7 Important Biblical People That Messed Up

The Apostle Paul

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Before he was Paul, he was Saul — a ruthless crusader intent on stopping the growth of Christianity at any cost by putting them in prison, destroying churches and even overseeing their murders. He was so zealous in his Jewish faith, that he wanted to eradicate Christians completely. That is, until God revealed himself to Saul on the road to Damascus and his life would forever be changed and transformed. It was there he became the great Apostle Paul, one of the greatest soldiers for Christ—dedicating his entire life to spread the message of salvation to the world. For God to not just forgive a man blood-thirsty to persecute Christians, but to use Him greatly for His purpose is one of the greatest examples of God’s love, mercy and grace for us.

Tamar

Tamar left her family at a young age to marry into the family of Judah. In these times, a woman’s value was determined by her offspring, but she was unable to conceive with her first husband, Er, so God struck him down and she married a second brother, Onan. Onan refused to conceive with Tamar, so God punished him and he also died. By law, Tamar then married a third brother, and was still unable to conceive. Faced with the fear of being childless and destitute, she set out for justice. Dressed as a prostitute, she coerced her father-in-law, Judah, to have sex with her and she bore twin sons. While her actions were unethical and she almost lost her life for it, one of the sons was the ancestor of King David—a direct lineage to Christ.

Jonah

Who can forget the odd and awe-inspiring story of Jonah and the whale? When God spoke to Jonah, He commanded him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh—but he refused out of stubbornness. Instead, he did the opposite—he ran away from the Lord and set out on ship directly way from Nineveh. It was there that God sent a violent storm to capsize the ship, but just before, the sailors tossed Jonah overboard and the seas went calm. Instead of drowning, Jonah was swallowed by a whale that God provided. While in the belly of the whale, Jonah repented and begged God to save him. And the Lord listened. Jonah went on to spread God’s message to the Ninevites, they repented and God did not destroy them.