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. 

Getting Credit

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

GETTING CREDIT

Judges 7:1-8

7:1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place." 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

NIV

We will get to the battle, if it can be called a battle, but first, we need to ponder this truth the LORD shows us. Gideon started out with thirty-two thousand fighting men, who were enough to completely destroy the Midianites, but that would be in their own strength, and the LORD would not have been given the credit, so He kept dwindling the number until they had only three hundred men. Here we are, only one person, but we are not alone in our war against the flesh, or the one who tempts our flesh to enslave our soul. This is a battle we cannot win by our own will, or any attribute or abilities we think give us some advantage. They may apply in the physical realm, by are useless in the spiritual realm. We can gain as much education, training, skills, or financial levels that would impress a certain amount of success in this world, but when we come to the battle against the dark forces of this world, or the principalities or the forces of evil in the heavenly or spiritual realm we will need God to fight that battle as he clothes us in his armor. When he does that, which we also must put on, then we can take our stand. But it is the armor of God that protects us and gives us the only weapon we need, the sword. We will see that all Gideon needed to do was have three hundred men on all sides of the camp of the Midianites blow their horns and smash their jars. The LORD had already done the rest, given the Midianites a dream of their being defeated by the Israelites. But that is to come later, as for now we understand our victory over the flesh and, for that matter, the death of the flesh, has nothing to do with any of our strength, whatever we think. The victory is the Lord’s and His alone. Sure, he has us dressed ready for battle, but it is His word that brings victory. We can simply take our stand, stand firm, stand our ground, and watch the Lord do what He does best, win, and get all the credit. 

The Spirit and the Fleece

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE SPIRIT AND THE FLEECE

Judges 6:33-40

33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them. 36 Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew — a bowlful of water.   39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

NIV

Here is the fleece test, and God did not disappoint, for he passed the test. Of course, God would pass any test we could even conjure up because he is pure wisdom, power, and glory. We wonder why Gideon needed God to prove He was with him, or that God was truly capable of that power. Had Gideon ever seen the LORD perform any miracles? Surely he knew all the stories of Moses, Joshua, and even more recently of Deborah and Barak. But had he ever seen any of the power of God firsthand? So the test was to ensure God is real and that He would fight with Gideon against a strong foe. Gideon has already blown his horn, summoning other tribes to come to fight. Although the fleece test is a great story, and once more, it proves to us that God is the all-powerful and compassionate One, who answers the requests of his people. The LORD is the one who called Gideon. It was the Angel of the LORD who came to Gideon and called him, “Mighty Warrior,” telling him, “The LORD is with you”. We can also see the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and that is when he blew his horn, or shofar, which is a curved ram’s horn. Although we could ask the LORD anything because He told us we could and He would do it, we believe the best part of this narrative is when we are told the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon. That would be our top priority, to have the Spirit of the LORD come upon us. Of course, we have faith. Of course, we live with the assurance of our salvation, and wait with patience and courageous endurance, and enthusiasm  for his return to take us where he is. Yes, we have the Spirit dwelling within us, and that should be like the Spirit of the LORD being upon us, but we believe that there is a difference between having the indwelling of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit, or having the Spirit of the LORD come upon us. When that happens, we believe we will be so full of God, we must blow our horn. However, full of the Spirit of the LORD, Gideon was, he still needed God to prove He would be with him. We do know that the LORD has been with us many times throughout our lives, and there has been times when the Spirit has been upon us and we have obeyed his command, but not by our attributes, talents, skills, education, or anything else of our abilities, but only by the Spirit of the LORD. That is our desire, to have the Spirit of the LORD always be upon us, so that we move and breathe according to His will, just as Gideon did when the LORD told him he had too many men when he only needed the Spirit of the LORD upon him. We will see it wasn’t Gideon who defeated the enemy, for it was the LORD, or the Spirit of the LORD was upon him. Spirit be upon us, move upon us, fill us to overflowing with your power and glory that we might be your mighty warrior. 

The Father

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE FATHER

Judges 6:28-32

28 In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! 29 They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." 30 The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." 31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." 32 So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

NIV

The famous fleece story is next, and we already dealt with demolishing the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole, which was torn down, and a proper altar built to God by rock and the offering of the seven-year-old bull. Of course, seven is also a wonderful number as it is the number of perfection, 3 plus 4. The 3 is God, and the number 4 is man. But the story is about the father, Joash. The men of the town were so angry about their altar to Baal being destroyed and their Asherah pole being torn down that they wanted Gideon to be killed. They demanded that Joash bring his son, Gideon, out; that he must die. Oh, how that sounds so much like the story of the angry town people, incited by the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the Pharisees, who demanded that the Son must die. There are two stories here for us to use today. First, it is about the father Joash, who would not offer his son to be put to death, but protected his son, telling the people if their god was real, if he had ears to hear, eyes to see, and a mouth to speak, let him defend himself. We know that Baal could not, but the point is that the father protected his son, Gideon, for doing the right thing in the eyes of the LORD. Are we not under the protection of our heavenly Father? We have broken down the idols we used to worship, and have turned to worship the Living God, by accepting his grace, His Son, Jesus, as our Lord and Savior. Of course, the townspeople, the world demand that we, our faith, the truth, be put to death. The world does not want the truth or the Light, for they expose their evil deeds, worshipping false gods. Yet, our Father protects his sons and daughters. Secondly, the story also shows us the Father did offer his Son to be put to death, although, the reality is that the Son was not put to death by the angry town people, but he gave himself up, committing his spirit unto his Father, and he did that because of us, even when we were one of those angry town people. This whole story is all about the Father. 

On The Rock

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

ON THE ROCK

Judges 6:25-32

25 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering." 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. 28 In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! 29 They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." 30 The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." 31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." 32 So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

NIV

First, we must understand why those Israelites chose to build an altar to Baal and erect an Asherah pole, the female goddess counterpart to Baal. She was supposed to be a Canaanite goddess of fortune and happiness. How is it they replaced the One True God of fortune and happiness with a wooden pole? Was that just plain dumb or stupid? Perhaps it was the lack of understanding of who Jehovah truly is. Nevertheless, a man from the weakest clan in Manasseh and the least in his family tore down both the altar to Baal and used the wood of the Asherah pole to burn a proper sacrifice to the LORD. However, the men of the town wanted Gideon dead because he ruined their idols. Yet, the fact is that if Baal were a real god, a real divine entity, a living breathing being who could strike down anyone who offended him, first, but disbelieving in him, second, by destroying his altar, would not need people defending him. However, if Baal were simply the creation of man, and nothing but an idol who has no eyes to see, ears to hear, or a mouth to speak, then it is meaningless and should be destroyed and covered over with a proper altar made of rock. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for rock, which is used in the original text, means a place of safety, a stronghold, a refuge, when used of God. There is only one Rock and He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages, our one and only who sacrificed himself on an altar of his choice, first, so our sins would be forgiven and second, because he was resurrected and lives, we too can have life everlasting. In addition, our God does not need us to defend him, although many treat apologetics as defending God, instead of defending their position or belief. Perhaps we can defend why we believe what we believe, and that could or should first be based on our personal relationship with Jesus, and second, based on our experiencing divine intervention, a miracle that we can explain to anyone and everyone. However, we do not need to defend God, Himself, for He can defend Himself far better than we could; in fact, He could either perform a divine intervention in someone’s life who has been worshipping an idol, or He could simply strike them down. However, because He so loved the world, that is all mankind, all his creation, that He gave His Son as a sacrifice for their, our, sins. Therefore, God can and will defend and reveal himself to anyone who wants to see the truth. No idol could do that, so let us not even attempt to engage any idol, but build a proper altar on the Rock. 

Fire of God

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

FIRE OF GOD

Judges 6:17-24

17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." 19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" 23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

NIV

It is not too often an angel of the LORD shows up with a message, and this angel, whoever he is, was willing to sit and wait for Gideon to prepare an offering. Interestingly, the preparation of this offering had to take quite some time as he had to slaughter a young goat, then do whatever was needed to get the meat and make unleavened bread. We can only imagine it took hours, and the angel of the LORD just waited. However, when Gideon did show up with his meat, bread, and broth, the angel told him to put it all on the rock, and when the angel of the LORD touched the rock with his staff, fire consumed all the offering. Now, here is where we find something amazing. Two different Hebrew words were used here for rock. Both can mean figurative stone rock, such as one that would be used as an altar. However, they are also used for God, as in Yahweh is Refuge, and the stronghold of Jehovah. We have said it ourselves that Jesus is our Rock, our Refuge, our great tower, our stronghold, and our fortress. The angel of the LORD caused fire to pour out of the rock to consume Gideon’s offering. Will not God consume all we offer him? Of course, we do not need to offer goats, unleavened bread, and broth, as in some physical offering, but we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. We would then believe God would consume all of us, at least in a metaphorical way, and he would do it with fire, just as the flames of fire were on  the disciples as the Holy Spirit came upon or within them. Again, in a metaphorical, yet also physical way, we have the fire of God within us. But we first must offer ourselves to the Rock of ages, the Lord God Almighty, unabashed, holding nothing back, putting all of ourselves to Jehovah shalom, the God of peace. Jesus has given us his peace. We have the shalom of Jehovah, but also the fire of God within us. 

The Mighty Warrior

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE MIGHTY WARRIOR

Judges 6:11-16

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." 13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian." 14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" 15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." 16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

NIV

We now get to meet Gideon, the one the angel of the LORD called, a mighty warrior. From what we know about Gideon from the text, he is a humble man, or he has a very low opinion of his position in life. He said his clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and he is the least in his family. That would be the lowest of the lowest in both position and respect. He was threshing the wheat in a winepress, so the Midianites would not take the wheat and destroy it as we just saw in those previous verses. Gideon is hiding, yet the Lord came and sat down where Gideon was and called him a mighty warrior. Of course, that is because the LORD said He was with Gideon, meaning that because the LORD him with him, he was a mighty warrior. We have come to the conclusion that we should be able to be called mighty warriors because the Lord is with us. Of course, Jesus told us that he gives us his peace, not as the world gives, but his peace. That does not mean we are not mighty warriors, but that our soul is at peace, we do not have any anxieties or fears, but our inner being is at peace because the Lord is with us; in fact, the Spirit has taken up residence within us. How could we not be mighty warriors in the army of the Lord? When Gideon, who thought less of himself than the rest of his family and clan, the LORD assured him, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together”. Is there anything else that we need to do all that we are commanded to do by the Lord, then to know that he is with us? We will see that Gideon goes the extra mile to believe the LORD will be with him, by the famous fleece test. For now, let us simply know we do not need to test the Lord for us to believe him, and trust him because we know, without a shadow of doubt, that he is with us, and thus we are a mighty warrior of God. 

Does Good Bear Evil?

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

DOES GOOD BEAR EVIL?

Judges 6:1-10

6:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help. 7 When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

NIV

We will get the story of Gideon within the next few days, but first, we will look once again at Israel doing evil in the eyes of the LORD. Why did those people who just experienced Deborah and Barak, smashing their enemies, then singing a great song of victory and the land, or Israel, have peace for forty years?  Was it the peace and the resulting prosperity in the land that caused them to build altars to Baal and Asherah Poles, which definitely would be doing evil in the eyes of the LORD? How did the LORD respond to their evil? He had the Midianites invade the land and decimate everything in it, livestock and crops, leaving nothing, taking over completely, like a swarm of locusts, forcing the Israelites to flee to caves and clefts in the rocks. This was all because they did not worship the LORD and only the LORD; in fact, they looked to gods with no eyes to see, no ears to hear, and no mouth to talk. We cannot help thinking that they were either completely uninformed about the LORD, or they just ignored him and engaged with the gods of other people living among them. We think we would never do anything like that and keep ourselves wholly worshipping our God. We think we would never take on any of the gods of this world as part of our lives, in some sense, worshipping them. We think that would be impossible, and yet we wonder if we are simply ignorant of what we are doing. We wonder if, simply by default, we have accepted certain values of this world, because we live in it and we must make our way through it. The Israelites experienced those forty years of peace and prosperity in the land, planting, harvesting, building herds of sheep, cattle, and donkeys, creating wealth for themselves and all because of the blessing of the LORD. Yet, with all this, they became complacent in their worship of the LORD and turned to other gods. We would not dare to become complacent in our worship of our God, or have we? Have we lost our fervor in worship and simply stand like stiff statues, expressionless and as silent as a church mouse? We see churches that praise God with passion. We see some churches overzealous with praise, that maybe their praise has become their god. Is there a balance in giving honor and praise to the LORD without giving in to worship becoming our god? Yet, how can we not be zealous in praise and worship, for he is God and we are his people. Then there are the gods of this world that we must contend with.  Maybe our being too invested in the ways of the world has dampened our enthusiasm in worship of the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, the creator of all that has been created, the one who gave us life, who breathed his breath into our lungs. Have we allowed wealth and prosperity, because of the hand of the Lord, to overpower our complete, full-hearted worship of him? Have we become lazy in worshipping the Lord? We do live in grace, but we cannot allow our freedom to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Let us worship the Lord with our whole heart, loving him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths we have, giving him our whole worship he is due. We have a God who has eyes to see, ears to hear, and a mouth that speaks truth to our spirits. We have a God who lives within us and manifests his gifts and fruits within our very being. With all that he does for us, in us, and hopefully through us, we will worship him and only him. Because he does so much good within us, we can never think of doing anything evil in his eyes. However, does good bear evil? 

Shining Like the Sun

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

SHINING LIKE THE SUN

Judges 5:28-31

28 "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' 29 The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 30'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck — all this as plunder?' 31 "So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.

NIV

It just does not seem right that a mother should see her son die, as that appears not to be the natural order of life. However, it also does not seem right that a mother should expect her son to be victorious by killing so many and taking the women to be given to men to do with as they desire. And yet that is what this mother is looking to happen. How selfish this woman was as she wanted colorful garments embroidered for her neck, because another woman was either killed or taken as plunder. This is the world they knew, and it may not be too different from our world. Sure, we may not go to war as a normal course of life, and yet war is more common than it should be. We may not take plunder, but we do go to war with the intent of killing our enemies. Our rules of engagement are different then what happened in those days, as normally we do not kill everyone, warriors, women, and children, or take them as wives or servants. But our story is not about war or plunder, but about the fact that we do have one enemy; the Lord will make sure he and his followers will perish. The world, or the people who hate God or refuse to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, are, in fact, at war with God. They are enemies of God, and all His enemies will perish. But we who love the Lord will be like the sun when it rises in its strength. We will be shining like the bright noonday sun, full of glory. We see this in two ways. First, we will be a light in a dark world, shining our light with strength. In the parable of the man who sowed good seed in his field, and the weeds came up, Jesus said that after all the weeds, are pulled up, that is those of the world, are thrown into the fire, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. That is us, we will shine like the sun, bright, brilliant as the noonday sun. What a glorious day that will be when we our Jesus we will see, and when we are full of light, living brightly in the kingdom of our Father. In the meantime, because we have the Spirit living or dwelling within us, we have the light of our Father inside of us, and we would think it would be bursting forth from within, so we are already a light shining forth, giving light to anyone near us, so they can see Jesus. Yet, all too often, we fail to shine because we are too invested in our own feelings, looking inward instead of outward, thinking more about our feelings than we should. Let us be aware of who we are and who dwells within, and let us shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.

 

He Promised

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE PROMISED

Judges 5:24-27

24 "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. 26 Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.

NIV

The song continued, but Deborah and Barak recount an event we saw just at the end of the last Chapter. Because this woman, Jael, first deceived a king and then murdered him while he was asleep, she is called blessed, which is difficult to understand. Now, Sisera was not a great king, or for that matter, a great man. In the heat of battle, he fled, abandoning his nine hundred chariots and all his men behind to be put to the sword; not a man was left. What kind of king, what kind of man would run away, leaving his army to save himself? Surely, he ran away from the war, away from the Israelites fighting with the hand of God going before them, but he could not run away from God, who promised that it was the day the LORD would give Sisera into the hands of the Israelites. Who can run away from God? Is there a man standing who is not subject to the hand of God? When God speaks, when the LORD makes a proclamation, a statement, it is a promise that will always be fulfilled. We can go to the bank on his word, so to speak. Every one of the proclamations, the promises of the Lord, will never fail to come to pass, or be fulfilled. So when we read all that Jesus promised, those who come to him will be done, just as he promised. God will never fail us, or abandon us, as he promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. We can rest assured that we will live even though we die, because Jesus promised. We can expect to see him coming for us to take us to where he is because he promised us. We can live with courageous endurance in expectation of being with Jesus because he promised. We can live without fear of dread of anything in this world, for the hand of God rests upon us, in fact, the Spirit lives within us, and we can get dressed with the full armor of God, so that we can always stand our ground, stand firm, take our stand against any of the forces if evil, or anything from this dark world because God promised his hand on us and that He will always go before us. Nothing that rises up against us, even if they try to run from God, they will be struck down, not a single one will be left. All the enemies of God will sink at his feet, because he promised. 

He will Fight

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE WILL FIGHT

Judges 5:19-23

19 "Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder. 20 From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! 22 Then thundered the horses' hoofs — galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. 23'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.'

NIV

As the song of Deborah and Barak continues, we find it is about a war with the Canaanites, and as we see they were not interested in plunder, but instead fighting for the sake of liberty, life, and death. We can also see the LORD in this battle for Israel and the heavens, the stars fought against Sisera. They were attempting to forge the river to fight against Israel, but what looked like a great storm from heaven was thrown down on them, maybe even a hailstorm or heavy rain that caused the river to swell into flood stage and swept the army of Sisera away. But there is a problem that gives us a reason to ponder. Meroz was part of Israel, although the exact location is not known. It is thought to be an area somewhere near Samaria, but there is no evidence to support that. However, the problem is they were called to war, to assist the rest of Israel in this war against Sisera the king of Canaan, and they refused the calling of the LORD. We know that we live in the period of grace and it would be doubtful the Lord would curse anyone who is part of the community of faith. However, what about the calling of the Lord for our lives. Each person has been called out of the darkness into the Light. Some would rather live in the darkness than come into the Light to help the Lord, that is help advance His kingdom on earth. Would we agree if the Lord coursed them, for we know in the judgment their names would have been blotted out of the Book of Life and they would be cast into the lake of fire. However, what about us believers? Is it possible for us to refuse the calling of the Lord? Sure, we accepted his grace, we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but the word Lord carries a great meaning. He is our Lord, and when he calls us to our place within the church, whatever that is, we need to obey and come to help the Lord. In other words, it appears that we cannot just come to some church and sit and soak, so to speak, doing nothing, not being engaged, not responding to our call from the Lord. We cannot say, “The Lord has not called me”, “I am not qualified”,  “My life is already too busy” or some other lame excuse not to come to help the Lord. We all have a part and we all need to do that which the Lord has called us to. If we don’t, we wonder if we would hear, “Well done good and faithful servant, come enter into my rest”. Let us always be ready for whatever the Lord calls us to do. For when we respond the Lord fights for us. 

Matching Hearts

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

MATCHING HEARTS

Judges 5:13-18

13 "Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty. 14 Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff. 15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. 16 Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. 17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. 18 The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.

NIV

Not all twelve tribes are mentioned here, although ten were and we wonder if this is all about Israel or if there is something, some truth that seems obscure, or hidden within the meaning of this stanza. What is revealed to us that we can use as our truth for today, in fact, for our lives. Some followed after Deborah and Barak, to march out to war, but we notice that in the districts of Reuben, there was much searching of heart. The question Deborah asked, is why did Reuben stay by the campfires or the sheep or cattle pens to hear them mooing or baaing? Were they not concerned about aiding their brothers? Why were they searching their hearts? Why did the Gilead, which would have been the tribes of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh stay in their own place? Could all those who did not come to fight be so concerned with their own commerce then help their brothers? We found that within Dan was the business port of Joppa which became the seaport for Jerusalem. However, what we wonder is whether we get so involved in our own commerce that we fail to see the needs of others. We know as a member of a local community of believers, we support through our tithes and offerings various ministries such as missionaries or various projects to help the disadvantaged. Therefore, in some way we have put forth some effort, some of our profits from our commerce to aid our fellow workers for Christ, or for those who need to know Christ. Yet have we searched our hearts to find anything else the Lord has planned for us? Are we searching his will, searching his heart, so that we know what we are to do for his kingdom? We need to search our own hearts and examine if we are so busy with our own stuff, our own desires, lingering by our ships, so to speak, or staying in our coves, our little shelters, which could even mean our own congregation, thinking only about ourselves, getting into that “Us four and no more” mentality. We always need to be searching our hearts, and searching the heart of God. Do our hearts match his? Do we have matching hearts? 

His Righteous Acts

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HIS RIGHTEOUS ACTS

Judges 5:10-12

10 "You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider 11 the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates. 12'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'

NIV

In another Stanza of the song of Deborah and Barak, that rings is a prophetic voice. Who sits on the white donkey? Although it may or may not have been white, Jesus was the anointed one riding on a donkey into Jerusalem. Interestingly, today is when we celebrate that very event called Palm Sunday. It is always good to recite the righteous acts of the LORD. That is what was happening as they walked along the road, considering the LORD, “Hosanna in the highest”, and “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD”. “Blessed is the Son of David” and on and on were the praises for Jesus. It would be good for us to continue to praise the righteous acts of our Lord instead of limiting ourselves to one Sunday a year. Most likely we will not be waving palms every day and even then when we do it is only in church, but we should be waving our hearts every day, and maybe, just maybe waving our hands every other Sunday. When we sing those songs, even those hymnals of old, we are singing of the mighty and righteous acts of our Lord and we would think we would “Wake up” just a bit and sing from the depths of our soul and our hands would simply follow our souls singing. There might be something within us that we need to take captive. Maybe we might think it is the sin that so easily entangles us, but it may be our timidness of worship that we need to take captive and let our soul sing of the praises of his righteous acts. Although we are singing within our souls all the days of our lives, we also could be reciting his righteous acts wherever we go, maybe not as warriors in Israel, but as soldiers in the army of God. We can sing, “Onward Christian soldier, marching as onto war” as our battle cry. But better yet we can sing of his righteous acts, reciting them over and over until our soul cries out the praises of our Lord, and our hearts are so full, it would only make sense to us to wave something, and we always have our hands. Let us sing out from our soul and wave onto the Lord because of his righteous acts. 

Willing Volunteer

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WILLING VOLUNTEER

Judges 5:6-9

6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. 7 Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. 8 When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!

NIV

This almost sounds prophetic about Jesus with the people of Israel who lost the straight and narrow road laid out for them by the LORD and took a winding path instead, because they chose to worship other gods, although it was under the pretense of worshipping the LORD. Because they did, they had no defense war came and Rome conquered them occupied them, and ruled over them. The heart of Jesus was with them and all who were willing volunteers, and then they changed the world forever. There was danger when the Israelites took on other gods and war came to them. They said they served the LORD, they were still doing the daily sacrifices in the temple to the LORD for the forgiveness of sins, yet they took on other gods. How could that be? How could they attempt to serve two masters, the LORD, the Living God, and some dead god without eyes to see, ears to hear, or a mouth to speak. We should take stock of our lives and see if there are any of those things of this world that we have taken on that have no eyes to see, ears to ear, or a mouth that cannot speak, while we profess to follow Jesus, the Living God who saved us, redeemed us, and who sees us, ears, and speaks to us. Jesus was raised up and his heart is with us all who are willing volunteers. Let us not get enthralled, enchanted with things in this world, in essence giving them credence in our lives, in a sense, almost serving them, but let us keep our hearts pure and dedicated to our Lord as a willing volunteer for him to do with us as he desires, which ultimately will be in our best interests. We know that Jesus’s heart is with us, yet we must be that willing volunteer. 

Willingly

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WILLINGLY

Judges 5:1-5

5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

2 "When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves praise the LORD! 3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.  "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. 5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

NIV

This song is too long to take in the whole, still, there are great truths in each stanza. Here we have the idea the way to take the lead is to willingly offer themselves, praise the LORD. Because the mountains shook and the heavens poured we understand the LORD is the Almighty God of creation, and that all the earth is subject to his authority and power. Why wouldn’t we make music, to celebrate the Almighty God who gave us life and when we took that life into our own hands and it became death, He sent his Son to conquer death and bring us back to life. We should be singing from the depths of our souls, pouring out praises to God, our Father, Jesus the Son, and the Spirit who has taken up residence within us, to lead us into all truths. Deborah and Barak sang that the kings and rulers were to listen. We should be singing not just from the depths of our soul, but at the top of our lungs so the world can listen to praises of the Lord God of heaven and earth. Understanding that we cannot shake the mountains, or make the heavens pour water, but what we can do is, first, offer ourselves to the Living God, and praise His excellent name. We can make music to him, for he has all the authority and power over the heavens and the earth. How can we not give praise and honor to our King, our Lord, and Savior, Jesus, who brought us out of death and gave us life, and life eternal? We cannot sit on our hands, or keep our voices still, but we must praise Him with all we are, all we have, our whole being, holding nothing back, for the Father held nothing back from us when he sent Jesus, he gave it all just for us. Let us take the lead, offering ourselves willingly, praise the LORD! 

Go!

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

GO!

Judges 4:11-24

11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. 12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. 15 At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left. 17 Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 8 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. 19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.'" 21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 22 Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple — dead. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites.   24 And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.

NIV

We noticed something in this narrative that we can apply in our lives. The story is about the LORD giving the whole army of nine hundred chariots into the hand of Barak and his ten thousand men. We notice King Sisera fled and left his army to fight alone, which they lost and were all killed by the sword. But the story for us is the way that happened. Although Deborah told Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands”, it was not until Barak advanced that the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword. The LORD could have routed that whole army without Barak and his ten thousand men. The LORD could have simply opened the earth and swallowed up all the chariots and army of Sisera. The LORD could have reigned down great balls of fire or large hail stones on the army of Sisera, destroying every last one of them, but he waited until Barak and the army of Israel advanced, and he used them to route the whole army of chariots. We are people of faith and we do expect the Lord to do things in our lives. We ask for healing, provision, and protection along with whatever else we need. However, at the same time, we cannot sit back and just wait for God to do it all, although he could. Maybe the Lord is waiting for us to advance against that which is oppressing us, whether it is some illness, infirmity, financial, material, emotional, or spiritual need, or whatever else seems to be getting us down, or discontent with our situation in life. The question is, what does our advance look like? How do we advance against illness or infirmity? How do we advance against a material need? Is our faith enough to be considered an advance? Barak would not even go to battle unless Deborah went with him, as she represented the LORD as a judge of Israel. We believe it is right to first take counsel from the Lord before any advance. There are many ways in this world that mankind has made advancements that appear to be done by men who do not believe in God. We can take advantage of many avenues in this world to make our own advancement against what is against us, but without the Lord, we would not be doing his will. Yet, it seems we need to take a step forward, in accordance with his plan, and then watch the mighty hand of God routing those things before us. It is all about staying within the plan of the Lord. We cannot do that unless we first seek him, listening to his command, Go! This is the day the Lord has given that thing into your hands. When we take our stand, stand our ground, stand firm, being fully dressed in His armor, the victory is ours, when we hear the Lord tell us, “Go!”. 

There is a Choice

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THERE IS A CHOICE

Judges 4:1-10

4:1 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help. 4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'" 8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." 9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

NIV

What is it with those Israelites? They had eighty years of peace in the land while Ehud was still alive, but after he died, they returned to doing evil in the eyes of the LORD. Do people always need a leader to keep them from doing evil in the eyes of the LORD? If we are left to our own devices, without listening to a leader, which in this culture would not be a judge but rather a pastor, it might be possible we would begin to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. How could that be, we all have the word of God, the complete account of God and his relationship with his creation. We have all the records of how the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD when they did not listen to their leader, or they were without one, such as in this account when Ehud died. However, Dedorah the prophetess was now leading Israel as a judge. Once again, because they were doing evil in the eyes of the LORD he handed them over to a cruel oppressor, Jabin, king of Canaan. All Israel had to do was worship the LORD and only him, and do that which the Law of the LORD as he gave it to them through Moses. Of course, it was impossible to be sinless, keeping all the Law of the LORD perfectly, that’s why the priests offered sacrifices, but to turn away and do evil, only brought them harm. Then this weak-spirited Barak, would not go to war with ten thousand warriors of Israel unless Doborah went with him. We know this is a bit judgmental regarding Barak, but he would not obey the word of the LORD brought to him without the judge going before him, or at least with him. We do not live in that manner for each of us has the Lord Jesus as our Great Shepherd, our leader whom we follow. We also live in peace because of our Lord and his leadership in our lives. He has even sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and lead us into all truth. Nothing is hidden from us, and we live under grace, not judgment, although someday everyone will stand before His throne and be judged for what they did in life. However, it is not about anything but whether we accepted or rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior. The resulting judgment will be determined by whether each person’s name is found in the Book of Life, or if it has been blotted out. Let us always move forward with courageous endurance with the Lord going before us, within us, and behind us, surrounding us. Let us not be afraid to go take hold of that which our Lord has given us. We should be careful not to move on our own, making our own battle plans for life, for that may be doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Let us always check with our Lord first before making any plans, or choices in this life, for He is our Lord and we have been called to follow him. When we do follow the Lord then we have peace in the land of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, or bodies. We will follow the Lord we will not do evil in his eyes, for being in Christ we have been declared holy and blameless in his sight. Israel had a choice, and they made the wrong choice, let us continue with the right choice. 

He Saved Us

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE SAVED US

Judges 3:26-31

26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. 28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years. 31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

NIV

We do not know much about this judge Ehud whom God raised up, but we are told that he too saved Israel. His name in Hebrew can mean, I will be praised or give thanks. It can also signify unity or undivided. God has been showing Israel they will always need someone to lead them so they will be at peace. So far, we have seen Moses and Joshua and here we have Ehud and Shamgar who also saved Israel. They are forerunners or a foreshadowing of Jesus. However, just as Ehud blew the trumpet, and commanded the Israelites to, “Follow me”, Jesus told Peter and Andrew, “Follow me”. Jesus has been asking people for generations to follow him. Jesus makes it clear his sheep listen to his voice, that he knows them and they follow him. We know the voice of our Lord and we listen only to his voice. There are many voices out there, just as there were in the time of the Israelites. However, they listened to other voices as they served other gods, but the LORD saved them whenever they were being held captive or oppressed. Although we did not know it at the time, before Jesus called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light, we were captives of sin, being oppressed by the evil one. Praise the Lord, his light shone into the darkness of our world and led us out into the light saving us and now we live in peace. In fact, Jesus gave us his peace, not as the world gives, which is just an illusion, but his peace, a real and everlasting peace, one that is deep within our soul. We can say, “Jesus is to be praised”, “we can thank him”  and “He saved us”.  

The Secret

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE SECRET

Judges 3:19-25

19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. 20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

NIV

Who doesn’t want to get a secret message? Then putting a topper on that would be a secret message from God. Who would not want to hear a secret message from God? Of course in the case of this king, the message was an eighteen-inch sword stuck right into the fatness of the king so even the hilt was buried within the rolls of his stomach. Yet the point of this whole narrative is the desire to learn some secret, one that no one else is allowed to hear and know. On the whole, it is not a physical sword, but a sword nonetheless. We might be able to call, in some sense, a secret message as gossip. It would not be plunging a sword into the hearer, but it is certainly sticking a sword in the one whom the secret message is about. As far as receiving a secret message from God, it would never happen for God desires that all come to the saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ. God does not keep anything from us, nor tell us a secret message for someone else. God reveals himself and his truths to all who seek him. He holds nothing back or tells anyone a secret message. All throughout the days of the prophets, starting with Moses, God revealed truths to them to speak to all the people. There were times when the Israelites did not want to hear the truth from God. In fact, we see Jezebel who was married to one of the most evil of the kings of Israel who left God and began serving Baal, went and killed many prophets of God. Obediah, on the other hand, took many prophets of God and hid them in a cave to save them from Jezebel. It has been said that we no longer have prophets or apostles for the matter, that those two offices no longer exist. We wonder about that, for God gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers for the perfection of saints for the work of the ministry. If we no longer have two of the four then how can the saints, that is us, be perfected? Are those who are disposing of the apostles and prophets trying to silence the word of God? There are so many truths that some believers do not want to hear, and by closing their ears, or hearts and minds, to certain truths, they are telling God to keep silent, not to tell them about their secrets. We all may have some secret we are chained to that we do not want anyone to know, but God does and he wants to reveal his truth into our lives, so we can be free. With God, there are no secrets. 

Doing Bad

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

DOING BAD

Judges 3:12-19

2 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.   14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. 15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer — Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. 19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."

NIV

We should use all of this chapter as it contains the whole of this narrative about Ehud and King Eglon of Moab, but we can take another lesson from Israel first. It just seems it doesn’t take much for the Israelites to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. What is their problem? Wouldn’t it be better to worship the LORD and have no other gods before them? They did have the Ten Commandments, and they must still have the tent of meeting somewhere with the ark of the covenant. What did they do with it? There must have been priests from the tribe of Levi attending to the LORD and were any of the people bringing sin offerings. Wasn’t there still one day of atonement? The Israelites still did evil in the eyes of God and he gave them over to being under the power of a foreign king. He took over the city of Palms, which is Jericho. This is strange in itself, as Jericho was completely demolished under Joshua’s leadership. Nevertheless, here is the lesson. The Israelites had all they needed to know the LORD, and to keep faith with Him, but their humanity got in the way, wanting what they wanted when they wanted it. It is easier to serve something that cannot demand anything from them, or something of their own making. Of course, we believe we would never turn from the LORD like the Israelites did. We don’t have any of the physical reminders they had, but we do have the whole of God’s word and we have the Spirit dwelling within us. Yet have we added some things of our own making that the Lord would consider evil in his eyes? But then how could religious things or activities be evil. Unless we put too much emphasis on tradition rather than truth. We might also put too much emphasis on good deeds instead of pure worship. Of course, we know it can never be Jesus plus, but have we added those things thinking that is being like Jesus. However, what is Jesus like? What did Jesus do? He taught about the kingdom of God, healed people, forgave sins, prayed to his Father,  offered himself as a sacrifice, died for us, raised for us, and ascended for us. What other good deeds or religious activities did Jesus do? Sure, he went to the temple, but to the courts to teach the people about the good news. Maybe all the things we do are of our own making and not from following Jesus. But how could doing good be considered bad? Just a thought to ponder.