Obviously Jesus is everybody's favorite Bible character. The whole "Father's wrath poured out on him instead of me" thing is pretty much the trump card here. But who is your favorite minor character?
Personally, I love the criminal next to Jesus on the cross. Here was a man who had likely done nothing right his entire life. He was not some lovable Aladdin-like character who had to eat to live and had to steal to eat. The Greek word used in Luke is kakourgos, a word that has much stronger connotations than merely thief or robber. It's much more along the lines of, "one who commits serious crimes." It is thought that these two men were the kind of highwaymen who attacked weary travelers, took all they had, severely beat them, and either murdered them or left them to die along the side of the road. In short, these were terrible people who made a living ruining the lives of others.
At the time of their near death, this man does not see just another rebel being crucified. He sees the Messiah. What amazing faith!
Clearly he was never a great man of faith before and did nothing to earn his salvation. Really, he did everything to deserve eternal damnation. This is a work of the Spirit! I love this story because it shows how the Spirit can overwhelm even the hardest heart of the most depraved man in the most unexpected of times.
Wow that guy was not famous but your explanation gave me a new perspective bout him. Nice.
My favourite Bible character is David. For me, it does not matter what mistakes you have done, it is your responses towards the mistakes you have done or the situations you are positioned at that determine who you really are. David was like most of us, not perfect, made a lot of mistakes, one of the perfect sinners in the Bible (raped Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, in public he was so holy - no one even knew his criminality), a little drama king (man, he cried a lot lol). But, when God admonished him, the first thing that came to his mind was "I have sinned against the LORD. " He didn't think of what other people would have in mind, his wife or Uriah or whoever, or blamed anyone. He didn't even care about his reputation or what other people would think about Him - how could a king do such thing? His heart was so set on God. That what was differentiate him from Saul, when God admonished Saul, Saul blamed his citizens. Saul and David were chosen to be king, both had sinned but they gave different responses, then we all know how the stories of two of them ended. David was not God's first choice yet he could capture God's heart so bad that when Saul disappointed God, God could do nothing but anointed David to replace Saul. David had a very big faith and he knew his God, he was wise in maximising what he got his whole life, that's why he was successful in defeating Goliath. Unlike many others who would stop just when there was no facilities or training provided.
I really love what you said, Tulip. He has been one of my favourites, as well.
It's really hard to pick someone "minor." I guess that maybe I would pick Hannah. Having experienced miscarriage, I can really relate to the feelings she expresses -- the inadequacy and the longing and the sorrow. In 1 Samuel 1:15, it says that she poured her soul out to God. Going back to the Hebrew there is really interesting...
The word used for poured/pouring is the same Hebrew word that is used in parts of Leviticus where it talks about spilling out the animal blood as an offering at the base of an alter. The word used for soul is the same word used throughout the Genesis creation account for "creature," "life," "being," or "man." It's not just referring to one aspect of a person, but the entire person. When it talks about God forming man from the dust of the ground, this is the word that is used to describe his creation of man.
So, when Hannah says that she's pouring her soul out to God, what's she saying there is that she's giving her entire person to God. There isn't anything she's holding back. She's pouring out all that she is to Him. It's such an example to me of what my response to God should be. Anything short of that really misses the mark as far as how we should be praying and what worship should look like in our lives.
