[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (SSEU), a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]
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"Now the LORD was with Judah,
and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the
inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots."
Judges 1 chronicled the failure of
the Israelites to possess the land God had commanded them. It laid a background
for their chaotic lifestyle: everyone was doing what was right in his own
eyes.
Hmm! Many lessons to reflect upon.
One of them is: Christian living is not a wishful thinking; it is a hard-working
action!
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"All that generation also were
gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who
did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
Some Bible teachers say that this
is the saddest verse in the Bible. I don't know what criteria they use to
measure the level of sadness! Personally, I have found some other verses to be sadder
than this! However, it is one of the saddest verses, that, I will agree without
contention!
Such description happened once in
Egypt (Exo.1:8), but it was about a new king and Joseph. Here is about a new
generation of Israel and Yahweh!
Is it the failure of the parents,
the older generations? Parents, especially the Israeli parents are commanded to
teach their children concerning the ways and works of Yahweh. They must have
taught them well! Then how?
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"Now these are the nations
which the LORD left, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not
experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of
the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it
formerly)."
Sometimes God allowed trials,
temptations, and even sins in a life of a believer for the greater good. Paul's
prayer wasn't answered, but he found sufficient grace of Christ to endure it.
God allowed some nations to dwell in the promised land to be thorns to the
Israelites.
John Owen says that sometimes, God
does not answer our prayer [for us] to overcome certain sins (also trials and
temptations) to help us recall and repent of our greater past sin.
To Israelites, actually, the
Canaanites are not the real threat, disobeying the law of God, forsaking God,
idolatry, intermarriage, and social injustice were the real threat!
Canaanites are there to oppress
them as God's means of chastening. Walking daily with the Lord is the real
challenge, the real deal!
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"Then Barak said to her,
"If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, π
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She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be
yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera
into the hands π π
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Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh."
Egalitarian loves to talk of
Deborah as an example of woman leadership. Well, that's not a rule. It's an
exception. We don't build our lives on exception. Or each church may as well
employ donkey to warn us; Balaam's donkey indeed warned its owner. BTW, many
people used donkeys, horses, elephants, tortoises, octopuses to prophesy for
them: football matches. So, there we have it!
Even here, the commandment came to
Barak to lead the army. Barak was an effeminate leader. He refused to lead. He
wanted to be led by a woman. And so, God shamed him by giving victory into the
hands of "a woman" v9.
The world plunged into sin when
Adam refused to lead and allowed Eve to deal with the serpent. Men must man up!
It's the failure of men! God held Adam responsible!
This world is full of Baraks! And
the solution is not to pray for more Deborah but to pray more for people like
Samuel, etc. Or else we would be praying for more donkeys to warn us instead of
praying for repentance for our love of money!
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"She reached out her hand for
the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen's hammer. Then she struck
Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple."
What a gory picture! If this is
made into a movie, it's straight R-rated. The Hebrew verbs and syntax require
us to fix our attention to the hammering of the nail on his head. Scripture
wants to see that picture.
Struck, smashed,
shattered, pierced. What an intense expression! And feel
like vomiting, seeing the brain and what else coming out!
It’s not surprising that a detailed
description is given. Elsewhere Ehud stabbed Eglon. The description is so
disgusting that I don't want to eat food and want to puke. Elsewhere Samuel
will hack Agag into pieces. No surprise the Son of Man will come back with His
swords dipped in blood, to slaughter and conquer!
People love the meek, lowly, gentle
Jesus, the loving forgiving God! Well, if the God of Judges and the Jesus of
Revelation is not the Jesus we love, it's delusional!
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“The angel of the LORD appeared to
him and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.’ Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if
the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all
His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring
us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand
of Midian."”
David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Ezra, and
other prophets responded differently. They confessed their sins. Well, Gideon
complained! Yet the angel of Yahweh bore [was patient] with his weak theology,
timid nature, small heart, doubtful expression. Moreover, the angel of Yahweh
waited [perhaps for hours] for Gideon to confirm its authenticity: through an offering.
In that hour-long event, Gideon
must have been transformed.
Giants of God who had gone before
said that some of the greatest illuminations they received are through a long
time of prayer and meditation. How we ought to spend a devoted time with God,
evaluating and confirming our faith!
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“The LORD said to Gideon, "The
people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands,
for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'ππͺ
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God seeks His glory. He will not
share His glory with others (cf. Isaiah 42:8). And many times, we seek our own
glory.
God didn't want to give even a
portion of glory to these fighters! They were told to only blow a trumpet and
to smash a pitcher (v19). What's the glory or big deal about that!
[BTW, many want to do great things
for God, but they don't want to do a small thing for God. John Newton said that
if an angel is given a task to sweep the street, and another angel is given a
task to rule the city, neither of them will want to exchange their tasks.]
The battle is the Lord!