Judges Series - Week 11 - “The Best Circumstance?”

 Growing up my family was always strapped financially. Even though my parents worked multiple jobs, and their primary ones paid really well, money was always tight. The reason for this is that when my parents owned their own business, they were conned by their bookkeeper and left on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS. Because of that, they had to work twice as hard to provide a good living for us. 

So I didn’t get the name brand clothes. I didn’t get the news products. We didn’t have the best TVs, or best cars. And as a kid I didn’t really know why, when it seemed like even my poorest friends had better things than me. So as a kid I always had this belief that one day, when I was older, my parents would surprise me and tell me we were actually millionaires and that they just wanted to teach me a valuable life lesson. And that they could now end the charade and all of my desires to have to coolest things could now happen.

Well, I’m still waiting for them to make that reveal, and now there’s a part of me that doesn’t think that it’s going to happen. But I’m still holding out hope that soon, my parents are goin to reveal their millionaire status.

But it’s this idea of wanting better circumstances as a kid that bring us back to our series in the book of Judges where we’ll be covering chapter 13 starting in verse 1. And as we open up to Judges 13:1, let’s recap where we are.

Coming to the end of the main judges, in the ten weeks we’ve covered three themes: God is faithful despite unfaithfulness of humans, God calls us to obedient living, because disobedience leads to all the problems we see in our world. The book of Judges takes these three themes and shows how they work out generationally over the course of several hundred years. Judges also shows us that as we become more unfaithful and disobedient as individuals, society moves further and further away from God.

Specifically, what we have been seeing in Judges is how the good judges like Othniel and Ehud at the beginning, soon give way to judges that show that they’re not being obedient to God. Because of this cracks begin to show through, and though they end up following God, they do so half-heartedly. 

This leads to a hinge point in the life of Gideon where, though he did follow God, at the end of his life by making small sinful acts, he opened the gates to other judges taking the role for their own benefit instead of being called by God. This ends with the judge of Jephthah who isn’t even called by God and who’s reign ends in tragedy, both personally with his daughter and socially with a mini-civil war.

The downward spiral of both the judges and the nation of Israel are then culminated in the final judge of the the book, Samson. Who’s life we’re going to look at in three parts, over the next three weeks.

So let’s start reading about Samson and his brith, as we open up to Judges chapter thirteen, verse 1.

“1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

“2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.’ 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, ‘A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, "Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”’

“8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, 'O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.’ 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, ‘Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.’ 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, ‘Are you the man who spoke to this woman?’ And he said, ‘I am.’ 12 And Manoah said, ‘Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?’ 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, ‘Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.’

“15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, ‘Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.’ 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, ‘If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.’ (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, ‘What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?’ 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?’ 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

“21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, for we have seen God.’ 23 But his wife said to him, ‘If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.’ 24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Sampson’s story seems to start out like every other judge so far. We get the standard, “Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…”, but little do we know as the reader, this would be the last time this phrase would be used. 

But as soon as we’re given the standard line, we’re told that a new people group has entered the story. We’re no longer looking at the Canaanite people groups, but rather a new group called the Philistines. This group made their home in the land of Canaan, migrating from the Mediterranean Sea. 

God uses them, as he used the Canaanite groups to judge Israel who continues to do evil. Except instead of a few years under their rule, Israel experiences forty years of conquest; this mirrors the wandering of the desert for forty years. But what’s interesting here is that we’re never told that the people cry out to God for deliverance like they had in the past. Instead, it is God who moves first. 

This is really telling, because it shows us two things: First, the downward spiral of Israel is getting to such a horrific point, that they are not even acknowledging their covenant God anymore. Instead of turning back, they would rather just live under the boot of someone else. But this also shows us God’s character. Even though the people are not seeking him, he stills seeks them and seeks to end their captivity. Forty years is enough for God, and so he moves to rectify the situation without Israel coming to repentance. Paul recognizes this type of God’s grace when he states about Jesus’ death and resurrection in Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

God’s great love for humanity does not require humanity to act first. God puts in place the means of salvation without humanity doing anything, yet the means of receiving that salvation is another story. Which we’ll talk about next week when we look at the rest of Sampson’s story.

Once it’s established that Israel has done evil again, and God has given them over to be conquered, the story takes a new turn.

Samson’s story is unique among the other judges. Whereas all the other judges are called or come to be a judge when they are young men, Samson is actually being called before he was born. This puts him in a unique category of people within Scripture. Samson’s parents are like Abraham and Sarah who also could not conceive a son, but the Lord made it happen. They are like Jacob and Rachel who God had to open her womb so that she could have children. 

This is unique because by showing Samson’s mother being unable to have children and it being the Lord who makes it possible for her, what’s happening is that Samson is being set up as a wonderful judge. Whereas we ended the last section with a dud in Jephthah, someone not even called by God, this new judge has been set apart before birth to be a judge, and not only that, but he comes by divine action in the opening of a barren womb. 

Where the circumstances that surrounded Jephthah seemed to put him on a collision course with disaster, the circumstances surrounding Samson seem to be setting up the perfect judge. But appearances are not always what them seem.

What’s interesting about Samson’s story is he doesn’t have a true parallel in this book, but rather, when we step back and view the full scope of Scripture, he does have a parallel to the final judge of this era. That judge is Samuel, and his birth story happens in 1st Samuel chapter 1.

And it’s because this parallel exists that I think it would be beneficial for us to look at these two birth stories side-by-side.

When we look at Samuel’s story in 1st Samuel chapter 1, we see that his mother Hannah is one of two wives of his father Elkanah. Unlike the other wife who has bore children, Hannah has not. Even though she is favored by her husband, she is ridiculed by the other wife. Now Elkanah is very devoted to the Lord and goes yearly to worship him at Shiloh. One year, while the family is in Shiloh, Hannah goes by herself and worships the Lord at his tabernacle and that’s where we read this in verse 10, “10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.’

“12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, ‘How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.’ 15 But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.’ 17 Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.’ 18 And she said, ‘Let your servant find favor in your eyes.’ Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

“19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the Lord.’”

Here we can see the parallels with Samson’s story: Both Samson and Samuel are born from barren wombs. Both are born by God’s intervention. Both are set apart to the Lord’s work before birth. Both are not to shave their heads, pointing to both being under a Nazirite vow. 

Yet, though there are parallels, there are major differences as well. Samson’s father shows that he doesn’t know God because of his fear at the realization that he was speaking to the Lord, whereas Samuel’s father seems to be very devoted to God. We’re not told that Samson’s mother seeks God so that she may conceive, but Hannah does and does so with heart wrenching tears. The Nazirite vow is imposed on Samson’s parents, whereas Hannah makes her own vow to the Lord that has a Nazirite bent to it.

By understanding Samson’s story into the bigger context of Scripture with the stories of Abraham on one side and Hannah on the other, the idea here is that Samson is being set up as the perfect judge, but doesn’t fulfill his calling in the way that we would expect. He is born by divine work to open a barren womb, the message is carried by the angel of the Lord, and he is given restrictions that are to help him achieve God’s will in his life.

Yet what we’ll see is a man who continues the judges’ selfishness, instead of fully embracing the call of God on his life. And yet, like we have seen time and time again with the other judges, God’s plan works itself out even when the judge isn’t the best.

If we were to read Samuel’s story on the other hand, a story that parallels Samsons, we see the opposite is true. Samuel follows in the steps of Othniel and Ehud as judges who honor God.

This is important for us to understand. The circumstances we find ourselves in, hardly matter when in comes to following God. 

Samson is set up to be the best. He has the divine call even before he’s born. He has divine action in his life where he is born to a barren women. But what does he do with it? Well, we’ll see next week, he uses it for selfish purposes, stumbles into doing God’s work instead of being intentional, and then it leads him to a semi-bad end. 

Just because everything goes right in your life doesn’t mean you’re going to follow God.  Samuel had basically the same origin story as Samson, but where one followed God in all things, the other didn’t. If you have ever made a statement like, man I wish I would have had it easier, guess what, that doesn’t guarantee anything. Samson had all the advantages, and still turned about to be selfish and a man who bucked God.

What we do with what we have and the choice to follow God or not is what makes the difference. You can have all of the advantages of following God, and end up like a Samson, or a Samuel. Or you could have no advantages and end up like a Jephthah. What we do with what we have and choose to follow God or not is the most important thing.

Paul told the Philippian Church, “4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (3:4-11).”

Paul had all the advantages of being a really good Jewish man, but those advantages meant nothing, if he didn’t follow Jesus. 

So if we look at other people who seem to have it all, it doesn’t matter, if they are not following God. We need to take what we are given, whether good or bad, and chose to say I will follow Jesus.

Because when we begin to look at Jesus, rather than look at our past, then the hurts from the beginning of our story, lose their power over us, and the Author of our Faith writes the new story of eternity. 

We need to stop living in the past of “what ifs” and “I didn’t gets”, Samson had all things that should have made him the perfect judge and yet faltered time and time again. Thank God instead that you are here today, that you have chosen to seek of the Lord. So forgive those that have hurt in you the past, and praise God that he has a future brighter than anything.

This week I want to challenge you with re-reading, not just Samson’s birth story here in Judges 13, but also Samuel’s story found in 1st Samuel chapter 1. Then, as you’re reading those, take an inventory of your life, putting those things at the top that you wished you hadn’t had happen, whether good or bad. Thank God that he got you through them, ask God to heal your heart from what happened, ask him to bring forgiveness through you, and praise him for the unending joy and tear free eternity he has in store for you.

No family is perfect and even the best family and best circumstances do not guarantee following the Lord, which is the most important thing. So let us choose this day to not let our circumstances of the past and present detour us from following Jesus, but instead, let us look forward to the life that is a head. Both in our walk with the Lord today, and his eternal life ahead. Amen.

Judges Week 10 - “A Cure for Selfishness”

  One of my favorite stories from when I was a coach for the local high school before it closed, happened in my second year. When the local high school had sports, I coached two years, with only three loses. Both years saw teams that where pretty good and had a lot of potential. If they kept their grades up, they could have gone a long way in their state tournament.

As a coach I was very detailed and in my approach to the game. From day one every player was treated as if it were their first time touching a baseball, and so we worked from the ground up. But one of the things that makes a team great, is their ability to work as a team. The 2003 Florida Marlins exemplified this idea. In the World Series that year they were playing the New York Yankees. The Yankees were well known for spending a lot of money to bring in talent to win pennants. They had people like Roger Clemens, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Raul Mondesi. These guys were giants. Up to that point, starting in 1996, the Yankees had made it to the World Series five out of the seven years, winning four of them. These guys were wrecking balls. The Marlins on the other hand were a young team with basically a bunch of unknowns. They fought to make it to the World Series that year. And they won a huge upset with a four games to two win. 

Team cohesion is very important, so when one of my guys didn’t follow the rules, the whole team suffered. One instance was when I told them that as long as the girls’ softball team was practicing near by, they had to wear their shirts. One boy didn’t like that and proceeded to practice without his shirt. Because of that, the rest of the team had to run the bases. That means they had to sprint from home to first, shuffle from first to second, sprint from second to third, and shuffle from third to home; then they had to do it again without a break. I told them they had to keep doing this until the boy put his shirt back on. After about fifteen minutes of this the team began to complain that they were tired. So I told them, as long as that boy kept his shirt off they would be doing it until practice was over. Then I told them that I was going to go get some water, and would be right back, maybe they could convince the boy to put his shirt back on, one way or the other. Once I turned my back to head to the dug out, I hear a scream and after a few moments I turned back and saw that the team had tacked the boy and forced him to put his shirt on. 

After that, we never had a problem with following the rules, because the team self-regulated. They found something far more useful that day than any drills I could put them through, they found unity as a team.

And it’s this idea of unity that brings us back into our summer series, where we’ll be picking it up in chapter 12 of the book of Judges. And as we open up to Judges 12:1, let’s look back on where we are so far in our series.

We’ve been talking about three themes throughout the book, because Judges is a   condensed version of the entire Scriptures. God’s faithfulness in the face of unfaithfulness, God’s call to obedient life, and the consequences of disobedience affecting all areas of life, can be seen throughout the whole of Scripture. From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, to Revelation, the last book, we can see how these three themes appear again and again. The book of Judges takes those three overarching themes of Scripture and shows us a period of time in the nation of Israel’s history where these three themes happened again and again. In this cycle of downward spiraling that leads to horrific situations. Like human sacrifice, which we saw last week.

It was in the first part of Jephthah’s story where she saw morally corrupt leaders, call on a morally corrupt man to fight their battle for them. This led to Jephthah, the morally corrupt man, making a rash vow of sacrifice which led to his daughter’s, which was his only child, death. And so it’s during this time that seems to take place after that event where we pick up the second part and the end of Jephthah’s story. Let’s read together Judges chapter 12, starting in verse 1.

“1 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, ‘Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.’ 2 And Jephthah said to them, ‘I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3 And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?’ 

“4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, ‘You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.’ 5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, ‘Let me go over,’ the men of Gilead said to him, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ When he said, ‘No,’ 6 they said to him, ‘Then say Shibboleth,’ and he said, ‘Sibboleth,’ for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

“7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.”

This moment in time seems to take place soon after the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter, and if not, is intended to link the two events together. So we must put Jephthah into this context of just having to fulfill his vow and sacrifice his daughter. Last week we said, there’s two interpretations of the girl’s sacrifice, either she was killed in the sacrifice, or she had to stay a perpetual virgin. Either way the dynasty of Jephthah, which he wanted to happen by taking the position of head of Gilead, came crashing down around him. 

It’s in this place where his self-centered desired to be great is no longer an option, that we get another tribe of Israel showing up. Ephraim has been involved several times with fighting throughout the book of Judges, but this isn’t the first time they have accused another Israelite group from not calling on them. Just four chapters early in chapter 8 verse 1, Ephraim shows up and says this to Gideon, “‘What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?’ And they accused him fiercely.” The accusation is against Gideon, which gives us another connection between these two judges like we saw last week. What these connections mean is that Jephthah is like Gideon, in so many ways, yet whereas Gideon did trust God, with Jephthah, there is no that he trusted God.

Even though these two men are being connected in their life events, the way they deal with their situations with Ephraim lead to two different outcomes. Gideon tries to approach the situation diplomatically; which works and we’re told that “[Ephraim’s] anger against him subsided…(8:3)”

Whereas Jephthah, like he did with the Ammonites in chapter 11, goads his Israelite cousins into open war. Instead of seeking peace, like Gideon did, Jephthah accuses Ephraim of not coming when called. And war breaks out when Ephraim calls the Gileadites fugitives, implying that they have no claim to what they are doing, and in turn seem to be going outside of God’s prescription for Israel’s tribal boundaries.

This leads to a war between the tribe of Ephraim and the clan of Gilead, one in which Jephthah wins, but there are no good guys here. Instead what we see is the first major open conflict within Israel. It’s the first of many future civil wars. 

Jephthah’s story ends on a low note. He has no daughter and no legacy, he has killed 40+ thousand of his own cousins in Ephraim, and his rule only lasts six years. To put that into perspective, the average rest time of the previous seven judges was thirty-five years; with the shortest rest time being twenty-two years up to this point.

It’s here that we read the last three Judges starting in verse 8 of chapter 12.

“8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.”

“11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

“13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.”

These three judges show us that we have come to the end of section three of the Judges’ stories, after this there is only one more Judge, Samson.

But these three judges aren’t here just to let us know we’ve ended another section, but to show us how the sin of Gideon, continued on past Jephthah.

The first and third judges are given more focus than the second one, letting us know that he isn’t very important. But what’s interesting about this whole situation is that unlike the majority of judges so far, we are never told what these judges did. The focus turns away form how God has delivered Israel through the judges and now is focused on their offspring. Ibzan and Abdon, like Gideon and Jair, have a dynastic view. The focus is their large families, and like what have said before, this is a sign that these judges are conducting themselves in a royal way.

In addition to the focus being turned away from their job as God ordained warriors for Israel, on to their own goals of being a ruler, one thing these three judges have in common is the shortness of their tenure. We can include Jephthah here where his rule was six years, Ibzan is seven years, Elon is ten years, and Abdon is eight years. This points to the downfall of the judges and how as they were seek their own kingdoms and dynasties, and as they did, their rule shrinks to a decade or less for each.

So ends section three of the book of Judges, as we move into the final judge next week. Who, is not just the last judge, but also the worst of them all. 

What can walk away from this with? There’s really two things that walk hand-in-hand together here. Disunity and selfishness. Each of these last four judges seem to have one thing in common, they’re selfish. They’re out for their own kingdoms, not God’s. In Jephthah’s case this selfishness leads to a civil war between God’s chosen people. 

Looking back all the way to the book of Joshua and then looking to the opening pages of the book of Judges, we saw that the unity of Israel was prevailing because the focus was on God bringing the victory for everyone. Now at the end we see that focus completely disappeared, and with the they unity, and all that’s left is the selfishness of the people.

If you follow any type of end of the world preparation, there’s always a question that arises. If you prepare and your neighbor doesn’t will you help them, knowing that it will be detrimental for you?

In situations where nothing matters but me, we make decision that benefit me and no one else. When God isn’t the standard by which we see the bigger picture of his kingdom, our kingdom becomes what’s most important. So we will work towards that end of getting what I deserve and leaving a trail of distrust and agony behind us.

This is why Jesus calls his people, Matthew 6:33, to “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Our needs will be met in the kingdom of God, but we must seek it above our own kingdoms. In fact this shared vision of seeking the kingdom of God, is the bases for on of God’s greatest commands to the Church as a whole. In Jesus final prayer he says this about those that would follow his original disciples in John 17:20-26, “20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

  God’s Church is called to be unified. It’s the greatest calling next to the Great Commission that we, who say we are Christians, are to work towards. Unity is what Jesus says will show to the world that he truly did come. The enemy of unity is selfishness. It’s getting my way instead of the way that best glorifies God. And the Church as a whole has not done a very good job. There are over fifty-thousand denominations world-wide, with hundreds of thousands of subgroups within those denominations. 

And there are reasons to not be unified in areas where the core of the Christian faith comes to a breaking point, but where we can give grace and overlook preferences, unity should be our highest goal within Jesus’ Church. 

But where we can be unified we are called to, and that unity starts with me. Me giving grace to someone who has a different interpretation of a passage of Scripture that still fits within the context. It starts with me, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to people and encouraging them to check it with Scripture. It’s me enjoying the music I grew up worshiping with, and understanding that a new generation will also be led by the Spirit to make new music to God. And on the other side of that, it’s giving respect to those that came before us and worshiped and worked, maybe not how we would do it, but they were also led by the Spirit and not diminishing that work.

It’s seeing each other’s flaws, faults, and sins, and giving grace. It’s speaking to lift up and not tear down, and to give the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming someone’s intentions. If our goal is not unity, then we are Ephraim complaining about not being called out to battle and we are Jephthah goading our brothers and sisters to war. 

The result is seeing God’s work diminished around us; not because he isn’t working, but because we are to blinded by our selfishness to see it.

My challenge for you is to take an inventory this week. Re-read chapter 12 of Judges, and as you do, look at all the things that you see within the Church that upsets you, whether in the local body here, or in the greater community of believers out there. What upsets you? Then categorize them into three categories: core teachings of the Scriptures, strong convictions that can be different between believers, and things that don’t matter at all. Let’s put into perspective what matters and what doesn’t, so that we can see where unity is to be built.

God is calling us to unity, if we don’t follow and heed that call, destruction and civil war is all that awaits us. Let us be followers of Jesus, unified by his work on the cross on our behalf, and in whom we proclaim to the world. And as the world sees our unity, they will know that Jesus has truly come to bring forgiveness to a dying world. Amen.

Judges Series - Week 9 - “Winning to Lose”

  Ever work so hard at something, just to loose? This is what gambling is, working at something so often, and winning minuscule amounts compared to one’s overall losses. It’s reported that those with a gambling problem owe between $55,000-$90,000 dollars in gambling debt (https://www.jpost.com/special-content/which-country-has-the-highest-gambling-losses-721830#). If you were to average out all the gambling debt per year for every person in the US, it would come to about $633 per person (https://gamblingriot.com/how-much-does-the-average-person-lose-in-a-casino/). Some statistics show that the US incurs 100 billion dollars in gambling debt per year. 

Gambling is a way to win to lose. You might win here and there, but in the long run the house always wins.

And it’s this idea of having wins but ultimately losing, that brings us back to our series where we’ll be picking it back up in the last verse we covered last week in Judges chapter 10, starting in verse 18. And as we open up to Judges 10:18, lets recap where we are in our summer series.

Within the book of Judges we have seen three themes put into a generational case study to see the macro themes of Scripture play out over about a four to five hundred year snap shot. These three themes are, God’s faithfulness in the face of humanity’s unfaithfulness, obedience leads to a right relationship between God and humans, whereas disobedience leads to turmoil in every facet of human life. 

The book of Judges also shows us, through the history of Israel, how little sins lead to major catastrophes on both a personal and societal scale. In fact, the ramifications of the Judge Gideon, are felt through his son, and the next three Judges. This works out to about a hundred years of consequences from the actions of one man.

So when we move into Judges 11 today, we will continue to see how the sin of Gideon effects the Judge Jephthah. Now as we read together Jephthah’s story, we’re going to look at it in two sections, one this week and one next week. In this first section, because it’s forty verses long and in three events, we’re going to read parts of the passage so that we understand the full scope of the idea that’s being relayed. So let’s read starting in Judges chapter 10, verse verse 18.

“10:18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, ‘Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.’

“11:1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. ‘You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,’ they said, ‘because you are the son of another woman.’ 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.

“4 Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 ‘Come,’ they said, ‘be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.’

"7 Jephthah said to them, ‘Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?’

“8 The elders of Gilead said to him, ‘Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.’

“9 Jephthah answered, ‘Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?’

“10 The elders of Gilead replied, ‘The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.’ 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.”

What we just read is the introduction to the one and only judge of section three of the book of Judges. And there’s a lot of ungodly, and underhanded things that go on here. In fact there are six ungodly things that we see. 

The first of these ungodly actions comes in verse 18 of chapter 10. Every single judge that we have seen before has been called by God to be a part of God’s saving work in Israel. But in this case, we get no mention of God calling Jephthah, rather it is the elders and people of Gilead who seek after a warrior to lead them. In doing so, they make a vow to put this person as a head, or ruler over them. 

This leads us into a brief introduction of Jephthah, the one who will be their head. But we’re told that he is conceived outside of marriage by a prostitute. This is our second ungodly action. His father brings strife to his family by going outside his marriage bed. And though this doesn’t disqualify Jephthah from being used by God, if his father would have kept his marriage vows, what follows in Jephthah’s life, wouldn’t have occurred. Yet even in this ungodly action Gilead does right by the boy and makes him a full son, which means he will be entitled to some portion of inheritance. 

But after Gilead’s death, his other sons drive Jephthah away so that he will not be a part of the inheritance, another ungodly action.

In this pseudo exile, Jephthah makes a name for himself as a warrior, mostly like an outlaw, because the people that he surrounds himself with are called worthless men or in the ESV, scoundrels . Now this is very interesting because Jephthah is called a mighty warrior, which is the same terminology that God used of Gideon mighty (gibbor [ghib-bore’] man of valor/warrior (chayil [khah’-yil])] (6:12). In this way, the Holy Spirit, through the writer of Judges, is connecting Jephthah back to Gideon. But Gideon isn’t the only person that the writer connects Jephthah to. By telling us worthless men surround this soon to be judge, the writer is connecting him to Abimelek as well, who also surrounded himself with worthless men (9:4). So what we’re being directed towards, is that Jephthah has both the military prowess of Gideon, but also the moral bankruptcy of Abimelek. This is because the word worthless, is the Hebrew word, req (rake) which means vain and empty of morality. So the man we’re dealing with, isn’t a moral man, though he is a fighter.

That’s four of the ungodly actions with three left to go.

The fifth action is the elders again. Though their vow was to make the man the head or king over them, they offer Jephthah a military command instead. This is probably because Jephthah was a morally corrupt man and they didn’t want what happened across the river with Abimelek to happen to them. 

But when Jephthah rejects this offer, and is then given the true offer of being made head over the people, he jumps at the chance. This reinforces the reality that Jephthah is out for self interest not to help the people of Israel. 

This bring us to the final ungodly action. In verse 11, God is invoked as a witness to the elders and Jephthah’s decision, but no where do we see that God agrees with this decision. Rather what we’ll end up seeing is that God works within this ungodly alliance, which gives us another example, that even when we do evil, God works it out for his purposes.

Now with the establishment of who Jephthah is, we move into his communication with the Ammonites who are the aggressors in this situation. Now we’re going to just read the final six verses in this communication, because what the gist of it is, is that the Ammonites claim that the land the Israelite tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan river live on, was stolen from them. Jephthah retorts that if that were truly the case, they should have done something about it earlier and not waited 300 years. So a part of your homework this week, is to go back and read this section.

It’s at the end of this that we pick it back up in verse 23, “23 ‘Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.’

“28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.”

In Jephthah’s words he is trying to accomplish two things. First he is setting out a reason why the Ammonites do not have a justifiable reason for going to war. Second, he is goading them into that very war. He is calling their reasoning false, and that their god Chemosh (key-mo-sh) needs to give them the land if they are really entitled to it. In other words he saying, “We’re not going to give the land back, so if you want it, come and take it.”

But it’s Jephthah’s last words to the Ammonite king “Let the Lord, the Judge, decide (v.27c)…” which leads into the Spirit of the Lord showing up for the first time in the story. These are the best words Jephthah could say, even though they might not come from a place of faith, but as a final way to goad the Ammonites into war.

So let’s read the final part in this first section of Jephthah’s story, starting in verse 29.

“29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’

"32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

“34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, ‘Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.’

“36 ‘My father,’ she replied, ‘you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,’ she said. ‘Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.’”

Like I said earlier, this is the first time that God’s Spirit shows up in the story. It shows that though Jephthah is a morally corrupt man, God still uses him to bring an end to Israel’s punishment, that we talked about last week. God’s opening up a path to victory is emphasized in the directional language that’s given. We’re told that Jephthah “…crossed…passed through…he advanced…” This language all points to God bringing a swift victory. Which in fact, we see when we’re not even give details of the battle later on.

But though God has opened this path of victory up before Jephthah, instead of glorifying God, he tries to manipulative God into giving him victory. In a sense, being the one who brings about the victory by his actions, instead of by the power of God alone. This was a typical pagan way of dealing with deities, something that we can be guilty of doing today. In Jephthah’s vow, he goes beyond what he should. He makes a rash vow of sacrificing whatever comes out. The vow is left ambiguous as if to say, whether human or animal it will be given as a sacrifice.

What happens next is that we see the swift victory occur and now the vow is looming as the focal point of what happens next; to which the question arises, by the Lord bringing victory over the Ammonites by Jephthah, did God accept Jephthah’s vow? 

The answer is no, and there’s three reasons why. First, God had already stated in places like Deuteronomy 12:31 where it states, “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.” So God has forbidden the Israelites to sacrifice their children, which carries with it the idea of a rejection of all human sacrifice. 

Second, God has not spoken since his rebuke of the nation in chapter 10:11-14. This shows us that even though God is working for the victory of his people, it is more because of his grace towards them, than their own actions. We need to remember that God didn’t raise up Jephthah to be a judge, the people did. And through this entire story, Jephthah has done morally questionable things, because we’ve already been told he is a morally questionable guy.

Thirdly, as we talked about with Gideon a few weeks ago, just because the Spirit of the Lord comes upon someone, it doesn’t mean that God overrides that person’s choice. Hence what Paul says in places like Romans 7:22-24, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul is speaking of a war between the good law of God and the evil law of sin. In other words, there can be the righteous work of God happening, at the same time as the sinful act of man. So the vow that was made and the repercussions of that vow, reinforce what we said last week, a seemingly small sin, in this case a rash vow, can lead to horrible consequences of our action. So no, God is not accepting Jephthah’s vow by bringing victory, because the victory was already in the works before the vow.

What’s interesting about this whole situation is that again, it is a woman who is the most godly. The daughter’s words in verse 36, “Do to me just as you promised…” echo the words of Numbers 30:2, “If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” This again is to disgrace and dishonor someone who is out for themselves. 

Now there’s debate on what happens with the daughter, is she killed or is her sacrifice perpetual virginity. From what we know of Jephthah and his own moral bankruptcy, I believe the implication is that he indeed killed his daughter, thinking it’s what God wanted. Though he really didn’t know his God at all. 

This brings us to what we should walk away with this week.

Rash and manipulated actions, leave us more broken than we can imagine. This is why we’re told in places like Ecclesiastes 5:2, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”

And it’s why Jesus taught in Matthew 5:33-37, “33 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

In the last several weeks, we seen men trying to build there dynastic kingdoms through their sons. In Jephthah’s story we see someone who sought his own kingdom, but lost the only child he had to his own rash actions. 

The disciple of Jesus is not to seek their own will but the will of the Father. It’s because of this that Paul writes to his protege Timothy in the final chapter of his first letter, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11).” We are to seek the things of God, and flee from this things of ungodliness. In this way, we will know our God and do the things of God, unlike Jephthah, who at almost every turn seemed to walk in a different direction than the pathway of God.

My challenge for you this week is to re-read this section in it’s entirety and context, knowing the end to this morally bankrupt man’s actions. Then seek God to make corrections in your own life, before a time when those actions lead to horrific outcomes. Don’t let the time slip away where your actions cause irreputable harm to those around you. Don’t make rash decisions, speak rash words, or sacrifice others for your personal gain. And if you have, repentance and seeking forgiveness is the cure to it.

We are called to be a people who are humble, let us be that people who seek the Holy Spirit to bring us closer to the God who is gracious towards us. Amen.