Short Reflection from Judges 1-21

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (PG) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[0:40 pm, 25/01/2022] S.R:

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙:𝟙𝟡

'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."

𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 God is success, victory, and fruitfulness.

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟚:𝟙𝟘

"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."

A sobering reminder why there should be mentoring of younger men to be the leaders of tomorrow! In my case, I found myself mentoring those who are older than me than those who are younger than me. But I hope to see younger men soon...

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟛:𝟚𝟚

"The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out."

The Bible often describes violence in a very gruesome detailed manner. Hmm! Just something I am rethinking again! 🙂

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟜:𝟚𝟙

"But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died."

Another one, gruesome murder! 🙂

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟝:𝟚𝟠

"Out of the window she looked and lamented, The mother of Sisera through the lattice, 'Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?'"

An insight into a perspective of a woman regarding battles and war! I always love this part whenever I read this account!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟞:𝟛𝟙

"But Joash said to all who stood against him, ‘Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.’"

I think we need some courageous parents like Joash for young leaders! 🙂👍😇

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟟:𝟟

"The LORD said to Gideon, 'I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.'"

Huh! I have been misreading this account all these times (past). I always seem to have read that the 300 were those who knelt down and drank the water. 😬🤦‍♂️😂

Hmm! Thank God, I am corrected now! 😇

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟠:𝟚𝟚-𝟚𝟛

"Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son's son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.""

Something to learn from Gideon about leadership when followers are misguided!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟡:𝟝𝟛

"But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull."

Killed by a random woman, what an insult it was to him! It was fitting for he was a man without honor! God knows how to avenge!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟘:𝟙𝟙

"The LORD said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?""

God wants me to remember His faithfulness in times of trouble! Indeed, why would my soul be afraid? Forgive me, God!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟙:𝟛

"So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him."

This is like Manipur's underground (insurgent group).

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟚:𝟞

"then they would say to him, "Say now, 'Shibboleth.'" But he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim."

A demonstration that humans, even people of God (yea, even godly Christians) are often crueler to their own than to the outsiders.

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟛:𝟛

"Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.""

The Serpent talked to Adam's wife. The Angel of the Lord talked to Manoah's wife. Manoah handled the situation better (and rightly) than Adam! Hmm!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟜:𝟚-𝟛

"So he came back and told his father and mother, ‘I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.’ Then his father and his mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she looks good to me.’"

Love at first sight is after all not good as Hollywood and Bollywood portrayed!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟝:𝟙𝟞

"Then Samson said, ‘With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.’"

He seemed to praise himself for the slaughter rather than praising God for the victory! What a tragedy!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟞:𝟙𝟞-𝟙𝟟

"It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, ‘A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.’"

Is it really difficult to not listen to a woman? 🤔😬😂😎

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟟:𝟡

"Micah said to him, ‘Where do you come from?’ And he said to him, ‘I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.’"

I identify myself with this young man to some extent for good or bad!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟠:𝟚𝟞

"So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house."

I thank God that this episode is recorded in the Bible. It helps me see that God sees everything going on earth and He is absolutely calm!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟙𝟡:𝟛𝟘

"All who saw it said, "Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel and speak up!""

It happened in the days of Abraham. It happened in the days of the Judges. If it happens again one of these days, it will not be surprising, and also the judgment!

 

𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟚𝟘:𝟙𝟛

"’Now then, deliver up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.’ But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel."

These guys are stupid. But what to do!

 

[11:42 pm, 14/02/2022] S.R: 𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝟚𝟙:𝟛

"They said, ‘Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?’"

They prayed but didn't know what they were doing, had done, and were about to do. They were acting [professing] and probably thinking also that they were spiritual when they said this prayer, oh, what a bunch of sinners were they!

That's true for every human being. It's impossible to not sin. It's impossible to not hurt others. It's impossible to not suffer. Somewhere, someday, everyone falls. But thanks be to God for His great mercy and grace! 😇🙏

Bible Reading Reflection from Judges 15-21

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (SSEU), a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟝:𝟙

"But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, "I will go in to my wife in her room." But her father did not let him enter."

Mark Driscoll had a reputation of preaching the Song of Songs in a very sexually graphic way, for which the words of commentator Tremper Longman "it reveals more about the interpreters than the text" is appropriate.

On the other end, we have people like JD Grear and Ed Litton who say the Bible whispers about sexual sin. The Bible shouted as loud as it can be against sexual sin. But actually, it seems to give a whispering description about sexual activity. May we never preach it, teach it, imagine it, or read it to sin. Recently Abraham Piper (a prodigal son of John Piper) in a TikTok video revealed that as a pastor’s kid, he would read Song of Songs with an illicit pleasure.

The Bible I will argue is R-rated when it comes to violence, like hacking Agag into pieces, or Phinehas spearing through Zimri and Cozbi. However, it will be PG or Family rating when it comes to nudity! And preachers often do otherwise because the former sounds bad the latter sells!

Even in this passage, the story is narrated carefully, with a common verb "go"

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟞:𝟚𝟘

"She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him."

Playing with fire, Playing with the devil, and Playing with sin are Playing with Delilah. What sadness! "As at other times, but" Thieves must be thinking the same. At least almost all the heist movies I watched are like that. 😄 Saying "one more time, and this shall be the last" and they died!

When we play with things unplayable, we keep on saying one more time, and hardly it stops, it keeps saying one more time, or finally gets caught!

Don't play with Delilah! Better to dwell in the corner of the rooftop in solitude! 😬

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟟:𝟞

"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."

Judges 17 records the bizarre story of Micah: Sin upon sin. Personal sin to family sin to community sin unfolds. Indeed, sin breeds, and is rightly compared to a contagious virus and cancer!

In our daily conversation, "he did his best" is often an expression of defeat to make it sound nicer than what actually is. Man doing, according to what he thinks is best and right is a pathetic condition expressed politely. Moses warned them not to live like this (Deut. 12:8)!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟠:𝟚𝟘

"The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and household idols and the graven image and went among the people."

A wise priest indeed! If you are willing [planning or scheming] to be wicked, at least be rich. It's better to be a rich wicked man than to be a poor wicked fool!

I heard a rumour that some Muslim groups promised to give a sum of 2 lakh rupees to some of our people in Tamenglong if they would become Muslims. Hmm! I don't know the rest of the deal, but I would not mind them becoming Muslims and getting 2 lakh rupees than to remain poor and still go to hell! 😬😎

Now, Micah’s idolatry has turned to family idolatry to Clan idolatry. Individual to Community. Sin spreads!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟡:𝟚𝟚

"While they were celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations with him.’"

Chapter 18 was Idolatry — Individual to Community.

Chapter 19 is Immortality — Individual to Community.

The pandemic of sin, corruption!

There are certain worthless fellows in every society at any time, I suppose.

The world at biblical times is not better than our world now. They were told to live differently, and we are still told to not live like the world.

Instead of being transformed by the word, people are conforming to the world. Let's live by the conviction from the exemplary saints gone before us, not by the culture of our time.

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟚𝟘:𝟚𝟛

"The sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall we again draw near for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against him.""

These guys didn't want to kill but were willing to slaughter if necessary. It was expressed genuinely through weeping till evening and then burnt up their cities.

Hmm! Before you burnt up somebody's home, weep before God from morning till evening! Before you confront others, weep over him before God. Before you criticize somebody, pray, pray, pray, yea, a long prayer!

Or shut off your mouth, huh! 😬😂

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟚𝟙:𝟙𝟘

"And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones."

What insanity! They were weeping for Benjamites, yet set out to massacre the people of Jabesh-gilead. And they allowed their women to be kidnapped by the Benjamites.

Didn't the war start because of molesting a concubine by the Benjamites, and now allowing their women to be kidnapped? Mankind is not only depraved but stupid!  The same insanity, stupidity can be said of the covid pandemic of our time!

Bible Reading Reflection from Judges 8-14

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (SSEU), a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day] 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟠:𝟛𝟜-𝟛𝟝

"Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;  𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕁𝕖𝕣𝕦𝕓𝕓𝕒𝕒𝕝 (𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤, 𝔾𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠𝕟) 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 all the good that he had done to Israel."

Honor to whom honor is due! David showed kindness to a son of Jonathan!  Jesus showed kindness to His [earthly] mother, Mary entrusting John to take care of her!

Let's practice to honor our leaders, mentors, parents, even their children and family members! Hmmm!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟡:𝟚

"Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, 'Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?' Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh."

Power grab. Followed by Jotham's parable. Followed by Chaos in the lands. Followed by deaths!

I strongly see Public Health as a power grab. Jotham's parable will unfold.

Chaos is in the lands. Deaths are skyrocketing (not from covid, but other causes). Maybe it will last for a generation and will be gone.

I wish to live long enough to see the death of nations, but don't want to endure the stupidity of people as well! So whatever life, short or long, I will be contented!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟘:𝟞

"The people of Israel 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟 did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him."

The centuries of Israel's history compressed into a few pages of Judges actually resembles our life!

A generation sinned. B generation suffered. C generation repented. D generation victorious. E generation sinned. F generation suffered and the cycle went on.

“Again” is the watchword. 7 cycles of "again" in the book of Judges are selectively recorded to show the completeness of the pattern of life. Totally depraved!

Falling again and again here and there in the journey of life. Christian in the Pilgrim's Progress reached the river with bruises and numerous falls!

Judges is not a year event, it's an account of generation after generation. I think it's still happening and we will confirm it if we study history...

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟙:𝟛

"Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him."

Another painful chapter. It contains positive and negative contents to reflect upon. Israel was so weak that it had no leader. They had to choose an outcast guy for their leader, Jephthah, a son of a prostitute, a leader of worthless fellows. It was a desperate situation. Shame, shame, shame on Israel to think of him to lead them! Stupidity begets stupid leadership!

However, this particular episode was the doing of God. It was God who raised him up to be one of the judges of Israel. If God can make anything useful out of outcast and worthless Jephthah, He sure can [make use] of you and me!

Even Jephthah was a bizarre guy. He sacrificed his daughter, again proving Jephthah is not the hero of the story. It's the covenant-keeping God who chooses to accomplish great things through fallen man for rebellious people because of His faithfulness even when everyone is unfaithful!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟚:𝟞

"They said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell."

How many enemies (Ammonites) have they killed? And how many of their own people (Israelites) have they killed? Who posed a greater threat? The enemies or their own people?

When did the threat and the slaughter of their own people happen? After the victory against the enemies. Scripture has recorded incident after incident portraying threat and wickedness from inside often happening (and even to a greater extent) after a victory against outside. If you win an outside battle, be careful of your inside.

Or what about this? If you are able to modify your public behaviour, be careful of your private behaviour? Some people are saints outside their home, devils inside their home. Some people love to pray outside and hardly pray in their own room. That's a long stretch of reflection, of course!

But again, our own people can be more dangerous than the enemies. Britishers left India and the bloodbath of India-Pakistan.

Coronavirus a global health threat? Let's see what Vaccination will do. Unvaccinated people are beginning to be segregated. Now, for common people, the government is a bigger threat than the coronavirus!

PS1:  For Jephthah, Ephraimites were a bigger threat than the Ammonites. And interestingly, the Ephraimites thought Gidealites were a bigger threat than the Ammonites.

The government (at least Israel has announced) thinks unvaccinated people are a threat to society. And the common normal people think the government is a threat to them as the mandates are carried out!

And Christians are not even coming together to worship God. Let's see, whether unvaccinated people can go to church or not. Perhaps they may as well be denied heaven!

PS2: Vaccination or Vaccinated may soon be the Shibboleth of our time!  Or the new colour of our time, new apartheid. Like the White people and Black People.

Sorry for the extensive thought.

But no sorry as well. Since this group [WhatsApp group] is almost always silent. So! 🙂

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟛:𝟚

"There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children."

Hmmm! As much as my memory recalls, every barren woman in the Bible bare child again by the goodwill of God. Indeed, each child of a barren woman is a child conceived of prayer, and so, no surprise grew up to be a man of God.

However, there's no promise that every barren woman will bear a child someday! But we are permitted to be importunate in our prayers. I am not a woman, not even a married man, but I have seen the incomplete joy of many couples.

David Brainerd a missionary to Native Indians wrote in his journals, many times about his depression concerning the barrenness of his ministry. He was just 26-27 years old then. God in His goodness made him successful. He was one of the most fruitful missionaries that other generations of missionaries like Carey, Henry took inspiration from. However, his ministry was short, 2-4 years of ministry and he died at the age of 29.

Barrenness in married life, in ministry, in career, exam, or in whatever we are, may we look up to heaven until the angel of the Lord opens the door of heaven to bless us to be fruitful!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟙𝟜:𝟙𝟜

"So he said to them, ‘Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.’ But they could not tell the riddle in three days."

I have been reading this verse every single year of my Christian life, but I still haven't understood the sensibility of this riddle. It's a bad riddle, actually not a riddle to my family's standard. I and my family love riddle. We had spent asking riddles all our childhood days, and we continue to ask when we come together for Christmas.

What do you think of this riddle??? 😬

We would call this "la-tu-me" [in Rongmei language] meaning it's unqualified to be called a riddle! 😂