Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Bible in a Year March 19 - Judges 14-16

 

March 19 - Judges 14-16

The story of Samson is almost too crazy! Lions, bees, riddles, jawbones, foxes, and more. He doesn’t seem to be the kind of person God would choose – he’s brash, disrespectful, overbearing, and egotistical. And God used those characteristics to confront the Philistines in a way that was unexpected and yet successful.

You have to wonder how wise he was, though, with all the tricks Bathsheba pulled. Verse 16:16 says she nagged him “until he was tired to death.” It’s hard to understand why he didn’t just leave.

Did you see the last verse that said his brothers came to get his body? I’m hoping that means his mother was able to conceive and give birth to other children.

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Judges 17-19

Monday, March 18, 2024

Bible in a Year March 18: Judges 10 – 13

 

March 18: Judges 10 – 13

Today’s reading covers more than 134 years! At least 58 of those years the Israelites were oppressed by others.

The terminology used when God is frustrated with the disobedience of the people is often the word ‘mkr’, which means to sell or betray to others. Almost all derivatives of the word related to trade. If indeed this was a trade of sorts, I wonder what the conquerors got out of the deal.

Several of the judges mentioned had a LOT of children! Twice we see that they rode on donkeys, which were considered a symbol of royalty at the time. Perhaps God chose these men because they were already successful leaders, unlike Gideon.

A few things that really stuck out to me today:

1) Why did the Israelites wait so long (18 – 40 years) to cry out to God?

2) Verse 10:16 says that God “could bear Israel’s misery no more”. Our God is patient and caring. He waits for us to learn our lesson, but at some point our pain hurts him more than it does us.

3) Jephthah made a horrible vow! But he honored God enough to follow through. Did he really provide his daughter as a burnt sacrifice? Who or what did he truly expect to walk out the door? Because the Law of Moses prohibited human sacrifice, most scholars believe that Jephthah was able to instead dedicate her to service at the tabernacle as a perpetual virgin. Because of this vow, regardless of the way it was fulfilled, Jephthah would have no more descendants.

4) Wow, the people of Ephraim must have really liked fighting! Just like they did with Gideon, they were angry that Jephthah didn’t invite them to participate in the action. However this time they apparently got the fight they wanted and suffered because of it. This is the first time we see Israelites fighting against each other.

5) I love that Manoah and his wife wanted advice on raising their son. I do wish the author had told us his wife’s name, though.

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Judges 14-16

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Bible in a Year March 17 – Judges 8-9

 

March 17 – Judges 8-9

Poor Gideon – everyone seems to be against him! The name Jerub-Baal  stuck for the rest of his life. The Ephraimites are mad he didn’t call them to fight early on in the battle, and the residents of Succoth refuse to feed his troops. Succoth was a city east of the Jordan and was the tribe of Dan’s territory, but it most likely remained in non-Israelite possession. Peniel was also east of the Jordan and was the location where Jacob wrestles with an angel in Genesis 32.

Gideon created a relic of sorts from the gold that had been collected, and the Israelites worshiped it instead of God. Gideon’s life changed significantly after this battle -- he ended up having 70 sons with several wives and another named Abimelech , the son of his concubine from Shechem. Gideon was no longer the weak, hesitant man he once was.

After 40 years of peace, Gideon died and Abimelech got a bit power hungry. The name Abimelech actually means ‘my father is king’, and he seemed to think it was his right to take over once Gideon died.  After killing 69 of his brothers and garnering a large support group, he actually governed Israel for three years. After much trauma and drama, Shechem was once again destroyed and more than 1000 people were burned alive before Abimelech was killed.

How does someone kill all his brothers? Was Abimelech seen as a bastard child by the others? And who gave him the name ‘my father is king’, Gideon? It seems a bit grandiose to me.

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Judges 10 – 13

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Bible in a Year March 16 - Judges 6-7

 March 16 - Judges 6-7

The story of Gideon is fascinating. He is the weakest man in the weakest tribe, and yet God used him to save Israel. When we first see him, he’s threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it hidden from the Midianites (which also means he had a very small harvest). He was probably stomping on the grain as one would grapes for wine.

This is the only time in Judges that we see the Angel of the Lord approach a judge himself to announce his role. Gideon is incredibly hesitant and even after seeing miraculous fire from a rock he fulfills the request to tear down false altars, but does it in the middle of the night. The next day the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he calls together an army. Still hesitant, though he requires two signs (and 48 hours) to be sure he heard correctly.

It is shocking that 2/3rds of the army is frightened and returns home! These folks hadn’t been in war situations and weren’t well trained, and obviously they were terrified of the Midianites.

God’s love and patience is so persistent in this passage. Even after the proofs he’d seen, God knew Gideon was still scared and hesitant (I imagine he wanted to be first in line when the others returned home). Yet God allows him to hear the fear of the Midianites!

Whenever we feel inadequate, it would be good to remember that God led just 300 men to overwhelm the Midianites with just trumpets, clay pots, and torches! Surely he can help each of us to overcome the battles we are fighting.

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Judges 8-9

Friday, March 15, 2024

Bible in a Year March 15 - Judges 3 – 5

 

March 15 - Judges 3 – 5

God apparently allowed many Canaanites to stay both to test the Israelites devotion AND to train the new generation to fight. After the Israelites began worshipping other gods and doing evil, God lifted up Caleb’s nephew/son-in-law, Othniel, and filled him with the Spirit. (Side note – the Bible only mentions three other judges who were filled with the Spirit – Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. It doesn’t mean others weren’t, but it is significant that only these names are mentioned). Othniel leads the Israelites in war and the land has peace for 40 years.

Ehud is the next judge, and the fact that he is left-handed is obviously significant.  He was from the tribe of Benjamin, and it seems Benjamites are mostly characterized as being either left-handed or ambidextrous. After Ehud kills Eglon, who caused problems for the Israelites for 18 years, the land had peace for 80 years.

Shagmar is next, and we don’t know much about him except that he killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. This was a pointed rod used for driving cattle. I’m picturing Chuck Norris with a giant stick!

Then one of my favorite stories is that of Deborah and Jael. one of the things I find so fascinating is that Jael’s husband (who was related to Zipporah, Moses’ wife) was on good graces with Jabin the king. Was Jael in disagreement with her husband’s politics (since Sisera was commander of Jabin’s army), or did she have some specific gripe against Sisera himself? Oh, and did you notice that her tent was set up under that ‘great tree’ in Zaanannim that we talked about back in Joshua 19?

After these events the land had peace for another 40 years.

TOMORROW’S TEXT:  Judges 6-7


Thursday, March 14, 2024

Bible in a Year March 14: Joshua 24; Judges 1-2

 March 14: Joshua 24; Judges 1-2

JUDGES

The book of Judges begins at the time of Joshua’s death. The Israelites have settled peacefully into the Promised Land and have started building up their cities and falling into a routine life. But with comfort unfortunately comes complacency. There isn’t a strong leader to fill Joshua’s shoes and the Israelites begin a cycle of rebellion, judgment, and deliverance through a series of judges ordained by God. Some say it’s a series of hero stories that demonstrate both God’s compassion and the weakness of the leaders.

There is a cycle to the book that establishes a framework for these stories

1.    1. People do evil things and worship other gods
2.    God gets angry and allows other nations to invade
3.    Israel cries for help
4.    God raises up a judge who delivers the people from their enemies
5.    Israel again returns to foreign gods.

 It is traditionally considered that Samuel wrote this book, and it was written after the establishment of kingship. Some believe that perhaps Nathan and Gad, the prophets, participated in the editing of the book during the reign of David.

 Key verses are Judges 2:11-12 and Judges 21:25.

It’s a bit sad to say goodbye to Joshua. He’s been a good leader and his farewell speech is pretty amazing. There has been almost no rebellion in his time and the Israelites are finally at peace. I imagine his quote, “But for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” hangs in thousands of homes today. We also say goodbye to Phineas, who has served the people well as head priest.

Joseph’s bones, which were carried with the Israelites for the last 40 years, were buried in the tract of land his father bought to pitch his tent back in Gen 33:18. Joseph had slept on that ground during his lifetime, and now the whole land belonged to his descendants.

Did you have a sense of dejavu when you started reading Judges? I wonder what was so significant about the story of Acsah that it was repeated? We see another story of grace toward the people who helped the Israelites invade a city – I’m glad they kept their promises to those residents.

As we saw earlier, there were quite a few Canaanites who remained in the land. While initially they were servants to the Israelites, it only took one generation for the people to be influenced by that culture.

One of the key verses is in our reading today:

11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. (NIV)

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Judges 3 – 5

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Bible in a Year March 13: Joshua 21:13 – 23:16

 March 13: Joshua 21:13 – 23:16

Lots more town names today. Did you notice the town of Shechem in the inheritance of the Kohathite clans? Their relative, Levi, was one of the two sons of Jacob that killed all the men there after they raped Dinah. They obviously knew the story – I wonder what they thought as they took over that town.

I love verse 21:45 – every one of God’s promises were fulfilled! Oh what a wonderful time that must have been for the people of Israel!

As the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh are finally sent home, Joshua’s advice if pertinent to them and to us: be careful to follow the commandments to “love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5). But then comes a huge miscommunication/misunderstanding.

How quickly we jump to conclusions without seeking the truth! The rest of the Israelites were ready to wipe them out for building an altar, presuming they were already worshipping other gods. While I commend the Israelites for their avid defense of God, if they would have just asked about it there would have been much less drama. And if the residents of the east side of the Jordan would have communicated their intent that would have avoided a lot of chaos.

So the men of these three tribes were on the west side of the Jordan for at least 5 years. Did they get time off to go see their families? How did the rest of those tribes, who remained on the west, get by without the men in the prime of their lives? How difficult was it for everyone to adjust having them back?

TOMORROW’S TEXT:  Joshua 24; Judges 1-2