Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
Rev 3:9
Standing for truth
Have you made a stand for truth and been rejected?
Have you been “overcome” by false leaders, prophets, teachers, worshippers, etc. who have had a strong influence in your church, leading to you being ignored, cast aside, and even forced to leave?
Often these people sense what you represent and are jealous and resentful of you.
The scripture above promises that one day all these deceivers, those who professed to be Christians and led people astray, will be forced to acknowledge you, to acknowledge your true calling in Christ. They will see that Jesus loves you, and will “bow before your feet”.
This happened in the old testament, when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of him, and resented the implications of the dreams he’d had.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours.
Gen 37:3-11
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.
He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed:
Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”
His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, and he was taken to Egypt, where he later became the governor over the land (See Gen 37:12 onwards)
During a time of severe drought and famine, his brothers came to Egypt in search of food.
Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
Joseph saw his brothers and recognised them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
And Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him.
And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.
Gen 42:6-9
Joseph later revealed who he was to his brothers, which led to his whole family being honoured by the pharaoh and brought into the land.
There is purpose and hope in all we suffer.
God knows what he’s doing.
We may be rejected, or worse, for making a stand for the truth.
We may feel outcast and have no church home.
We may feel imprisoned.
We, like Joseph, will be rescued, and brought to our true home when Jesus returns for us at the Rapture.
One day, possibly at the day of judgement (when all things will be revealed), those who professed to be Christians and led people astray, those who ignored us and cast us aside, those who were jealous and resentful of us, those who rejected us, those who squeezed us out, will see that Jesus loves us, and will “bow before our feet”.
God will acknowledge us and affirm us, in front of our “enemies”.
You prepare a table before me
Psalm 23:5-6
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
The Narrow Way 