Burunche’s Blog

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 OBEDIENCE OR CHAOS 45: PARENTING A SUPER STAR IS TOUGH!

Judges 14:1 – 7 “One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman. So he returned and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” But his father and mother replied, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.” (Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.) Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. Then Samson continued on his way down and spoke to the woman, because she was pleasing to his eyes.”

What do we know about the area in which Samson grew up? The Philistines were moving into Canaan from the Mediterranean Sea coast at the same time the Israelites were moving in from the east. The villages of Zorah and Eshtaol are both strategic guard posts, located at the foot of the hill country, alongside the Sorek Valley which leads from the Central Hills north of Jerusalem westward to the Mediterranean Sea. This would have been one of the crucial places where the Israelites would have defended access to their territory. The fact that Samson is born here indicates that he is a frontiersman, a border dweller, absorbing influences from both the Israelites and the Philistines. (https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/holy-land-studies/where-samson-walked/)

This is a perplexing story. The name “Samson” means “like the sun” and indicates incredible strength. Samson goes down to Timnah, a Philistine city in Canaan, a place where he has no business being, and finds a beautiful young lady. There is never any mention of Samson having gone to an Israelite city to look for a wife. Why was Samson in Timnah in the first place? Did his parents teach him only about his Nazirite vows and fail to teach him about the other laws of Moses? Were Samson’s parents themselves ignorant of the teachings of Moses that forbade Israelites from marrying outside the nation of Israel?

The next perplexing thing is the phrase “(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)” HUH??? Samson is directly violating the Lord’s commands; however, God is managing to use even Samson’s lust and poor judgment to begin a conflict with the Philistines. Was Samson fulfilling God’s perfect will when he strayed into a Philistine city? No. Why was Samson in Timnah? Was there some kind of fertility rite going on and is that how Samson chose the girl he wanted? If Samson had chosen an Israelite girl to marry, would God have found some other means of inciting a conflict? Of course!

Samson encounters a lion, tears it to pieces, and then proceeds to Timnah, where he speaks to the girl he has chosen. This is Samson’s first recorded act of strength, one that will later lead him to his first recorded violation of his Nazirite vow.

APPLICATION: Samson was an only child, the object of affection of his parents. Despite the fact that Samson had been raised as a Nazirite and was enjoined to keep the Nazirite vow his entire life, there is no evidence to suggest that Samson actually knew God or loved Him. Children who are indulged from an early age may rebel later in life not realizing how much they have been given. When Samson went down to Timnah the first time, he was already pushing things, and when he demanded that his parents get this Philistine girl for him as a wife, he was behaving like a spoiled brat. Why else would a young man force his parents into a compromising situation, one in which they would be extremely uncomfortable? Samson evidently had very little respect for his parents and even less for God.

When young people who are bright and attractive begin to admire themselves too much, their self – worship outstrips their respect for their parents. While there are neglectful parents in the world, there are also many parents who have tried to raise their children properly and who want nothing but the best spiritually for their children. Some of us fail to come to our senses until we are middle – aged and raising children of our own. It is only when our children begin to give us the same problems we gave our parents that we realize how much our parents may have suffered because of us.

May God help us to appreciate all that our parents have done for us! May we also realize that any mistakes our parents have made were done because they are human; therefore, we should be careful, lest we make similar mistakes.

PRAYER: Father God, help all of us to forgive our parents for any mistakes they might have made. Help us also to recognize that we too can make similar mistakes. Help us to continue to look to You, the ultimate Parent, for guidance and encouragement. And help us to teach our children Your ways. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 13:9 – 25 “And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!” So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“I am,” he said. Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for You.” And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD. Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?” “Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?” Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing. When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame.

When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD. “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!” But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.” So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Manoah and his wife did everything correctly, just as the Lord had ordered them. And in the beginning, Samson also was doing everything correctly, and God was blessing him. It is bittersweet to read about Samson’s beginnings when we already know the rest of the story, but never forget that Samson’s parents did their best.

APPLICATION: When Samson first started, God was blessing his efforts. What went wrong later? Perhaps Samson assumed that because God had chosen him from the womb, that God would bless whatever he did, no matter how sinful it might be. Perhaps Samson later assumed that his successes were of his own making and gave no credit to God.

In recent years, there have been a number of financial institutions that have failed. Examinations have revealed that many of the key players began by conducting themselves as professionally as possible; however, at some point in time, the temptation to cheat became too much and they began compromising in bits.

There is a story about a spider who was weaving an intricate web. Other spiders came to watch and admire the beauty and the symmetry of that web. Finally, the spider noticed that there was one thread that was out of place and decided to snip that one thread so that everything would be perfectly symmetrical. But that thread was connecting the entire web to the twig from which it was suspended. When that thread was snipped, the entire web – and the spider – fell, destroying the web and the spider.

When we take a calling from God for granted, when we take credit for the working of God in our lives, we are as foolish as that spider. Our lives hang by a thread, the grace of God. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that we do not die in our sins. Let each of us ask God to show us His call for our lives and let us be serious about that call. Our eternal lives depend on our doing so!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for calling us to Yourself. Help us to always realize that You are the One who has created us and who sustains us. You are the One who gives us life and breath. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 13:1 – 14 “Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

Now there was a man from Zorah Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Then the woman went and said to her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“I am,” he said. Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.” ”

The tragedy of barrenness may be one of the most heart – breaking of all tragedies that many women face. In some cultures, barren women are divorced, shunned, and scorned. Some families will put their daughters through all kinds of rituals, many of them harmful, just to “cure” the barrenness. Unscrupulous faith healers prey on childless women, encouraging them to ingest concoctions that may actually be harmful and that will not work. as intended.

When the angel appeared to Manoah and his wife, they may have already given up expecting her to become pregnant. At any rate, nothing could prepare these people for an angel appearing to the woman. And when the angel appeared, this lady very rightly referred the angel to her husband.

Manoah and his wife did everything right! This is important because as the story of Samson unfolds, we see a pattern: an incredibly gifted man wastes his gifts and calling because he cannot control his lusts. But in the beginning, Samson’s parents follow God’s orders completely.

What were the restrictions on Nazirites? The term Nazirite comes from the Hebrew word “Nazir,” meaning consecrated or separated. Those taking such vows had to do the following: 1. Abstain from all wine and anything else made from the grape vine plant, such as cream of tartar,grape seed oil, etc. (Traditional rabbinic authorities state that all other types of alcohol were permitted; however, Manoah’s wife was warned to avoid all forms of alcohol.)

2. Refrain from cutting the hair on one’s head; but to allow the locks of the head’s hair to grow.

3. Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.

Although most individuals would only take a Nazirite vow for a limited amount of time (one month was the minimum), God told Manoah and his wife that He wanted their son to be a Nazirite “from the womb to the day of his death.”

Why was God so insistent on this boy being a dedicated Nazirite his entire life? God had a special purpose for this boy, one that could only be fully completed if he remained holy to the Lord his entire life. And God also knew ahead of time the consequences of this boy straying from the Nazirite vows later in liife.

APPLICATION: Sometimes pregnant women are very careless with their lifestyles before giving birth; however, prenatal influences are proving to be quite strong. Several years ago in Ghana, we knew a businessman whose mother had dedicated him to a fetish, a demonic god, from the womb because she had asked the fetish to give her a son. This poor fellow was demon – possessed for his entire life. At times the demons would hide and this man would be sweet and reasonable; however, we personally watched him explode into screaming tirades when he failed to get his way. As expected, this man had lots of problems, and we have no idea if he was able to get free of the demons before he died.

Why did God want this boy to be a Nazirite from the womb to the day of his death? The Israelites had fulfilled Moses’s predictions in Deuteronomy 29. Moses warned the Israelites of the consequences of refusing to worship the One True Living God and ordered them to teach their children the things of God. The Israelites failed miserably and were suffering the consequences. God required someone who was ritually pure and who would avoid all of the heathen practices to lead Israel. Manoah and his wife did their very best; however, as we will see, their son failed to take his calling seriously.

How are we raising our children and who is raising them? Are we leaving our children to be raised by whatever they see on TV, on cell phones, and on tablets? Do we leave our children’s education to the public school systems or are we involved enough to make sure our children actually have godly values? And are we discipling our children or are we merely hauling them to church a few times a year and hoping that something sticks? God help us if we are not as serious as were Manoah and his wife!

PRAYER: Father God, parents today are facing terrible stresses as they try to raise godly children. Lord, please help parents everywhere to learn Your ways and to model those ways for their children so that those same children wil learn of You and why You are the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 12; 8 – 15 “After him (Jephthah), Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years.  Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.”

Once we get through the story of Jephthah, there is a list of four judges who seem completely obscure. One judge is noted mostly for having his children marry outside their clan. Marriages were generally to remain within the tribes of Israel; however, perhaps here the clan designation refers to clans within the tribe of Judah, since Ibzan is from Bethlehem.

Reading this list, we might be excused if we wonder why someone even bothered to mention these people. But God wanted their names to be remembered. When judges were carrying out their duties, they were acting on behalf of God. Whatever else these people did, they carried out their duties, sired children, lived honorably, and were faithful in what they accomplished.

APPLICATION: Let’s face it, the world is made up largely of obscure people. Most of us live quietly without attracting either fame or notoriety; yet, God knows our names, our personalities, and our very souls. Reading this list, we should be encouraged that God notices the “little people,” as well as their families. We matter to the Lord of the Universe.

The Psalmist David said in Psalm 139 “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts, our wants, our desires, our fears, and the things that frighten us or make us despair. Why should we wander aimlessly through life when we have access to the One who truly knows us and who truly loves us? Let us trust Him!

PRAYER: Father God, help us to trust You and to worship You with every bit of our lives. Thank You for loving us and for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 12:1 – 7 “Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”

But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”

Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives (renegades) in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,” they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed. Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Jephthah and his people are Gileadites living on the east side of the Jordan River in an area corresponding to modern northwestern Jordan. The Gileadites have settled in that area with the permission of Moses because they have extensive herds and flocks and there is good grazing. Jephthah has conquered the Ammonites; however, now he has a new problem. Evidently, when Jephthah was going out to fight the Ammonites, he messaged the men of Ephraim for assistance and they ignored him. Now that the Ammonites have been defeated, the Ephraimites have suddenly realized that they have missed an opportunity for LOOT, so they cross the River Jordan and begin threatening Jephthah and his family. To add insult to injury, the Ephraimites also claim that the Gileadites are renegades who as such have no claim to any land in Israel at all.

Jephthah has no choice; either he fights the Ephraimites or they will murder him and his family. The Gileadites join Jephthah and capture the fords of the Jordan so that the Ephraimites can’t retreat into their own territory. To determine who is an Ephraimite, Jephthah’s men apply a simple test. The Ephraimites evidently have no “sh” sound in their dialect, so the men of Gilead demand that anybody attempting to ford the Jordan pronounce the word “shibboleth,” which means an ear, as in an ear of corn. Those who cannot pronounce the word correctly die. 42,000 Ephraimites pay with their lives for their inability to pronounce a single word correctly as well as for their arrogant presumption.

APPLICATION: This is a very sad story. Why? These are Israelites fighting against Israelites – something that should never have happened in the first place. Moses required those tribes that remained on the east side of the Jordan to swear that they would cross the Jordan to help their brothers conquer the land over there and that they would be prepared to come to the aid of the other Israelites whenever necessary. When Jephthah asked the Ephraimites to help him in the beginning, he was only acting according to the provisions of the covenant. But the Ephraimites conveniently forgot their part of the covenant until it came time to divide the spoils. Suddenly, the Ephraimites showed up making all kinds of accusations. Ultimately the Ephraimites paid with their lives for their greed and their failure to honor the covenant.

We read these accounts and feel superior; certainly WE would never renege on a major agreement. But in in fact, covenants are broken regularly. Recent current events have served to illustrate that entire nations may regard covenants as disposable when inconvenient.

What lessons can we draw from this story?

1. Keep your promises. Don’t go back on your word; you may pay with your life for doing so.

2. Remember your allies. The Ephraimites failed because they convinced themselves that the Gileadites really didn’t count as a people.

3. Teach your children the ways of God. This whole mess came about because the Israelites neglected to teach their children the ways of God and His commandments. Without any moral compass, the Israelites were doing whatever they felt like; chaos was the result.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to teach our children Your ways. Help us to study Your Word for ourselves so that we will not wind up fighting the very people we should be helping. Help us to follow hard after You all days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 11:29 – 40 “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her. As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”

“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.” She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains. After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. So it has become a custom in Israel that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.”

Poor Jephthah! Jephthah was a man without a family, for whom family would mean everything. Jephthah had no illusions about his half – brothers and uncles. As soon as Jephthah succeeded in conquering the enemies, his father’s family was more than willing to kick him out again, despite all their fine promises. Jephthah had no son, but his daughter was young and beautiful, and he probably looked forward to the day when his daughter would marry and give him grandchildren to carry on his line.

Why did Jephthah make such a foolish promise? Jephthah was probably anticipating that his beloved dog would come out of the house first; at no point did he ever anticipate his daughter coming out to greet him ahead of everybody else in the household. Despite Jephthah’s strong affirmations about the God of Israel, Jephthah was actually someone who was probably worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh. Yahweh had expressly forbidden human sacrifice on many occasions; however, other demonic gods demanded such sacrifices. (“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.” (Deuteronomy 12.31)

Did Jephthah really sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering? This question has raised controversies for years. Some people would like to argue that surely Jephthah would have relented, perhaps dedicating his daughter to serve in a temple somewhere far away. But in actual fact, Jephthah probably did kill his daughter and then burn her body. Jephthah’s pride was on the line, and his daughter paid the price for it.

APPLICATION: Was God pleased with Jephthah’s offering? No. There is no point in time at which God has demanded human sacrifices. The only human sacrifice God has approved is the one that Jesus made on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the whole world. But the question for us as modern – day people is this: are we acting out of pride to make our children into human sacrifices to our own ambitions?

We know a family in which the father has longed to be a professional in his chosen sport. The father plays well enough to be in recreational leagues but not to make the big time. But this same father is grooming his son, forcing him to compete in several games a week for most of the year – all to the end that his son might become a professional sports figure. There are other families in which one or both parents may be doctors; woe betide the poor kid with average grades in such a family, particularly if there are one or two brilliant siblings who have fulfilled their parents’ dreams of their becoming doctors as well. Sometimes parents make unreasonable financial demands on a child, erroneously assuming that child to have far more wealth than is actually the case. The child is then left in an untenable position: to fulfill his/her parents’ wishes and risk financial failure, or to deny his/her parents’ wishes and to be thought an unfeeling and undutiful child.

In a blog, Pastor Joel from Riverview Baptist Church comments: The mystery of the gospel is that God is a God of infinite grace who pays for the debt of sinners – horrible sinners.  All sin is a horrendous offense against a holy God, from white lies, to pirating music or television from the internet, to human sacrifice.  And God’s grace can and does cover them all through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin.  Rather than justify Jephthah by diminishing the severity of his sin, I think an honest accounting of this text rather serves to magnify the grace of God.  God’s grace can cover any sin.  Even the sin of child sacrifice. (https://www.riverviewbaptist.net/pastor-joels-blog/2017/10/2/digging-deeper-did-jephthah-really-sacrifice-his-daughter)

Hebrews 11:32  ”And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets…” This passage includes Jephthah as one of the heroes of faith along with several others whose walk with God was extremely uneven but who acted in faith. It’s a good thing too! For Jephthah represents each one of us who has made horrible mistakes sometimes but who has still acted in faith, imperfect as it might be.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for Your grace! Thank You that You love us so much that You forgive our sins and still count us as Your children. Help us to do the things that please You always. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 11: 12 – 28 “Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?” The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”

Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us. Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him.”

The king of the Ammonites really made a bad mistake. Israel had controlled their lands east of the Jordan for 300 years. Now the king of the Ammonites was trying to use ancient battles 300 years old as an excuse for attacking Israel. Perhaps the Ammonites had heard that now the Israelites were no better than all the other tribes around them as they worshiped the baals and not just the One True Living God. At any rate, Jephthah gave a wonderful reply, culminating in the question “Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whateveer the Lord our God has granted us.”

APPLICATION: When we are threatened, where do we go for protection? If we are trusting in ourselves, we are in trouble. But if we are trusting in the One True Living God, then we can fearlessly confront our attackers. Jephthah knew the Lord and was trusting Him for victory; therefore, he could advise the Ammonites to possess whatever Chemosh gave them. The Ammonites trusted a demon that could not save them.

Today, many of us feel threatened by various things. But if we are trusting in God, we can be confident that He will act on our behalf. Trusting in anything less or in anything else would be ridiculous.

PRAYER: Father God, we DO trust in You and in nobody else. Only You can save us. Only You have forgiven our sins and can save us from those attacking us. Help us to always trust You and to give control of our lives to You. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 11:1 – 11 “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him. Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”

Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? So why then have you come to me now when you are in distress?”

They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.”

But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.” So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.”

Poor Jephthah! Through no fault of his own, Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, even though Gilead was his father. When it came time to divide up his father’s estate, Jephthah’s half – brothers drove him away, so that they could get more wealth. Those brothers may even have threatened Jephthah’s life; why else would he have left the land of Gilead completely? With no inheritance, Jephthah had to go to a different land and become the head of a roaming group of “worthless men.” The actual meaning of this term does not necessarily imply bad or evil men, but rather poor persons without property or employment. Jephthah and his band may have operated much as David did later, protecting towns and villages and only raiding the enemies of Israel. The area in which Jephthah was living was in modern day Syria just beyond the eastern border of Israel. Yes, Jephthah was an outcast. But then came the Ammonites.

Jephthah’s brothers might have been greedy, but they were not military leaders. One of the elders suddenly had the bright idea to invite Jephthah back to help them. When Jephthah questioned the elders’ sincerity, they made big promises. To protect himself, Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the Lord so that later on those same elders couldn’t renege. (The term “Mizpah” means “Watch,” and implies that God was watching as the Israelites made their promises to Jephthah.

APPLICATION: Have you ever been used, only to be discarded when your usefulness ended? There are few feelings more horrible than that of giving your best to a situation, only to find that the same people who begged you to come are now pushing you out the door after getting your help.

Ironically, it is possible that had Jephthah remained in Gilead, he might not have ever found his true identity as a military commander. Jephthah might have accepted whatever meager resources the family would have allotted to him just so that he could remain as part of the family. It was Jephthah’s isolation that brought out his abilities as a commander.

In those days, family was everything. Men without families had no inheritance and little chance of finding wives and having families of their own. Cutting someone off from their family could practically constitute a death sentence. No, the elders of Gilead had graphically demonstrated that they were only interested in money.

As we read the story of Jephthah, several things stand out:

1. God was not worried about Jephthah’s low status as the son of a prostitute. God gave Jephthah courage and the ability to lead in battle. We can take heart from this story, knowing that it is God who empowers us and that our worth as human beings does not come from men.

2. God created the opportunity for Jephthah to be received back into his father’s family. Reading the account, you can almost see these elders wringing their hands and glancing at one another out of the corners of their eyes. Jephthah was probably the very last person the family wanted to ask for help, but they were desperate.

3. You have the feeling – as did Jephthah – that the elders were hoping to renege on their promises as soon as the Ammonites were defeated. That’s why Jephthah repeated his terms in the presence of the Lord. Jephthah trusted the Lord, even if the elders had no regard for Him.

4. God was using the elders of Gilead to call Jephthah into the role God had already designed for him, that of military commander. Many times, God may use people to bring us into His perfect will for our lives, even though the motives of that group may be anything but pure. In the end, it is God who calls and who acts sovereignly.

What if you are used and then discarded? If God has called you into a certain position, God will sustain you and God will guide you. If those who once claimed they needed you attempt to throw you away, God will open new avenues of opportunity. Trust people? No way! Trust God? Absolutely!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You that You love us, that You care for us and that You will never leave us or forsake us. Thank You that Your promises are sure. Help all who feel that they have been used and abused to look to You for their guidance and support. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judges 10:15 – 18 “We have sinned,” the Israelites said to the LORD. “Deal with us as You see fit; but please deliver us today!” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

Then the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. And the rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all who live in Gilead.”

The Israelites are under attack from the Philistines on the west and from the Ammonites on the east. Despite all the warnings God has already given the Israelites regarding false gods, they have continued to follow these same worthless idols. When enemies attack, have the Israelites sought deliverance from their idols? Have they sacrificed animals in hopes of getting the attention of their gods? There is no record that any such thing has happened.

God has reproved the Israelites and they have actually taken that reproof to heart and have repented. Amazingly, once the Israelites repent, God begins to act on their behalf. These verses constitute an amazing demonstration of God’s mercy. The Israelites have made a complete mess of things. Most of us would tell them “Tough! You made your bed; you can lie in it!” But God gives second chances, and third and fourth and fifth chances. If not for the mercy of God, there would not be a nation of Israel today.

APPLICATION: How many of us put our trust in something, only to have it fail? Perhaps we have put in years as a professional, admired by our peers. Perhaps we have trusted friends or family members to help us. Perhaps we have highly placed friends in government. But people can die; governments can change; your peers can turn on you, and in this age of vindictive social media, your reputation can be in tatters overnight.

Psalm 146:3-10 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.”

The Israelites have made terrible mistakes, but God has shown them mercy. The lesson for all of us is this: put your trust in the One who can help you and not in anything else. And if you find that you have trusted the wrong things, pray to the One True Living God, the only One who can save you. Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Father God, forgive us! We have trusted all the wrong things and we have worshiped money, position, reputation, and even our own brilliance. Lord, help us to worship You and nobody else. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 OBEDIENCE OR CHAOS 36: WHAT USE IS A GOD WHO CANNOT SAVE YOU?

Judges 10:1 – 14 “After the time of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose up to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.

The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have indeed forsaken our God and served the Baals.” The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonitesc oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”

Well, the Israelites are at it again. Two more generations have passed without the Israelites training their children in the ways of God. As soon as the strong judges/leaders die, the Israelites go right back to the worship of the gods of all the nations who have previously oppressed them, even though those gods have proven worthless to save their adherents. Now the crunch has come yet another time and the Israelites have suddenly wakened up and remembered that they have a real God who has saved them in the past. But this time, God is fed up and says so.

The fascinating part about this story is not the backsliding – that is the normal state of affairs. No, the question is this: how does God speak to the Israelites and how do they KNOW that this is God speaking and not some other spirit? Perhaps some nameless prophet has arisen to give this particular message and then fade back into obscurity. Perhaps God speaks to them in a voice of thunder. All we know is that God speaks and the Israelites understand that this is GOD and not one of the gods that they have been serving.

APPLICATION: Psalm 20:1-3 says, “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion; may He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice.” This psalm was written by a believer who worshipped regularly for other believers who also worshipped regularly. But notice that the believers to whom this psalm is addressed are worshiping God and not the demons honored by surrounding tribes.

Why haven’t the Israelites learned anything? Spiritually, the Israelites bounce around as much as a new golf ball in a tile bathroom; they are all over the place! The answer is simple: each generation has deliberately refused to teach their children the things of God and to follow His laws. Rather than choosing those practices which would keep them safe and lead to long lives, the Israelites have chosen cheap and easy substitutes that are worthless. By refusing to teach their children the laws of Moses, the Israelites have doomed themselves as a people. And God informs them of their mistakes and advises them to see if any of these worthless spirits they have been worshiping will save them.

What are we teaching our children? Are we reading the Bible with them and praying with them? Are we taking them to church or to prayer meetings where they can see others worshiping God? Or are we leaving our children to be taught and entertained by social media? Veteran kindergarten teachers are raising alarms that children who have had too much screen time are unable to function effectively. Rather than learning how to interact with people personally, these children have been insulated. Rather than learning about their surroundings or even about simple things such as the layout of the grocery store, these children remain spectators, bound by an invisible umbilical cord to their electronic devices. The results of all this screen time are children who don’t know how to behave with other people and who have no knowledge of the world apart from the tiny screen of a cell phone or tablet. Over – use of electronic devices has become a modern equivalent of Baal worship.

Am I against cell phones, tablets, and computers? Absolutely not! Used in moderation, these things can be very helpful. But electronic devices can fail at any moment, leaving those who are totally dependent on them stranded and unable to function. An electronic device is only as positive an influence as the media you view. We have many friends who carry Bibles in tribal languages on their smart phones or tablets. Other friends carry copies of devotional books. But remember this: if you do not teach your children about God, the world will teach them about gods.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to be diligent in modeling worship and Bible study for our children. Help us to love You so much that our kids will know Who You are and why we love You. And help us to be faithful and to continue to pray for our families and others. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.