Judges 10-12
In Chapter 10 we start out with two minor Judges. We don’t know a lot about them but we do know
that between them they ruled over Israel for 45 years. During this time it would appear that Israel
enjoyed a relatively peaceful time and a time of obedience. Starting in verse 6 is where we see Israel
falling into sin again.
Israel went all out in following other gods as we see in
these first verses. Notice what God’s
response is in verse 7-8...God became angry with them and allowed the
Philistines and Ammonites to shatter and crush them. They were oppressed for a total of 18
years. That is a long time to be under
oppression. It is noted in verse 9 that
the Israelites were in great distress and therefore cried out to the Lord. Isn’t it funny that the Israelites know where
to turn when their backs are up against the wall. It sure isn’t the Baals or the
Ashtoreths. How far to do we need to go
with our “false gods” before we turn around and cry out to God in
distress? I think the most disturbing
part of this chapter is found in v13-14 when God says I will no longer save you
but go and cry out to the gods you have chosen.
Up till now God has always stepped in and saved the Israelites. We see a different response from God. God was pushing the Israelites to fully
repent from their sins and turn to Him 100%.
There should be a change in behavior if there is a change in heart
level. Kyle Idleman in his book AHA says
that “We spend much of our lives stuck between honesty and action”. We can be honest that there is sin in our
lives or we keep falling in a certain area but until we move to action there
will be no change. Are some of us today
stuck between honesty and action? What
is the next step that needs to be taken?
The Israelites got to the point that the discipline of God
was worth going through as long as He would rescue them. They were at the end of themselves. They wanted rescued now and were willing to
face the consequences. The Israelites
acted upon their confession…they got rid of their idols and served the
Lord. Notice what God’s response
was? He could bear their misery no
longer (v16). Wow, we have a
compassionate God. He hurts when we
hurt.
The pattern continues in that God raises up an unlikely hero
to save Israel. We are introduced to Jephthah,
the Gideonite. He was a mighty
warrior. Where have we heard this
description before?....Gideon. Jephthah
was the son of Gilead but born of a prostitute not his wife. Jephthah
was driven away by his brothers as they believed he was not entitled to any of
the family inheritance. Jephthah fled
from his brothers and attracted a group of adventurers as followers. I wonder what they got up to? However, it wasn’t long before the elders of
Gilead were begging for Jephthah to come back and be their commander. Talk about swallowing your pride. However, we see in v7 that Jephthah was
suspicious. He questioned the elders on
this but they said that they wanted him to fight the Ammonites and to be their
head. Jephthah wasn’t convinced. However, the elders said that God was their
witness and they would do it.
Jephthah didn’t go against the Ammonites with all guns
blazing but took the diplomatic way first.
He questions King Ammonite’s reasons for attacking their country. The Kings response is that the Israel took
their land away and he wanted it back in a peaceful manner . A message was sent back to the Ammonite King
that this was not true and Jephthah proceeded to give him a history lesson on
what had gone on before.
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First of all the land did not belong to the
Ammonites but to the Amorites.
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God gave the land to the Israelites (v21) which
shows that that the Israelites did not instigate the take over.
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Israel occupied the land (v26) for 300 years and
no one disputed that.
Jephthah put the Ammonite King in his place by telling him
that he hadn’t wronged him (v27) but that he was in the wrong. However, Jephthah was willing to let the Lord
settle the dispute. The King of Ammon
made a fatal mistake at this point. He
didn’t listen to Jephthah which meant he wasn’t willing to let God decide the
outcome. In the end the Ammonites
suffered at the hands of the Israelites.
20 towns were devastated as the Lord gave them into the Israelites
hands. Who says our actions don’t have
consquences? Because of King Ammon many
people died at that time.
The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. One Pastor put it like this…..
a. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah:
This was the source of Jephthah's courage. When we are beset by fears and
anxieties, we need to fill our lives with Jesus and be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
b. He advanced toward the people of Ammon:
The filling of the Spirit makes us advance. We
go forward in the sense of spiritual progress and we go forward in the sense of
confronting the enemies of God.
We have access to
the Holy Spirit at any time. He is our
guide, counsellor, teacher, comforter amongst other things. Do we see Him as our first go to person when
difficulties happen or we need help in some area or God is challenging us in an
area to advance forward like Jephthah?.
This was a reminder for me and I hope a good reminder for you of who you
have living inside of you. He is on our
side and He desires for us to grow and become more Christlike.
In the midst of this we see an interesting vow that Jephthah
made in v30-31. He promised God that
whoever came out of the door of his house when he returned from battle will be
sacrificed as a burnt offering. I wonder
if at this point Jephthah had taken leave of his senses. What was he expecting to come out of his
house? By his response in v35 we see
that he wasn’t expecting his daughter to walk out of the front door. The two views on this oath that Jephthah made
are the sacrificial view and the dedication view (views named by Tim Chaffney). Most of us would want to stand with the
dedication view in that Jephthah didn’t actually sacrifice her but had made a
commitment that she remain a lifelong virgin in the Lord’s service just as
Hannah dedicated Samuel. This would mean
that Jephthah’s family line would end with his daughter as she was an only
child. However, in Leviticus 5:4-10
there was a get out clause if you made a foolish vow. It was called a trespass offering. If Jephthah knew God’s Laws then he would
have known he was not bound by a rash vow he made in the heat of the moment. You can read further in Leviticus that he
would have had other ways to redeem his daughter especially as she was a non-Levite. He could have paid a redemption fee. However, Deuteronony 23:2 states that because of her illegitimate
birth heritage she could not serve in the temple.
Those who hold to the sacrificial view as one author put it would
state that not to be able to carry on the family line was just as bad as
dying. Rachel said she would rather die
than be barren (Genesis 30:1). Also just
reading the text in a straightforward manner would suggest that Jephthah did
sacrifice her as a burnt offering.
God used Jephthah as a Judge to rescue Israel but nowhere
does it say he is a Godly man. God uses
each and every one of us despite her sinfulness and the consequences
thereafter. However, it doesn’t make our
actions necessarily correct.
“Even a Spirit-filled man can do foolish things. The Holy Spirit does not
overwhelm and control us, He guides us - and that guidance can be resisted or
ignored at smaller or greater points”. (Guzik)
Chapter 12 starts out with our friends the Ephraimites. Remember in the story of Gideon they were not
happy that they had not been asked to join in the battle with the
Midianites. Here we see their noses
being put out of joint again and this time with the Ammonites. They like to be in the lime light and to be
seen and given credit for what they do.
They are pretty mad with Jephthah as they tell him in v1 that because
they were not invited to the battle they are going to burn his house down with
him in it. Jephthah responded to their
complaining by saying that they had every opportunity to get stuck in and help
but it states that they wouldn’t help (v3).
Talk about being inconsistent.
They wanted the glory of the battle but weren’t necessarily putting
themselves out there to help. With some
people you just can’t win.
Jephthah and the men of Gilead fight against the Ephraimites
and conquer them. It says in v6 that
42,000 Ephraimites were killed in the battle.
Notice how the Gileadites detected an Ephraimite. If they said the word Sibboleth instead of
Shibboleth (means ear of grain or flowing stream) (they couldn’t pronounce the
h”) then the Gileadites knew they were Ephraimites. Just like today we can tell by our accents or
dialects where we are from so they could do it then.
Jephthah led the Israelites for 6 years and then he
died. After Jephthah came three minor
Judges. In total Ibzan, Elon and Abdon
judged over Israel for a total of 25 years.
