Scripture

After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters.

Observation

The people of Ephraim raise an army to fight Jephthah. They claim to have been overlooked when Jephthah fought the Ammonites. Jephthah replies that he did summon them at the beginning of the dispute, but they refused to come.

Jephthah then gathers the men of Gilead to attack the people of Ephraim. He captures the Jordan River and sets up check points at all the crossing points along the river. Those wanting to cross are required to say the word Shibboleth. The Ephraimites cannot say this word correctly and they are killed.

After Jephthah dies, Ibzan takes over as judge over Israel. After Ibzan, comes Elon, and then Abdon.

Application

Some of the judges were more famous for their offspring than for their actions. Ibzan had thirty sons and thirty daughters. Elon had seventy sons and grandsons. They were very busy men!

It is fair to assume that under these judges Israel enjoyed a time of peace. Nothing is recorded of national significance.

Sometimes life is like that. We enjoy peace and prosperity. Life goes on as normal.

During the peaceful times, we need to make sure that we continue to walk with the Lord. When life is going well, some people find it easy to neglect prayer and worship.

This was certainly the case for Israel. During times of peace, they would gradually turn away from the Lord and start to worship other gods, until the Lord sent an enemy to punish them.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please help me to stay focused on you, even when times are good. Amen.

Scripture

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me a victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Observation

The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah, and he leads an army against the Ammonites. He makes a vow to the Lord that he will offer as a burnt offering whatever comes out of his house to meet him when he returns in triumph.

The Lord gives Jephthah a crushing victory over the Ammonites. When he returns home, his only daughter comes out to meet him, dancing for joy. Jephthah tears his clothes in anguish at the result of his foolish vow.

Jephthah’s daughter asks to go into the hills for two months and weep with her friends as she will never have children. She returns home, and her father keeps his vow.

Application

We must always be careful of the things we say, especially the promises we make. Jephthah’s vow was foolish and unnecessary.

The Lord does not require us to make brash promises or costly sacrifices to answer our prayers. He delights to pour out grace upon grace over us. Prayer is not a process of bargaining with God, but of seeking His will and His desires.

Jephthah was foolish in that he should have known that God’s law does not condone human sacrifice in any situation. This raises the question of where were the priests and other religious leaders who could have told him quite clearly that the Lord does not require or allow such things.

Jephthah killed his daughter as a sacrifice to the Lord to thank him for the victory God had given. This sacrifice was abhorrent to God.

Jephthah’s vow was foolish; it was unnecessary; and it was displeasing to the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that my religious acts will never be obnoxious to you. Please give me wisdom in my words and my deeds. Amen.

Scripture

“You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us.”

Observation

Jephthah is a son of Gilead, but to a prostitute. The sons of Gilead’s wife drive him off the land so he flees to Tob, where he gathers a band of worthless rebels.

When the Ammonites attack Israel, the elders of Gilead send for Jephthah. They make him there ruler and commander of the army.

Jephthah then sends a message to the king of Ammon, demanding to know why they are attacking. The king says that Israel stole their land.

Jephthah writes back to say that they never stole any land from Ammon. In any event, the land is a gift from the Lord. The Ammonites can keep whatever their god gives them, but Israel will keep the land the Lord gives them. Not only that, they have held this land for 300 years, and the Ammonites never tried to take it back before.

Application

Jephthah was right to see this war in spiritual terms. Israel lived in land given to them by the Lord. The Ammonites had their own gods to gift them land. Therefore, any invasion was a test of whose God is the greater.

We live in a culture which does not recognise the reality of the unseen realm, except in romanticised terms. The reality is that we are in the thick pf a supernatural war. As Christians, everything we do advance as either God’s Kingdom or satan’s realm.

This battle is personal, but it is not human. We do not fight against people, but against powers and principalities, rulers and authorities in the spirit realm. The primary weapon of this warfare is prayer. As we surrender ourselves to God and listen to the indwelling Holy Spirit, He directs us how to pray and how to live in such a way as to destroy the works of satan.

The battle belongs to the Lord, and His victory is guaranteed.

Prayer

Lord, please grant me the gift of discernment of spirits. Open my spiritual eyes so that I can truly see where the battle is and how to fight it. Amen.

Scripture

Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

Observation

Two judges, Tola and Jair, between them ruled over Israel for 45 years. It Seems to have been a time of peace.

But then the Israelites turn again to foreign gods. They abandon the Lord. So the Lord abandons them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.

The Israelites call out to the Lord to rescue them. At first, He is unmoved. He tells them to call out to their foreign gods to rescue them. They repent from their wicked ways and their idolatry, so the Lord determines to rescue them.

Application

It would be very confronting have the Lord say to you: “You have been serving other gods so let them save you.”

Sometimes we can think we can take up the Lord and put Him down again, that our faith is like a buffet dinner where we can take what we want at anytime.

God is looking for relationship, for intimacy and faithfulness. He isn’t interested in what we may do to serve Him from time to time. He wants our hearts, our minds, our will.

People sin, even spirit-filled born again Christians. We repent and turn back to the Lord, and He welcomes us back. What He does not like is the uncommitted, fickle faith that ignored God six days and then wants Him on Sunday or, worse still, only ever calls to God when a problem needs to be fixed.

We must stay faithful to the Lord, everyday.

Prayer

Lord, I confess that I do not always do what is right by you. Please forgive me for being so easily distracted from following you and help me to follow you more faithfully. Amen.

Scripture

After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the people of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery.

Observation

After Abimelech has ruled over Israel for three years, God sends a spirit to stir up trouble, in order to punish Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. A man called Gaal moves to Shechem and he starts to speak out against Abimelech.

Abimelech and his men go to Shechem and surround it at night. At first, an army led by Gaal overwhelms them, but Abimelech regroups and captures the city. He kills the people and levels the city.

Abimelech and his men then go to a town called Thebez. The people flee to a strong tower from where a woman drops a millstone on Abimelech, killing him.

Application

God sent a disruptive spirit to punish both Abimelech and the people of Shechem. This spirit manifested itself through the person of Gaal. The subsequent events are quite horrific with many people being killed in a nasty battle. How can God do such a thing?

When we look at the affairs of nations, we can not easily see how God is at work. He uses evil spirits, bad people and whole populations to achieve His purposes.

We should not be dismayed by these things, even if we cannot understand them. In the end, God is in control and that is what matters.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for the knowledge that in all things you work for the good of your people. Help me to trust you in all things. Amen.

Scripture

He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half-brothers, the sons of Gideon. But, the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.

Observation

Gideon’s son Abimelech goes to Shechem to visit his uncles. He asks them to ask the elders of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by seventy sons of Gideon or by one man.

The men of Shechem decide that Abimelech should be their king. Abimelech hires some henchmen to go to Ophrah to kill all of Gideon’s sons. One of them, Jotham, escapes.

Jotham tells a parable to the elders of Shechem. He accuses them of betraying Gideon’s heritage. He challenges them to consider if they have acted honourably in making Abimelech their king. If they have not acted honourably, may they all be devoured by fire.

Application

The NLT Study Bible heads this section with “Abimelch: The Anti- Judge.” Whereas the previous judges were raised by God to meet a particular threat, Abimelech imposes himself with violence to be a king. His ambition was to rule over, not just Shechem but the whole of Israel. To meet that ambition, he had all seventy of his half-brothers, except one who escaped, put to death.

Whenever God is at work, we can always expect satan to produce a counterfeit. He fakes spiritual gifts to deceive the elect. He produces false gospels to lead us away from true faith in Christ.

These things ultimately show themselves by their fruit – death, destruction, misery, bondage and so on. But we need to practise discernment so that we are always aware of what is truly God and what is merely satan’s distractions.

Prayer

Father, grant me wisdom and discernment in all that I do. Please help me to stay close to you and to not fall prey to satan’s traps. Amen.

Scripture

Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his home town. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshipping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.

Observation

The Israelites want to install Gideon and his family as king so that he, his son and his grandson will rule over them. Gideon refuses because the Lord is their king.

Gideon requests that each person gives him an earring from the loot of the Midianites. This is freely given, along with other jewellery. Gideon uses this gold to make an ephod. But the Israelites soon start to worship this item.

Gideon returns home and has seventy sons. He dies at an old age, and there is peace in the land for as long as he lives. After his death, the Israelites quickly start worshipping Baal, displeasing the Lord.

Application

People have an inherent desire to worship idols. Gideon makes a ”sacred ephod” out of the gold plundered from their enemies, and pretty soon people are worshipping it. Prior to this, they had wanted to make Gideon into a kind of idol because he had rescued the nation.

We can so easily turn what God intends for good into a replacement for Him.

There are people who effectively worship Government, thinking that it will keep them safe. Some people hysterically demand that masks be made compulsory so that they can be safe from viruses.

People dedicate their lives to the pursuit of money, power, influence, sex, or pleasure. None of these things bring lasting happiness or security.

We have been created to worship God alone. He is invisible and will tolerate no rivals in the form of manufactured gods.

Because we are hard-wired for worship, we must always ensure that we are worshipping the one and only true God.

Prayer

Lord God, I praise you. I give you glory. There is no god but you. Please keep me safe from idolatry. Amen.

Scripture:

His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing – God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and its allies.”

Observation:

The Lord tells Gideon he has too many men in his army. If he wins with this army, people will boast that they saved themselves by their own strength. He tells Gideon to send home anyone who is afraid. This leaves 10,000 men.

The Lord says that this is still too many. Now Gideon is to separate the men on the basis of whether they drink by putting their faces in the water or by scooping it up to their mouths with their hands.

There are just 300 who drink from their hands, but this is enough for the Lord.

The Lord now tells Gideon to creep into the Midianite camp. There he hears one man tell another of a dream which seems to indicate that God is going to smash their army.

He rounds up his men and instructs them to surround the Midianite camp. They are to carry burning torches covered by clay pots. On the signal, they are to blow their horns, break the pots, and shout “For the Lord and Gideon.”

When they do this, the Midianites break into a panic. They kill one another and some flee. They are pursued by the Israelites, who kill two of their commanders, Oreb and Zeb.

Application:

Dreams and their interpretation can be important if we are focused on trying to obey the Lord.

In this case, the man who had the dream and the one interpreting it were both convinced that God was speaking. For them it was calamity, but for God’s people it was victory.

It is not always so clear cut. All of our dreams, visions, words of knowledge and prophecies must be brought to the Lord for confirmation.

God delights to use these gifts, but we must ensure that we clearly discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

Prayer:

Thank you Lord for this account of victory in battle. Please help me to listen to what you might want to say to me today. Amen.

Scripture:

Gideon built an altar there, and named it Yahweh-Shalom, which means “The Lord is Peace.”

Observation:

Gideon realises that he has been talking to the angel of the Lord, and he thinks he is going to die because of this. But the Lord reassures him. Gideon builds an altar to the Lord and calls it Yahweh-Shalom, the Lord is peace.

That night the Lord commands Gideon to cut down his father’s altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. He is to build an altar to the Lord and sacrifice his father’s bull as an offering to the Lord.

The next morning, when the townspeople see what has happened, they demand that Gideon’s father send him out to be killed for destroying Baal’s altar. Gideon’s father retorts that if Baal is a god he can defend his own altar.

Shortly after this, the Midianites return. Gideon quickly raises an army. Then he places a fleece on the ground, asking God to confirm His plans by making the fleece wet with dew but keeping the ground dry. When he wakes up, this is exactly what has happened. That night, he asks the Lord to wet the ground but keep the fleece dry. Again the Lord confirms His plans for Gideon to lead the Israelites into battle against the Midianites.

Application:

God is Yahweh Shalom. The Lord is peace.

The Lord is the one who gives us peace in the middle of turmoil.

The Lord is the one who gives us peace with Himself though the death of Jesus. We have been brought from being enemies of God to being friends with God.

Peace is the Lord’s nature. He does not get nervous or anxious. He does not get taken by surprise.

The Lord is peace, and He shares his peace with us when we walk in step with Him.

Prayer:

Lord, you are Yahweh Shalom. You are peace. I receive you and your peace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.