BIBLICAL FIGURES

*Under each Bible character I will list just a few characteristics or functions for each as described in Scripture. This is not meant to give a comprehensive picture by any means*

Aaron = High Priest who interceded with the Lord on behalf of the people, yielded to the will of the people instead of standing firm in the Lord, received supernatural confirmation of his ministry before the people

Abraham = Man of radical faith and obedience, willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord, God called him His friend Angel = Spiritual being, protector of God’s people (Psalm 34:7), the Lord’s messenger (Judges 2:4), carries out the Lord’s judgments (2 Samuel 24:15-17), a heavenly worshipper of the Most High God (Psalm 148:2), wars against demonic powers of darkness (Daniel 10:12-13, NLT)

Anna = Prophetess, she patiently waited many for God’s promise to be fulfilled and she was rewarded for her faithfulness

Balaam = Prophet who lived in compromise and greed

Barnabas = Encourager, spiritual father, helped launch others into their callings in spite of their past failures (Acts 9:26-28, Acts 15:36-40)

Cain = Wanted to serve God on his own terms which was unacceptable to the Lord, murdered his brother in a jealous rage

David = Passionate worshipper who loved God’s word and His Presence, was shown mercy by God in spite of his great sin, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22)

Daniel = Man of prayer, received many heavenly visitations, a prophet of great character, found victory in an impossible situation, stood in the gap in prayer for the sins of his generation and past generations, interpreted dreams

Deborah = Female leader, prophetess and liberator of God’s people

Demon = Evil spiritual beings who serve the devil in his work of attempting to hinder God’s people in every way (Ephesians 6:11-13), demons can possess a non believer’s body, soul and spirit (Matthew 8:28-29), demons can cause affliction and sickness (Matthew 17:14-20, Luke 13:11), demons are the source of witchcraft, fortunetelling and other occult practices (Acts 16:16-18)

Elijah = Miracle working prophet, man of great faith

Elisha = A prophet with a double portion anointing, received his anointing and mantle after a season of humble and faithful servitude to Elijah, did great miracles but remained humble and compassionate

Enoch = Walked with God in great faith and intimacy

Esther = Interceded with the king on behalf of the people, willing to face death in order to accomplish the Lord’s assignment, Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her” (Esther 2:15, KJV)

Ezekiel = Name means: God will strengthen, had visions of the glory of God and the River of God, uncovered corruption and idolatry going on behind the scenes in the Holy Temple, was transported in the Spirit

Gideon = An ordinary person (who saw himself as a nobody) raised up by God as a mighty leader who brought deliverance to God’s people, after a season of great victory he slipped into idolatry

Goliath = An enemy that appeared undefeatable who taunted the people of God, was eventually defeated by David who totally trusted in God for the victory

Haman = Plotted to destroy the Jewish people and in the end he himself was destroyed

Hanna = Persisted in prayer until the Lord answered her request, dedicated her son to the service of the Lord

Hosea = Displayed great forgiveness and mercy to his spouse as a picture of God’s great love and mercy toward His people Isaiah = Had a great vision of the throne room of God

Jacob = Got his way through crafty and deceptive means, he tenaciously wrestled with God for His blessing,

Jeremiah = A prophet who was broken for God’s people and wept over them, his prophetic ministry was virtually totally rejected, walked at times through emotional darkness

Jezebel = Extremely controlling and seductive queen, used intimidation and violence to get her way, brought witchcraft and idolatry to God’s people

Job = Worshipped God in the midst of great loss and suffering, man of great favor, suffered rejection and criticism but overcame

John = Beloved of Jesus, visited Heaven and received great revelations, preacher of love

John Mark = Failed miserably on a missions trip as he abandoned his traveling companions because of fear one of whom was Paul, John Mark was restored through the ministry of Barnabas and Paul later said of him “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11, NKJV)

John the Baptist = Forerunner ministry, preacher of repentance

Jonah = Rebelled against the Lord’s calling in his life, saw a nation transformed through his ministry, received a second chance after failure

Joseph (OT) = Great patience in suffering, refused to compromise at any cost, interpreted dreams, had great favor with his father and the king

Joshua = Led the people into the land of promise, loved to sit in the presence of God, challenged God’s people to walk in greater levels of holiness and faithfulness, God promised to give him victory everyplace he “set his foot” (Joshua 1:2-4, NIV)

Judas Iscariot = Traitor, thief

Lazarus = Resurrected from the dead, was Jesus’ friend Lot = Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. (2 Peter 2:7-8, CEV)

Martha = Busyness, servanthood, distraction

Mary (Mother of Jesus) = An ordinary girl used mightily by God

Mary (of Bethany) = Deep worship and adoration

Michal (David’s Wife) = Mocked David as he freely worshipped and danced before the Lord for which God cursed her with barrenness

Mordechai = Uncovered the plot of the enemy, spiritual father and mentor

Moses = "When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions; I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. (Numbers 12:6-8, NIV), leader with great humility, had tremendous hunger for the presence of God, He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Hebrews 11:26)

Noah = Lived righteously before God in the midst of great evil, showed great faith in the midst of rejection and persecution, a preacher of righteousness

Paul = True apostolic father, suffered greatly for Jesus but never complained or gave up, missionary, Church planter, moved in great miraculous power and authority, fought against and exposed legalism

Peter = Tremendously effective soul winner, apostle to the Jewish people, radically transformed when he was filled with the Holy Spirit

Samson = A man of great anointing whose ministry was overcome by fleshly desires, repented and was greatly used by God at the end of his life, man of great strength and power but displayed little character

Samuel = Remained a righteous and faithful priest and prophet in the midst of a corrupt religious and governmental system, prophesied God’s judgment against the corrupt priesthood of Eli, and the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men (1 Samuel 2:26, NIV)

Sarah = Miraculously had a child when she was well past child bearing age

satan or the devil = Tempts people to sin (Genesis 3:1, AMP), the spiritual adversary and enemy of God’s people (Job 1:12, AMP, 1 Peter 5:8), source of sickness and suffering (Job 2:7), the father of lies (John 8:44), You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—

the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

(Ephesians 2:2, NLT), accuser and slanderer of God’s people (Revelation 12:10)

Saul = A leader whose desire to be praised by man was greater than his desire to please God, success by those under him was met with jealousy, envy and murderous hatred, was physically impressive but lacked inner character Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego = Refused to bow down to idols even at the cost of their lives, were thrown into the fire but the Lord miraculously spared their lives

Solomon = Had great wisdom, in spite of his wisdom and zeal for the Lord he was overcome by greed and compromise, had great wealth which he realized in the end was meaningless in light of eternity, a picture of Jesus Our Bridegroom in the Song of Solomon

Stephen = Martyr, bold and fearless speaker of truth

Thomas = Told by Jesus to: Stop doubting and have faith!"

(John 20:27, CEV)