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! 😂

Bible Reading Reflection from Judges 1-7

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

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."

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!

 

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."

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?

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟛:𝟙-𝟚

"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!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟜:𝟠-𝟡

"Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕘𝕠." 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 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕨𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟." 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!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟝:𝟚𝟞

"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!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟞:𝟙𝟚-𝟙𝟛

“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!

 

𝕁𝕌𝔻𝔾𝔼𝕊 𝟟:𝟚

“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, '𝕄𝕪 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖.'"”

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!

Bible Reading Reflection from Joshua 19-24

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

𝕁𝕆𝕊ℍ𝕌𝔸 𝟙𝟡:𝟜𝟡-𝟝𝟘

"When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it."

This chapter is about the distribution of inheritance. At last, Joshua got a special inheritance! However, not because he was a supreme leader, but because of what he did in the past as an ordinary guy. Caleb and Joshua got a special inheritance! A nice reminder. Faithfulness always pays here on earth and the kingdom to come.

What a stark contrast recorded here. Normally people expect (legitimately or illegitimately) that CEOs, Presidents, etc., have better salaries, facilities, etc. for the positions they serve.

Well, Joshua's special inheritance was not given because of his extraordinary leadership at the top level, but because of his extraordinary service when he was an ordinary soldier!

Something to chew on!

 

𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙𝕦𝕒 𝟚𝟘:𝟞

"He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled."

No mob justice. No vigilante. No clan justice. No revenge. God has ordained rulers, civil government, and authorities, to administer justice in a society. They will never be perfect, but God ordains them to administer, not us, common people, the public. They will never be perfect, but God will bring perfect justice in His own way and time, trust Him.

Rather, the Scriptures command us to pray for them. The Scriptures assure us that their hearts are controlled by God. Moreover, the Scriptures reveal that prayer is the means of how God accomplishes many things in life.

If the high priest dies within a month, the killer is lucky; he can go back to normal life. If the high priest continues to live, the killer has to live in exile. Sounds unfair? But that's ordained by God. And again, reminding us that Vengeance is not ours, it's God.

 

𝕁𝕆𝕊ℍ𝕌𝔸 𝟚𝟙:𝟜𝟝

"Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."

Good promises, all of them didn't fail; all were fulfilled.

God is a promise-maker. Eh! A good promise-maker. Eh, never a promise-breaker. Certainly not promises-breaker (plural).

He is a promise keeper, a good promise-keeper. The good promises-keeper!

What about this: The good promises maker keeper is Yahweh! 🙂

 

𝕁𝕆𝕊ℍ𝕌𝔸 𝟚𝟚:𝟙𝟚

"When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war."

They stood with each other [together] to drive out the heathens. These 3 tribes left their families behind to fight for the cause of [the other 10 tribes of] Israel. They had just come back from that military campaign.

And now another war, not against the enemies but within [themselves, Israelites] is looming. Well, in this case, it's more positive because they were concerned about the purity of doctrine that Yahweh alone is God and He alone is to be worshipped. They contended is that there shouldn't be any other altar of worship!

In response, that altar wasn't even to worship Yahweh but to witness Yahweh is God. Not every conflict in a Christian community is a bad one.

 

𝕁𝕆𝕊ℍ𝕌𝔸 𝟚𝟛:𝟞-𝟟, 𝟙𝟙-𝟙𝟚

6-7 "Be very firm, then, to 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you will not 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them."

☝️👉You either Live with the Book or Live with the World.

11-12 "So take diligent heed to yourselves to 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕆ℝ𝔻 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝔾𝕠𝕕.  For if you ever go back and ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕠 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕆𝕗 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you."

☝️👉 You either Love God or Love the World!

No neutral ground. Every ground we stand, though looks still, is as the rotation of the earth (rotating but never seeming so), we are weighing on one of its sides.

 

𝕁𝕆𝕊ℍ𝕌𝔸 𝟚𝟜:𝟙𝟠

"The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

"Also" that's an interesting word. They also wanted to follow because Joshua had announced his intention to follow Yahweh. And they did follow Yahweh imitating Joshua, but after he died, they stopped following.

A leader who has charisma, charm, and soothing words, attracts a lot of superficial crowds. Once the leader is gone, so is the crowd. Well, this is not a criticism of Joshua's leadership, but about the reality of the superficial crowd. Jesus had lots. Sometimes Jesus ran away from such crowd! Sad is he who has such crowd surrounding him!

That's one of the reasons why I don't trust compliments or criticisms of most people. We need only a few good people! One writer said that it's impossible to have 3 best friends, 2 friends are too many, and one is enough! Hmmm!