Have you EVER been in a abusive relationship whether with a male or female person?
Esther 4:1-17 NIV
[1] When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. [2] But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. [3] In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. [4] When Esther's eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. [5] Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king's eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. [6] So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. [7] Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. [8] He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. [9] Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. [10] Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, [11] "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king." [12] When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, [13] he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. [14] For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" [15] Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: [16] "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." [17] So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.
The entire book of Esther makes it clear that abuse is alive and active. Take a look at a few bible verses that I have looked at through my application to scripture:
Leviticus 20:9-12 NIV
[9] " 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head. [10] " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife---with the wife of his neighbor---both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. [11] " 'If a man has sexual relations with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. [12] " 'If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
Isaiah 58:12 NIV
[12] Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Matthew 16:27 NIV
[27] For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Genesis 49:1,5-7 NIV
[1] Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. [5] "Simeon and Levi are brothers---their swords are weapons of violence. [6] Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. [7] Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
Psalm 147:3-6 NIV
[3] He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. [4] He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. [5] Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. [6] The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
[18] "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. [19] See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Romans 12:19-21 NIV
[19] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. [20] On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." [21] Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Genesis 34:1-31 NIV
[1] Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. [2] When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. [3] His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. [4] And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife." [5] When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home. [6] Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. [7] Meanwhile, Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob's daughter---a thing that should not be done. [8] But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. [9] Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. [10] You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it. " [11] Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. [12] Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife." [13] Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. [14] They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. [15] We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. [16] Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. [17] But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go." [18] Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. [19] The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. [20] So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. [21] "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. [22] But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. [23] Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us. " [24] All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised. [25] Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. [26] They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. [27] The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. [28] They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. [29] They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. [30] Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed." [31] But they replied, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute? "
Abuse if taken lightly can have an effect on the body, mind and spirit. And, if not taken care of can lead to depressing and suicidal thoughts and actions: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 NIV
[1] Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land---from Gilead to Dan, [2] all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, [3] the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. [4] Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." [5] And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. [6] He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. [7] Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. [8] The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over. [9] Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. [10] Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, [11] who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt---to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. [12] For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Genesis 12:1-2 NIV
[1] The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. [2] "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
Hebrews 10:39 NIV
[39] But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Hebrews 11:1-40 NIV
[1] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. [2] This is what the ancients were commended for. [3] By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. [4] By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. [5] By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: "He could not be found, because God had taken him away." For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. [6] And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. [7] By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. [8] By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. [9] By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. [11] And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. [12] And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. [13] All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. [14] People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. [15] If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] Instead, they were longing for a better country---a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. [17] By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, [18] even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." [19] Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. [20] By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. [21] By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. [22] By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. [23] By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. [24] By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] 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. [27] By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. [28] By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. [29] By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. [30] By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. [31] By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. [32] And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, [33] who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. [35] Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. [36] Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--- [38] the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. [39] These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, [40] since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Blessings!
