“That Fox”

Is it ever appropriate to attach the name of the arch enemy of mankind to someone? Jesus did. Are you following Him?

“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matthew 16:23

When Peter allowed Satan to in control of him, Jesus turned to Peter and said “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

It’s not that a deceiver can’t be called an accurate, derogatory, Bible-based name – one that fits him – yet, we must never lash out with personal malice (James 1:20). Yet, “the tongue of the learned” is led by the Holy Spirit and Word to utter timely, fitting words (Isaiah 50:4; Proverbs 25:11).

As we can observe from Scripture, at times, the fitting word from Heaven is a rebuke, a correction, and admonition. Speaking things consistent with God’s Word, led by His Spirit as we are one with Christ and the Father, is God’s will. Your mouth is really HIS, not yours because “your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

The crucified life will bring divine wisdom, temperament, and timing. Being full of God’s Word and led of the Holy Spirit means we speak the Word He gives us – with no fear of mere men.

“Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. 18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. 19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. 20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” Proverbs 22:17-21

“a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.” Ecclesiastes 8:5

Remember that Jesus is the LAMB of God in the midst of wolves – namely religious leaders and secular rule wolves.

Herod wanted Jesus gone which reveals his antichrist (against Christ) nature.

“The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 
Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 
Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 
Luk 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 
Luk 13:35  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” 

LUKE 23:6-12. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.

Herod was Cunning and Cruel

Below, the text itself gives us the background of what was transpiring when Jesus called the highest civil ruler of His day a “fox.” Adam Clarke’s commentary on this passage unveils the inner workings of evil men, granting us insight and discernment. We see the same thing is unregenerate human leaders today. The human race is fallen and has been since the beginning when Adam sinned. Never forget that “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

“‘Tell that fox’ – Herod was a very vicious prince, and lived in public incest with his sister-in-law, Mark 6:17; … the character of fox, which implies cunning, design, and artifice, to hide evil intentions, should be attributed to him, who never seemed studious to conceal his vices. But we may suppose that Christ, who knew his heart, saw that he covered his desire for the destruction of our Lord, under the pretense of zeal for the law and welfare of the Jewish people. A fox among the Jews appears to have been the emblem of a wicked ruler, who united cunning with cruelty, and was always plotting how he might aggrandize himself by spoiling the people.”

Jesus “knew all men.” (John 2:24) He knew the hearts, the intents, the motives of men’s heart. He knew the evil of Herod’s heart and how he had an evil agenda, was politicking or maneuvering for his own self-serving, sinful benefit. Jesus knew the evil of Herod’s heart as He sees openly and knows the hearts of all men today and for all times (Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:24; Hebrews 4:13).

Jesus Knows What Is in Man

Joh 2:23  “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 
Joh 2:24  But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 
Joh 2:25  And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” 

Of this rebuke by the Son of God to Herod, John Wesley notes:

“And he said, Go and tell that fox – With great propriety so called, for his subtilty and cowardice. The meaning of our Lord’s answer is, Notwithstanding all that he can do, I shall for the short time I have left, do the works of him that sent me. When that time is fulfilled, I shall be offered up. Yet not here, but in the bloody city. Behold, I cast out devils – With what majesty does he speak to his enemies! With what tenderness to his friends! The third day I am perfected – On the third day he left Galilee, and set out for Jerusalem, to die there. But let us carefully distinguish between those things wherein Christ is our pattern, and those which were peculiar to his office. His extraordinary office justified him in using that severity of language, when speaking of wicked princes, and corrupt teachers, to which we have no call; and by which we should only bring scandal on religion, and ruin on ourselves, while we irritated rather than convinced or reformed those whom we so indecently rebuked.”

It is this disciple’s opinion that while conformed to Christ’s image, Jesus can speak through His people and He will and does today (Hebrews 13:8). If we are in the cross – crucified with Christ, conformed to His holy image – we are raised up and led of the Spirit, and at times, calling people what they have chosen to be will issue forth from out mouths (Romans 8:11, 14). Is Christ not in us? (Colossians 1:27) If Christ is in us, can He not speak in and therefore through us? Yes.

“Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:21-24

Persecution Will Come

When He identified Himself for who He was, Jesus was attacked, persecuted, and hated by those who chose to be His enemies. This was due to the things He SAID. In John we see many instances of this. Here’s a sampling:

“Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? … 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” John 10:48-53, 58-59

“Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” John 10:36

Have you noticed in Scripture and in real life experience, that most persecution comes from profession Christians? Was it not the religious leaders, the Jewish leaders, who were persecuting our LORD in the passages above?

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” Matthew 10:15-20

The LORD, the Holy Ghost, speaks in and through His people.

Speaking of being brought before secular, civil magistrates…. For a few years, I stood before a certain woman, a judge who while claiming to be a Christian, manifested deep injustice (Isaiah 10:1-3). The LORD had me speak – or should I say – spoke in me to her that she would be standing before Him to be judged. He was mercifully warning her. It was tenderly spoken in such a soft tone that she had to ask me to speak up because she couldn’t hear. One of the verses the LORD quickened was:

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; 2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! 3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” Isaiah 10:1-3

Not only are these words in the court documents, they, like all words, are recorded in Heaven (Matthew 12:33-37). The backlash for daring to speak God in that courtroom was horrific in human terms and yet “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:28-29)

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 
Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
Mat 12:35  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 
Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 
Mat 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37 

Regrettably, this woman/judge refused to hearken. It seemed apparent that she’d never been spoke to like that. The LORD was trying to get her to repent before it was too late. Yet, the light of truth only angered her further as she was turned against Christ and therefore me. Sadly, soon after, in 2016, this lady passed away having apparently never repented.

The weak, moral coward, counterfeit says “How dare you speak to someone like that! You are not the judge!”

The righteous view this through kingdom eyes – that God was seeking to show His mercy due to not being willing that ANY should perish. So, He was using one of His servants to send a lifeline!

“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.” Psalms 94:16-17

In the above passage, please note that it’s interesting to see how the psalmist here speaks of the LORD being His strength and if He weren’t, the psalmist would have kept silent when it was time to speak. He makes it clear that it was the LORD who prevented him from sitting in silence when words needed to be spoken.

There are at least two benefits to God’s glory for this:

1. To warn others about such a person, to protect them (Colossians 2:4, 8; 2 Peter 3:17; Revelation 3:11, etc.).
2. To bring conviction to the person cited for who they are, in this case, sinful.

Summation

Certainly there is liberty for individual believers to exercise in this matter.

To appropriately affix a term or wording identifying the evil of men’s hearts, is not a sin in an of itself, although such should only be done under the influence and leadership of the Holy Spirit – which will not prevail in our lives outside of a crucified existence (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:13-14; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, etc.).

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29 

If we are not truly crucified with Christ, we should not rebuke another. If we do such in the flesh, it is coming from our own malice and strife ……

Prayer: Holy Father, in the name of my LORD, Savior, and Master Jesus, please circumcise my heart. Purge and purify to the innermost core of my being as only You can do. I here and now cry with Thy servant David for You to search, know, try, and purge me. Then, out of this mouth shall flow only Your words and with Your emotion, in any given instance. I love You Jesus. In the name of Jesus, amen.