There were some hard looks at rulers and sibling rivalry and battles but lessons to be gleaned:
- Jealousy and a thirst for power can make an ugly mix. Abimelech kills his brothers to gain rule over the people. The people allowed themselves to be influenced in ways they should not. We must be careful to ask God to help us discern who is telling us the truth; who has our best interests at heart; and who we should allow to take a position of influence in our lives.
- It can take years to undo damage. After Abimelech, there were two judges who ruled – Tola, who judges for 23 years, and Jair, who judges for 22 years. It takes 45 years to recover from the damage done by poor leadership. God was gracious to bring healing.
- God is moved by our misery. I continue to be amazed at how God is moved each time the people cry out to Him. He knows of our unfaithfulness to Him. It never escapes His eye. But His compassion towards us, when He sees our misery and hears our cries, is beyond comprehension. Judges 10:16, stood out to me > “And he was grieved by their misery.” He will respond to us when we cry out to Him with a sincere and repentant heart.
- Our words matter. We find the people again facing an enemy. Jephthah has been called back to lead the people. He speaks at length with the Ammonite king. One might have called Jephthah diplomatic for his words diffuse an otherwise, volatile confrontation. He tried to resolve this peaceably but the king was bent on war and used any excuse (even a lie) to wage it. We need wisdom when dealing with the combative or difficult people in our lives.
- Don’t make promises. Oh my gosh, was there ever a time that I wished I didn’t have to read something …. this is probably it. Yet there it is, written in God’s Word so there has to be something we can learn and apply from this sad story. Jephthah makes a vow, a very foolish one at that. He vows to sacrifice whatever comes out of his house to greet him. What?? He only has one child. Was he hoping for a puppy? It is horrifying to read that he followed through on his vow. He did not know, or remember, God’s Word about offering children as sacrifices, that this was an abomination to our God. There are several lessons to learn from this: ~ to be careful as to the promises we make; ~ to be sure our words always align with God’s Word; ~ to KNOW God’s Word so we do not follow through on something foolish. We desperately need discernment so that we can spot untruth when we hear it, when we see it and when we are about to do it.
Darcy Wiley shares this quote by Dale Ralph Davis:
“Our hope does not rest in the sincerity of our repentance
but in the intensity of Yahweh’s compassion.”
Today I am joining … #SmallWonder and Sharing His Beauty and Inspire Me Monday and #WordswithWinter and Playdates With God .
I love the book of Judges, and I also despise the book of Judges. Your synopsis of this study was tremendous. Thanks.
Michele, I will admit – this is the most I have learned from Judges. Darcey Wiley has done a tremendous job in writing the study. Hello Mornings does a wonderful job of selecting studies.
One of my fave sayings on the subject of jealousy is: “Jealousy, Envy is one of the great enemies of active spirituality. It keeps us from loving our neighbours, from functioning with others in community, and from affirming people’s unique worth. It also steals contentment from the heart. Is there anything or anyone you are envious of?”
-Charles R. Swindoll
Very good points to remember. Thank you Joanne for this post.
I invite you to share your posts at this linky: http://www.graciousinsight.org/is-god-lost-link-up-week-2/
Linked behind you at #SharingHisBeauty
Grace, you have shared a quote from my all time favorite Bible teacher – Chuck Swindoll! Very thought provoking indeed!
Our church is actually doing a study on the book of Judges now. I have always been so struck by the Lord’s compassion to His people, even when they disobeyed…
It reminds me of something I always say, when we have had a rough day with our little ones, and they have exasperated us to know end in disobedience, when we check on them at night peacefully sleeping, all the days battles seem as if never to had existed because we are filled with such incredible love for our sweet sleeping children.
This word picture has always helped me to understand the love of the Father. Because if me being imperfect can “forget” the days struggles with my little ones, how much more compassionately does the Father love of His children.
Karen, it is a beautiful picture to keep in mind as it is so true! There is something both beautiful & very precious about sleeping little one. Thank you for giving us this picture!
God’s grace, compassion & patience with us all will never cease to astound me. You have shared a great word picture to remember!
Hi Jo., coincidentally, my hubby and I were discussing something similar some minutes before reading this😃
Beautiful lessons to learn from Judges.
Have a good week.
Blessings to you
Don’t you just love when God weaves things together this way? I do. Helps me to remember how intricately involved in all our lives He truly is. Blessings to you!
I never quite comprehend that whole story and the foolishness of making such a vow but then how many times do we do similar things. Maybe not to that degree but words are spoken without much forethought and then we pay for them later. Thanks for this post. It gives us all something to think about!
Rachel, you have made a very sobering observation. Our words can be just as foolish at times. It is no wonder that God says all these things have been recorded so we would learn from them. Thank you for sharing!
“God is moved by our misery.” Such a simple, but profound statement. Blessings on your continued study, friend.
And I, for one, am so glad that He is!
I’ve always been bothered by the story of Jeptha and his daughter–so much so that I’ve never gotten around to thinking of the lesson God wants us to learn. Thank you for pointing this out to me! Even godly people do dumb things that sacrifice their children’s well-being by overcommitting.
We may not go as extreme as Jeptha did but we still can be quite foolish. May we ask God for wisdom in all our parenting requires of us.