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Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. Judges 11:3 (ESV)

Jephthah came from a very dysfunctional background, his mother was a prostitute, he was rejected and disinherited by his family and then became the leader of a gang.
He became someone who was hurt, angry, bitter, ambition driven, manipulative, ignorant of God’s Law, abusive of his daughter, lacking boundaries, contentious, reactionary, revengeful, and doing what seemed right in his own eyes for his own gain.

God wants to help hurting people, so that they stop hurting people. Only a knowledge of God’s Word can break the bonds of sin and oppression and the cycle of hurt people hurting people.

Note the great contrast with the Lord Jesus. He too was despised and rejected. Even those in his only family thought he was mad. He had to contend with prideful pharisees. He was betrayed and abandoned and crucified with common criminals. The Lord Jesus serves as a model for overcoming dysfunctionality. Luke 4:18

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Judges 11:8 (ESV)

The elders of Gilead did not seek the Lord in making Jephthah their leader, they are reacting to the situation with the Ammonites. They later pay God some lip service but they are driven by selfish motives and ambitions just like Jephthah as we will see later.

The lesson for us here is that we need to seek God for his guidance especially in the middle of trouble. Thank God for the Spirit of Truth who guides and leads us into all truth John 16:13

Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. Judges 11:24 (ESV)

Theological accuracy is important. What we thinks about God is important. Wrong thinking about God can lead to much larger problems and is itself the root of heresy. Job’s friends are examples of those who argued like Jephthah with great articulation, logic, and emotion, they were sincere, but in the end they were wrong about God.

Jephthah reveals his bad thinking about God by comparing God to the false god, as if they were equals or opposing forces, this is played out tragically in the next scene where Jephthah commits human sacrifice, something Yahweh never demands, he is mixing the true God up with the ways of the false gods.

In today world theology matters, the worth of theological soundness has been depreciated in the church over the years but we must hold firmly to the core truth and creeds of our faith and seek to know the truth of Gods word so we might know God. See Jude 3

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, Judges 11:30 (ESV)

Jephthah is so arrogant that he attempts to manipulate God into giving him the victory to fulfill his own selfish ambition of ruling over his brothers.
True faith in God understands that God is in sovereign control and so rash vows betray a lack of faith in God and instead show a desire to control and manipulate God.

Our faith should on one hand seize the initiative to act in reliance on God and on the other be willing to wait on the Lord. However when we try to manipulate God, (who will not allow himself to be manipulated by anyone because he is God) we and those around us will suffer for our single minded selfish ambition.

Jephthah so desperately wants to rule over his clan that he fulfills the horrific and unnecessary vow showing how callous he really is to anyone or thing standing in the way of his goals.

Our lessons here are to avoid selfish ambitions, have faith in God and do not attempt to manipulate God as though he were a machine for your convenience.

The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” Judges 12:1 (ESV)

I deserve it mentality is everywhere in the west and we must guard against it, we see this in the people of Ephraim, so blinded by their felt needs and demands that they seek to go to war with their own people over it. Jephthah is no better than them, in fact he has just sacrificed his own daughter because of a manipulative vow which also has its roots in the I deserve it mentality.

Jephthah shows his callous self orientated mentality again by entering into civil war and killing his own countrymen rather that seeking reconciliation.

The lesson here is that we must avoid the I deserve it mentality and follow the example of the Lord Jesus who showed us that we should pray that God’s will be done, not our own.

We will experience frustrations in our relationship with God until we realise that God is not obligated by our actions to do anything on our behalf and that whatever he does is on the basis of his grace because we don’t deserve it. James 3:14–18

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ Philippians 3:8 (ESV)

The one thing that is worth more than anything in the world is knowing Jesus. We should mediate on that today, what is our greatest treasure, our soul’s greatest desire, it should be this

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. Psalm 68:19–20 (ESV)

We can trust God for salvation, we do not need to manipulate him, he desires to save us

Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. Judges 9:56–57 (ESV)

The account of Gideon and his children ends with a clear lesson, God is Sovereign. God was in control brining to pass the prophecy of Jotham. It was not random chance or the scheming wills of man, it was God exercising his kingship over the people by directing events to his purpose.

Here are some useful things to consider as we think about God’s sovereignty:

The English term sovereignty points to a person or political entity exercising supreme power over the whole area of their jurisdiction enjoying full autonomy with no rivals. When applied to God, we see his complete power over all creation so that he exercises his will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by men.

The main metaphor used in the bible to speak of Gods sovereignty is that of “ruler (king) and subject.” The doxologies (praises to God) and prophetic exclamations show this best, examples include: 1 Timothy 1:17, Daniel 4:25, Jeremiah 10:10 and Romans 9:19–21

So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. Philippians 2:29–30 (ESV)

Timothy and Epaphroditus are given as clear examples of the humble service centered lives God is calling us to work out as believers and has been Paul’s point for this entire chapter. We don’t hear much more about Epaphroditus but we can see elements in his service that we should seek to emulate.

One of these things was the willingness to risk his own life, he laid his life on the line for the sake of the Gospel. Usually risk is thought of as a bad thing, but as Christians we are called to live lives that are fully devoted to God and his kingdom which means we need to be willing to take risks and risk our own comfort and the approval of society as we serve Gods purpose in humility using the energy God has given us to work to his glory.

We must avoid the trap of living safe lives as Christians, we are called to risk it all for the glory of God, knowing the risk is from our own perspective, as Gods promises are sure. This is a call to exercise our faith as we serve God.

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! Psalm 68:1 (ESV)

God the sovereign king is victorious in battle, we can use this verse well when we pray

And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. Judges 8:16–17 (ESV)

Gideon, now full of confidence through the victories he has won, has unfortunately forgotten where he is coming from and so has become unmerciful and vengeful.

When he came to the people they refused to help him and his men making reference to the kings they were pursuing, knowing that if Gideon failed they would come under attack. Gideon should have understood this doubt and fear, because he had them too when God first called him, but God was merciful and patient with Gideon.

Jesus spoke about the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35, as we grow in the Lord, we must not make our victories go to our heads making us puffed up, proud and unmerciful, we should remember this is a walk of grace and so show grace, mercy and forgiveness to others. See Ephesians 2:5-8 and Ephesians 5:8

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Judges 8:21 (ESV)

Despite claims to the contrary, the god of islam is not the same as Yahweh (The true God of the bible shared by Christianity and Judaism).

One of the major symbols of Islam is the crescent moon. In the Ancient Near East the moon was worshiped by many people known as “Nannar” (light giver) by the Sumerians or “Sin”(lord of wisdom) by the Akkadians. Crescent ornaments were also symbols of the goddess Astarte.

Allah is another name for these mood gods. The ancient arabs had many gods, one of their most important deities was the moon-god called Ilumquh by the Sabeans, Wadd by the Mineans, ʿAmm by the Qatabanians, and Sin by the Ḥaḍramautians.

These gods are the root of the Islamic god Allah, the crescent moon god.

And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. Judges 8:27 (ESV)

Gideon shows us two pitfalls here, one is hypocrisy, the other is becoming a stumbling block.

In verse 23 Gideon had his theology (thinking about God) right and resisted the obvious temptation to rule over the people, but he succumbed to the more subtle temptation to hypocritically not give God the glory he deserved, the men said that Gideon delivered them when it was God. We must always give God glory in all we do and achieve (1 Corinthians 10:31).

In verse 24 Gideon took the next step from stealing God’s glory, he asks the people for monetary contributions, these are not for the tabernacle or society, these are contributions for Gideon himself, he saw an opportunity in the people’s adulation of him and took it. We must avoid this sort of egocentric manipulation of God’s people (2 Corinthians 2:17).

Finally Gideon takes the final inevitable step becoming a stumbling block, he sets up his own form of idolatry which becomes a snare to him and the people (1 Timothy 4:16).

and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Judges 8:35 (ESV)

Hypocrisy and compromise will never bear the fruit of faithfulness in the people so we should never be hypocritical or compromising to bring or keep people with Christ, when the scaffolding of compromise is removed the people will simply fall away.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

“Work out” in verse 12 is the greek word katergazomai which means working at, and finally accomplishing, a task whereas in verse 13 where it says “God who works in you” is the greek word energeō meaning to cause to function, grant the ability to do, bring about, produce, cause to be.

Summarising the greek, God gives us the energy so that we have the energy to work for him. This passage is encouraging us in our walk of sanctification, we need to humbly serve and grow in grace.

Living out the inner transformation that God has graciously granted. We work because we are saved not to be saved. This passage is expounded further on the church website here http://goo.gl/h4MmIZ

that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Psalm 67:2 (ESV)

God blesses us to be a blessing, our ultimate goal should be to spread God’s fame and glory throughout the earth, this is the heartbeat of missions

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Judges 6:14–15 (ESV)

This Angel was a theophany of God himself, an old testament appearance of Jesus.

In the previous verse Gideon displays his lack of understanding of Gods word as the oppression has come upon the people because they have forsaken the Lord again, but Gideon seems to blame God.

Gideon’s words may even be perceived as rude, God in his wisdom tells gideon to take the aggression and might behind his bold (rude) statement and put it to good effect.

We should not waste our God given energy and passion resisting or questioning God we should take it and use it for his purposes.

Use aggression, boldness, energy and passion for the Lord. This is only possible with a healthy understanding and appetite for God’s word. See Luke 10:27

But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. Judges 6:34 (ESV)

God appeared to Gideon and gave him the assurance that he would be with him and now in his amazing grace, despite Gideon’s doubt and fear God now extends his grace to his servant and clothes him with his Holy Spirit.

God graciously anoints us with his Holy Spirit for his purposes and work today too, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful and necessary grace. See 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and 1 John 2:27

behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” Judges 6:37 (ESV)

Some see the laying of fleece before God as a good thing but it displays a fundamental lack of faith in God’s word and Holy Spirit.

Today’s society demands proof for everything, this is a result of worldviews of naturalism, secularisms and modernity. This refusal to believe God’s word for what it says has filtered into the church, resulting in a need to see miracles and divine manifestations before God is believed.

This is extremely problematic, the preoccupation with signs, wonders and tangible proofs as a prerequisite for belief and action is a serious spiritual problem. Our work and progression for the Lord can be delayed and inhibited.

This also displays an unwillingness to act on Gods word, which reveals immature faith and our inclination to disobey Gods word, which is why we demand additional assurances.

Let’s take God at his word today. See Matthew 12:39

When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. Judges 7:22 (ESV)

God arranged this that he alone could get the glory. God doesn’t need great armies to accomplish his purposes. We should stand and play our part, Gods purposes will be worked out and come to pass to his Glory and our benefit.

As we blow our trumpets of praise today the enemy will be sent into confusion.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5–8 (ESV)

This passage is one of the best to show us the humility of Christ, it speaks of the incarnation where The Word of God, who is eternal and was never created, he was equal with God, yet he emptied himself of his heavenly glory and privilege and became a man, but not just a man but a servant going as far as to die on the cross for our sins.

This is the great example for all of us, none of us are the eternal Son of God, so if he can humble himself thinking of others first then how much more should we abandon selfish ambition and look to the good of others seeing them more importantly than we see ourselves.

Humble, self sacrificing service is the mind of Christ we should all have.

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. Psalm 66:5 (ESV)

God is awesome in his deeds, especially in the cross

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Judges 4:8–9 (ESV)

God gave Barak assurance that he would deliver the enemy into his hand, yet Barak displayed a serious lack of faith, he was not willing to go and fight unless his condition of the prophetess going with him was met. For this lack of faith Barak loses out on the glory and it is given to a woman instead.

God in his goodness is always looking to give good gifts to us but because of a lack of faith we can forfeit these blessings. When we do not trust God and demand additional assurances when he has already spoken to us, we may still be used by God but not to the fullest extent.

Barak wastes a lot of time and energy pursuing the glory of capturing the king. We can fall into the same trap hopelessly trying to make up for our lack of faith when the opportunity has passed.

We must learn from this to be willing vessels to be used by God, responding in faith to his word, we must cast feelings of doubt and inadequacy aside and trust God as we serve him in faith. see 2 Timothy 2:21

But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. Judges 4:21–22 (ESV)

God often uses those that are weak and looked down on to accomplish his purpose, Deborah was used by God as a prophetess and judge while Jael was used to exact God’s judgement on Sisera.

These two women who put their faith in God were both married and did not actively seek to rule over the people but were chosen and used by God.

Those who believe in feminism may seek to use there two as examples of women breaking society’s shackells. However Deborah does not fight in the actual battle as a warrior, she pronounces God’s plan to Barrack as a prophetess. All the other Judges fought for themselves as men, there is no example where God calls women to war, it goes against God’s principles for women to fight in battle, they should be cherished and protected. Jael killed Sisera after the battle, not in the middle of conflict.

We must guard against the influence of feminism in our lives and the church today, each of us should fulfil our God given role. see 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 (ESV)

If Jesus is the goal and centre of our lives our perspective will be the same as Paul. To live in the world we live as instruments in Gods hands, ambassadors of Christ, carriers of the great message of the Gospel concerning Christ, builders and heralds of his kingdom.

When we die we get the prize we are running after, the greatest treasure, the gift of the Gospel, the essence of the Good news is ours, we have and are held by Christ forever.

To die is our gain, we should not fear death, we are secure in Jesus we will be with God forever in heaven and have rewards and pleasures beyond anything our minds can comprehend… lets live and die for and in Christ.

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. Philippians 1:23 (ESV)

This verse is a simple apologetic against those like the Jehovah Witnesses which believe in soul sleep, the bible does not teach that our souls/spirits go into sleep or some intermediary state, when we die in the Lord our soul/spirit goes to be with the Lord immediately. The resurrection is concerning our bodies.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, Philippians 1:25 (ESV)

We will have true joy in God as we progress or grow in the faith, do not be content to be a baby in Christ, have a heart that desires progression and growth, this will bring you great joy and be pleasing to God as your faith is exercised

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, Philippians 1:27 (ESV)

Our faith is no private matter of opinions and beliefs it is a public declaration and message to all, a great proclamation that the King and his kingdom has come and all are bid to come and bow before him.

As ambassadors and heralds of this message we must live lives worthy of the gospel we proclaim. Live as though Jesus is the king, as though you are a subject in his kingdom, a solider in his army, a worker in his field, a member of the royal family…. live like that because that is the reality.

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! Psalm 65:4 (ESV)

We are blessed, God choose us to bring us close to him, we have been elected, we should live with that in mind. Our satisfaction should be in the gracious God who choose us to be saved. see John 15:16