Sweet and Good

DEVOTION

JUDGES

SWEET AND GOOD

Judges 9:7-21

7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' 9 "But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?' 10 "Next, the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be our king.' 11 "But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?' 12 "Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be our king.' 13 "But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?' 14 "Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be our king.' 15 "The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!' 16 "Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves— 17 and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian 18(but today you have revolted against my father's family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)— 19 if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelech!" 21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.

NIV

We find on maps that this Mt Gerizim overlook is in very close proximity to the ancient city of Shechem, so it is very possible that this speech of Jotham was clearly heard by the people of Shechem, including Abimelech. Jotham spoke a fable which would be considered prophecy. Using all those kinds of trees that produce good things for the people. Olive trees give olive oil, fig trees give those good and sweet fruit, and the vine gives wine, all good things for both eating, drinking and offerings to God, but the thornbush has nothing to offer but it is so common and it could be the start of bush fires that consume everything in his path. Certainly, this fable or prophetic word has some relevant meaning to the people of Shechem, but could it apply in any way to our lives? Perhaps, we see the vain ambition to be in power, like Abimelech, who had only the purpose of self-gratification and did not have the benefit of the people of Shechem in mind. Much like the thorn or bramble bush, his power would kindle a flame of domestic war, and his subjects would be consumed. We always need to be careful not to pursue leadership for our own benefit, but only as God directs and then as we are told to live by love, whatever position we hold in the body of Christ, is for the purpose of love and building each other up until we all reach the unity in the faith. No matter where we serve each other in the body, we should always look to the benefit of others, and not of our own, for God is our source of all things, and He and He alone is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory. Let us not do anything out of vain ambition or self-gratification, but only do what is for the benefit of others, like the olive tree, fig tree, and the wine of the vineyard, all sweet and good, like the word of God. Let us feed each other from the sweetness and goodness in the scriptures, so we all grow in our walk with the Lord, for the Lord is sweet and good. 

Good or Evil

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

GOOD OR EVIL

Judges 9:1-6

9:1 Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, 2 "Ask all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood." 3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." 4 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.

NIV

What a wicked man, driven by ambition, ridding himself of any of his brothers who might be in line to rule after their father Gideon died. We remember that Abimelech was born from a concubine, or slave woman of Gideon. As far as all the other seventy sons born from many of his wives, however, Abimelech would not have been considered a rightful heir. To kill all those sons of Gideon so that he would be the only one to rule over Shechem was as evil as any man could be. Then to hire vain, worthless men, which is the two Hebrew words used here as reckless adventurers, was typical of someone with no moral compass, but a selfish, self-centered man. So the town of Shechem crowned Abimelech king. Have we studied history enough to know there have been many man-made kings in many countries throughout the world, and even to this day? Some of them may have been decent or fair in their reign over people, but there have been many who reigned from evil hearts. We have been blessed to have a King who knows evil, but is void of it, as He is completely pure and holy. In addition, all the kings of the earth go by the way of the earth, experiencing death and burial to return to dust. But our King also died, but was resurrected to live forever, and He reigns over us with justice. That one statement of Abimelech was prophetic about it being better that one man rule over us. We have our Lord and our Savior, Jesus, to rule over us, and he is our only ruler. He has told us we cannot serve two rulers, but only one. How can we let anything from this world rule over us, abiding by its rules for life? How can we allow anything from this world to affect our attitudes, our emotions, or feelings, for anything in the world has evil motives? If we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, then we have nothing left to serve the realm of this world. We know evil, and are capable of it, although it is not our desire, for we desire the Lord. He is the only one who truly loves us and cares for us, provides for us, heals us, and inspires us to live in accordance with his good pleasure. Every person must make that choice, to serve good or evil. The people of Shechem chose evil, and we have chosen good.

 

Worship Who?

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WORSHIP WHO

Judges 8:22-35

22 The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us — you, your son and your grandson — because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." 23 But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." 24 And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) 25 They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. 29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and 34 did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

NIV

Why do men want another man to rule over them, instead of submitting to the rule and authority of the Lord? Gideon was right to reject that position and told them the LORD rules over them. Had they not seen the rule of the LORD when they prostrated themselves, building altars to Baal and had Asherah poles, which Gideon, under the direction of the LORD, smashed the altar, building a proper one from stone to the LORD, and tore down the Asherah pole.  From the perspective of the Israelites, it was Gideon who saved them from the hand of Midian, and they wanted him and his son, and his grandson to rule over them. How is that even possible to know how his grandson would turn out as a man, and be capable of ruling as a fair and honest judge? Men will always change, or do not have the strength of character to always be honest, fair, and impartial in their assessment when ruling or being a judge in the case of this time in the lives of the Israelites. However, the LORD never changes and is constant in his just assessment of all men, for he knows the heart of all men. However, as long as Gideon lived, the land enjoyed peace for forty years.  We wonder why Gideon built that ephod from about forty lbs. of gold, for it was simply a golden image, unless it was supposed to point to the LORD, but the Israelites prostituted themselves to a golden image instead of the LORD. Is it easier to worship something we can see than the invisible God? Once again, anything man can build has no eyes to see, ears to hear, nor a mouth to speak, yet they must not care about their image, instructing their lives as if they would rather give instructions from their own evil thoughts to themselves. We would hope and pray that we do not allow our own concepts of Christianity to be our guide for our lives, or our biases and traditions to forge the meaning of the word of God. We do wonder why so many have been deceived by silver-tongued purveyors of false doctrine that is not centered on Jesus nor looks to lift Jesus up, but rather themselves becoming the center of attention. That Ephod became a snare for Gideon, although he wanted to lift up the LORD, the people lifted up the Ephod. We want to lift up the name of the Lord, and him alone. We can only do that when we understand our frailty, remaining his humble servant, listening to his voice, following the inspiration of the Spirit, and complying with His will. We can see the error of the Israelites easily enough, for as soon as Gideon died, they built more altars to Baal. We must always be aware when we err in some way, following any way of this world, and correct our course. Let us always be in worship of the Lord. Let no one be confused whom we worship. 

As Is The Lord

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

AS IS THE LORD

Judges 8:10-21

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11 Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army. 13 Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. 14 He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the elders of the town. 15 Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'" 16 He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 17 He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town. 18 Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?" "Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince." 19 Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." 20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. 21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.'" So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.

NIV

As the story goes on, we see that Gideon kept his word to the men of Succoth and Peniel. It is strange that he only punished the elders of Succoth by whipping them with desert thorns and briers, but he killed the men of Peniel after tearing down their tower. Nevertheless, our story is seen in the words of Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of the Eastern people. When Gideon had defeated the last fifteen thousand of the Eastern people with his three hundred warriors under the hand of God, he was at the point of killing them and offered his young son the opportunity to draw his sword and kill them. However, he could not because he was afraid. We cannot be certain what his fear was, but here is where these men, Zebah and Zalmunna, made this prophetic and profound statement, “Come do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his  strength.’” First, it would have been more demeaning to die at the hand of a child, but what is interesting is that if we move this statement into our lives, as believers in the one true Living God and have accepted his Son Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then our strength is in the Lord. So, as the man or the people we are, followers of Jesus, so is our strength. When we must do something ourselves, as in doing a task, or obeying the command or calling of the Lord upon us, then we do not look to our flesh, or strength, for it is far to weak, so we look to our Lord for His strength and in some sense, we can then draw our sword, the word of God, and defeat any situation we face, or win the victory and fully following the call upon our lives. Therefore, we can say, “As is the Lord, so is our strength”. 

Motivation

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

MOTIVATION

Judges 8:1-9

8:1 Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized him sharply. 2 But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided. 4 Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 5 He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." 6 But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?" 7 Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers." 8 From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."

NIV

We can see selfishness at work in the Ephraimites, the men of Succoth, and the men of Peniel. Gideon was following the command of the LORD, but it does not mean all those others cared about the LORD or Gideon. Both the men of Succoth and Peniel were from the tribe of Gad on the other side of the Jordan, and, of course, Ephraimites were from the tribe of Ephraim; all Israelites but Succoth and Peniel were nothing more than turncoats, turning their backs on brother Israelites who needed bread. That was in direct violation of the command of God. However, we believe their motive was not to violate God, but simply because they were selfish, not wanting to give Gideon and his three hundred men anything from their gathered or store up grain to make bread. We will see what Gideon promised to both of them happen, but for now, let us take this idea of selfishness to heart because we know it should never be a part of our lives. In fact, it is the opposite of what happens when we are motivated by love. We are aware that love is not self-seeking or envious, and yet that is what we see in these men from Ephraim, Succoth, and Peniel. Because we love our fellow believers, if they had such a need, we would not respond like those men did, for we are not a selfish people. We do not store up simply for our own future benefit, but are always available to lend a helping hand from whatever we have, or at least we should. We do wonder if we would if the case arises. It would seem, for the most part, that we all have more the plenty of whatever we need because of the provisions from the hand of God. It is not too often that we see someone in need of bread, so to speak, yet we have godly organizations that provide those in need with bread as well as much more. We can, as a church, do things to help others in need, and for the most part, we do. However, we wonder if the motive of love plays out in a personal way, each of us responding with love toward another who might be exhausted from some battle in life. We need to do some self-examination as to what our primary motive in life is. Could we be like Gideon, or like those Ephraimites who were angry because they felt they were mistreated, either because of jealousy, envy, or self-seeking or like those from Succoth and Peniel who were stingy or greedy and perhaps selfish that could have also been motivated by jealousy or envy, because of their responses to Gideon’s request. Let love be our motivation. 

Watch Me

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WATCH ME

Judges 7:17-25

17 "Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'" 19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah." So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. 25 They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

NIV

We see this man, Gideon, hiding threshing wheat in a winepress so the Midianites would not see the grain and steal it, like they had been all along, now telling the fighting men with him, “Watch me”. The man who said to the angel of the LORD that his clan was the smallest and he was the least in his family, now is this, “Mighty Warrior” telling his men to “follow my lead”. When we consider that the Midianite army was as think as locusts and the number of their camels was like the grains of sand on the seashore, and Gideon had only three hundred men, but then he also had the hand of God, who gave him the wisdom and leadership needed to have the victory. It was the hand of God that was at the center of everything that happened that night. The middle watch is from 10pm to 2am, which would mean the whole of the Midianite army would be asleep in their tents. When three hundred shofars were blown all around their camp and torches burning in the darkest of night, they awakened, fought among themselves and then fled. When the LORD is with us, there is nothing that can stand up against us. Our foes will flee; in fact, we have the power of the Word of God when the enemy of our souls tries to oppose us with some temptation, or creates an illusion to lure us into his way of thinking, accepting the concepts of this world as reality. All we have to say is, “Get behind me!” and it will be like three hundred shofars and touches that cause that enemy of our souls to fight among himself, being bewildered in the middle of his darkness, and he will flee from us. In fact, because we are in Christ, we have already won the victory, and in the heavenly realms where there is no time, the devil has already been thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. He loses, he has lost, he has no power in the here and now, other than what Jesus allows him to have. However, that power is over the world, which we are no longer of, although we live in it. We do not live in accordance with the world under the influence of the destroyer of souls. We live in the realm of God, citizens of His kingdom, under His influence, His grace, and we have the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth, which is only God’s Holy Word. Any words spoken under the influence of this world are all lies, for its leader is the father of lies. Gideon told his men to “watch me, follow my lead”. Jesus has told us to “Watch me,” “Follow my lead,” or “Follow me”. Let us keep our eyes upon Jesus as we hear him tells us, “Watch me”.

Getting Assurance

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

GETTING ASSURANCE

Judges 7:8-18

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 9 During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. 13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." 14 His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands." 15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands." 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 "Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'"

NIV

Soon the battle, if we can call it a battle, we want to ponder on what God did so that Gideon had the assurance of victory with only three hundred men against an enemy as thick as locust, who had so many camels to ride, God describes them as more than the sand on the seashore. We can imagine the scene in which Gideon, with his three-hundred-foot warriors, was facing thousands upon thousands of Midianites riding toward them with swords on a battlefield. Gideon and his three hundred would be slaughtered. But that is not what God had in mind, so he gave Gideon a taste of his mighty hand at work in the camp of the Midianites and Amalekites. He must have given Gideon the wisdom or explicit instructions about dividing his three hundred men into three groups, all with horns, torches in jars. We recall the angel of the LORD called Gideon, “Mighty warrior,” and now Gideon had become a mighty warrior by the hand of God. However, our story is about the assurance God gave to Gideon of what he had told him would happen. Of course, all this is so the LORD would receive all the praise and glory for the victory and the deliverance of Israel from an oppressive governance, because Israel had cried out to the LORD. Everything is about the LORD, and nothing is about us. We cannot boast about any of our attributes. If we boast about our educational level, our professional skills, our knowledge of the bible, training, or titles in the body of Christ, or anything about our abilities, whatever we think they are, then we might think we should have some credit, after all, that is why we would boast. But if we do that instead of confessing our clan in the smallest, and we are the least in our family, then God will call us a mighty warrior, yet he will get all the credit for any victory in our lives. Let us always know that when we face any situation in life that may seem difficult, we will see victory if we listen, instead of boasting in ourselves, for God will assure us his hand is with us. When we follow God, we will be given assurance.