Judges chapter 9
Gideon decided he wanted a lot of wives. He was not content with that, but had at least one but probably more concubines. Gideon had 70 sons by his wives and another by a concubine named Abimelech. Having an appetite for more than what God intends us to have will never lead to God's purpose. He can still work with us and through us, but we can change the original intent of our lives for him. This is exactly what Gideon did.
We see with the wives and the concubines, Gideon in some ways lived like the king for Israel he said he wouldn't be. He should have taken his own advice, lived simply, and just judged Israel. After Gideon dies, it appears to leave a great vacuum in leadership in Israel. The bible records that they were already following after Baalim again. In this godless vacuum, Abimelech rises up with the support of his direct bloodline through his mother, and attacks and kills all of his half brothers but one. Jotham, the youngest of Gideon's sons, escapes, and prophecies the troubling end to Abimelech's life. Abimelech is not a full blooded son of Gideon, and Jotham makes sure everyone knows it.
Abimelech doesn't have a peaceful reign in Israel for his 3 years of rule. There are those that don't want him to rule and it causes a civil war of sorts with the surrounding cities and villages. They rise up against him, and then he strikes out at them. This goes back and forth for some time until you can almost see, as if you are waiting for the other shoe to drop, the end of Abimelech coming.
After all of this fighting, and during an attack on a raised tower of sorts, a woman drops a great rock on his head. He doesn't want the dishonor of being finished by a woman and asks that one of his men run him through. In the end the people of Shechem and Abimelech got exactly Jotham said would come. God fulfills his word.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
4th Week of August Adult Sunday School Lesson
Judges Chapter 8
Gideon find himself in a political situation with the descendants of Ephraim. They want to know why there were not in on the original battle hoping to get some of the first fruit of the glory from that fight. Gideon handles the situation well, saying that he only started the battle, but the children of Ephraim have slayed the princes of the enemy and done a far more glorious deed.
Now the tired and thirsty men of Gideon come upon Succoth and ask for refreshments. The people of Succoth probably cannot believe their eyes when they see the small band he has and the comparing them with the things he is insisting. We see here an example for our own lives; in that no matter how great or impossible the promises in God's Word might seem, they are still worth believing in because he will see them through. His ways are not our ways.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out.
Be careful which side of the fight you end up on; God's side will triumph in the end. Gideon warns the people of Succoth that he will return. In Penuel he finds the same answer to his requests and he gives the same promise upon his return.
We learn that there has been an awesome and terrible battle. What makes it so profound is the fact that almost all of these people have killed one another. The tenth verse records that there have been over one hundred and twenty thousand men killed in the flight from Gideon. Now Zebah and Zalmunna are taking a short rest with 15 thousand men; when at the same time Gideon comes another way and slays even more men. Upon hearing this Zebah and Zalmunna flee.
Before the night is over, Gideon finds and captures Zebah and Zalmunna, and then returns while it is still dark to Succoth to keep his word and put the city to waste.
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
He does the same in Penuel, so keeping his word. After this is all over he slays Zebah and Zalmunna, but first he tries to get his young son to do the dead, and he has no part in it. I suppose this was to make their shame even greater. After his son refuses, he does the execution himself.
Here starts a curious thing that this great leader does. Israel asks him to be king and he refuses. He holds to what God wants and wishes, but as a parting shot, he takes all the earrings of enemy and makes an idol. No of us are perfect or without sin, but this seems so out of character for Gideon. We are to always be on guard against the wiles of the devil. Ego and pride can cause us to do things we might not otherwise do if we don't intentionally stay humble and close to God.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention:.....
We are given some foreshadowing of some of the things to come. His son from a concubine, Abimelech, will come up again in the next chapter. We also see that as soon as Gideon dies, the Hebrews quickly forget to follow God and follow after Baal.
Gideon find himself in a political situation with the descendants of Ephraim. They want to know why there were not in on the original battle hoping to get some of the first fruit of the glory from that fight. Gideon handles the situation well, saying that he only started the battle, but the children of Ephraim have slayed the princes of the enemy and done a far more glorious deed.
Now the tired and thirsty men of Gideon come upon Succoth and ask for refreshments. The people of Succoth probably cannot believe their eyes when they see the small band he has and the comparing them with the things he is insisting. We see here an example for our own lives; in that no matter how great or impossible the promises in God's Word might seem, they are still worth believing in because he will see them through. His ways are not our ways.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out.
Be careful which side of the fight you end up on; God's side will triumph in the end. Gideon warns the people of Succoth that he will return. In Penuel he finds the same answer to his requests and he gives the same promise upon his return.
We learn that there has been an awesome and terrible battle. What makes it so profound is the fact that almost all of these people have killed one another. The tenth verse records that there have been over one hundred and twenty thousand men killed in the flight from Gideon. Now Zebah and Zalmunna are taking a short rest with 15 thousand men; when at the same time Gideon comes another way and slays even more men. Upon hearing this Zebah and Zalmunna flee.
Before the night is over, Gideon finds and captures Zebah and Zalmunna, and then returns while it is still dark to Succoth to keep his word and put the city to waste.
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
He does the same in Penuel, so keeping his word. After this is all over he slays Zebah and Zalmunna, but first he tries to get his young son to do the dead, and he has no part in it. I suppose this was to make their shame even greater. After his son refuses, he does the execution himself.
Here starts a curious thing that this great leader does. Israel asks him to be king and he refuses. He holds to what God wants and wishes, but as a parting shot, he takes all the earrings of enemy and makes an idol. No of us are perfect or without sin, but this seems so out of character for Gideon. We are to always be on guard against the wiles of the devil. Ego and pride can cause us to do things we might not otherwise do if we don't intentionally stay humble and close to God.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention:.....
We are given some foreshadowing of some of the things to come. His son from a concubine, Abimelech, will come up again in the next chapter. We also see that as soon as Gideon dies, the Hebrews quickly forget to follow God and follow after Baal.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
2nd Week of June 2012 Adult Sunday School Lesson
Judges the 7th Chapter
Now that Gideon has his assurance that he is on the right path, he gathers up his men, over 30,000, and prepares for war.God tells Gideon something interesting, that is that he has too many men for the victory. God wants Israel to know that it is God that delivers them and not their own might. So he tells Gideon to ask who doesn't want to fight. Twenty two thousand men leave. A couple of things here; one is you don't want people in battle that don't want to fight, they can cause the battle to turn against you; the second thing is think how demoralizing it would be if you were trusting in numbers and not God when two-thirds of your group walked away. That is something that we would do well to remember, that God can have a greater victory when HE is in charge than when we're relying on numbers.
A pessimistic person would not enjoy what happens next. God informs Gideon that he still has too many men for God to show himself strong. He tells Gideon that he is to only take those that lap water like a dog when they go down to a brook for a drink. I know what I would be thinking, I would be thinking that I hope everyone gets down and drinks water like a dog. The eight chapter tells us that the Midianites had over 120 thousand men, because by the end of the day, that is how many were killed. Gideon and his men probably had some idea of how large the host of Midian and their allies was. If Gideon was looking for everyone to drink like a dog, that is not what he got; instead he got 300 left out of 10 thousand. To be blunt and honest, those circumstances would probably cause me to have a twisting stomach. Gideon though, holds fast and does as God commands, taking with him only the 300.
God gives Gideon instructions though, just in case he has doubts, to go down into the enemy camp and God will let him hear about the mighty victory ahead. Gideon does as God asks and is blessed for it. It seems to me to be the same in our modern Christian lives, if we will just obey God, go that extra step, he'll not only give us victory, but give us a glimpse on how he will perform it. Gideon returns and tell his 300 brave God fearing men how they will have victory. He more or less tells them to do as he does and God will take care of the rest. Oh what God can accomplish with a God fearing leader that puts all his trust in the one that can perform ALL miracles.
Now imagine if you are the enemy, what a surprise it would be if in the middle of the night, in the middle of your camp, 300 men broke pitchers, shining light on everything, and then blowing trumpets. You probably wouldn't believe there were just 300 men, you would probably assume that you are surrounded, infiltrated and about to be consumed. No doubt, the Midian and the Amalekites start attacking each other, and causing more damage by their fleeing, then the 300 could have caused alone. Like a stampede or an out of control mob running for the exits, the chaos causes more harm then the event that prompted the excitement.
Now the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh are all joining in for the chase to put to defeat the people who held the Hebrews under their thumb. What a rout it must have been to see and behold as what God ordained comes to pass in a chase leading away from God's people. To show that God gave them total victory and not just half victory, the princes of the enemy's people are beheaded and brought to Gideon. You don't get the heads of the leaders unless it is a total victory.
Next week, the fighting continues, and there is a price to pay for not being on God's side.
Now that Gideon has his assurance that he is on the right path, he gathers up his men, over 30,000, and prepares for war.God tells Gideon something interesting, that is that he has too many men for the victory. God wants Israel to know that it is God that delivers them and not their own might. So he tells Gideon to ask who doesn't want to fight. Twenty two thousand men leave. A couple of things here; one is you don't want people in battle that don't want to fight, they can cause the battle to turn against you; the second thing is think how demoralizing it would be if you were trusting in numbers and not God when two-thirds of your group walked away. That is something that we would do well to remember, that God can have a greater victory when HE is in charge than when we're relying on numbers.
A pessimistic person would not enjoy what happens next. God informs Gideon that he still has too many men for God to show himself strong. He tells Gideon that he is to only take those that lap water like a dog when they go down to a brook for a drink. I know what I would be thinking, I would be thinking that I hope everyone gets down and drinks water like a dog. The eight chapter tells us that the Midianites had over 120 thousand men, because by the end of the day, that is how many were killed. Gideon and his men probably had some idea of how large the host of Midian and their allies was. If Gideon was looking for everyone to drink like a dog, that is not what he got; instead he got 300 left out of 10 thousand. To be blunt and honest, those circumstances would probably cause me to have a twisting stomach. Gideon though, holds fast and does as God commands, taking with him only the 300.
God gives Gideon instructions though, just in case he has doubts, to go down into the enemy camp and God will let him hear about the mighty victory ahead. Gideon does as God asks and is blessed for it. It seems to me to be the same in our modern Christian lives, if we will just obey God, go that extra step, he'll not only give us victory, but give us a glimpse on how he will perform it. Gideon returns and tell his 300 brave God fearing men how they will have victory. He more or less tells them to do as he does and God will take care of the rest. Oh what God can accomplish with a God fearing leader that puts all his trust in the one that can perform ALL miracles.
Now imagine if you are the enemy, what a surprise it would be if in the middle of the night, in the middle of your camp, 300 men broke pitchers, shining light on everything, and then blowing trumpets. You probably wouldn't believe there were just 300 men, you would probably assume that you are surrounded, infiltrated and about to be consumed. No doubt, the Midian and the Amalekites start attacking each other, and causing more damage by their fleeing, then the 300 could have caused alone. Like a stampede or an out of control mob running for the exits, the chaos causes more harm then the event that prompted the excitement.
Now the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh are all joining in for the chase to put to defeat the people who held the Hebrews under their thumb. What a rout it must have been to see and behold as what God ordained comes to pass in a chase leading away from God's people. To show that God gave them total victory and not just half victory, the princes of the enemy's people are beheaded and brought to Gideon. You don't get the heads of the leaders unless it is a total victory.
Next week, the fighting continues, and there is a price to pay for not being on God's side.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
1st Week of June 2012 Adult Sunday School Lesson
Judges Chapter 6
At the start of this chapter time has passed and we find Israel again under subjection to yet a different set of people that were not supposed to be in the land of Canaan if they had obeyed God. All of these different nations rose up from time to time to be thorn in there side, to make them subjects to an ungodly king. This time it is the Midians.The Midians drove the Israelites to hide their valuables and in some cases to hide themselves in the mountains and in caves.
The Midianites would wait for the Jews to sow their crops, and then at harvest time they would come and take anything they wanted, and it appears that they wanted and took everything that they possibly could. They didn't come alone either, but when they were left, there was nothing but a desolate country. Not surprisingly this caused the children of Israel to cry out to God for deliverance. Not all of them, as we'll soon learn, but many of them cried unto God for deliverance.
As always, God hears the cries of his people even if they have a broken heart and a contrite spirit that David mentions in Psalm 51. So God sends a prophet to remind them of what he has done for them in the past, reminding them why they are in their present situation, and telling them he will deliver them.
The Lord sends and angel to sit by a tree for Gideon, the son of Joash to find. Gideon was threshing wheat by the wine press to hide it from the Midianites. You notice here that he is a man of action, and he is doing all he can do for his family to survive. Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Before you can lead the whole nation of Israel, you must first be willing to lead what is currently in your life. It doesn't work the other way around.
This angel comes to talk to Gideon, and even calls him good man. Gideon is quick to ask where the God that delivered all Israel in the past is. He wants to know why they are suffering so. Gideon is aware the sins of Israel, but in his heart he has been pleading to God that he would deliver Israel. This is not uncommon to what we see today. You might pray and cry out to God on a regular basis to save lost souls, and to show himself strong in a sinful world. You are more than aware of the sin in this country and others, but you plead that he might show himself to a world that desperately needs him; and so does Gideon.
The angel quickly tells Gideon that he will deliver Israel. Gideon not surprisingly doubts the angel telling the angel that he is the least in his family, and that they are very poor. Gideon is right, he is insufficient for the job at hand, and so are we as Christians if we are not led by God and his Holy Spirit. By the hand of God though, they will have deliverance from the Midianites. Gideon goes to prepare a sacrifice. He get the sense over and over that Gideon is a man of action. He doesn't wait around and think too much on things, but does was the Spirit calls him to do. He makes the sacrifice and in the process realizes that this 'angel' is not an ordinary person.
Now Gideon makes an altar for the Lord and receives the word to tear down his fathers altar to Baal. He gathers 10 servants, and goes down at night to tear the altar that never should have been built, down. When you do something for the Lord, it doesn't take long for people to notice, especially when it gets on their territory and convicts their heart. The people, Hebrew people, decide they are going to find out who did this and take care of the problem. They go and find Joash and ask him to hand over his son. Here we find that blood is thicker than water from a false god. Joash says let Baal avenge himself and that he will not give up Gideon. Odd that the altar is called Joash's, and he seems fit to worship it, but knows deep inside that the God of Heaven is the only true God and Baal wouldn't be able to even revenge himself. Why did he have it in the first place? The same question can be asked about the gods in our lives; those masters that we put in front of our service to Jesus Christ.
Here come the Midianites one more time with their allies to lay waste to the land of Israel. Gideon takes his appointment seriously and blows a trumpet and gathers the as many Hebrew Children as he can. Gideon wants reassurance of what God has told him, and here we have the cloth and the dew. God gave Gideon what he asked both times, two nights in a row. With this final assurance, Gideon sets out. If you're not sure about something in our life, pray to God till you are satisfied with the answer, don't go blindly into this world thinking it will all work out in the end. God will give us direction in our lives, and show us if we are on the right path.
At the start of this chapter time has passed and we find Israel again under subjection to yet a different set of people that were not supposed to be in the land of Canaan if they had obeyed God. All of these different nations rose up from time to time to be thorn in there side, to make them subjects to an ungodly king. This time it is the Midians.The Midians drove the Israelites to hide their valuables and in some cases to hide themselves in the mountains and in caves.
The Midianites would wait for the Jews to sow their crops, and then at harvest time they would come and take anything they wanted, and it appears that they wanted and took everything that they possibly could. They didn't come alone either, but when they were left, there was nothing but a desolate country. Not surprisingly this caused the children of Israel to cry out to God for deliverance. Not all of them, as we'll soon learn, but many of them cried unto God for deliverance.
As always, God hears the cries of his people even if they have a broken heart and a contrite spirit that David mentions in Psalm 51. So God sends a prophet to remind them of what he has done for them in the past, reminding them why they are in their present situation, and telling them he will deliver them.
The Lord sends and angel to sit by a tree for Gideon, the son of Joash to find. Gideon was threshing wheat by the wine press to hide it from the Midianites. You notice here that he is a man of action, and he is doing all he can do for his family to survive. Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Before you can lead the whole nation of Israel, you must first be willing to lead what is currently in your life. It doesn't work the other way around.
This angel comes to talk to Gideon, and even calls him good man. Gideon is quick to ask where the God that delivered all Israel in the past is. He wants to know why they are suffering so. Gideon is aware the sins of Israel, but in his heart he has been pleading to God that he would deliver Israel. This is not uncommon to what we see today. You might pray and cry out to God on a regular basis to save lost souls, and to show himself strong in a sinful world. You are more than aware of the sin in this country and others, but you plead that he might show himself to a world that desperately needs him; and so does Gideon.
The angel quickly tells Gideon that he will deliver Israel. Gideon not surprisingly doubts the angel telling the angel that he is the least in his family, and that they are very poor. Gideon is right, he is insufficient for the job at hand, and so are we as Christians if we are not led by God and his Holy Spirit. By the hand of God though, they will have deliverance from the Midianites. Gideon goes to prepare a sacrifice. He get the sense over and over that Gideon is a man of action. He doesn't wait around and think too much on things, but does was the Spirit calls him to do. He makes the sacrifice and in the process realizes that this 'angel' is not an ordinary person.
Now Gideon makes an altar for the Lord and receives the word to tear down his fathers altar to Baal. He gathers 10 servants, and goes down at night to tear the altar that never should have been built, down. When you do something for the Lord, it doesn't take long for people to notice, especially when it gets on their territory and convicts their heart. The people, Hebrew people, decide they are going to find out who did this and take care of the problem. They go and find Joash and ask him to hand over his son. Here we find that blood is thicker than water from a false god. Joash says let Baal avenge himself and that he will not give up Gideon. Odd that the altar is called Joash's, and he seems fit to worship it, but knows deep inside that the God of Heaven is the only true God and Baal wouldn't be able to even revenge himself. Why did he have it in the first place? The same question can be asked about the gods in our lives; those masters that we put in front of our service to Jesus Christ.
Here come the Midianites one more time with their allies to lay waste to the land of Israel. Gideon takes his appointment seriously and blows a trumpet and gathers the as many Hebrew Children as he can. Gideon wants reassurance of what God has told him, and here we have the cloth and the dew. God gave Gideon what he asked both times, two nights in a row. With this final assurance, Gideon sets out. If you're not sure about something in our life, pray to God till you are satisfied with the answer, don't go blindly into this world thinking it will all work out in the end. God will give us direction in our lives, and show us if we are on the right path.
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