By Ben Quine
**This article is part of a series written by Ben Quine that takes us through the whole of Scripture to discover what God has to say about how we as believers in Jesus Christ should conduct ourselves both inside the church and outside in our public and private lives. You will discover that the Word of God has much to say about our conduct.

Have you ever told someone that they are acting “dumber than an ox?” Or remember that time when you told your friend that they were “talking like a godless fool”? Many Christians today believe that this behavior would be inappropriate. We’re often told that believers should be nice, kind, gentle, and loving, and that therefore we should avoid conflict and opt for diplomacy, at all costs. But is this consistent with the Bible?

One of the most effective teaching methods employed by Scripture is the telling of stories, and there is a treasure trove of instruction for us in the accounts of men and women who lived by the fear of the Lord. Of course, Scripture does not endorse every action taken by these men and women of faith (remember that every person in history was sinful, except for Jesus Christ), but studying their stories will paint a vivid picture of what a life of godly conduct should look like.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart… But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:5-9)

Noah found favor because he obeyed God, and he stood out in his culture because everyone else around him choose evil instead.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

Noah’s life was a sparkling flare against an utterly dark sky! His faith and obedience condemned the world — everyone around him — because he was bold enough to do what was right.

Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth… [The Lord said “Moses] is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord.” (Numbers 12:3, 7-8)

And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, (Deuteronomy 34:10)

Moses stands as the great leader of the people of God. Scripture itself states that there was no other prophet like him (before Jesus Christ).

So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die… There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.’” (Exodus 11:4-6)

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. (Exodus 14:27-28)

Moses obeyed the Lord, but Pharaoh chose evil, oppression, injustice, and genocide. This led to a head-on-collision between the living God and the false gods of Egypt, and, ultimately, the deaths of all of the firstborn in the land, and of the entire imperial army, which had pursued the Hebrews into the Red Sea.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. (Job 1:1)

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:9-10)

Job is another example of an upright man, and he did not hesitate to contradict his wife, saying she was speaking like a fool when she advised him to curse God. (“You’re talking like a godless fool.” [God’s Word Translation])

“How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?” (Job 19:2-3)

Even after everything he had was taken away from him, Job still experienced conflict. Because of his suffering, his “friends” accused him and tormented him, arguing over and over that he was in the wrong.

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt… The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man… Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, “…How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:1-9)

Like others before him, Joseph found favor because he walked with God. He knew God and understood His ways. He knew that what Potiphar’s wife asked him to do was wickedness, and he told her so.

But one day… she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled… [and] she called to the men of her household and said to them, “…He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled…” As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him… his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison… But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:11-21)

This kind of fearless obedience to God makes the world around us very upset. Potiphar’s wife hated that Joseph dared to live by God’s standards of right and wrong, so she crafted a false accusation which landed Joseph in prison. But God was pleased with Joseph’s conduct. 

Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:1-5)

Daniel had done nothing wrong, which is why the other officials hated him. The wicked world cannot tolerate God’s morality. So these wicked leaders created an unjust and immoral law to trap Daniel. You know the story: Daniel obeyed God and prayed to Him (even when it was illegal); he was arrested and thrown into the lion’s den, but he was not harmed because God approved of Daniel’s conduct. 

Did Noah, Moses, Job, Joseph, and Daniel live lives of peace and serenity? Why did they experience conflict in their lives?

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:18)

These men were recognized by Scripture as the all-time great heroes of godly conduct (Ezekiel 14:20), and yet they were hated, persecuted, ridiculed, and scorned by those around them. Their lives show us that “living peaceably with all” is not always possible, because we cannot control wicked people around us who oppose God’s principles. When we stand up in faith, there will inevitably be conflict.

Before we close, there’s one crucial point to remember… God loved and cared for His people Israel, but again and again they rejected Him. Listen to how He describes them:

The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. (Isaiah 1:2-4)

Isaiah’s first words to a rebellious people were, “you’re being dumber than an ox.” But that was just the start…

How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. (Isaiah 1:21)

If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:1)

But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. (Ezekiel 16:15)

My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. (Hosea 4:12)

God’s message from all His prophets was that Israel’s sin of unfaithfulness made them a whore of the world and false religion, but that He still loved them, and they should repent and return to Him, before God brought judgement on them. This is “tough love” at its finest! God’s desire was that His people would repent and return to Him, so He told them the difficult truth, in love. Most of the prophets were killed by Israel for delivering this abrasive and difficult message from God. 

We’ve learned some surprising aspects of godly conduct from the Old Testament, but there’s much more to be said on this topic. Let’s look at the New Testament heroes of the faith in our next article…