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.
Read verse 6: And the cycle starts again... Israel sins. They worship LOTS of foreign gods.
Read verses 7-9: Israel is enslaved. It's severe oppression and attacks for 18 years!
Read verse 10: Israel cries out. They admit their fault in their oppression.
Read verses 11-14: God says no. Wait, what? Did I read that right? Yea, God definitely just told them He's not helping and to try their other "gods."
Read verses 15-16: People repent again and ask for deliverance. This time they ask sincerely and it's followed by actions. They stop sinning and serve the Lord.
Read verses 17-18: Ammonites come to fight... Israel gets ready too, but they want some one to lead them in the fight.
And the story continues in Chapter 11...
Read verse 1: Jephthah is a mighty warrior whose mom was a prostitute.
Read verse 2: His half-brothers didn't want him to share in their inheritance, so they drive him out of town.
Read verse 3: He goes to Tob and lives with worthless fellows. (Don't know if this will come in to play later, but... Who was the last guy that hung out with worthless fellows? Abimelech)
Read verse 4: The Ammonites start fighting Israel (all started in 10:17)
Read verses 5-10: Still in need of a leader, the elders of Gilead find Jephthah and the following dialogue ensues:
Now there's also some tricky wording going on that could be easy to overlook. They ask Jephthah to be their chief, meaning to be in charge of their military. He tells them that he wants to be their head, meaning in charge of the nation. It's two different Hebrew words.
Read verse 11: The people make him their chief and their head, so he is basically given complete control.
Read verses 12-27: They have a discussion through messengers about why the Ammonites wanted to fight. Jephthah gives the whole history and explains what has happened... And he's right; so the Ammonite leaders should listen.
Read verse 28: However, the Ammonite leaders don't listen.
And the story continues in Chapter 11...
Read verse 1: Jephthah is a mighty warrior whose mom was a prostitute.
Read verse 2: His half-brothers didn't want him to share in their inheritance, so they drive him out of town.
Read verse 3: He goes to Tob and lives with worthless fellows. (Don't know if this will come in to play later, but... Who was the last guy that hung out with worthless fellows? Abimelech)
Read verse 4: The Ammonites start fighting Israel (all started in 10:17)
Read verses 5-10: Still in need of a leader, the elders of Gilead find Jephthah and the following dialogue ensues:
Elders: be our chief.
Jephthah: no, you were mean to me.
Elders: sorry
Jephthah: ok, if God lets us win, I'll lead you.
Elders: ok, we concur.
Now there's also some tricky wording going on that could be easy to overlook. They ask Jephthah to be their chief, meaning to be in charge of their military. He tells them that he wants to be their head, meaning in charge of the nation. It's two different Hebrew words.
Read verse 11: The people make him their chief and their head, so he is basically given complete control.
Read verses 12-27: They have a discussion through messengers about why the Ammonites wanted to fight. Jephthah gives the whole history and explains what has happened... And he's right; so the Ammonite leaders should listen.
Read verse 28: However, the Ammonite leaders don't listen.
And the story continues in Chapter 11... but we didn't finish it. We'll pick up there next week.
Application:
- When things are going well, don't forget God. After 45 years of the land being at rest, Israel starts sinning again. It's easy to think we don't need God when things are going well. However, we need to continue serving Him because He is the reason things are going well.
- Be sincere in your repentance. Israel cried out to the Lord and admitted their sin, but did nothing about it. If you are truly sorry, actions should come with your verbal request. God will not forgive if you ask just because you feel regret or remorse, yet don't desire to change. Once Israel was willing to change their behavior, God was willing to forgive them. It's like when your mom catches you picking on your little brother and tells you to say sorry and you do so through clenched teeth. You don't really mean it; you're just doing it to appease your mother.
**All Scripture is quotes from the New American Standard.
Presidential info was taken from "Wooden Teeth & Jelly Beans: The Tupperman File"
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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.
Presidential info was taken from "Wooden Teeth & Jelly Beans: The Tupperman File"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
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