Download Study In Judges - Scripture Unpacked

Study In
Judges
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God Is Greater Than
Our Backgrounds
Chapter 10v1-11v3
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Introduction
After the sad and grim episode of Abimelech, there
is brief mention of two more judges, Tola, of the
tribe of Issacher, who judged Israel for 23 years v1-2,
and Jair, of Gilead, who judged Israel for 22 years v35. They are given only the briefest mention, but we
should not under-estimate their importance, for
between them they clearly dominated the life of
Israel for 45 years - which is a long time, on any
estimate. It should be noted that nothing is said of
any particular enemies of Israel in these verses.
This may not mean that there were not any; but it
may be an indication that in their judging and
defending of Israel v1 they kept the people from
idolatry, and within the ways of God, during that
time.
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Introduction
That is a great accomplishment? It is surely
better not to have needed a great and
spectacular deliverance, having fallen into
idolatry and sin, than to magnify God’s
mercy in deliverances like those
accomplished by Gideon, Barak and
Deborah.
Christians are sometimes tempted to be
envious, after hearing the testimony of
someone whom God has delivered from the
mire of blatant public sin … thinking, “if only
I had a story like that to tell”, but it is no less
impressive to recount that God preserved us
from blatant sin!
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Setting The Scene
Notice the disposition of the various enemies that
we have seen thus far in the book of Judges who
devastated Israel. In the time of Othniel of Judah
3v8ff, the enemy was Aram; in Ehud of Benjamin’s
time 3v15 it was Moab; in Deborah of Ephraim’s
time 4v1 ff) it was Jabin of Hazor; in Gideon’s time
(who was of Manasseh 6v1 ff) it was Midian and
Amalek. The next judge is Jephthah, the Gileadite of
Manasseh. And the next enemy is Ammon.
See the map and the geographical position of these
tribes and their enemies, and grasp how substantial
the threats to Israel’s security were. Israel’s
obedience was the only effective safeguard against
the encroachments of their enemies. They were
indeed being ‘shut up unto faith’’ Gal.3.23
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Tyre
Aram
Hazor
Kedesh
Harosheth
Israel
Ephraim
Bethel
Ammon
Ramah
Jerusalem
Moab
Amalek
Midian
Opression
Before, however, we come to the story of
Jephthah, there is a long introduction to occupy
our attention in v6-18 . The pattern of declension
unfolded in these verses has become a familiar
one, as we may see in v6, where a sevenfold
idolatry is described. The result of this was a
twofold oppression, by the Philistines and the
Ammonites v7.
The deliverance from Ammon was wrought by
Jephthah in the chapters which follow, and that
from the Philistines first of all, and only partially, by
Samson 13v1 ff, and fully and finally by Samuel.
The oppression in v8 refers to Ammon, the land
between the Jabbok in the north and the Arnon in
the south (half way down the Dead Sea].
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Aram
Tyre
Gilead
Israel
Jerusalem
Ammon
Moab
Edom
Amalek
Opression
It only took a year for Ammon to subdue Israel
[i.e. Gilead], and for the next 18 years they were
under subjection. Incursions were also made
into the west bank, to harass Judah, Benjamin
and Ephraim.
In v10 we have the familiar cries for help under
pressure: ‘We have sinned....’, but this was
simply a question of words, words, words! The
Lord’s response was a reminder of the
deliverances he had wrought for them in the
past v11-12 - the sevenfold deliverance
mentioned in these verses corresponds
significantly with the sevenfold oppression in
v7.
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Tyre
Aram
Gilead
Israel
Jerusalem
Ammon
Moab
Edom
Amalek
Opression
What is being indicated here, according to
Delitzsch is that, “Israel had balanced the
number of their deliverances by a similar
number of idols which it served, so that
the measure of the nation’s iniquity was
filled up in the same proportion as the
measure of the delivering grace of God.”
This comment serves to underline the
‘But’ in v13: in spite of all God’s patient
grace, this is what they did, and it serves
to explain the ‘so’ in v13b. God says:
‘Enough’, and v14 follows through the
statement that the ‘so’ introduces.
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God’s Chastening
In v14 we have an example of the
Psalmist’s words, “but to the devious you
show yourself shrewd” Ps 18:26b. This
severe Divine dealing had a salutary effect,
and the confession made in v15 is
different from that in v10, as v16, its
consequence, makes clear.
The words “Do... .whatever you think
best” indicate an acceptance of the
consequences of their sins, and a handing
of themselves into God’s keeping. The
theologian P.T. Forsyth’s speaks about the
holy God who is, ‘strong enough to resist
pity until grief has done its gracious work
even in his Son’.
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True Repentance
The words in v16, ‘they put away the strange
gods’ is the real test. This was done, not with
a view to gaining the Divine intervention, but
done anyway, because they now hated their
sin.
And it was this disinterested turning from sin,
without ulterior motive, when the love of
sinning was driven out of them, that changed
the Divine treatment of them. God’s love for
them, his attitude to them, did not change;
his treatment of them did, and had to. Hence,
‘God’s heart grieved for the misery of His
people’ v16b.
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A Leader Required
All this, then, in preparation for, and
introduction to, the story of Jephthah. In
v17-18, the scene is set: Gilead and
Mizpeh in Gad held the respective armies
[Mizpeh is South East of Succoth and
Penuel, south of Jabbok river].
The Gileadites are represented as
gathered together with a new spirit and a
new morale, but lacking a leader. But ‘a
new spirit’ and ‘a new morale’ are what
makes the raising up of a leader of stature
possible among the people of God. Ability
to shout loudly and stridently should not
be mistaken for leadership!
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A Contrast Noted
Note the contrast presented in 11v1-3between Jephthah and Abimelech, whose
grim record occupied us in the previous
study. For, of course, the backgrounds of
the two men are very similar. Both were
sons of harlots; both had a hard time, and
a difficult family situation - a deprived life.
Indeed, the nature of the contrast seems
to be to underline that it was even worse
for Jephthah than for Abimelech. There is
no record in chapter 9 that Abimelech’s
brethren [the sons of Gideon] did him any
harm. The resentment was all on
Abimelech’s side, and he imagined their
contempt of him.
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A Contrast Noted
But with Jephthah it was different: his brethren
did despise him, and discriminate against him [v2]
and drove him out, heartlessly, from home and
inheritance. Abimelech at least had the support
and help of his mother’s people at Shechem;
Jephthah had none of this. He was ‘on his own’.
The fact that Jephthah fled, [v3] suggests that his
brethren had threatened his life. In the land of
Tob, to which he fled, he became a brigand-chief
over a group of outcasts and misfits - and, it
would seem, did with them what David later did
with his men at Adullam, turned them into a body
of fighting men. Against the desolation and
loneliness of Jephthah’s background his evident
character and stature are all the more impressive.
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A Contrast Noted
Hebrews 11v32, underlines the faith of Jephthah.
And it certainly was a faith that worked a
transformation in his life, for he comes over in the
story as a grave, balanced, good and honourable
man, able and well equipped and endowed.
The truth of the matter is that in the stronghold of
Tob he met with God, and found in him One whose
love made him of inestimable value in his sight, and
made him what he became.
Think of the great words in Hannah’s song, “he raises
the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the
ash heap; he seats them with princes” 1 Sam 2v8.
This is how it was with Jephthah: when the Lord lifts
up, he does it in style!
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A Contrast Noted
This is the real message of Jephthah’s story,
as Hebrews 11 insists: it is the power of
Divine grace to overcome the tremendous
liabilities of any man’s background.
This surely adds a new dimension to our
understanding of Isaiah’s words, “A bruised
reed shall He not break, and the smoking
flax shall He not quench”. Isa. 42v3
Jephthah accepted his situation, and this is
the biggest lesson a man can ever learn, as
well as being the only realistic way forward.
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Acceptance
Amy Carmichael’s poetic words are
insightful and certainly apply in this
situation:
‘He said,
“I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His Son explain.”
Then did the turmoil deep within him
cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in acceptance lieth peace’.
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