Bullying

We have a loved one (not mentioning any names) who has been dealing with a certain amount of teasing at school.  Not really bullying, but just a few notches past the teasing.  This loved one is really bothered by it.  We've been trying to help this loved one deal with it.  It's a tough one!  Bullying is a hot topic these days.  It really upsets me when I hear about it, read about it, know about it, and just think about it.  Grr! 

Anyway, recently I found out that Elisha, Elijah's protege, was bullied.  See 2 Kings 2:23 and thereabouts.  He was walking down the road when a group of young kids came up to him and called him names.   "Go on up, you baldhead!  Go on up, you baldhead!"  He put a curse on them in the name of the Lord, and shortly afterward 40 or so of them were mauled to death.  

Elisha was God's anointed to follow in Elijah's footsteps and even he was bullied.  This was a revelation to me.  I started to think about it - how many other men of God were bullied?  And what did they do about it?  After I did a bit of research and then thought about it some more, I realized that bullying is all over the Bible.  Job was bullied, in a way, by his so-called friends who asked him what sins he committed to warrant the terrible things that were happening to him.  Joseph was bullied by his brothers.  Paul, formerly Saul, WAS a bully before he was converted.  I think Moses felt put-upon by all the grumbling Israelites who came to him with their troubles.  He didn't know what to do with all their caterwauling.  He was bullied, in a way.  

Time, then, for a study on bullying.  How did men of God deal with bullying?  How does God deal with bullies?  How does  God deal with the bullied - the victims?  Come on back in the near future and I'll post my comments and research.  I do know that my loved one was kind of surprised that I found this Biblical reference to bullying in the Bible.  

Some things never change.  Some things have been going on since creation.  The serpent was a bully; he taunted Eve with deceit and lies.   He was the original bully.  I want to find out the best way to deal with it and the best way to understand it; then maybe I can help my loved one.  I've been bullied a few times myself.  

Later guys!  Now be nice to each other!