Click to read Judges 10 - 12
Synopsis
After Abimelech died, Israel had two more judges, Tola and Jair who ruled a total of 45 years. Then Israel fell into sin again and the Lord allowed the Ammonites and the Philistines to harass them for 18 years. Finally, the people cried to the Lord and He raised up Jephthah to rescue them.
Jephthah, a mighty warrior, was the son of Gilead and a prostitute. He was driven away by his half brothers as he was not accepted as part of the family. When they were in trouble, they went to Jephthah and pleaded with him to lead the battle against the enemy, promising that he would become their leader.
Jephthah tried to reason with the Ammonites and finally when they did not relent, he led the army to destroy them completely. The major event in this story is Jephthah having to sacrifice his only daughter because he made a rash pledge to God and he had to honor and fulfill what he said.
The story ended with the Ephramites fighting a civil war against the Gileadites where the Ephramites were severely defeated. Jephthah only ruled Israel for 6 years before he died.
Major Verses
11:12-23 - When Jephthah became the commander of Gilead, he sought to resolve the problem with the Ammonites by reasoning with them. He did not use force but diplomacy first. Only when his diplomacy failed, did he then battle against the Ammonites. Jephthah acknowledged that the true Judge of Israel was the Lord and not him. He said this in verse 27.
What I learn
When we confront a problem at hand, it is good to try to resolve it amicably rather than by the use of force. To Jephthah's credit, he took that route before resorting to force.
11:30-35 - Jephthah made a vow before God. He promised to sacrifice whatever that came out of his door first to meet him when he returned victorious. He did not consider that it might be a person who would be the first to come out of his door, not an animal. As it was, his only daughter was the first "thing" that came out to meet him and this brought him unspeakable grief. After all, he had made a vow to God and had to fulfill it.
What I learn
Very often in the heat of emotion or during a period of intense pressure or personal turmoil, we are tempted to make foolish promises to God. These promises may sound spiritual when we make them, but they only produce guilt, condemnation and grief when we are finally required to fulfill them. God does not want us to make promises for the future. He loves us more than enough to simply grant our request (see Matthew 7:7-1 ) without us trying to make promises to Him. The Lord taught that we should not even make a vow ( Matthew 5:33-37 ).
12:1-6 - Instead of celebrating Israel's victory, the Ephramites were jealous and raised petty issues. It so enraged Jephthah that he took revenge at their insult and killed 42,000 of them who were his kinsmen. While he tried to reason with the Ammonites before using force, Jephthah was so enraged that he simply took to violence to solve this petty quarrel.
What I learn
Jealousy and insulting others often lead to unnecessary strife which is totally unproductive. This is wrong, and so is taking revenge. It was a sad day with the children of Israel fought and killed each other. We must learn to be forgiving and generous to the faults of others.
12:8:13 - Nothing much is recorded about the next three judges, Ibzan, Elon and Abdon except that Ibzan gave his daughters in marriage outside the clan and that he brought his sons 30 wives also from outside the clan. And that Abdon had 70 donkeys for his 40 sons and 30 grandsons to ride on.
What I learn
It is interesting that all that were recorded about these judges were rather "irrelevant" details of their personal lives. And to that end, the details did not speak well of them. I ask myself how I would want to live my life for God. When we pass on, would we be remembered for useful things that we had done for Him and other, or for some irrelevant details that did not contribute to His kingdom.
Summary
God, despite being angry with sin, will still turn to rescue those who repent and seek Him. He does not need us to make promises to Him before acting. He acts because He loves us. Praise the Lord!
Up next ....
The story of Samson unveils it self next week. Come and learn together on 30th July.
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