The Friends of God

 Of our great Creator, we read, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers” (Isa. 40:22). Compared to Him, we are tiny, puny creatures. Or, as Abraham put it, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord” (Gen. 18:27). Again, God says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

The Almighty is so far above us, and so much greater in every way, that it boggles the mind. How, then, can we comprehend such an all-powerful and all-wise Creator as a friend to any of His puny creatures? Next to Him, we are nothing! Why would He even desire friendship with such creatures?

And yet He is a friend, and He does desire such relationships! God plainly called Abraham His friend, saying to his descendants, “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend” (Isa. 41:8). The word for “friend” is ahavi in Hebrew (Strong’s # H157), which signifies a loved one. Other passages likewise describe Abraham as God’s friend. King Jehoshaphat prayed to God and reminded Him  of “Abraham Your friend” (2 Chron. 20:7). And the Book of James reminds us again that Abraham “was called the friend of God” (Jam. 2:23). What an honor to be known as a friend of the Most High! But Abraham isn’t alone in this.

Moses, too, is described as God’s friend: “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). When Moses’ sister and brother contended with him, though he’d done no wrong, God Himself spoke up on Moses’ behalf, saying, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (Num. 12:6-8).

Solomon, also, can be described as God’s friend. From his birth, we read that “the LORD loved him” (2 Sam. 12:24). Like Abraham and Moses, Solomon also loved God. At the beginning of his reign, we read, “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places” (1 Kings 3:3). Unfortunately, Solomon later turned away from God, and we aren’t explicitly told whether he repented or not. Neh. 13:26 summarizes Solomon’s life thus: “Among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.”

Jacob, too, was loved by God. He was God’s friend. “‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ says the LORD. ‘Yet Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated’” (Mal. 1:2-3).

How incredible must it be to be remembered as the friend of God? Yet it isn’t an honor reserved only for Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Solomon. It’s an honor granted to each one of us if we obey our Creator!

In John 15:13-15, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” When preparing us for persecution, Yeshua/Jesus addressed us as friends: “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke 12:4).

Prov. 15:9 tells us, “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves him who follows righteousness.” In fact, if we obey our Creator, we are actually more than friends! We are family. Again Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Mat. 12:50). And praying to His Father on our behalf, He expressed His desire “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21).

The very reason that our Creator has called us and revealed His truth to us is that He loves us and desires a relationship with us! Jer. 31:3 explains, “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’” Paul greeted the brethren in Rome thus: “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7).

There is nothing that can truly harm the friends of God. Though we may suffer and die for His name, we have a crown of life awaiting us if we hold fast to Him: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (Jam. 1:12). Remember our Savior’s words: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke 12:4).

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, but God made him ruler of Egypt. Afterward, after his brothers had repented of their sin, Joseph explained to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).

The Moabites hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, but he failed. We read, “Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you” (Deut. 23:5). As the Book of Proverbs tells us, “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight” (Prov. 26:2).

The Jewish leaders attempted to stop Yeshua/Jesus by killing Him. They failed. Then, they tried to stop His followers from preaching the Gospel by beating them and threatening them (Acts 5:40). The Gospel spread all the more. Next, they murdered Stephen and began to hunt down and imprison other disciples (Acts 8:1-3). But did this stop the Gospel? No indeed! “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). The more the Jewish leaders tried to suppress God’s truth, the more it spread!

As the apostle Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). And again, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). For the friends of God, all things work together for their ultimate good. In the long run, even the most malicious plots of their enemies serve only to help them! Even death is but a mere stepping stone to eternal life.

Yet again in Romans 8 we read,

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So how about it? Are we the friends of God? If God has called us and we have heeded that call, then yes! If we humble ourselves before Him and obey Him with our whole heart, mind, and soul, then yes! In the Book of Isaiah, God tells us, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2). Remember again the words of our Savior: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).

The Almighty Creator of the universe can be your Friend and mine. Better still, we can be His family. And not only that, He desires such a relationship with us! It is the very reason He has called us. How amazing is that?