The End of the Saga of Jephthah

Chapters 10, 11 and 12 are one narrative that all seem to flow together. Last week we read chapter 10 and the first half of chapter 11. This week, we finished chapter 11 and read all of chapter 12.

At the end of chapter 8, we read that the land was at rest. Chapter 9 was all sorts of upheaval as Abimelech tried to seize control of the land. At the end of chapter 9, Abimelech is killed and it seems like the land is at rest, even though we are not specifically told so.

Read verse 29: The "Spirit of the Lord" comes upon Jephthah. Remember, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon people in the Old Testament it was cause He was empowering them to do something special.

Read verses 30-31: Jephthah makes a vow to God. If He delivers them, he'll sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house.

The Beginning of the Saga of Jephthah

Chapters 10, 11 and 12 are one narrative that all seem to flow together. This week we read chapter 10 and the first half of chapter 11. Next week, we'll finish 11 and read chapter 12.

At the end of chapter 8, we read that the land was at rest. Chapter 9 was all sorts of upheaval as Abimelech tried to seize control of the land. At the end of chapter 9, Abimelech is killed and it seems like the land is at rest, even though we are not specifically told so.

Read verses 1-2: Tola judges Israel 23 years, then dies.

Read verses 3-5: Jair judges Israel 22 years, then dies.

Clearly not much information is given about these two men. They were judges for a number of years. Tola somehow saved Israel. Jair had sons with donkeys and cities. That's about all we know.
There are a few explanations for why this may be the case. They did nothing noteworthy (good, nor bad). Twelve is a popular number in the Bible, so they need to be mentioned so that we can have 12 judges. My guess is that they just lived during quiet, peaceful times (aka, the land was at rest). Think about it, if you are writing the history of the USA in 21 brief chapters, are you going to spend much time on James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Howard Taft, or Jimmy Carter? No, you'd focus on the guys at Mt. Rushmore (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt), FDR or JFK. They are the guys who were presidents at significant times in our country's history. It's not that what other presidents did was insignificant, just not as noteworthy. Of course, I'd give Taft a verse or two mentioning about getting stuck in the White House bathtub or mention in a verse that Garfield was the first left-handed president.

Abimelech

Like any great literary work, the book of Judges gives us some foreshadowing at the end of chapter 8. We are informed Gideon dies leaving behind 70 sons, including Abimelech. (And of course don't forget, Abimelech's name means "my father is king." We discussed some of the ramifications of that last week.)

The End of the Saga of Gideon

We played Balderdash as our game this week. Everyone is told some obscure word and has to write down a definition for it. We then read all the definitions, including the correct one, then everyone picks whichever they think it true. You get points if people guess your false definition or if you guess the correct one. We do the same this with a weird law too.
This week the weird law was: In South Carolina, it is illegal to crawl... Here are some possible answers:

1. in a cave.
2. under your neighbor's house.
3. down the sidewalk at night.
4. in a public sewer without government approval.
5. across the road.
6. under clothes racks in department stores.

Can you guess the correct one?


And then on to Judges... If you recall, at the end of chapter 7, Gideon had called upon the men of Ephriam to help him fight and they had cut off the heads of two Midiainite leaders.

Gideon's Strange Battle Plan

Actually it's more like God's Strange Battle Plan for Gideon...

Recap: In chapter 6, we saw Israel sin, Israel enslaved, Israel crises out to God, and God raises up a judge.

Read verse 1:  Remember what "Jeruabbaal" means and who it refers to? (He who contends with Baal... it's another name for Gideon.)

Read verse 2: Why does God say there are too many people? (There are still too many people for it to be clear that He delivered them from the Midianites and so they might boast.)
Read verse 3: Who leaves and why? (22,000 men, because they're scared)

"Positive morale is one of the most critical weapons in a soldier's arsenal... fear and insecurity can spread like wildfire in a group and [will hinder] success." -P. Shirer (Gideon p78)

Read verses 4-7: further whittled down by the way they drank water... 300 bringing water to their mouth would've been more alert to danger around them... may or may not be part of why
Read verse 8: so the 31,700 go home and the 300 prepare to fight
Read verse 9-11: God knew Gideon would want proof of what He said, so He gives him and option. Gideon takes the option because, of course, he's scared.

Read verses 12-15: huge camp and Gideon happens to come upon a man telling his friend about a dream. What was the dream? (bread tumbling into a tent) What did the dream mean? (Gideon's going to win) How did Gideon respond? (in worship to God)

Read verses 16-18:  What's the battle plan?

1. light a torch and cover it with a pitcher.
2. surround camp at night
3. break pitchers, blow trumpets, and shout "for the Lord and for Gideon"

"...the Lord's explicit aim in reducing the troops earlier was to ensure that the credit due Him would not be usurped by another..." (Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, G. Wong p223)

Read verses 19-20: They carry out Gideon's instructions (blinding light and loud noise). Does it work?

Read verses 21-22: YES! The Midianites turn on each other in their confusion.
Read verse 23:  some fled and were pursued

Read verses 24-25: Tribe of Ephriam (who hadn't been involved in the fighting) capture then kill two Midianite leaders and bring Gideon their heads. More on Ephriam next week...

Application:

• Obey even when it doesn't make sense to you. (They went to battle with trumpets and torches, not swords and shields.)  
• God is working things together for good, like it says in Romans 8:28. (It wasn't just coincidence that Gideon happened to overhear the dream. There were thousands of men that he could have overheard.)
• God can handle your doubt. He even expects it. (He offered Gideon a test knowing he was going to be scared and want it.)

**All Scripture is quotes from the New American Standard.
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I'm currently teaching on the book of Judges for the youth group Sunday school class. We normally spend half our time playing a game and the other half studying the Bible. These are my lessons and some funny tidbits that happen during the course of the morning.