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.
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.
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