Accountability for Sin

 Judges 20:29-48

    29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. 31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.”
    But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. 34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.
    36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city, 39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor. 45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them. 46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.
    47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

After suffering two massive defeats in battle with the Benjamites, Israel 🇮🇱 was given the promised victory as the LORD said on the third day of fighting.  Over twenty-five thousand were killed by ambush and psychological tactics.  They leveraged the overconfidence of the army of Benjamin against them, setting an ambush after drawing them out of the city, then a smokescreen within the city to draw them back in panic to save the city they thought was being burned to the ground.  Only six hundred men escaped to the wilderness to hide for four months. The Benjamites suffered great loss for not handing over the vile and wicked of Gibeah who had threatened homosexual acts on a visitor, a Levite priest, and the rape and death of his concubine instead.  The whole tribe experienced God’s judgement for covering the sin and fighting against His people, the rest of Israel.  We learn that sin is never to be covered up by His people (the church) out of pride and denial, but that those guilty are to be dealt with through discipline and the laws of the land as the offense or crime dictates.  The price of the Lord’s intervention when we fail to act can be devastating.  There is accountability for sin.  It is better to fall in God’s hands for justice (2 Samuel 24:14) than man’s, for He is merciful and full of grace in judgement.  If those of Gibeah confessed and repented of their gross sin, many lives would have been spared; if we confess our sins, the Lord forgives (1 John 1:9, James 5:16).  If sin is not dealt with, it can bring destruction as with Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5,1-5, 6-10), whether gross immortality as in Gibeah or deceiving God and man with greed and lies to the Holy Spirit.  We as the church can not afford to ignore church discipline or the law of the land (1 Corinthians 5:12-13, 1 Peter 4:17, Romans 13:3-5). 

Price Paid Fighting for the Right

Judges 20:1-28
    1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword. 3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”
    4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. 6 So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel. 7 Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!”
    8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; 9 but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot. 10 We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.” 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.
    12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. 14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. 16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss. 17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
    18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The LORD said, “Judah first!” 19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. 22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. 23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”
    24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.
    26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?”
And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

Israel gathered together after the priest sent the twelve pieces of his abused and ravaged concubine to all the tribes as he asked for action to be taken against the lewd outrageous actions of the Benjamites of Gibeah.  Four hundred thousand of God’s people gathered to hear what happened as they considered, conferred, and spoke up concerning their reaction.  They did not desire to fight their own people, so they asked for the specific wicked ones to be handed over.  Instead, Benjamin amasses their forces of twenty-six thousand in addition to seven hundred of Gibeah.  Israel asked the LORD which tribe should fight Benjamin first, and Judah was chosen.  They lost twenty-two thousand.  This caused weeping as they worked up the courage and trust in the battle for the right as they sought the LORD’s counsel well into the night.  They attacked once more, and lost eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel.  More prayer and fasting followed, along with burnt and peace offerings to cover any remaining sin and find reconciling peace with God in case that was why they were defeated while fighting for what was a just and right cause.  The LORD told them that the next day they would have victory as He would deliver the rebellious Benjamites into their hands.  We find a lesson so far here in this accounting of accountability for sinful actions when justified with rebellious anger instead of humble confession of sin and repentance to turn from it and towards God.  We do well to learn first of all not to do such sinfully wicked things, but also to admit and turn from them while accepting the consequences.  This avoids much loss within the body of Christ by glorifying Him instead of justifying and continuing in sin.  The price paid for fighting for what is right, however, may be costly in terms of church discipline when not needed, as well as civil punishment for some grievous and severe acts. 

God’s People and Immoral Apostasy

Judges 19:22-30 
    22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!”
    23 But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter and the mans concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!” 25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.
    26 Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, till it was light.
    27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.
    29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!”

Gibeah's apostasy in turning from the LORD is clearly demonstrated here in their gross immorality.  When the Levitical priest and his companion were given shelter in Gibeah by a hospitable old man from the mountains of Ephraim where the Levite was from, the perverted men of Gibeah came asking for him to perform homosexual acts on the priest.  The house owner told them not to do such a reprehensible and vile thing, and offered his own daughter and the man’s concubine in his place, but they would not listen, being driven by their vile immorality and perversion.  The man ended up sending out the concubine alone and they raped her all night long, leaving her for dead in the morning.  The priest therefore cut her body in twelve pieces, one for each tribe of Israel, and sent them with the message of what had taken place in Gibeah.  Since such a vile thing had never yet been seen among God’s people, he called for accountability of action in response.  He wanted them to take this to heart (hence the dramatics of sending the body parts), assemble together, and decide what to do in response to stop the immoral apostasy of Gibeah who acted opposite to God’s commands and their call to holiness as His people.  We learn here how the Lord considers homosexuality how the depths of immorality its actions bring deserve to be dealt with and not tolerated.  Granted, this in no way is to be a violent response as in that time of the Law, but in this age of grace in Christ it must be dealt with by a united front of intolerance among His people.  It does not mean those committing such vile acts outside the church, for they are already under the condemnation of God’s judgement through His word (1 Corinthians 5:9-13, John 12:48).  Those outside need the grace of forgiveness for salvation, while those inside need church discipline to afford the chance to repent (1 Corinthians 5:4-5) and be reconciled to God and restored to fellowship.  As C.H. Spurgeon said, “Right is right though all condemn, and wrong is wrong though all approve.”  As written here, “Consider it, confer, and speak up!”  

Infidelity, Forced and Sincere Hospitality

Judges 19:1-21
    1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. 4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman's father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. 5 Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.”
    6 So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman's father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. 8 Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman's father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate.
    9 And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get home.” 10 However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him. 11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.”
    12 But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.” 13 So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15 They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night.
    16 Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” 18 So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the LORD. But there is no one who will take me into his house, 19 although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.” 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Another Levitical priest is here wandering without a dedicated place to serve, just as the one from Micah and those of Dan who served household idols and was thought to bring the blessings of the LORD.  This one traveled with a concubine of infidelity who left him for four months, staying at her father’s house until the priest tracked her down and stayed for a while.  He kept wanting to move on his journey and finally left after five days to travel near what is now Jerusalem on the way to Ephraim where he came from.  He wanted to stop and stay where God’s people lived, so they continued on to Gibeah, because those of Jebus were not of Israel.  However, when they arrived to find a place to sleep there, nobody of his people would take them in and they just sat in the town square until an old man from the same place of the Levite (Ephraim) offered them lodging at his own expense with true hospitality, unlike the previous forced hospitality of the concubine’s father.  The old man gave his blessing of peace as part of that hospitality also, feeding the priest’s donkeys, washing the man and the companion’s feet, and feeding them.  So far all looked promising and comforting, though this would soon abruptly change for the worse.  We learn about how those who wander from God get embroiled in much wandering around and suffer consequences while not among God’s fellow people.  We who are in Christ as His people are also linked together in fellowship, and can easily wander off if not offering each other true hospitality from a willing heart for the other’s welfare (Philippians 2:4, Galatians 2:9, Hebrews 10:24-25) and edification.  Do we seek that fellowship which looks to meet needs as Titus 3:14 and 1 Timothy 6:18 tell us to pursue?  Do we show forgiveness for infidelity and grace for reconciliation with the Lord and each other?   May we learn from these examples. 

Idolatry Adopted

Judges 18:1-31
    1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. 2 So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” 4 He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”
    5 So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way.” 7 So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone.
    8 Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?” 9 So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”11 And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. 12 Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) 13 And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
    14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” 15 So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.
    18 When these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” 20 So the priest's heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people. 21 Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them. 22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
23 And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?”
    24 So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ” 25 And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!” 26 Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
    27 So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish. 30 Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

After Micah had set up his idols to worship in place of the LORD and then hired a Levitical priest to minister at his the blasphemous altar, spies from the tribe of Dan came looking for a place for their inheritance not yet obtained.  The spies returned to the six hundred waiting for the report, then they went back and stole the whole ungodly setup along with the priest whom they offered a better deal.  Yet the priest did the same idolatry with false gods, the idols used as of to gain the LORD’s favor somehow as His people, and those of Dan adopted the same idolatry as Micah.  They were utterly corrupt in their reasoning and it was displayed in their object of worship.  This went on until Israel was later taken captive for their rebellion once more, and while the real worship of the LORD was in Shiloh in God’s house.  This demonstrates that compromising true worship with something else, with manmade idols that cannot see or hear or speak.  As Isaiah 44:18-19 says, those who worship idols have their own eyes shut with hardened hearts by the LORD for turning from Him, just as Jesus told the self righteous religious leaders who were deaf and blind because they ceased worshipping in spirit and in truth.  We have our eyes opened and hope to be released from such empty worship by the Spirit of God in the gospel revealed in the face of Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 4:6)!  This is the good, no the great news of redemption and reconciliation with our Father through His Son’s work and righteousness revealed by His Spirit of the new covenant working in us.  What amazing grace! 

Idolatry of Anarchy

Judges 17:1-13
    1 Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!” 3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.” 4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.
    5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
    7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. 8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?”  So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”
    10 Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

This is a dark time for God’s people after their final judge Samson, and before the time of the kings.  Their idolatry was in their anarchism of rebellion against the LORD, everyone doing whatever their scale of right and wrong, acceptable actions and a moving line to cross into what they would not tolerate.  This line of shifting morality is simply situational ethics, which often seeks the lowest scale of right and wrong, yet was wholly in each man’s view; there were no absolutes of righteousness or evil, just what each wanted to excuse as personally acceptable.  They did not want a leader, judge or government, to tell them what to do.  Therefore, this Micah found a wayward Levitical priest to manage his idol altar of false gods which was built with stolen money from his mother (albeit returned and then allocated with her blessing for this cursed use).  Since there was no king, no government set over the people by God, the sin nature of His people did whatever they pleased while willfully and blatantly disregarding His word and will.  Micah even bragged that he had a Levite and thought that would bring the blessings of the LORD whom he was sinning against in the process.  To him it was right because he reasoned it out apart from God’s clear commands to the contrary.  Even in these current times we see this attitude, both in the world and among God’s people who choose their own reasoning on how to love or disregard their neighbors in their own quest for being the government over themselves in place of subjecting their pride with obedience to the authorities which God puts over us (Romans 13:1-5, 1 Peter 2:13-17).  Sadly, some choose to do what is right in their own eyes, reasoning that the church somehow exempts them from these commands of our Lord in order to excuse disobedience which is not in opposition to His gospel.  Our convenience is no reason or rationale for disobedience unless it is government keeping us from proclaiming the gospel which is primarily by us outside a church building, and not dependent on meeting together inside our designated buildings.  We do not do well to rule ourselves apart from His word, for that is quite simply the idolatry of spiritual anarchy and disobedience.  We are to love God with all we have and do, and likewise love each other (Mark 12:30-31, Romans 13:10) as we follow in submission to Him and each other (Ephesians 5:15, 21).  This is submitting in love for His glory and rule over us, not in the anarch of disobedient idolatry of self-will and personal desires. 

A Noble Death

 Judges 16:23-31 

    23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:

    “Our god has delivered into our hands
    Samson our enemy!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said:
    “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,
    The destroyer of our land,
    And the one who multiplied our dead.”

25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.
    28 Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
    31 And his brothers and all his father's household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Samson had a noble death in that he was able to kill more enemies of God’s people in death than in life while judging Israel.  It was seemingly not so noble to take revenge for the Philistines taking his eyes, yet they took them and him through deception, depriving Samson of the strength given by the LORD to defeat them.  When tied between two pillars of the pagan temple to amuse and entertain them, he called on God to think of him and his calling, along with his service and suffering.  One can infer that he also thought of the enemies of the LORD and honoring His name and that of Israel as well when he prayed for the strength to take vengeance and the idol temple with its followers gathered to mock God’s people as well.  God answered with the might needed to topple the temple and bury all those Philistine adversaries with the same final act.  After judging Israel for twenty years, his reign came to an end and he was buried with his father.  He would be the final judge before an ill-fated avenue to take a king like the nations was taken as God’s people spiraled down and further away from following Him.  We can learn from the example of Samson and Israel of what not to do, as well as some things we should do.  Hebrews 13:7 tells us to imitate or follow the actions of our spiritual leaders based on the faith and results aligning with God’s word and will; those things which honor Him are to be imitated, not those which do not.  Samson relied on the LORD for his strength as we must also, but in righteousness and boldness in being valiant for the truth of the gospel.  We must not follow his examples of immortality or unequal yoking with unbelievers.  We are to fight the good fight against spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12) bit not physically kill our opponents set against God’s chosen people which includes both those of the elect of Israel and Gentile together.  Revelation 6:10 tells us of our desire for vengeance, but it is for God’s name and honor and glory, not our personal retribution.  From Israel’s example, we must not imitate the drifting away (Hebrews 2:1) and gravitation to other idols of worship out of ungodly and misplaced desires (1 John 2:15-16), but on what pleases Him in obedient following (1 John 2:17).  He wants our hearts to follow with our feet catching up as we journey in our sanctification (Psalm 119:32).  There is much to learn from Samson’s life and death.  May we have a noble life and death to honor our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Enticements in an Unequal Yoke

Judges 16:1-22
    1 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2 When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” 3 And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 4 Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
    6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” 7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 8 So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
    10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.” 11 So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 12 Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.
    13 Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”— 14 So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.
    15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
    18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
    21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

Samson wandered further from the LORD by sleeping with a harlot, then falling in love with the Philistine woman Delilah, which means “feeble.”  She was paid by the leaders of the Philistines to discover the source of his strength to make him feeble so that they could capture him and tie him up to oppress and humble him for all the trouble he caused.  Delilah was an unbeliever, not of God’s people, one who worshipped other gods and was a snare to Samson.  She kept at him to reveal the source of his strength, and the fourth time was a charm after wearing him down with the incessant hounding for the secret of undoing God’s strength in him.  She vexed his heart by telling him that if he loved her, he would reveal the answer, until he emptied his heart to her and allowed the vow to the LORD to be broken as a Nazirite.  They shaved his head after she pulled him to sleep, then gouged his eyes out and bound him to a grinding wheel in prison to work as a mule to humble Samson and mock him and his God, no doubt, for they knew where his strength and rebellion against them came from.  Then his hair slowly began to grow back as they forgot about the conquered foe.  They forgot what that meant.  We learn again from Samson about allowing marriage or intimate relationships with unbelievers and the devastating consequences to avoid.  The enticements of the passing pleasures of sin are not worth it (Hebrews 11:25). 

Breaking Bonds with Fire and Might

Judges 15:1-20
    1 After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in. 2 Her father said, “I really thought that you thoroughly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.”
    3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!” 4 Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. 7 Samson said to them, “Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” 8 So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
    9 Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves against Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” So they answered, “We have come up to arrest Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
    12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.” 13 So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
    14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said:

    “With the jawbone of a donkey,
    Heaps upon heaps,
    With the jawbone of a donkey
    I have slain a thousand men!”

    17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Samson broke the Philistine bonds of servitude by fire and might.  First he sought vengeance for his wife given to another by strapping lit torches between foxes by the tails and setting them loose in the fields of grain, vineyards, and olive groves.  He wiped out their fruitfulness as they had of fruitfulness with his wife to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28, 9:1, 35:11), both as a man and as part of the nation of God.  Second, Samson was arrested by those of Judah and turned over to the Philistines out of fear of their retribution; however, as he came near the enemy, Samson was filled with mighty power by God’s Spirit and broke the binding ropes.  He then picked up a dead donkey’s jawbone and slaughtered a thousand Philistines.  He then sang a song to mark the event as at the Red Sea crossing, and asked God to quench his mighty thirst; the LORD broke open the rock to provide water (Exodus 17:6, Nehemiah 9:15) to the dry and thirsty soul of Samson, reviving him after such a strenuous battle.  Then he reigned as a judge of Israel for twenty years.  We can learn several things from this example of being brave and valiant for the Lord and His people, as well as finding our strength in His Spirit and not our own physical abilities.  Though we are not to be destructive of property or killing, we do war against heavenly powers and rule (Ephesians 3:10, 6:12) enslaving there who need the freedom (2 Timothy 2:26, John 8:36) which only the gospel offers from Christ’s work revealed by faith according to God’s word.  We are His ministers of fire of the good news (Hebrews 1:7) in His power (1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Thessalonians 1:5).  We wield not a jawbone of a donkey, but His word of truth, the word of life, to defeat the enemy and burn away the lies of darkness for true fruitfulness to fill the earth to His glory, honor, and praise.  This is a pattern of how we fight the good fight of the gospel. 

Deceit of an Unequal Yoking

Judges 14:1-20 

    1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
    4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
    5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
    7 Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9 He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
    10 So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. 11 And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. 13 But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

14 So he said to them:
    “Out of the eater came something to eat,
    And out of the strong came something sweet.”
Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

    15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?” 16 Then Samson's wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.” And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?” 17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down:

    “What is sweeter than honey?
    And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them:
    “If you had not plowed with my heifer,
    You would not have solved my riddle!”

    19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father's house. 20 And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

Samson's Philistine wife was an unequal yoke for him (2 Corinthians 6:14), for she was not of God’s people, but an idol worshipper of dead gods, bit the LORD arranged this to provide a way to attack the Philistines to free His people.  The deceit from this unequal union came out in the instance here where he challenged her family friends to a bet on solving a riddle he proposed to them based on a recent real event in his life.  The riddle was of the bees making honey in a lion carcass on the roadside which he ate from, and it cleverly alluded to that by not using the words honey and lion, but something sweet out of the eater to eat.  They could not figure it out, so they pressed Samson’s Philistine wife to lure the secret out of him to win the bet for the thirty sets of clothing.  He resisted for a week, but finally gave in to the deceitful parlay, after which she immediately told her fellow countrymen.  They of course solved the riddle by having the answer for Samson, but he was moved by the Spirit of the LORD to raid one of their villages to kill thirty of them to give the clothes to the others.  He returned only to find his wife was now his best man’s.  The deceit was answered with retribution and the LORD removed the unequal yoke from Samson’s poor choice of a wife (poor as against God’s commands, but yet planned by Him for His glory to deliver His people).  This event was also used by God to set up Samson to be a deliverer and the final judge of Israel, however.  He uses all things for the good of His purposes and glory in spite of our poor choices opposed to His commands and word and will for us.  We can therefore learn from Samson that we should not seek to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, that we can trust Him to work through such a union in spite of our sinful disobedience, and that He works all for His good and ours in glorifying Himself (Romans 8:28). 

Divinely Appointed Final Judge

Judges 13:1-25
    1 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
    6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ” 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
    9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy's rule of life, and his work?”
    13 So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
    15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”  16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)  17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”  18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
    19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. 
    22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”  23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”  24 So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

The divinely appointed and final judge of Israel before the kings was Samson, here seen chosen before he was even born, in a somewhat similar way that John the Baptist was announced by an Angel (Luke 1:11, 19).  It is uncertain if the Angel of the LORD here was God Himself (Exodus 3:14, 15) or His divine representative (Judges 2:1) such as Gabriel.  Either way, Samson’s parents knew the Angel’s visit and message was from the LORD.  Manoah wanted to prepare a goat as food and sacrifice, but the Angel made it clear that sacrifices must be offered to the LORD only.  He also made it clear that His name was too wonderful to be told to Manoah and his wife after delivering the message of the giving and calling of their son to be set apart to serve the LORD.  This divine message was to ensure they raised Samson as set apart, holy, to God’s predetermined purpose as judge and instrument of His hands.  The event where the sacrifice is made and the Angel steps into the fire to rise into heaven from the altar made Manoah declare that they had truly seen God (אֱלֹהִים, Elohim)!  He thought they would die because they saw God’s face (Exodus 33:20), but his wife wisely observed that He did not intend to because He accepted their sacrifice of the burnt and grain offerings, showing them and telling them wonderful things to come.  This became evident as Samson grew in God’s blessings and was moved by His Spirit in the calling given him.  We learn from this that God predetermines and calls for His purposes, whether as a judge like Samson or each of us (Romans 8:28, 2 Timothy 1:9, 1 Corinthians 7:17).  How unsearchable and wonderful are His ways!  We see the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ who is the final Judge of all (2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5, Hebrews 12:23) and live! 

The Shibboleth Test

Judges 12:1-15 

    1 Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. 3 So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” 5 The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites.
    7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried among the cities of Gilead.
    8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.
    11 After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. 12 And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.
    13 After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.

The Contention of Ephraim with Jephthah was an unwarranted threat for Ephraim’s unwillingness to assist Jephthah in the battle with Ammon.  This led to a war which was in Jephthah’s favor because the LORD was on his side, the righteous cause against the unrighteousness of the false accuser.  The defeat of Ephraim was aided by the wisdom given to test the Ephraimites with a word unpronounceable by them as they attempted to cross the Jordan River.  They could not say ‘Shibboleth,’ but said it with an ‘s’ instead of an ‘sh’ pronunciation.  This was done in the more modern times of World War 2 where the Dutch tested German spies by using the name of the seaside resort Scheveningen as a shibboleth to identify German soldiers in their midst. German soldiers would pronounce the first three letters "sch" as "sh", following German sound rules, not the harsher sound of the ‘ch.’  In this way about forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed in the Shibboleth Jordan crossing attempt.  After this, Jephthah judged Israel for six years, followed by Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.  These were known by very little in terms of accomplishments of valor for Israel as the judges became more ordinary in line with the slow downward spiritual spiral of Israel.  What we learn from this is that God vindicates those trusting Him, that He gives wisdom to test and overcome our enemies, and that the warning of backsliding into the culture has devastating consequences.  We need a Shibboleth test of sound doctrine and practice in following our Lord Jesus Christ according to His word to keep the enemy from crossing over and occupying the church (Acts 20:29-31), leading to a slippery slope away from truth.  Compromising the Lord and His word is a downward spiral we must avoid (Hebrews 2:1).  Our Shibboleth test used to identify the infiltration of the enemy is sound doctrine of the essential truths of our Lord and His gospel of salvation to deliver and live by.

A Vow and Victory

Judges 11:29-40
    29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, 31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
    32 So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands. 33 And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
    34 When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot go back on it.”
    36 So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, my friends and I.”
    38 So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man.  And it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Be careful what you vow as Deuteronomy 23:21-23 demanded; if a vow is made, it is not to be broken (Numbers 30:2).  This is why Jephthah should have not been rash in vowing in order to gain victory over the enemy.  He could have just asked the LORD to honor and glorify Himself in the battle to keep His people safe and victorious instead.  But we read here how he made that rash vow and was bound by the Law and his word to keep it.  He vowed to offer “whatever comes out of the doors of my house to greet me,” which obviously had to be a person unless animals were in the house.  That is a dangerous promise to offer up what could be a family member or even a servant; human sacrifices were what pagans offered, not God’s people.  He clearly acted rashly in order to guarantee God’s hand of victory over Ammon.  He paid dearly when his only daughter emerged from the house on his return, but kept his vow.  This eve became a custom for young Israeli women to remember her for four days.  Yes, the daughter understood that the vow was to the LORD and could not be disregarded, but a life was offered when trust in God’s hand of victory would have been much wiser.  We see Jesus tell us in Matthew 5:33-37 that we are to do what we promise to Him, but that it was far better to count the cost and not take any oath, simply saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to taking any action.  This is repeated in James 5:12 for our instruction, telling us not to swear, but give a yes to do something or a no not to.  How that would have benefited Jephthah and his daughter!  We are to count the cost of following Christ, and then simply commit to do what we say with forethought and not blind or rash vows in order to earn God’s blessings on our labors.  If He calls is to do something, it should be done without trying to persuade or influence the Lord to our favor.  Luke 17:10 makes it clear that what we do is what is required, not earned, and trying to move God’s hand for what He already has planned is foolish.  Our Yes to obey or No to not is better than rash vows with such consequences.  Our victory is in Christ, not a vow. 

Mighty Men of Valor

Judges 11:1-28
    1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2 Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him. 4 It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.”
    7 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them to me, shall I be your head?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” 11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
    12 Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, “What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?” 13 And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.”
    14 So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; 16 for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh. 18 And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land into our place.” 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
    23 ‘And now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? 24 Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. 25 And now, are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? 26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? 27 Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” 28 However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah was a mighty man of valor with a social stain on his origin.  He became an outcast and raider, a bandit, until Ammon attacked Israel and the people came to beg him to lead them because of his abilities as a warrior.  They only even talked with Jephthah because they needed him, not because they stopped judging his background as the son of a harlot.  He then tried to negotiate first with the Ammonites, reminding them that Israel did not take their land when coming up from Egypt towards their promised land, bit rather that they asked safe passage through the Ammonite lands and were attacked instead.  They gained their land because of this.  Yet the king of Ammon refused to hear the truth and was set for battle.  We see this conflict still raging in the nation of modern Israel as well, both in these peoples who did not allow safe passage, as well as those of the promised land itself given as an inheritance.  What God gives His people is theirs, and those opposing Him through them faces the same defeat.  This is why those opposed to the gospel and to Jesus Christ and His people will suffer absolute defeat and judgement in the final battle.  We are the humble yet mighty of valor in the war for men’s souls, and the victory is absolute in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57, 1 John 5:4, Matthew 12:20). Remember that He often uses the lowly and despised to work through (1 Corinthians 1:25-29), and our past or origin is not the heart God sees nor the calling and gifting He uses for His Sovereign purposes.  Amen.

Grace and Mercy of Deliverance

Judges 10:1-18
    1 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was buried in Shamir. Jair
    3 After him arose Jair, a Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 Now he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, which are called “Havoth Jair” to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Camon.
    6 Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 7 So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon. 8 From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. 9 Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
    10 And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”  11 So the LORD said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? 12 Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
    15 And the children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
    17 Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

After Abimelech’s treachery and resulting punishment, there were two other judges who ruled for twenty three and twenty two years with relative peace for God’s people.  Then Israel returned to serve and worship false idols which they foolishly called gods, and then the burning wrath of the LORD came downstairs on them for breaking the covenant and dishonoring their Creator and Deliverer.  They were given over to the Philistines and Ammonites, the thorns left to harass them for their sin of disobedience and dishonor.  When they again cried out in prayer for God to save them from their enemies, He plainly told them that He would not because they had willingly chosen to reject Him and worship false gods even after He had delivered them before with the same empty promises to follow the LORD only.  Only when they confessed their rebellion as sin and accepted the consequences as they asked again for salvation did He take heed to their cries in sin’s misery.  He then sent deliverance once again.  This is a lesson for us to honor Christ for saving us from the hot wrath of God on our rebellious sin which we were saved from, and not turn back to the debase elements of the world opposed to His righteousness and honor and praise.  We must worship therefore in spirit and truth with loyal hearts, not returning to the idols of the world set in opposition to Him.  We need to live according to His revealed will in the word of truth and life out of love for Him who has saved us at such a price with such a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3, 10:29, 12:25, 28-29)!  Remember the grace and mercy of your deliverance at all times to avoid sliding back to the passing pleasures of sin and worship of anyone or anything of lesser glory and temporal greatness.  Eternity beckons us. 

Treachery’s Recompense

Judges 9:22-57
    22 After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, 23 God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24 that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. 25 And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.
    26 Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 So they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and made merry. And they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29 If only this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”
    30 When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused. 31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you. 32 Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. 33 And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the morning, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them as you find opportunity.”
    34 So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 When Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from lying in wait. 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”  But Zebul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.”  37 So Gaal spoke again and said, “See, people are coming down from the center of the land, and another company is coming from the Diviners’ Terebinth Tree.”  38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out, if you will, and fight with them now.”
    39 So Gaal went out, leading the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded, to the very entrance of the gate. 41 Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem.  42 And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. 43 So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and attacked them. 44 Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. 45 So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
    46 Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith. 47 And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.” 49 So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech, put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
    50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. 52 So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. 54 Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place.
    56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. 57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Abimelech who had his seventy half brothers killed now began to feel God’s displeasure.  The LORD turned those from Shechem against him and stirred up an outsider, Gaal to also set himself against Abimelech.  The plot was foiled by Abimelech when the ruler of the city warned him, and eventually those set against him were defeated.  He even burned many holed up in a pagan temple.  In the end, however, it was a woman with a milestone dropped from a tower in Thebez (which he was also trying to burn with all who fled there) who killed him.  As he lay on death’s doorstep, however, he had his armor bearer finish him off to cover the fact that a woman, not a warrior, was responsible for his death.  This is how God repaid treachery and murder by the recompense of a death earned by his ungodly actions.  Treachery’s recompense brings the consequences set by God.  We do well to consider these examples and live accordingly by the word of truth in righteous living as we follow Christ to become more hole as and because He is (Abimelech who had his seventy half brothers killed now began to feel God’s displeasure.  The LORD turned those from Shechem against him and stirred up an outsider, Gaal to also set himself against Abimelech.  The plot was foiled by Abimelech when the ruler of the city warned him, and eventually those set against him were defeated.  He even burned many holed up in a pagan temple.  In the end, however, it was a woman with a milestone dropped from a tower in Thebez (which he was also trying to burn with all who fled there) who killed him.  As he lay on death’s doorstep, however, he had his armor bearer finish him off to cover the fact that a woman, not a warrior, was responsible for his death.  This is how God repaid treachery and murder by the recompense of a death earned by his ungodly actions.  Treachery’s recompense brings the consequences set by God.  We do well to consider these examples and live accordingly by the word of truth in righteous living as we follow Christ to become more hole as and because He is (Colossians 3:25, 1 Peter 1:15-16, 2 Peter 3:11, Ephesians 5:27).