny was totally corrupt. The Bible says, every thought of their heart was only evil continually. God decided to destroy them all. But just in time, God found another good man named Noah. They communed together and pretty soon God told Noah of His plan to destroy the earth, but, He would start all over again with Noah and his family. He told Noah to build a huge ark that would hold him and his family, as well as two of every kind of animals on the earth. This was a severe test for Noah. He knew everybody would ridicule him. They had never even heard of a flood, so they would call him the world’s biggest fool. Also, such a job would take many years. Actually, it took 100 years. How could Noah’s resolve last that long, and how would his family cope with it? Well, he passed the test. God was well pleased with him. The day finally came when they were to enter the ark. When the door shut, the floods came and oh, the weeping and wailing as people tried to get in. But, it was too late. For 100 years Noah had preached of judgment to come and not one person was interested. What made Noah a good man? He walked with God and he persevered against all odds. (Gen. 6:9) When the flood was over, Noah came out to a brand new world. Hopefully, after such a demonstration of God’s power, they and their children would walk with God. It wasn’t to be. Rebellion was deep in man’s heart, and soon the whole human family was as evil as it was before. But God still didn’t waver. He kept looking. Years passed, and by then, God found another good man in Babylon, named Abraham. As a test, He said to him, “Pack up and leave your homeland and go to a place I will show you.” This had to be a tough test for Abraham, but the next test was unbelievable. He was to take his son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice to God. This was a test also for Isaac. He was old enough to run away when he found out what Abraham was about to do to him, but they both submitted. Father and son went together to the altar of sacrifice. Abraham tied him up and was raising his knife to kill him when the Lord said, “Stop! Now I know that you are a good and true man.” Then Abraham saw a ram and offered it as a sacrifice to God. God was so pleased with Abraham and Isaac that He told them He would make them a nation, and from that nation would come the Lamb of God to die for the sins of the whole world. What made Abraham a good man? The Bible says when he was called, he obeyed, not knowing where he was going. He had perfect faith in God and was determined to obey, no matter what it cost. Parenthetically, his experience that Abraham had is actually a preview of what God went through when He allowed His Son to be an offering for our sins. Not too long after this, God noticed that Isaac’s son, Jacob, had a special desire for Him. Jacob had some serious flaws, but he always persevered in seeking God. He cheated his brother, Esau, twice and ran away to a far country to escape being killed. Then after many years, God told him to go back to his homeland. Jacob obeyed, but he knew it could be a death sentence. Then he found out Esau was coming after him with 400 men, and he knew it was a death sentence. Jacob began to pray. He prayed all night and the Bible describes it as wrestling with an angel. God was so pleased with Jacob that He changed his name from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel (Prince of God), and in answer to prayer, He changed Esau’s mind. What made Jacob a good man? Holding on to God (some call it praying through) until the answer came. God was so pleased with these three men: father, son, and grandson, that from then on, He wanted to be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Ex. 3:15) God kept looking and found one more good man in this family, Joseph, son of Jacob. Joseph, also, was severely tested. His brothers hated him and plotted to kill him. Instead, they sold him to a caravan going to Egypt. In Egypt, he was thrown into prison on a trumped up charge. The rest of the story is too long to tell here, but Joseph was faithful in all his trials and God rewarded him with the greatest blessing in the Bible. Read it in Genesis 49:22. What made Joseph a good man? There’s no question that he was faithful to God in all his trials and, of course, the forgiveness of his brothers, proved he had God’s kind of heart. After Joseph’s time, the Israelites lived in Egypt for 400 years, ending up as slaves. It would be wonderful to say that God found some good men during this time, but not one is mentioned. Finally, God was ready to lead them out of their bondage, but he needed an extraordinarily good man. He found Moses, and was he put to the test! God asked him to lead two million slaves out of Egypt into a howling wilderness. It didn’t take him long to find out these people were anything but godly. They complained every step of the way, and when Moses took too long talking with God, they threw a wild party and made a golden calf to worship. Aaron, Moses’ right-hand man, was the ringleader. God was so angry, He wanted to destroy them all and start again with Moses, but Moses interceded and saved them from destruction. It was hard to see how God could ever find a good man in that bunch. Later, when they reached the promised land, they refused to go in. Moses stayed the course, under the most impossible circumstances and pleased God so much that God boasted about him, saying he was the only one He could talk with face-to-face. What made Moses a good man? The Bible specifically points out that he chose to suffer with Israel, rather than enjoy the pleasures of Egypt. (Heb. 11:25) He was called the meekest man on earth. (Num. 12:3) Somewhere it must say he was the most patient man on earth to succeed in the task that was given him. In the years Israel was in the wilderness, God found another good man named Joshua. Joshua was chosen to lead Israel into the promised land and make Israel a cohesive nation. He mightily pleased God. What made Joshua a good man? There is a clue in Exodus 33:11. Moses was leaving the presence of God, which was in the tabernacle, but Joshua, his servant, chose to stay there. This speaks of an intimate relationship with God. Years passed and Israel became a strong nation. They wanted a king. They chose a good-looking man named Saul, but he failed the first test. God told them that good looks was no indicator of being good inside. God then chose the most unlikely candidate for king; a mere lad, but it turned out that David became God’s all-time favorite man. He said he was a man after His own heart. The reason he was a good man -- love and focus. (Psalms 23 and 27:4). Under David’s rule, Israel became the most powerful and rich nation on earth. But after David, it was all downhill. His own son forsook God. There were several faithful prophets in Israel: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Elijah and Elisha, just to name a few. There were a few good kings, but not enough to save Israel from being conquered and scattered over all the earth. The time was nearing for God to send His Son into the world. He needed an outstanding prophet to be forerunner, and He found one in John the Baptist. John was fearless in condemning the established religious system. He called them a generation of snakes. (Lk. 3:7) God was well pleased with John the Baptist. Jesus actually called him the greatest of all. (Mt. 11:11) With John the Baptist, the Old Testament hall of fame was closed. In our next study, we will look at the good men of New Testament times. Meantime, walk with God, persevere, make sacrifices, pray through, have patience and stay close to God. Meditate on this and the Lord give you understanding in all things. (2 Tim. 2:7)