Whether you’re a follower of the Bible or not, there are many lessons we can all take from the good book. And as they say, you learn more from mistakes than you do from successes, so we can take that to learn from the mistakes of some of the least-liked people in the Bible.
Judas Iscariot
Judas was one of Jesus’s twelve disciples who was entrusted with the group’s finances. Greed and envy led him to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, which led to the arrest, trial, and eventual crucifixion of Jesus. Judas later returned the thirty pieces of silver and took his own life by hanging himself out of guilt. His story teaches that no matter how far we may stray from the right path, it’s never too late to seek forgiveness and make amends for our mistakes.
Cain
He was the firstborn of Adam and Eve and the elder brother of Abel. Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. Cain was cursed by God to wander as a fugitive on Earth. However, God marked Cain with a sign to protect him from anyone who might kill him. Even though Cain was a major villain, his sin is a reminder that God shows mercy on us despite our weaknesses.
Delilah
She was a Philistine woman who seduced Samson, a judge and hero of Israel, who had supernatural strength from God. She betrayed Samson for a bag of silver by bringing in a Philistine to cut off the source of his strength, his hair, while he slept. By betraying Samson for money, Delilah teaches about the perils of deceit and the importance of loyalty.
Pharaoh of Egypt
When Moses went to Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery, Pharaoh was too stubborn and prideful to agree to the request. This brought on 10 plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, fiery hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. His stubbornness against Moses and God teaches about the futility of resisting divine authority.
King Saul
King Saul’s downfall began when he disobeyed God by offering a sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel the prophet. His pride led him to believe that he knew better than God. King Saul’s root character flaw is self-exaltation and self-deception. He is unfortunately completely unaware of his arrogance in believing he was always right, even above God’s will.
Jezebel
Queen Jezebel’s worst sin was arranging for the murder of Naboth, a righteous man who refused to sell his vineyard to Ahab. Her manipulation and promotion of idolatry highlight the consequences of leading others away from God and the importance of integrity. She introduced pagan worship of Baal and Asherah into Israel and persecuted the prophets of God. She was thrown out of a window by her servants and eaten by dogs.
Ahab
Ahab ruled over the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the latter part of the 9th century BC. Naboth had a vineyard near King Ahab’s palace, which Ahab wanted to buy. Naboth refused, following God’s Law handed down from Moses to the Hebrews that an Israelite’s family inheritance should not be sold. Ahab had Naboth killed to get the land, which teaches that even good people suffer and die, and sometimes bad people get away with it.
Nebuchadnezzar
King Nebuchadnezzar is one of the ultimate Bible villains. He was the most powerful of all the Babylonian kings. He conquered Jerusalem and sent the Jews into exile. He also erected a huge statue of himself and commanded everyone to worship it or be thrown into a fiery furnace. His pride and subsequent punishment—losing his sanity and living like an animal for seven years—remind us of the importance of humility before God.
Herod the Great
King Herod may be most known for ordering the massacre of infants in his mission to destroy Jesus at the time of his birth. Herod lived in constant fear of revolt by the Jewish people because he was not a pure Jew and had usurped the throne from the Parthians, with whom the Jews had sided. Though he tried to rebuild the temple, Herod was not accepted by the Jews. His story is a lesson in the destructive nature of paranoia and jealousy.
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate found no fault in Jesus but succumbed to the pressure of the Jewish leaders and the crowd who demanded His crucifixion. So though he was morally innocent, his role in Jesus’s crucifixion shows the danger of yielding to public pressure and the importance of standing for what is right.
Herodias
Herodias is a daughter of Aristobulus, a son of Herod the Great, and the wife of Herod Philip I. She left her husband and married his half-brother Herod Antipas, which violated the law of Moses. John the Baptist condemned her marriage, and because of that, she plotted to kill him. She used her daughter Salome to ask for John’s head on a platter after pleasing Herod with her dance. Herodias reminds us, then, that all of us are accountable to God’s law, even if we disagree with it.
Balaam
Balaam was a prophet in the time when the Israelites wandered the desert after being freed from Egypt. Though he was supposed to be the voice of God to the Israelites, he was paid to curse them. He asked God what to do multiple times, each time hoping for the answer he wanted, which he finally got on the third day. His willingness to curse Israel for money teaches about the dangers of greed and the importance of obedience to God.
Goliath
Goliath is one of the most famous biblical villains in the Old Testament. He was a giant Philistine warrior who challenged the Israelites to single combat, but none of them dared to face him. Goliath was ultimately killed by David, a young shepherd boy who slung a stone at Goliath’s forehead to defeat him. His defiance against Israel and God shows the folly of arrogance and the power of faith in God.
Absalom
Absalom was the son of King David who rebelled against his father and tried to usurp his throne. He killed his brother Amnon for raping his sister Tamar and then fled to Geshur. He later returned to Jerusalem and conspired to overthrow King David. His story teaches about the dangers of ambition and the consequences of familial discord.
Haman
Haman conspired in a plot to wipe out an entire nation, simply because Mordecai the Jew refused to bow to him. However, Queen Esther foiled his evil plan, and Haman ended up on the gallows he’d designed for Mordecai. His plot to exterminate the Jews shows the dangers of hatred and the importance of compassion and justice; his punishment is a symbol of karma.
Lot’s Wife
Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were visited by two angels, who urged them to flee the city of Sodom before its imminent destruction by God. As they fled, Lot’s wife disobeyed the angels’ command to not look back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Through Lot’s wife, we learn that sometimes following God’s will for our lives will force us out of our comfort zones.
Simon Magus- The Sorcerer
Though Simon is baptized and seems to truly believe the gospel, his heart has not fully changed when he accepts it. As soon as Simon sees the transformation the Holy Spirit brought about in his fellow Samaritans after Peter and John laid their hands upon them, he wants to buy the power to confer such a life-altering blessing. ‘Give me this power also,’ he says (Acts 8.19). His attempt to buy the Holy Spirit teaches about the impossibility of purchasing God’s gifts with money and the importance of genuine faith and repentance.
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