Can You Guess Who I Am?

This week's post is going to be a little bit different. I'm going to change things up a bit and make this blog post more like a game - a guessing game to be exact. Here's how it's going to work. I will give you a series of clues about a Biblical character and you have to guess the person I'm describing and whether Christians generally consider this person to be 'good' or 'bad'. All persons will be from the Bible. Let's see how many of these people you can guess correctly. Here goes.

Person #1 - I spent 14 years in prison as a convicted rapist. I was known to keep an object used in occult practices and divination. Who am I? Am I known for being good or bad?

Person #2 - On a certain day I decided to kill someone and hide the body so no one would know that I did it. I also got so mad one time that God told me that I broke faith with Him. Who am I? Am I known for being good or bad?

Person #3 - Even though I was a prophet of God, I once entered into an agreement with a pagan king to curse God's people in exchange for a "handsome reward"! Who am I? Am I known for being good or bad?

Person #4 - I was a brave soldier of Israel. In fact, I was among the fighting men of Israel that destroyed Jericho at the command of the Lord. Yet I was stoned by my own people shortly afterward. Who am I? Am I known for being good or bad?

Person #5 - All I can say about myself is that I am good at riddles and I don't think twice about spending a night with a prostitute. I have a weakness for women and I am a good liar. Who am I? Am I known for being good or bad?

Persons #6 and #7 - Our father was a high priest of Israel that faithfully served the Lord. As young men, we decided to follow in our father's footsteps and become priests too. We served at the temple of the Lord. In fact, both I and my brother served as priests of Israel before the times when Israel had kings and before the young boy named Samuel became a prophet. Who are we? Are we known for being good or bad?

So, How do you think you did on this quiz game? Could you guess who I was talking about? Well, let's check the answers and see how well you did.

Person #1 is Joseph. Yes, the son of Jacob that was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph eventually became second in command of Egypt and saved the Hebrews from certain death caused by a large famine in the land. He is generally known as a good person. It turns out that the accusation of rape was false but the Bible does say he used a divination cup (Gen 44:5). However, we lack sufficient information to be able to determine whether the cup was simply a prop he used because it would meet Egyptian expectations based on the use of magic in their religious practices. Evidently, the Bible makes no mention of such a cup when Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer, the baker, and the Pharoah. Given the prohibition of sorcery and divination in Israel (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10) it is highly unlikely that God would allow Joseph to use divination as a means to prophesy and interpret dreams.

The second person is Moses. He is generally known as a good person. The Bible tells us that one day Moses killed an Egyptian that was mistreating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:11-12). This event prompted him to flee to Midian where he would later meet his wife. Also, at the waters of Meribah, Moses lost his composure and struck the rock that sprung water to quench the thirst of the Israelites when they wandered through the desert. However, God had told Moses to speak to the rock not to strike it with his staff. The Bible goes on to say that Moses broke faith with God when he did this impetuous act (Deuteronomy 32:51).

The third person is Balaam. Yes, Balaam the prophet. He was hired to curse Israel by King Balak. But, since Balaam could only speak what the Lord would put in his mouth, he could not curse Israel but, instead, pronounced blessings on them. He is generally known as a bad person as he was open to taking bribes and money to curse the very people that God had blessed. Years after this incident, Balaam got his just rewards when he was killed by the Israelites (Joshua 13:22).

The fourth person was Achan. Yes, he was among the fighting men that conquered Jericho. He is generally known as a bad person. After the Jericho conquest, he was the person that kept some of the forbidden loot for himself and hid it in the ground under his tent. When it was discovered that he had done this he was stoned to death for his act of disobedience (Joshua chapter 7).

The fifth person is Samson. What can we say about Samson? Such a complicated young man! The Bible shows that he was a good liar (just ask Delilah) and that he had a penchant for prostitutes (Judges 16:1). Despite these shortcomings, Samson is generally known as a good person. Yes, he messed up with Delilah but he later repented and fulfilled his mission at the cost of his life. He is listed as a man of faith in Hebrews chapter 11.

Persons #6 and #7 are Hophni and Phinehas. These were the two sons of Eli the high priest. These two were generally known as bad persons. They extorted the worshippers at the temple by using force and threw the ministry of the priesthood into disrepute. God was not at all pleased with their behavior. They both paid for their actions with their lives (1 Samuel 4:11).

So, what can we learn from this fun little guessing game? Well, here's what I learned. Never judge people too soon, if at all. Every one of these people could have been deemed 'bad' or 'good' at any given point in their lives. As humans, we look at the outside but God sees inside into a person's heart. Some of these people did bad things but were overall good people. Yet, some of them did good things but were overall bad people. When I say "good people" or "bad people" I am referring to the evidence we see throughout the course of their entire life and not based on any single action or series of actions. Based on this, you can see how complicated it can get for you to start judging people based on what you see.

You must admit that you may not know everything about people- especially how they are going to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit whenever that time may come. Only God knows the heart of a person. We can sometimes judge based on people's actions but that judgment may not be indicative of whether God is using or will use that person in the future for the building of His kingdom. Yes, it seems that some people in this world are determined to hate and kill others. However, others seem determined to help and love other people. But how can you determine whether they will be saved or whether they will be condemned? The answer is very simple - you can't. That's not your job! As Christians, we are not called to judge the lives of others but to share the good news of salvation. The Bible tells us that at the end of times, it will be someone else that will be doing the judging (Matthew 25:31-46).

After playing this game a couple of colloquialisms come to mind - 'Looks can be deceiving' and 'Don't judge a book by its cover'. Let God be the judge. For now, maybe we should just love one another - and give each other the benefit of the doubt!

Until next time my fellow pilgrims!