Category: Judges

As I look back at the book of Judges, I guess I came in knowing it was a dark book, but going through it this year, I realize that even more.

It was a time when even the judges that delivered the Israelites did things that were morally questionable.  And again, as I mentioned before, it comes down to that one phrase that closes the book of Judges,

In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.  Judges 21:25 (NLT)

They didn’t do what was truly right in God’s eyes.  They did what they thought was right.

What happens when we live that way?  I think the answer is found in these final chapters of Judges.

1.  A complete collapse of morals. 

It is utterly shocking to see the behavior of the city of Gibeah.

The story mirrors completely the story of Lot while he was in Sodom.

As in that story, a man and his concubine comes to a town and while he’s staying at someone’s house, the townspeople bang on the door demanding that the host send the man out so that they can rape him.

As in the story of Lot, the host refuses to do so, but offers his daughter and the concubine to the crowd so that they can rape them.

But unlike the story of Lot, the visitor wasn’t an angel, and he did not prevent the concubine from being sent out into the crowd to be  raped.

As a result, the woman was brutally abused, and eventually died.  Things were so bad in that town, that they had become exactly like Sodom, which God had destroyed for its evil.

2.  We start to defend what is evil.

When the Israelites heard about this atrocious behavior, they demanded that the tribe of Benjamin surrender the men who had done this.

But instead of doing so, the Benjamites fought to defend their men who had raped and killed the woman.

The apostle Paul puts it this way,

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.  (Romans 1:32)

3.  Even when we try to do right, we do wrong.

After defeating the Benjamites, the rest of the Israelites vowed not to let any of their daughters marry into the tribe of Benjamin because of what had happened.

Their anger was understandable, but they should’ve never made that vow.  What they quickly realized was that if they held to that vow, the tribe of Benjamin would soon disappear.

As a result, they attacked a city so that they could give the women there to the Benjamites.

And when there still weren’t enough women  for the Benjamites, they schemed to get around their vow by letting the Benjamites take their daughters, “without permission,” so as not to break their vow.

In short, the whole story was a mess from start to finish.

But it does show what happens when we we live by what we think is right rather than what God has told us.

How about you?  Where are you getting your ideas of right and wrong?  Are you taking them from God’s word?  Or are you taking them from what your own ideas of right and wrong are?

There is only one true standard of right and wrong and it doesn’t come from us.  So as we face the moral decisions of life, let us not turn toward our own wisdom, but to God’s.

Anything else leads to moral decay and ultimately to our own destruction.

We now come to the epilogue of Judges. 

The next couple of stories seem to be out of sequence with the rest, and probably happened shortly after the death of Joshua, as Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron was still the high priest.

And they are very shocking stories in their own ways.  Both stories can be summed up in a sentence that is repeated twice. 

In Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25, it says,

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

Other translations put it, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

In this passage, we see how one man and his family worshiped as they saw fit.

A man named Micah stole silver from his mother, but later admitted it and gave it back to her mother.  So far so good.

But then she “consecrates it to the Lord” by giving it back to Micah to make a graven image and an idol to worship, in clear contradiction to the first and second commandments that God had given the people.

How in the world she could say out of one side of her mouth, “I’m consecrating this to the Lord” and out of the other side say, “by making a graven image and and idol” is beyond my comprehension.

Perhaps she thought, “Well, I’m making these idols but am calling them “Yahweh,” the name God had revealed himself as.  But she was worshiping God in a way that  was right in her own eyes, not as God had commanded.

Micah then made the image and the idol and started worshiping them.

Then one day, a Levite, someone who was supposed to be serving God in the tabernacle, happened to pass by.  On seeing him, Micah offered to hired him to be his own personal priest for the god he made. 

Incredibly, the Levite agreed.  This man who should have known God’s commands well completely rejected them for the sake of money.

Not only that, in chapter 18, we see that the whole tribe of Dan started to worship the idol that Micah made.

What can we get from this?

Micah and his mother thought that what they were doing was perfectly okay.  Either they didn’t know God’s commands concerning idols, or they ignored them.

Either way, they actually thought they would receive God’s blessing. Apparently, so did the Danites.

But God did not and does not accept this kind of worship.  Jesus put it this way,

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.  (John 4:23-24)

In other words, it’s not enough to just have passion as you worship.  To just worship in your spirit as it were. 

Your worship needs to be based on God’s truth.  You need to worship God for who he says he is, and worship God as he requires.

But you can’t do that unless you know what God has said in his word and obey it.

How about you?  Are you worshiping God as he has revealed himself.  Or have you set up a false image in your mind of him and are worshiping that? 

Are you worshiping God as he has required?  Or are you worshiping him as you see fit?

May we always worship God not just in spirit, but in truth.

“He had so much potential.  What a waste.”

How often do we hear these words.  We see this in athletes a lot of time.  A person has a lot of natural physical skills, and yet because of their inflated ego, or lack of worth ethic, they never quite meet the potential they had in their lives.

Even in everyday life, we meet people and think, “They could be so much more.  Why aren’t they?”

As I look at the life of Samson, I can’t help but think the same thing.  He was much less than all that God had planned for him.

He was dedicated to the Lord from before he was even conceived.  His parents raised him to be a Nazirite, dedicated to the Lord’s service.

But instead, he largely wasted his life, and the times that God used him seemed only incidental. 

Put another way, God in his grace used Samson to bring some measure of deliverance to the Israelites from the Philistines. But it was only done at Samson’s convenience, and often times, despite Samson’s actions.

What was wrong with Samson? 

I think there was one main problem.  Despite being a man dedicated to God’s service, he was more self-centered than God-centered.  He thought more about how to serve himself than he thought about serving God.

In fact, you never find one place in his whole story where he sought the leading for God.  He asked God for things.  But he never sought God’s leading.

You see this pattern throughout his life. 

The first major incident you see is his getting married to a Philistine woman. 

God had told the Israelites to never intermarry with the Canaanites.  And yet, Samson ignored God’s word, and the pleas of his parents, insisting on marrying this woman.

It says in Judges 14:4 that this was from the Lord.

But considering what God had commanded, and that he never contradicts himself, what I think this means is that when God saw that Samson was set on marrying this woman, he saw a way to accomplish his purposes despite Samson’s disobedience. 

And so he did so. Through Samson, he was able to help the Israelites against the Philistines.

But Samson never did so because he sought to please God. 

His concern wasn’t for delivering the people.  Rather, time and again, you see his motivation was revenge.  Time and again you see the words, “get even” or “revenge” as his reasons for action.

But how much better would it have been if his motivation had come from his love for God and for the people.

Instead, you see a total lack of concern for either, and the call God put on his life.  You see this also in two other incidents.

One was when he approached the dead body of a lion, when God explicitly commanded that Nazirites not even approach the dead bodies of people they love.

You see it again when he told Delilah how to destroy his vow to God by cutting his hair, simply to get sexual favors from her.  And in the end, it cost him as he was captured by his enemies, had his eyes gouged out, and forced to work as a slave.

Still with all that, God used him once more to help the Israelites by destroying 3000 Philistines, but again, one truly questions Samson’s motivation.  His last words were,

O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. (Judges 16:28)

Samson accomplished much in his life.  He helped the Israelites for 20 years. 

But his life was much less than God intended because he was self-centered and never took God’s call on his life seriously.

How about you?  God wants to use you for his kingdom.  He wants you to make a difference in the lives of the people around you.

When you see God in heaven someday, will he say, “Well done good and faithful servant?”

Or will he say, “You could’ve been much more?”

It’s amazing how often Jesus seems to appear in the Old Testament. 

This appears to be another case of Jesus appearing as a messenger for his Father.  (The word “angel” basically means “messenger”.)

This time he appears to a woman and tells her that she will have a child and that he is to belong to the Lord. 

He was to belong to a special group of people called the Nazirites who dedicated themselves to the Lord’s service, not cutting their hair or drinking wine, and doing a number of other things to set them apart from the rest of the people.

But while most people took a Nazirite vow for a certain period of time, this child was to be a lifelong Nazirite.  (For more information on Nazirites, see Numbers 6.  I’ve also written more on the subject here.)

When the woman told her husband Manoah of this, he prayed that God would send this messenger again to confirm what his wife said.

God in his grace sent the messenger again.  And when he came, Manoah asked him his name.

The messenger replied,

Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding. (Judges 13:18)

The NLT puts it,

Why do you ask my name?  It is too wonderful for you to understand.

Seeing this reminds me of the passage in Isaiah prophesying the coming of Jesus as Messiah.

It says,

And His name will be called Wonderful… Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

Think of how wonderful Jesus was in this passage.

1.  He took away the shame of Manoah’s wife. 

In that time, it was a great shame for a married woman to be childless.  People probably wondered if there was something wrong with her.  But with one word from Jesus, that shame was taken away.

In the same way, Jesus takes away our shame.  All of us have sinned and are soiled with the shame that comes from sin. 

Yet through his blood, the Bible says that our sins are washed away and are made as white as snow.  (Isaiah 1:18)

2.  He showed mercy to them. 

Though Manoah and his wife were sinners, he didn’t strike them down.  Instead, he accepted their offerings and blessed them with the promise of a child.

In the same way, Jesus shows mercy to us.  We don’t deserve anything from God because all of us have sinned.  And yet he doesn’t strike us down for our every failing. 

Rather, he accepts our prayers and offerings and gives us the promise of eternal life if we’ll put our trust in him.

3.  He gave them the hope of a savior. 

The Israelites were under the rule of the Philistines who treated them harshly.  But now a savior was coming that would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.

And in the same way, Jesus became a savior to us.  We were lost in our sin, trapped in the kingdom of Satan.  But now, it says in Colossians 1,

The Father…has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. (Colossians 1:12-13)

Truly, his name is Wonderful.

I sometimes think that the politically correct movement is meant simply to give people reasons to get upset about something.

I understand that sometimes people say things that are offensive, but I think sometimes that there are people who are looking to be offended.

Am I saying we shouldn’t be sensitive to others’ feelings?  Of course we should.  And if someone is offended by the things we say or do, we should do our best to avoid it.

However, on the flip side, I think we’d be better off giving people the benefit of the doubt that they’re not trying to offend, more times than not.  Because generally speaking, they’re not.

If we absolutely feel that we can’t let it go, we should confront them with a gentle spirit.

I read a story of an American football player named Terry Bradshaw who came up to the pro ranks at a time when racial tensions were pretty high.

Bradshaw grew up in the south, and had never really been around African-Americans (here’s my politically correct speech) until he turned pro.  And so he used to call them “coloreds.”

One player took him aside, and said, “What do you mean when you call me colored?  Am I green?  Purple?  Red?”

The key thing here was not what this player said, but rather how he said it.  He didn’t come with the attitude of,  “You lousy bigoted #$%^#.”

Rather, he understood that Bradshaw really had no idea that what he was saying was offensive to him.

He wasn’t happy about being called colored, and he confronted Bradshaw about it, but he also gave Bradshaw the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t trying to be mean or cruel.

On the other hand, you see people like the Ephraimites in the book of Judges who seemed to look for any reason to get offended.

You see this first in chapter 8 when they criticized Gideon for not calling them in the battle against the Midianites.

Now in chapter 12, you see them criticizing Jephthah for not calling them in the battle against the Ammonites and threatening to kill him because of that.

But while Gideon placated their anger, Jephthah didn’t, and ended up battling them, leaving 42,000 of them dead.

What really happened here?  Jephthah claimed that he did ask for their help and didn’t get it.

I’m guessing that the call for help that Jephthah gave was a general one to all of Israel.  And perhaps for whatever reason, Ephraim never got the call.

Now I’m not going to justify what Jephthah did.  He could’ve been more diplomatic as Gideon was.  But it seems to me that the Ephraimites were looking to be offended.

This was the second time that the very same thing happened to them.  They could’ve given Gideon and Jephthah the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t trying to offend them.  But rather, the Ephraimites chose to take offense.

And in the case of Jephthah, it cost them.

How about you?  Are you quick to take offense at what people do or say?

Remember what the apostle James said,

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  (James 1:19-20)

In other words, be quick to listen to the other person’s side, be slow to accuse them, and be slow to anger.  Don’t assume the worst of people, assume the best.

And if you must confront them, then do it, “speaking the truth in love.”  (Ephesians 4:15)

Being quick to anger will only lead to trouble as the Ephraimites learned to their own sorrow.

Judges 11:29-40 is one of the more difficult passages in scripture to interpret. Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter on an altar to God? And if he did, did God approve of this action?

We’ve already addressed the second question in an earlier blog which you can see here.

If Jephthah really did sacrifice his daughter, I think it’s pretty clear that God didn’t approve. Why? Because God clearly said through Moses that such sacrifices were forbidden.

God told the people

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire…

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. (Deuteronomy 18:10,12)

So if Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, and there are a number of Bible scholars who believe he did, then God clearly didn’t approve of his action.

But is there another possible way to interpret this passage? Many Bible scholars think so. Verses 30-31 can be translated this way:

If you give the Ammonites into my hand, then that which comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites — it will be given to the Lord, or I will offer it up as a burnt-offering. (11:30-31)

In other words, if the first thing Jephthah saw was an animal (animals were often kept in the first floor of an Israelite house near the entrance), he’d sacrifice it, and if it was a human, that person would be offered to God for his service.

Leviticus 27 is a clear example of this. In verse 2, it talks about what must be done in order to redeem (or buy back) someone who was dedicated to the Lord. but in verse 28, it says

But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the LORD—whether man or animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD. (Leviticus 27:28)

The word “devotes” had the idea of an irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, much as Samuel was dedicated to God by his mother.

This interpretation of Judges 11 makes a lot of sense in that it matches up with what the rest of scripture teaches.

It also matches up with the response of his daughter.

Instead of weeping that she would die, she wept that she would remain a virgin until she died.

Instead of running for her life, she was willing to do as her father vowed.

That said, scholars are divided on this issue.

Whatever your interpretation, we should always try to take from the scripture we read what God is trying to tell us.

If we interpret Jephthah’s action as sin, then I think we learn from this that if we don’t know God’s word, we can do things that we think are pleasing to him, and yet are not.

How well do you know his Word? Are you truly doing things that are pleasing to him? Or are you unknowingly doing things God detests because you are ignorant of God’s Word?

If we interpret Jephthah’s action as making a vow that he later regretted, I think we learn that we need to be very careful of the vows that we make to God.

If we make them, God requires that we keep them, that is, unless the vow we make is a sinful one (Leviticus 5:4-6).

Jesus actually taught that it’s better not to make vows at all. Rather, let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

In other words, be a person that always does what he or she says. That’s the kind of people God desires us to be.

The Israelites were definitely a fickle people.  It showed not only in their relationship with God, but also in their relationship with a man named Jephthah.  In fact, there’s a very definite parallel shown here.

Jephthah had been rejected by his half-brothers (and assumedly the elders of the of the city) because he was an illegitimate child, the son of a prostitute.  They essentially kicked him out of the house saying, “You’ll never share our inheritance.”

But when Israel was in trouble and in need of a general to lead them in their fight against the Ammonites who were oppressing them, they said to Jephthah, “Yeah we rejected you before, but we’re turning to you now.  If you help us, we’ll make you our leader.”  (Judges 11:8)

That’s what they basically did to God throughout the book of Judges.

When things went well, they turned their backs on God and worshiped idols.

But when things went bad, they pled with him to deliver them, putting away their idols to serve God once again.

It’s amazing to me the mercy that God showed them.  God knew their hearts.  And he had told them, “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”  (Judges 10:14)

Yet when they continued to cry out to him, it says he finally “could bear Israel’s misery no longer,” and so he sent people to deliver them.(10:16)

How about us?  Are we as fickle as the Israelites.  As long as things are going well, we ignore God and just do our own thing, essentially serving ourselves.  And only when we get in trouble do we turn to him and ask for help?

Or do we have hearts that are true to him all the time?

I love the prayer of  David when he prayed “give me an undivided heart.”  (Psalm 86:11)

St. Augustine put it this way,

I find no secure place for my soul except in you, and in you I pray that what is scattered in me may be brought together, so that no part of me may be apart from you.

Sometimes when you are working within me, bringing my scattered self to you, you draw me into a state of feeling that is unlike anything I am used to, a kind of sweet delight.

I know that if this spiritual state were made permanent in me it would be something not of this world, not of this life.  (Confessions X)

May our hearts never be fickle concerning God.  Rather let us have hearts that are undivided, loving and serving him.

There’s an old saying that says, “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”

The point being, of course, that sometimes what we wish so desperately for is not always a good thing.

After being in the promised land for many years, this is the first time we see the Israelites clamoring for a king.

When they asked Gideon to be their king, he told them that God was their king, but they couldn’t accept that.  And so after Gideon’s death, they were ripe for Gideon’s son Abimelech’s play for power.

Abimelech was the son of Gideon’s concubine, and not long after his father’s death, he tried to gather support from his mother’s family and hometown in Shechem.

He was successful, and together, they slaughtered Gideon’s other 70 sons and Abimelech became the first king ever in Israel, although his scope of power was probably limited to Shechem.

Jotham, one of Gideon’s sons, escaped however, and told the people of Shechem a parable.

Basically it was a story of some trees seeking a king, and after being rejected by an olive tree, a fig tree, and a grapevine, they turned to a thornbush which accepted, but would eventually destroy them.

Jotham’s point was that in seeking a king, they had placed someone over them who would eventually destroy them.

And that’s what happened.

The people of Shechem eventually realized that Abimelech was not a man they wanted as their king, but it was too late, and many of the men who had chosen him were eventually killed by him.

Abimelech himself was killed in his attack on Shechem, and so his reach for power came to an abrupt end.

The same can happen with us.  How often do we sometimes wish so hard for something, that we ignore God as our king?

We wish so hard for our dream job that we ignore the fact that it’ll take us away from our church on Sundays.

We wish so hard for a husband or wife, that we ignore the fact that they aren’t Christians.

We wish so hard for sexual pleasure that we ignore God’s command that we are to save ourselves for marriage.

But in doing these things, our lives become a mess.  Be careful what you wish for.  Make sure that your desires are in line with God’s desires.  And remember Jesus’ promise to us.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (you need) will be given to you as well.  (Matthew 6:33)

When I learned about Gideon in Sunday School and Bible clubs, the only stories I ever remember hearing about were his encounter with God and the battle against the Midianites.

My teachers never touched on the darker side of Gideon.  But there was definitely a darker side.

You see it in how he treated the two cities of Gad.  You also see it here.

This passage starts out positively.  The people of Israel said, “Rule over us.  You’ve saved us from the Midianites.”  But Gideon replied, “God is your king, not me.  He is to be your ruler.  Not me.”

But then, he added, “I have one small request.  A little gold please.  Oh, and by the way, the royal robes of the Midianite kings.  Oh, and one more thing, their pendants too.”

He then went on to make an ephod out of the gold he received.  The purpose is not clear. 

However, an ephod was for God’s priests alone, and was used for consulting God.  It almost seems like he was trying to take on a duty that was reserved for the priests.

One other thing that he did was to take the privilege of many kings of that time, marrying multiple wives and having 70 sons.  He named one of them Abimelech, which means “My father is king.”

It almost seems he was now claiming to be a king despite what he had said earlier.

Why did he do all this?  I don’t know. 

To be absolutely fair, it should be noted that the term “my father,” was often a term used for God.  So he could’ve been saying, “God is my king,” as he told the rest of the Israelites earlier.

And  I suppose he could’ve been just using the ephod to try to remind people to look to God.

Still, put together with everything else he did, his actions are highly questionable. 

It kind of makes me wonder if he started thinking to himself, “Don’t I deserve all this?  Why shouldn’t I be like a king?  After all, look at all I’ve done.  Shouldn’t I have at least some perks?”

But what did that attitude lead to? 

For one thing, the people started to worship the ephod, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. 

Secondly, it led to internal strife within his own family, including a son who was not exactly God-fearing.

It is always a dangerous thing when we start pursuing things and status in this world.  As with Gideon, if we make them a priority in our lives, it can lead to sin and disaster in our lives.

“But I deserve it don’t I?  Look at all that I’ve done?  Shouldn’t I reap some rewards?”

It’s easy to think that way.  But the thing we need to remember is that everything we have comes from God.  And without the the talents and resources that he’s given us, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything.

And so the thing we need to do is remain humble, and not seek for what we deserve. 

We need to remember that what we really deserve is death because all of us have sinned.  Yet God showed us mercy and grace, and it’s only because of that, that we have all that we do now.

How about you?  Are you seeking what you deserve? 

Or are you maintaining a humble and grateful heart towards God?

There are times that we read things in the Bible, and we see people, even the heroes of the Bible, do things that seem terrible to us.  And we then ask ourselves, “Did God really approve of this?  Did God sanction this action?”

This is especially difficult when no commentary is made on God’s view of the matter.  Sometimes, when people did things that were wrong, the Bible makes it very clear that God was not pleased.

For example, when King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, it clearly says, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”  (II Samuel 11:27)

But other times, the Bible says nothing, neither good nor bad, on what God’s feelings were.  And as a result, sometimes people get the idea that God approved of the action.  And nothing could be further from the truth.

We’ll address this in the story of Jephthah in a later blog as well, but this thought came to me as I read about Gideon’s actions with the cities of Succoth and Peniel.

These two cities belonged to the tribe of Gad, and while the Israelites were in pursuit of the Midianites, they stopped by these two cities to ask for food.  But the city elders refused.

Why did they refuse?  Well, it’s possible the elders were afraid of retaliation by the Midianites should they come out victorious from the conflict.

But the context seems to suggest that when the elders refused to help Gideon’s army, they actually mocked them (15).

In other words, they were really saying, “Are you kidding?  You, with an army of 300, are going to take on an army of 15,000?  How idiotic can you be?  There’s no way we’re going to help you!”

And so  when Gideon came back victorious, he revisited the cities and exacted vengeance on them.

Did God approve of this?  The Bible is silent.  Actually many Bible commentators think Gideon was justified in doing this. My guess, though, is that God didn’t approve.

Basically as you look at these kinds of stories and ask yourself if God approved, you need to look not just at that story, but at the whole of scripture.  What does God say about these kinds of situations?

Let’s look at two things.  First the issue of justice.

God told the people, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life.”  (Deuteronomy 19:21)

This was not a call for vengeance.  Rather it was a limitation on punishment for a crime or sin.  In other words, the punishment was not to be more than the crime deserved.

The people of the two cities mocked the Israelites and refused to give them bread.  Do these actions call for punishing them with thorns and briers, death, and destruction of property? 

Personally, I don’t think so.  It sounds more like vengeance for hurt pride than anything else.

Secondly, Jesus said concerning that scripture in Deuteronomy,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  (Matthew 5:38-39)

The imagery Jesus gives is striking if you think about it.

He said if someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other cheek. 

If you’re right-handed (as most people are), and you’re facing a person, how do you strike them on their right cheek?  You need to backhand them.

You don’t backhand a person on the cheek to cause them bodily harm (primarily).  It’s more of an insulting gesture.  And so Jesus was basically saying that if people insult you, don’t fight back.  Let them do it.

Gideon didn’t do that.  Sure, these cities were wrong in how they treated Gideon and his men.  But Gideon was wrong too in how he responded.  Instead of turning the other cheek, he wrecked vengeance on these cities.

In short, don’t assume when reading these kinds of stories that if it doesn’t say God disapproved of an action, by default that means he approved.  Take a look at the whole of scripture, and see what he says about the subject. 

Only then can we truly see if he approved or disapproved of an action.

When someone lashes out at us with an unfair attack (or to us, what seems like an unfair attack), how do we respond?

The natural response is to attack back.  To return harsh word for harsh word.  Another response is to just sulk in your anger or hurt. 

Neither of these are good responses, and Gideon knew that.

Gideon had asked several of the tribes to help him in his attack on Midian, but he didn’t ask the tribe of Ephraim for help until the battle was well underway.

As a result, the Ephraimites felt like they were just cleaning up what Gideon and the other tribes started. 

They felt left out.  They felt unwanted.  They felt the only reason why Gideon asked them for help was because they were kind of a last resort.

And so they said to Gideon,

Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian? (Judges 8:1)

And the Bible says that they criticized Gideon sharply.

How did Gideon respond?  He didn’t attack.  He didn’t sulk. 

Rather, he said calmly, “But what you did was far greater than anything we did.  Sure, we started the attack, but it was you that actually killed the Midianite leaders.”

And by soothing their egos, Gideon was able to resolve the situation.

In Proverbs, it says

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (15:1)

What about you?  How do you respond when someone attacks you unfairly?  Sometimes responding in a right way means swallowing our pride.  It means being humble.

But if you really care about the person, aren’t our relationships worth that price?.

Who are you putting your faith in?

That seemed to be the question that God was asking Gideon.  Gideon had gathered 32,000 men to fight against the Midianites.  But God said,

You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands.

In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’  (Judges 7:2-3)

22,000 men left after that announcement, and God said, “That’s still too much.”

He then sifted out all the men until there were only 300 men left.  300 out of 32,000.

Why?  To make sure the people put their faith in God, not themselves.  And with just 300 men, God led them to victory.

God wants the same with us.  What do we put our faith in?  Our money?  Our jobs?  Ourselves?   Or in him?

When we start putting our faith in other things, these things become the priority in our lives.  And we start putting these things in front of our relationship with God.

But when we put our faith in God alone, then our priorities fall into place and we start finding victory in our lives.

Is your relationship with God not as strong as you would like?  Do you not feel as close to God as you would like?  Then ask yourself:  “Who am I putting my faith in?  What am I putting my faith in.”

Because until you can answer “God,” you’ll never have the relationship with him that you desire…and that he desires with you.

In a lot of ways, this passage is similar to the one of God’s call on Moses.  In both cases, you have men who lacked any kind of self confidence, but God called and used them anyway.

In this case, the angel of God (most scholars believe this was actually Jesus in his preincarnate form) said something very interesting when he called Gideon.  He said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12)

Gideon was far from being a mighty warrior.  He was just a farmer.  And he wasn’t exactly a strong and courageous man, brimming with confidence. 

When God called him, he said, “I’m a nobody from a tribe of nobodies.  How can I save Israel?”  (15)

When he went to destroy the altar of Baal, he went at night because he was afraid of what his family and neighbors would think or do.

And even after he had started gathering people for the battle, he asked God not just once, but twice to confirm that God would be with him.

Yet through it all, God showed grace to him.  He allowed Gideon his tests. 

And when Gideon had fallen to the ground in fear after recognizing it was God he was talking to, God said, “Peace.  Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” (23)

Gideon was a sinner.  He should’ve died for seeing the face of God.  But God not only spared him, but called him to his service.

Why?  Because he saw what Gideon could be. He believed in Gideon.

And God believes in you.  He sees what you can be, even when you can’t.

So don’t wallow around in self-pity, calling yourself a nobody.  You’re somebody.  Because God created you.

And not only did he create you, he created you for a purpose.  To know him, and to serve in his kingdom.  And no matter what you look like now, he sees what you can be.

All we have to do is be willing to say yes to him.

Will you?

How many times do we get in trouble because of our bad decisions, and people tell us, “Well, what did you expect?” 

Or “Don’t expect any sympathy from me.” 

Or “Well, you got what you deserved.”

And it’s true.  The Bible does say that we reap what we sow.  And if we sow bad things in our lives, bad fruit will result.

In the first part of this chapter, that seems to be what God is telling the people. 

The people were being oppressed by the Midianites after once again turning their backs on God.  And things got so bad, they finally cried out to him, asking for his help.

And God said,

I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land.

I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’

But you have not listened to me.”  (Judges 6:8-10)

In other words, “Well, you got exactly what you deserved.  I warned you, you ignored me, and now you’re suffering for it.”

But God didn’t leave it at that.  Instead, despite their sin, he reached down to deliver them. 

The Israelites didn’t deserve God’s help.  He didn’t have to do anything.  And yet he reached down anyway and worked to deliver them.

That’s what grace is.  We deserve nothing from God.  We in fact deserve hell because we’ve turned our backs on God and have gone our own way.  And yet if we’ll cry out to God in our desperation, he will respond.  Because he loves us.

I’m not saying that he’ll take away all the consequences of your sin.  You may still have to suffer on this earth because of your bad choices.

But ultimately, if you turn to him, you can find hope despite your sufferings.  Hope that though you made bad mistakes, God still loves you, and will help you through the struggles that you go through.

Have you made bad mistakes in your life?  Are you suffering because of them? 

Turn to God.  He will forgive you.  He will help you.  And he will see you through.  Because that’s the type of God he is.

As David and many others have written,

You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.  (Psalm 86:5)

Scottie Pippen played with Michael Jordan during the Chicago Bulls’ championship years in the 1990s.

He was one of the best forwards of all time, and after Jordan’s first retirement, he helped lead the Bulls to the playoffs as one of league’s best teams.

But in one critical game, his reputation took a big hit.  Why?  Because he refused to go on the court.

With seconds remaining in the game, the coach asked another player to attempt the game-winning shot, and Pippen was so upset about it, he refused to go into the game.

Ironically, the other player hit the game-winning shot with Pippen on the bench.

Here was one of the best NBA players of all time, but people still remember that game to this day.  It’s something he has to live with to this day, whenever people think about his legacy.

The Israelites faced a similar situation.  God was asking the tribes to band together to overcome the people who were oppressing them.  But some of them refused to come.  Why, we don’t know.  But they refused to come.

Criticize Barak for refusing to come unless Deborah came, but these other tribes were worse.  They refused to come at all.  And so Deborah, in her song of victory, wrote,

In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.

Why did you stay among the campfires
to hear the whistling for the flocks?

In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.

And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher remained on the coast
and stayed in his coves.

The people of Zebulun risked their very lives;
so did Naphtali on the heights of the field. (Judges 5:15-18)

In other words, while the rest of the Israelites risked their lives to battle their oppressors, the tribes of Reuben, Gilead, Asher, and Dan sat on the sidelines and did nothing.

We too, as Christians, are involved in a war.  A spiritual war in which people are going to hell every day.

And the question God asks us is, “Are you on the playing field reaching out to lost souls?  Or are you on the sidelines?”

For some of the people that you meet, you’ll be the only Christian they’ll ever know.  And if you don’t tell them about Jesus, no one ever will.  And God will hold you accountable.

He’ll ask you, “Others went out; some even risked their lives for the gospel.  Why did you linger?  Why did you stay behind?  Why did you remain where you were?”

Lord, let me not linger on the sidelines, but let me go out on the playing field and make a difference for you. 

Help me be sensitive to your voice and hear what you’re saying to me and what you want me to do.

Don’t let me be an ineffective soldier, but one that makes a difference for you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

All of us have role models. 

For some of us, it’s our mom or dad.  For others, it was a teacher or grandparent. 

As we’re growing up, they’re vital in our development.  They help shape us.  They help us grow.

But there comes a time when we have to take our eyes off of those role models and turn them to God. 

All other role models are imperfect.  They fail.  They make mistakes.  More than that, they have weaknesses.  And there are times when they simply cannot be there for us.

So eventually, the time comes when we have to stop leaning on them, and start leaning on God.

Barak hadn’t gotten to that point yet as we come to this story.

Deborah was a judge in Israel and a prophetess, and she told Barak that God was calling him to go out and attack the enemies of Israel that were oppressing them. 

She told him that God would be with him and would deliver Israel’s enemies into Barak’s hands.

But Barak refused to go unless Deborah went with him.  Deborah said “Fine”, but that he would miss out on the honor that would’ve been his had he just obeyed God and followed him.

Why was it, if not wrong, then less than ideal, that Barak took Deborah with him?

I think the main reason was that it showed a lack of faith in God.  He wasn’t depending solely on God.  He was depending on someone who he knew was depending on God.

I suppose there are worse things.  He could’ve tried to depend on someone who was not following God.

But sooner or later, our faith needs to stand on its own.  That is, our faith shouldn’t rest on another’s faith.  Our faith should rest on Christ alone.

We shouldn’t follow and obey God because someone tells us to.  We should follow and obey him because we ourselves love him.

All children that grow up in Christian homes eventually have to face that choice.  I certainly did.

The day came when I had to ask myself, “Do I believe in God just because my parents do?  Or do I believe because he truly is real in my life? 

“Do I follow God just because my parents do?  Or do I follow God because I know from my personal experience and knowledge that he is worthy of my trust?”

But whether it’s our parents, or the person that led us to Christ and discipled us, sooner or later, we need to let go of their hands and start taking the hand of Jesus himself.

I’m not saying that we don’t need other Christian’s support in our lives.  We do.  God has placed other Christians in our lives to encourage us and help us grow.

But it’s not the imperfect models in our lives we should be following and relying on.  But Jesus himself.  As the writer of Hebrews wrote,

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  (Hebrews 11:2)

Whose hand are you holding?

There is a  repeated theme throughout the book of Judges.

It says in Judges 3:7-8,

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim．

Then again in verse 12,

Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.

And yet again in chapter 4, verses 1-2

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.

Again and again, as you go through the book of Judges, you see these words repeated over and over.

The Israelites would start worshiping false gods, and God would give them into the hands of the very nations that worshiped these “gods.”

As a result, the Israelites would suffer greatly until they finally cried out to God for help, and he would rescue them by sending them judges to deliver them.

But it brings out a very important point.  We become enslaved by the things we offer ourselves to.  If we offer ourselves to sin, we become slaves to sin.  But if we offer ourselves to God, we become slaves to God.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

The apostle Paul puts it this way,

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

Some people think that when they live apart from God, they’re free.  They can do whatever they want.

But what they don’t realize is that they soon become enslaved to something else.  They become enslaved to their lusts, to their greed, or to whatever else they’ve offered themselves to.

And as Paul points out, these things lead to shame and death (Romans 6:20-21).

Time and again, people wonder why their lives are falling apart.  They wonder why their marriages don’t work.  They wonder why their finances are a mess.  They wonder why they can’t stop their bad habits that are destroying their lives.

The reason?  They’re slaves to what they offered themselves to.  What they thought was freedom is really a slavery that is destroying their lives.

And so Paul writes,

Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever‑increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. (Romans 6:19)

How about you?  Who or what are you giving yourself to?

Nobody is truly free.  You can serve your lusts or desires, become slaves to them and have your life fall apart.

Or you can serve God and find true life.

What will you do?

I was reading an article a few years ago, and it was talking about how many young parents in Japan struggle to teach their children morals. 

The reason?  They themselves have no strong convictions of right and wrong. 

And of course, if you don’t have any strong sense of morals, it’s kind of hard to pass it on to your children.

As a result, we’re seeing a lot more behavior problems among children here in school. 

“Classroom chaos” became a catch phrase about ten years ago and things haven’t improved much since.

The Israelites experienced chaos on a national level.  A people that had started out worshiping God and doing things his way, started following other gods.  Moral deterioration soon followed that. 

Why?  Because the parents failed their children. 

How?

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10)

In other words, despite God’s command to the Israelites to teach their children about him, and all that he had done for the Israelites, the Israelite parents neglected this duty.

As a result, the children grew up neither knowing God, nor what he had done for Israel.  And because of that, everything fell to pieces.

What about us?  Are we teaching our children about God?  Are we telling them what he’s done in our lives?  Are we teaching them his ways? 

Or are we just taking them to Sunday school and leaving that to the Sunday school teachers.

We can’t do that.  Sunday school teachers have our kids once a week.  We are with them every day. 

And while I’m sure God is pleased when our Sunday school teachers share about him with our children, it is us that he has specifically commanded to teach our children. 

He said,

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

If our children grow up not knowing who God is, it’s not the fault of our church’s Sunday school teachers.  It’s ours.

It is we who should be telling them who God is.  It is we who should be teaching our children how to have a relationship with him.  And it is we who should be examples of what a Christian is.

The Sunday school teachers should supplement what we do as parents.  They shouldn’t be doing our jobs for us.

Our children still have to make their own choices.  We may do our duty and teach them, and they may still walk away from God.  We can’t control that.  But if we fail our children and don’t teach them, God will hold us responsible.

Some of you might say, “But I don’t know my Bible so well.  I don’t even know God so well.  I’m not qualified.  Isn’t the Sunday school teacher better qualified to teach them?”

That may be true, but it’s no excuse.  You should be teaching them what you do know.  And you should be growing in your faith and in your knowledge of God every day so that you can pass these things on to your children.

How about you?  Are you obeying God and teaching your children about him?  Or are you simply hoping that they somehow learn enough about him from Sunday school?

Don’t fail your children as the Israelites failed theirs.  Teach your children, so that they may know God as you do.

There are times when God asks us to do what seems impossible.  Maybe it’s a task that seems too big for us.  Or maybe it’s a sin in our lives we’re struggling with. 

As a result, we say, “I’m sorry God.  I just can’t do it.  I can’t fight this battle.  It’s too big for me.  I can’t achieve this task.  It’s too much for me.”

That’s what the Israelites did. 

God told them to drive out all the people from the land of Canaan, but because the task was too difficult, they didn’t.

I kind of wonder how hard they actually tried.  Did they try to drive them out and were utterly defeated?  Or did they just give a token effort and then give up?

I kind of guess it was the latter.  They saw the difficulties, maybe tried an attack, and when things didn’t go well, they just gave up.

And so God told them,

I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers.

I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’

Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? (2:1-2)

God certainly didn’t accept their excuses.  Why not?  Because he had promised to be with them and help them drive out the people.

This was the God who had torn the walls of Jericho down before their eyes. 

This was the God who had sent hail down to destroy their enemies so that more were killed by the hail than the Israelite swords. 

This was the God who had given them the strategy needed to defeat Ai.

But now the Israelites complained, “They have iron chariots.  We can’t defeat them.”  “They’re determined to fight and stay in the land.  We can’t drive them out.”

Instead of focusing on how big God was, and asking for his help, they focused on how small they were, and what they couldn’t do.  And as a result, they disobeyed God.

How about us?  When we face problems in our lives, how do we respond?

When God asks us to take on a task that’s bigger than we are, do we obey, relying on Him to help us?  Or do we just say, “It’s impossible” and give up before we even try.

Or do we just give a token effort and say, “Well, I tried and I failed.  Too bad.”

God will not accept those excuses because he is with us.  He never asks us to do anything without offering to help us. 

So let’s focus not on what we can’t do, but on what God can do.  And let’s obey him.