The Bully Pulpit by David Jeremiah

Friday, May 25 The Bully Pulpit    And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Zechariah 3:2    Bullying is an epidemic today, including cyberbullying. The goal of a bully is to make the other person feel badly about themselves, ashamed, humiliated, and alone. Bullies take their cues from Satan, the ultimate bully. In Zechariah 3, the devil ridiculed Israel’s high priest, Joshua, and pointed out his filthy sins and ministerial failures. But the Lord rebuked Satan. And God removed Joshua’s filthy garments and gave him rich robes and a clean turban. The Lord treated him as a brand plucked from the fire.

Recommended Reading: Zechariah 3:1-10

The Bible teaches that our great High Priest, Jesus, always lives to make intercession for us. We all go through periods of guilt, shame, and self-reproach. But the blood of Jesus Christ washes away every stain, forgives every sin, redeems every mistake, and silences the taunts of our diabolical bully. Jesus reminds us in John 10:9-10 that “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” We are safe in His protective arms. The Lord Jesus pleads for us in Heaven, and so advocates our cause before the throne of God against him who is “the accuser of the brethren.” Herbert Lockyer, in All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible