{"id":2003,"date":"2024-03-12T09:22:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T22:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/?p=2003"},"modified":"2024-03-12T09:22:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T22:22:44","slug":"friend-of-the-bad-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/friend-of-the-bad-guy\/","title":{"rendered":"Friend of the Bad Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch<\/strong>, and Saul.<\/p>\nActs 13:1 (ESV)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The description “a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch” caught my eyes. Who is this Herod the tetrarch? Tetrarch is title for governor of fourth of province (ruler of a quarter). So he is a ruler with big authority during Roman’s rule. But there were many Herods mentioned in the Bible. Which Herod is this one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In Acts 12, Luke mentioned about King Herod who put Christians in prison (v.1), killed James the Apostle (v.2), and put Peter into prison to be brought into trial (v.3-4). He is also described as man who killed people very easily (including his own soldiers, v.19). He is also described as a tyrant who displeased many people, but due to his power & influence, they had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill (v.20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in his book, Luke mentioned Herod as one of those who tried Jesus, mocked and ridiculed him with purple robe (Luke 23:7-12). Not only that, he was mentioned also as one who imprisoned and killed John the Baptist with sword (Luke 3:19-20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a powerful enemy and caused grief to God’s people. And when he met his end (Acts 12:23), I think many God’s children must have been rejoicing. Even a secular person, would also rejoice when justice is done, an evil ruthless person received his due retribution. That those who spilled many innocent blood, met their own end in such horrible manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Luke introduced us to this man,”Manaen”, as a lifelong \/ childhood friend of such monster. The introduction that Luke wrote about Herod, and the 1 verse he wrote to describe Manaen stands in contrast. What does he want to tell us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manaen is mentioned in a group of prophets in Antioch, who fasted & worshiped God, and laid hands in agreement with the Holy Spirit to commission Barnabas & Saul for God’s mission. The close friend of the enemy of the gospel gave his blessings to send forth one of the greatest missionary in the whole world. What an irony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a way, Luke shows us the magnificent wisdom of God. He certainly doesn’t judge people partially. He accepts anyone who turns to Him. Even a good friend, a mate, a buddy of the worst villain, He welcomed him to his inner circle, and used him in the sending of the greatest missionary the world ever known. That’s God’s marvellous work. Who are we to say NO to Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So are you friend of an enemy of the gospel? Don’t lose heart. God knows, and nothing is impossible for Him. Are you friend of that friend? Dont’ lose heart too. If God could use Manaen, he could also certainly use your friend. God looks at the heart, not even whom a person is associated with. Are you God’s church? Don’t rule people out because of their associations. But embrace all who profess on God’s name & filled with His Spirit. We’re all one in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Acts 13:1 (ESV) The description “a lifelong friend of Herod … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,38],"tags":[445,168,379,187,446,230,444],"class_list":["post-2003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acts","category-luke","tag-church","tag-friendship","tag-gods-wisdom","tag-gospel","tag-luke","tag-mission","tag-persecution"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1713,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/jesus-comission-to-peter\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":0},"title":"Jesus’ Comission to Peter","author":"clay","date":"July 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This week has been extra-ordinary in ways that I simply can't put into words. The first response that I had was this Simon Peter response: \"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!\u201d ~ Luke 5:8 (NIV) Last week I received call and emails from my pastor in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Encouraged"","block_context":{"text":"Encouraged","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/emotion\/encouraged\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1801,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/holy-spirit-i-need-thee-every-hour\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":1},"title":"Holy Spirit I Need Thee Every Hour","author":"clay","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As I was reading the gospel of Luke, I can't miss the occurrences of Holy Spirit being mentioned at every turns and corners. In these short verses, Holy Spirit was mentioned again and again. Here what I meant: He will baptize you with\u00a0the Holy Spirit and fire. (3:16) And as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ephesians"","block_context":{"text":"Ephesians","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/bible\/ephesians\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":191,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/better-to-be-poor-than-a-liar\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":2},"title":"Better to be Poor than a Liar","author":"clay","date":"April 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This afternoon, as I read on Proverbs 19, the following things surface: How does it feel to be poor: but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.(v.4b) The poor are shunned by all their relatives\u2014 how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Honesty"","block_context":{"text":"Honesty","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/virtues\/honesty\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":977,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/my-life-is-in-your-hands\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":3},"title":"My life is in Your Hands","author":"clay","date":"April 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, i wake up and the children are still in bed. Thank God for a good quiet time. Here the passage for this morning: It was now about\u00a0the sixth hour, and darkness\u00a0fell over the whole land until\u00a0the ninth hour,\u00a0because the sun was obscured; and\u00a0the veil of the temple was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Acts"","block_context":{"text":"Acts","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/bible\/acts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1113,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/a-prayer-heard\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":4},"title":"A Prayer Heard","author":"clay","date":"December 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"But the angel said to him, \u201cDo not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard,...\" ~ Luke 1:13 Earlier, we were told that Zechariah was a\u00a0righteous\u00a0man (v.8), who walks blamelessly in ALL the commandments of the Lord. So he was the equivalent of Noah and Abraham during the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Luke"","block_context":{"text":"Luke","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/bible\/luke\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/talking-about-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2003,"position":5},"title":"Talking about Joy","author":"clay","date":"August 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cCan you make the friends of the bridegroom\u00a0fast while he is with them?\u00a0Luke 5:34 (NIV) It's a question with the answer \"NO\" is very obvious isn't it? Regardless of any cultures, wedding is considered one of the most joyful & festive event, celebrated with a crowd of friends and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blessedness"","block_context":{"text":"Blessedness","link":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/category\/truth-vs-lies\/blessedness\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potterdreams.com\/clay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}