Judges 9 - Danger from Within

Judges 9
56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Message: Danger from Within

Time: Judges covers about 250 years from death of Joshua to birth of Samuel (1360-1110 BC). The people of Israel largely divided with different local triable judges. It was a period of stirring interventions by the Lord and also great disobedience on the part of the Israelites. Without a king, everyone did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). 

What the Lord is Saying: Gideon has died and now his son Abimelech is coming into power, but appears to be starting off on the wrong foot - focusing on himself instead of God as he becomes king (verse 7) at the expense of others who fall dead. 

I have seen this cycle in Judges with the people - Evil, Discipline, Prayer/Revival, Restoration. It now seems that the restoration period, as mentioned for example in Judges 8:28 as being 40 years was also marked by a period of people falling away. So it wasn't all good. It was simply that it wasn't a period of discipline. The Lord gave the people grace, but in that time was a gradual falling away. For instance, 8:30 mentions that Gideon had many wives (70 descendants) for soon after his death, without him around the people dove head first into idolatry (8:33). And so that descent is the precursor of this chapter. 

Abimelech decides that he should be king. He convinces the people around him that with all of the descendants Gideon has had, it makes the most sense to let himself be the ruling heir. He receives jewels from a worship house of Baal that allows him to hire fellows that will come with him to his father's house and kill his siblings, all 70 of them, though it is actually 69, as Jotham was spared (v. 4-5) because he hid himself. Jotham has still an allegiance with God. He tries to speak of this to the men of Shechem (v.7-21) a warning that God will judge these people for going their own way. 

After 3 years of Abimelech ruling (v. 22), an evil spirit is sent to create discord between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. This discord continues when the men of Shechem switch their trust from Abimelech now to a new leader - Gaal the son of Ebed. One of Abimelech's rulers hears of this and sets up an ambush (v. 32 "lie in wait in the field") and eventually overtook these other people creating the discord (v. 41) and eventually slaying all of these other companies of people (v. 45). But victory did not last long for Abimelech. A woman would end up throwing a stone on Abimelech, crushing his skull (53). He lived and rather than it being said a woman killed him, he has another man kill his with a sword (54). 

The discord had been set and God had used these evil men and their choices to eventually take away the opposition and presence of evil. 

Summary: After the death of Gideon, his son Abimelech basically erects himself as king, slaying the his siblings, though one son Jotham remains, but discord erupts and Abimelech and the people of Shechem eventually period because of their sin. 

Promise: We must be careful of the sin we tolerate, it creates a discord among people, among us, that can be damaging. 

Prayer: O Lord, my allegiance to You needs to be one of my whole heart. It is not simply one of duty in order to receive blessings and yet blessings come when our lives are lived before you of heartfelt obedience. My trust in You needs to be one of trust in You not duty so that I will receive a blessing. It is hard to hear of discord that occurs. It is hard to be around it. Thank you for these lessons and the reminder to me of not letting sin be tolerated but also to remain consistent in my faith and trust of you. Teach me the meaning of this and help me to be guarded against the world and their ways. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

Judges 8 - Gideon's Short-Lived Revival

Judges 8
Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. - verse 27

Message: Gideon's Short-Lived Revival

Time: Judges covers about 250 years from death of Joshua to birth of Samuel (1360-1110 BC). The people of Israel largely divided with different local triable judges. It was a period of stirring interventions by the Lord and also great disobedience on the part of the Israelites. Without a king, everyone did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). 

What the Lord is Saying: Well, I ended up teaching in my Sunday School class on Sunday, June 22, and I chose to teach through these lessons I have slowly been going through since October - Joshua and Judges. It was a good time to do that teaching and I learned a lot but I had already been sort of struggling through these lessons, going at them slow, but at the same maybe that was a good thing, to slowly get through these lessons. 

The focus of my lesson was really to highlight our mission today, to go and make disciples. But in that is big words of comfort - God is with us and He says to us, "I am with you." He has said those words to His people throughout the ages. I showed how he voiced these words to Joshua and later to Gideon. He gives us a task to do, but he is also ahead of us in doing that task. I mentioned the ark of the covenant being sent ahead of us in Joshua and him calling Gideon a valiant warrior before he was that person. But I also stressed the importance of us not making covenants with people in the World or anything in the world. Instead, whenever we have trouble, we need to simply ask God for help. Sometimes that is proof when he has asked us to do things. But we need to ask him and He will show us the way. This is our time right now. And we have a great opportunity to continue to be ambassadors for Him. 

Now I move on to Judges 8. This book starts in verse 1 with the men of Ephraim being bothered with Gideon. Despite the fact that God took the large number of warriors from 32,000 down to 300 in conquering the Midianites, the men of Ephraim are bothered that they weren't able to be a part of the large army. But in verse 3, Gideon does what is recorded in Proverbs 15:1, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." He tells the men of Ephraim the great work God has done in their lives. So it isn't that God has done nothing. He has. 

Another lesson here is that when the people of God see God doing something great, they want to jump on board. But often God is already doing something great in those people's lives. Gideon here reminds them of that, and he even tells them that what they were able to accomplish was greater than what God had done through Gideon. 

With the 300 men that conquered the Midianites in Judges 7, Gideon is still leading them now to conquer Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. Along the way, he is looking for help with the people of the land - the leaders of Succoth, but he doesn't get help from. He asked for loaves of bread, but they gave nothing. Also the men of Penuel gave them nothing. Gideon, it seems possibly out of anger tells these leaders of Succoth and Penuel that if he has victor he will come back and do harsh things to them: verse 7, "I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." In verse 9, "I will tear down this tower." A little perplexing it seems that Gideon speaks words of retribution for not helping his people. Not thinking this is something to emulate and perhaps expresses the great need Gideon felt for his men at the time. 

Verse 10 mentions 135,000 Midianite men - 120,000 of which have already fallen and 15,000 that remain. Sobering numbers. I was speaking to a guy online yesterday and he was appalled thinking that God favors one people over another. God chooses people to be His. He does not choose others. But those individuals in not being chosen are still responsible for not turning to God in their behavior. These are hard lessons for us to see and listen to and read. These Midian people were not part of His chosen. 

Then Gideon goes back to Succoth and Penuel and "disciplined the men of Succoth...He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city." Ouch. Harsh. 

After Zebah and Zalmunna are killed, in verse 22, the men of Israel ask Gideon to rule over them, but Gideon responds, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.” Good answer. The Lord must do the work. The temptation to be an idol was presented here to Gideon but he refuses. Then in verses 24-27, Gideon asks that each person produce an earning from his spoil, almost like a tithe it would seem. It was an ornament that came together as an ephod - an ornament generally worn by the priesthood. That was his attention, to signify this as a piece worn and attributed to God. But the people turned it into an idol. It seems there was potential for this. Whether it was honorable in his intent to create it or not is not known, but it did result in some sort of idolatry. 

Idolatry is the most common sin it seems among Israel and others in the Old Testament times. God seems to always show that he is not to be shared. Yet, people so clearly and easily go down this path. I am not sure today even if we understand the intent of the way we live, as we often covet things in our lives and place them on equal footing or above God (entertainment such as movies, music, eating, drinking; obsessed with knowledge such as reading the newspaper or watching the news in the name of being informed; our electronic devices (phones, computers, TV, games); remaining healthy both by going to the gym, fitness and pursuing any remedy possible to preserve our health with the goal to escape from any trial; expanding wealth by adding to what we already have making our homes bigger, acquiring expensive cars, going to far away places for travel, even pursuing opportunities for our children). I wonder about all of these and their tendency to be idols in our lives. They most often take much time and besides simply being a form of rest in our lives, they often move to something greater - replacing time that we could be spending with God or sharing His good news with others. But I notice, all too often they are not talked about much and yet, as I speak to people in places in which people have so little, all of these things are not as possible. And so they can by synonymous with wealth. 

In the remaining verses, it mentions that period of restoration now for Israel - 40 years. 6:1 mentioned the time of discipline being 6 years. I notice that these times of restoration are always longer than discipline. Gideon, through his concubine, has a son - Abimelech, and then Gideon dies (verse 32). 

Then the people forget. With Gideon alive, they did well, but once he has died and they no longer have their leader, they fall away:

33 Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god. 34 Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35 nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.

Unfortunate, but I suppose expected. The cycle continues - evil, discipline, prayer, restoration - in this book, this time period. 

Summary: Gideon continues through Midian and takes down two more kings, and yet their are signs of idolatry. The people have restoration for 40 years, then Gideon dies, and the people go back to worshipping idols. 

Promise: There is danger in life to compromise. We must stay faithful all the days of our lives. Let us do this and encourage one another to do the same. 

Prayer: O God, you are rich in mercy. You are the anchor of our lives, the cornerstone. You are all that life is about and all of life is meant to be lived to glorify You. You are to be praised. It is all about You. Forgive me and even raising a family whereby we often replace times with you with other times of not living for you. In the name of opportunity and broadening horizons, I can see myself doing things that are beyond what you intended my life to be about. Our wealth very often has clouded our way. There is such a dichotomy in our world between the have's and have not's. I see the tendency in me. O God, wake me up. Get me focused more on what You are doing and coming alongside You in that work. May I seek to reach those that you have called me to and placed in my path with the truth of who You are. Help me to always encourage people in this. Thank you for Gideon and his great example, to keep pursuing You God even if that means questions and wanting confirmations. You are there and you will provide. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

Judges 7 - Gideon Defeats Midian

Judges 7

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” - verse 4

Message: Gideon Defeats Midian

Time: Judges covers about 250 years from death of Joshua to birth of Samuel (1360-1110 BC). The people of Israel largely divided with different local triable judges. It was a period of stirring interventions by the Lord and also great disobedience on the part of the Israelites. Without a king, everyone did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). 

What the Lord is Saying: I continue to be amazed at the simple themes I find in these passages of scripture. Gideon is an unlikely candidate for a deliverer, and yet he is someone real and authentic with challenges and it seems this unlikely person is the type of person God uses. God will use whoever to accomplish his purposes. 

In Judges 7:2, "The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ - This is a very telling verse on man and the temptation that arises in man and God sees the danger. There are 3 lessons I see in this verse. (1) God's will is when He does a work it is clear that He is working. God wants to work in our lives, but He wants to be our provider. He wants to get the glory and we need to always be ready to give it to him. (2) Our tendency in life is to think that we are the one's in life that achieve good things. Ephesians 2:8-9 is a favorite verse and the focus on that verse is God's grace "lest anyone should boast." Only God is good. We sing songs of the goodness of God. This is assaulting to our pride. 

I read a book one time that spoke of the 7 deadly sins. It seems this was a classification that Tertullian first coined. These are 7 major vices of Christianity: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity - " It was through Pride that Lucifer became wicked: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." To me, I feel that the idea of recognizing our sin and seeing our sin is one of the biggest areas that has been assaulted in our lives over the last 60 years. And every day I believe it is growing to be more and more of a problem in our lives. I notice it in my life as I grow older that it is not talked about as much. Instead, most church lessons and messages that you read focus on good behavior. Obviously, we want to live our lives in the best way possible, but our position in Christ needs to be focused supremely on the fact that we are sinners. 

I mention this because we have a real problem making it clear that we are sinners. And the idea that certain sins such as boasting is one that God really makes a focus on for us today. 

I think one of Satan’s biggest agenda items in recent years is to give everyone the idea they are going to heaven. Universalism - the belief that all human beings will ultimately be saved and reconciled with God, regardless of their faith or actions during their lifetime. And I think this idea has led people to not take church seriously and even now resulted in it not being relevant to our lives. 

2 things to me stand out in this universalism push

1) Redefining sin as acceptable behavior. 

2) In the church, confusion about what salvation is. 

I also think that out of fear of the world and being a light to the world, our sermons have shifted more and more to good behavior sermons rather than gospel centered sermons. Our world needs Jesus first and foremost. Like my son and his relationship with a girl. All the problems they have could be taken care of if both of them agreed on who they are in Christ. Having that basis is so key. It is one of the things we saw in our Art of Marriage class - how important it is for both partners to be committed to the Lord. 

God though a process of having Gideon take the remaining people for battle down to a pool to drink water. The one's that lap the water like a dog would drink versus the one's that put their hands to their mouth. He one's that lap came to 300 and that was the number that will now fight. Kind of a funny story and yet a method was determined.  Judges 7:7 says, "The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” We must be in an intimate relationship with God in order to hear hi may these types of things. God wants to work in our lives. 

After this, a dream is head about a loaf of barley bread that rolls down to the camp and tumbled down and struck tents and the people. This dream, albeit again a little crazy, confirmed to Gideon that the Midianites would be destroyed. Gideon again receives a confirmation from God. Gideon needs this. And God provided it. Verse 18, "When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’" 

This is it. This is the way the 300 will conquer all of these men. They will blow a trumpet. They will use the sound of a trumpet. It is fascinating to me to see the way God uses trumpets in the Bible. It is the means to announce. The trumpet can amplify and has no need of any technology to increase the sound. They had the trumpets they blew and then they also broke pitchers. Again, creating a sound, creating confusion. And then also torches in their hands. Sounds and fire. And the people fled. Eventually they ended up taking a hold of the two leaders of the Midian army - Oreb and Zeeb (verse 25). 

It is done. They are captured. God did it. The people won't be boasting. Something was done that only God can do. I love verse 18 - For the Lord and for Gideon. It was okay to thank Gideon, but the Lord is thanked first. It is okay to thank people, leaders, men, women for their great work, but God gets praised first. 

Summary: God defeats Midian through Gideon by reducing the army to 300 men so there will be no temptation to boast and God will get the victory and praise for the defeat. 

Promise: From Tabletalk, "We cannot rest in our own strength or our own works to enjoy the salvation of the Lord. He alone can defeat the enemy, and He delights to use the most unlikely means to do so." 

Prayer: God, you are to be praise. Above all. You are to be praised. Thank you for showing your great work in people's lives. You continue to do great things in people. It is your power and your glory. And you will use any sort of person. yes, we are to be obedient. Help the people of God to stay clear of the temptations of this world and the people and ideas that pull them away from Him. Lord, I see this too much in our country and yet we are still blessed, and yet that blessing is not often about giving you praise but praise in ourselves. Yet, Lord, I am struggling as I think about my Christian brothers in these 3rd world areas like Africa and India. I am not sure what they lack, but it seems they lack the leadership and resources to provide for their people. It is painful in a way. Yes, I love the privileges I have, but I hurt for them that have so little and struggle to even get to the next meal. I want to implore the people at my church to help them, to take their extra and give it to them. But how Lord? How do we help them properly. Thank you for these texts and their readings. Keep me consistent. Repair the damages I have done to my kids. Help them to be better people. They need your help O God. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

Judges 6:33-40 - Gideon and the Fleece