Judges

These first several entries tended to bounce between commentary and introspective thoughts and following the back and forth is probably a little confusing. I have since been trying to somewhat cut down the back and forth action in my head to make my entries more concise and readable. I'm trying to in a very basic way extrapolate the timeless truths and interesting tidbits that I have noticed about these passages. By no means anything inspired here in my observations, but I know that the Lord uses the weak and I definitely fit in that category!


Ch. 7: Verse 2 is a great picture of what God wants more than anything else - to be glorified the way He deserves! He wanted it to be clear to the Israelites that they did not win the battle but the Lord did. Verse 14 shows God's sovereignty so clearly. God uses the words of a non believing Midianite talking about his dreams to strengthen Gideon. God uses whoever He wants whenever He wants to do whatever He wants! That is the kind of God that I want to serve. He has all power and authority and yet is so gracious and loving. Gideon responds the same way we all should in verse 15 - he worshiped! Praise Jesus! As Gideon goes back to the camp it is clear that he knows that the battle is not his to win as he says, "... the Lord has given the host of Midian into our hand."
Again, the Lord is in control clearly in verse 22 as he turns the Midianites swords against each other due to the chaos of the attack. I still sometimes struggle with biblical portions like the one here at the end of chapter 7. The Israelites are brutal as they hunt down and kill the Midianites and their princes. I always just have to remind myself that these people were evil and not repentant! They deserved what they got, in fact, we ALL deserve what they got. It is a miracle of grace that God hasn't acted upon all of us and our unrepentant hearts in the same way. Instead He changed our hearts! He died for us and saved us from the fate that we fully deserved. It is so cool to see that the central biblical message of the cross is all over this Old Testament book of Judges. It makes for way better reading and learning with that realization then when it is read as just ancient history and nothing more.

Ch. 8: You can see the transformation of Gideon from having confidence in himself to having confidence in the will of the Lord. In verse 6-8 When the people of Succoth and Penuel don't cooperate Gideon says confidently that he knows that the Lord will deliver the Midianite kings into his hands and then he will wipe out the people of Succoth and Penuel for their lack of kindness and obedience to the Lord. Gideon is rewarded for his correctly guided confidence by capturing the Midianite kings and showing the people of Succoth and Penuel a thing a two. I love verses 22-23! What an easy time it would have been for Gideon to get a big head with the remaining Midianites begging for him to lead them but Gideon clearly remembers where is valor (6:12) comes from. Verse 27 was confusing to me so I went to my trusty New Bible Commentary. From the context it seems like Gideon's intentions were for the ephod to be a reminder to the Israelites that the Lord brought the victory over the Midianites. Unfortunately, it turned into a false idol and was worshiped even by Gideon's own family. After Gideon's death we once again see Israel turn back to false gods. They quickly forget just like I often forget who is in control and who is the ONLY one that deserves to be worshiped! The cycle of sin starts all over yet again for the Israelites.

Ch. 9: It seems like the overall gist of chapter 9 is that evil may appear to win out for a while but the Lord is the eventual victor and in reality had control the whole time. Abimelech and Shechemites were involved in a very wicked deed in killing the 70 other sons of Gideon's (Jerubbaal's) just because they wanted Abimelech as ruler. This was inspite of all the good Gideon had done for the people of Shecham by saving them from the Midianites. Here's the crazy thing - their plan worked. Abimelech was king and he successfully killed his brothers. The Lord uses Jotham to curse both Abimelech and the Shechemites and of course, it comes true as the Lord turns them on each other and 1,000 Shechemites and Abimelech are killed. The Lord will not be made a fool of. The timeless truth to take from this passage seems to be that though it may look like evil is winning around us we can rejoice knowing the battle is the Lord's! He already won the ultimate battle on the cross and has saved Christians from an eternity of torment in hell. He will return to earth again to judge us all by the works we have done. Thank you Lord that I will be judged based on Christ's perfect life and not on my own selfish and sinful life. You look on me and You see the righteousness of Your Son. Praise God!

Ch. 10: This is going to be the extreme cliff notes version since I just accidentally deleted all my notes on this chapter. Israel clearly struggles most with idolatry when there is not a godly judge appointed. When Israel once again turns from Him and serves idols, God turns the Israelites over to the Philistines. This discipline again leads to repentance but the Lord quickly reminds them that this turning away and then crying out back to God when things are rough has happened many many times. In verse 14 God tells the Israelites to "cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress". Here the Lord is making clear that TRUE repentance requires CHANGE!!! The Israelites haven't really changed at all. In fact, they seem to just be sorry that they got caught in disobedience yet again. The Israelites must have realized this at some level because in verse 15 we see them apologizing with their mouths and verse 16 shows them repenting with their action. They put away their foreign gods and served the Lord. I went to New Bible Commentary since the end of verse 16 was a little perplexing to me. It says that they Lord became impatient over the misery of Israel. It seems that this statement is giving us yet another glimpse of the undeserved mercy that God had on the Israelites. Basically, it hurt him to see them in captivity to these other nations. Why did that hurt Him or make Him impatient? HE LOVES THEM THAT MUCH!!! The last couple verses of the chapter begin talking about the coming battles between the Israelites and Ammonites and we will get to again see the evidence of God's mercy and love that we got a glimpse of in verse 16.

Ch. 11: Yet another example of God using the ones the world perceives as worthless. Jephthah is the son of a prostitute while all his brothers are the sons of his father's wife. It is funny to me that Jephthah is the one who is resented by the brothers and not the father for not being faithful to their mother but that's a whole different thought. The point seems to be the awesome illustration that God loves using little people! When the brothers come back to Jephthah and beg him to lead them into battle due to his military prowess he accepts. I would be more apt to start my own battle against them and show them what I think of them sticking their noses up at me then joining them in battle as their leader. Jephthah shows he is a gifted reasoner as well in verses 12-28. He explains how Israel has in no way wronged the Ammonites or any of the other peoples who have attacked Israel during the time period. They respected their wishes and went around their territories. Jephthah is clearly in the spiritual zone as he states confidentally that the Lord will decide who's story was correct. Verse 29 shows us one of the Old Testament instances where the Holy Spirit was upon someone. We are PROMISED that now as believers! Do I exude that same confidence in the Lord that Jephthah did? Often the answer is no which is really in insult to the Lord because it shows that I don't truly believe that He is as powerful as He says He is in scripture. Verse 30-31 show an example of an unnecessary vow that Jephthah will pay dearly for. He knew that the Lord was going to deliver Ammon into his hands. Why not vow to make an animal sacrifice? What did he think was going to come out of the door of his house that he was going to be a wise decision to sacrifice. The lesson learned? Don't bargain with God!! Bargaining with God is rediculous because it implies we have something to offer Him when everything we "have" is His! The admirable thing about Jephthah is that he kept his vow to the Lord even though it was painful. It is also admirable that the daughter tells him to keep his promise to the Lord knowing that it will cost her her life. It is hard to see why God didn't stop this from happening. I know God is against human sacrifice. Here's the part that seems important to remember - God did NOT command Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter. Jephthah made a foolish vow that he didn't need to make which seemed to imply that deep down he thought that he could bargain with God. Big mistake made by a godly man.

Ch. 12: Nice short chapter today. The impressive thing to me about Jephthah is that he persevered to the end in spite of the tragedy with his daughter in chapter 11. He didn't turn from the Lord, but continued to serve for the next six years. There will be trials of many kinds but the Lord remains so good through all of them! The last few verses just run through a few more generations of judges with nothing too exciting to mention except for Ibzan. He didn't follow the Lord's command and instead had his sons and daughters marry people outside of his clan. That's at least what I think is being implied here but I'm not 100% on that. Next, on to Samson!

Ch. 13: A couple of really interesting points from this encounter that Samson's parents had with God. One is the reminder of how holy and how big God is. When Manoah realizes that it was God whem they had been speaking to he says "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." There was a healthy reverence and fear for the Lord and his holiness that America (and myself) seem to ignore. Yes, we have been saved by grace, but the God we serve is the same God that appeared to Manoah that day and we should fear Him!! The other thing that stood out was the comparison between Samson and John the Baptist, both Nazarites. Samson, for the most of his life, abuses the strength God has given him and lives for himself. John, on the other hand, prepares the way for Jesus and is quick to tell people that he (John) is NOT the Christ. That took me to Hebrews 11 where we find Samson mentioned in the Great Hall of Faith. I'm pretty sure verse 39-40 of Hebrews 11 are referring to the Holy Spirit that we are now promised when Christ saves us that these Old Testament saints were not promised. God is good! "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." Hebrews 11:39-40.

Ch. 14: There were a couple of perplexing things in this chapter. One being in 4 where it clearly states that God is using Samson's sin in seeking out a wife from a different people to get to the Philistines and use it to destroy them. God using sin for His glory and to accomplish His will. Awesome. The second thing is Samson's arrogance and self-centeredness. It seems at this time in his life he thought very highly of himself and thought that he was indestructible. He seems to have completely lost sight of where his strength and gifts were from, the Lord! I find it interesting that The Holy Spirit comes upon Samson and leads him to go lay the smack down on some Philistines. This is a clear example of God not needing us to cooperate to have His will done.

Ch. 15: I hadn't remembered that Samson was married to another Philistine before Delilah entered the picture. It is interesting to me that even though God keeps granting Samson massive amounts of grace, Samson is still facing consequences for poor choices. His marriage to the Philistine (whom he never should have married) ends with her and her father being burned to death in their own home. Samson definitely has a temper problem, but this chapter for the first time shows Samson finally giving the Lord some recognition for the victories he has been having, even though it seems to have been said in anger. He basically says, "What the heck God?! You help me win this battle just to let me die in the wilderness!?". Boy does that sound a lot like the Israelites after the exodus from Egypt. Once again, the Lord deals with Samson graciously even during his complaints and lack of trust. The Lord provides him with water source to drink from and Samson was revived. I like this a lot because the Lord is the source of our revival. When I am down/grumpy/bitter or whatever else it may be, I know I can go to the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I get to worship the exact same God that graciously saved Samson that day. Just like Samson, I don't deserve it at all. What Christ did for me on that cross and what he is continuing to do in me through sanctifying me by His Holy Spirit is the exact opposite of what I deserve. Thank you Lord for your never ending grace. Help me to remember that you don't owe me anything, and anything that you do give me a gift that I in no way have earned. Help that to bring about joy and thankfulness in my attitude towards you and your creation. It would have been extremely hard to submit to Samson as the authority God had put into place since he was living a very sketchy lifestyle to say the least. It's a good example of how we ahave to respect whoever is in authority over us because the Lord has a plan.

Ch. 16: Samson and Delilah's relationship is not one that I'm going to be trying to imitate at all anytime soon. He lied to her over and over and she was willing to sell him to her people for some dirty money. Her role seems very similar to Judas Iscariot when he betrayed Jesus. I think it's funny that Samson really seemed to trust her the whole time. I don't know that for sure but verse 4 says that he loved her. He must have been blinded to what had to have been obvious to everyone else around him. I think it's interesting that the reason that he finally told her the truth was because of her relentless nagging. He just wanted her to shut up, even though she had tried everything else he had said to try to get her money. Somehow I doubt that she really loved him. The end of Samson's life is such a great example that God will not be mocked. When the Philistines are praising Dagon for delivering Samson into their hands, the Lord blesses Samson with the strength to push the main supporting pillars over. In the end their was no doubt which God was worthy of praise. As it said a couple chapters back, the Lord used Samson to get to the Philistines and that's exactly what happened. We serve a God who is in control of all things, even a horny, arrogant, absurdly strong Israelite judge who is way out of line. What God wants to happen WILL happen. That is the comforting message from Samson. The other thing is that Samson did finish strong. In the end he acknowledged the source of his strength and went out with a bang that was very glorifying to God. This is the only reason we have biblically to think that Samson is listed in Hebrews 11 as a great man of faith.

Ch. 17: An interesting short little chapter. Micah is obviously misguided but has some knowledge of the truth. As verse 5 says " there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Micah had obviously fallen victim to a meshing of pagan cultures with what the Lord had commanded the Israelites. It seems like he is searching based on his response to the Levite who shows up at his door. He knows it is the Levites who are supposed to be priests and now that he has one, he thinks that he is surely in good shape, when in actuality he hasn't surrounded completely to the Lord. This sounds pretty similar to our lives doesn't it? "Lord I love you but I also love (fill in your own personal idol here). I'm going to try to find a way that they can coexist!" This does not work. We can not serve two masters. I don't know this story at all so I will be interested to see where it goes from here and how the Lord uses the Levite in Micah's life.