10:4 - 30 sons on 30 donkeys? That seems like a weird little phrase to put in there, but it is very meaningful. To be able to have thirty sons (which also implies that there are lots of daughters too, not to mention the children lost in birth), Jair would have to have his own harem. To be able to take care of a harem, he would have to have huge resources. Donkeys, in the ancient near east, were a sign of royal power. So, we have a judge who has a harem like an eastern pagan king, needs resources for his family like that of a king, and has sons riding around like princes. Jair is introducing a new trend in judges, where the Israelite saviors become more worldly and less focused on turning people back to God. Jair's focus is consolidating his own power base more than promoting God's power and justice.
10:10ff - This is a tragic back and forth between God and His people. I read through it and am instantly cut to the heart. How many times do I turn my attention away from God? How often do I bow down to the idols of this culture? And where do I go running when it all falls apart? Just like the Israelites, I go running back to God. I am so glad that God doesn't tell me, "God back to the things you sold me out for and see what those things can offer you in your time of need."
11:1-2 - Gilead must have adopted Jephthah as his son after the prostitute gave birth to him, because there would be no issue of inheritance if he had not. This is probably what went down. Gilead adopts Jephthah as his son. Gilead dies. The other sons take Jep before the elder council and sue to get the inheritance revoked from him. The elders side with the sons, because Jep is the son of a prostitute and Jephthah is driven out of the community. The irony of this understanding of the situation is that the elders who rejected Jep will soon come to beg him to rescue them.
11:3 - These men are not the "adventurers" that are described in the NIV. This is not Robin Hood and his band of merry men running around the desert. These men are morally corrupt, spiritually empty. Jephthah has become a cut-throat mercenary.
11:7 - Another ironic note is that the people treat Jephthah just like they treated God. They rejected him and turned their backs on him...yet when everything falls apart they coming running to him for help.
11:29 - Note that the Spirit of God is "on" Jep and not "in" him. With the OT judges, like we saw in Gideon's story, the Spirit of God is clothing them, almost like armor. This seems to tell us that God is with them in their battles, but the people still make their own choices (Which is evident by the stupid vow Jep is about to make). Since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ it is possible for Christians to have the Holy Spirit of God inside of them...helping them to make decisions and guiding them.
11:30-40 - Really uncomfortable story. First of all, the fact that Jephthah even makes this vow shows that he really has no understanding of God. God was working to deliver the Israelites. Jephthah did not have to make some crazy vow to get help. He makes a rash vow with huge consequences. Who did he think was going to walk through the door? It could have been an animal, but it could also be his wife or daughter - that's crazy! The horrible irony is that God despises human sacrifice - it is the false pagan gods that surround the Israelites that want human sacrifices. The fact that Jephthah follows through on the sacrifice continues to show that he knows nothing of God. Though breaking a vow is sin, God has made concession with stupid vows in the bible. Jep could have gotten out of sacrificing his daughter if he understood the heart of God. But he treats God as one of the pagan gods...he tries to manipulate Him into working for him and then makes a human sacrifice to pay for the help. Jephthah's daughter was killed by her father's ignorance and lack of faith.
12:4 - This is way more intense than saying they are fugitives. The people of Ephraim call the people of Gilead, "bastards (pardon my french)." They are calling the people of Gilead illegitimate heirs to the Israelite nation. It probably doesn't help the prospects of piece that the commander of the army of Gilead is actually the son of a prostitute.
12:5ff - I know this is about executing people, but it is still funny. The people of Gilead have a word that they know the people of Ephraim cannot pronounce...it must be due to an accent or dialect of Hebrew they have. They cannot make the "sh" sound, and every time somebody pronounces it wrong, they kill them. It's like cruelly giving them false hope.
12:9 - Again we see the judges that care little about God. Ibzan gives his sons and daughters int marriage with people from outside of Israel. This is how pagan gods continue to come into the culture of the Israelites. So instead of leading his people towards God, he is setting them up to reject God in the years to come.
12:14 - Here we see another judge that is acting more like a king than God's servant.
1 comment:
Ch 10:1-5 Well looky here, two rulers in a row that did not do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Hasn’t been every other one is bad up to this point?
Vs 6ff. I can see why the original game plan was to totally eliminate the enemy. Had they done that there would not have been Baal or Ashtoreth around, nor would they be taken over by others. The writers of Judges are clearly seeing this.
Vs 14. God doesn’t want to hear their talk, he wants to see action. As soon as they got rid of the idols and served the Lord, God moved. How many times have I prayed for God to get rid of a struggle but nothing ever happened, because I never move. God looks at me and says cry out to that thing that keeps your attention from me. Let that save you. I remember I used to pray for God to take away the desire for chewing tobacco. Nothing ever happened. Once I quit and stopped, He was there to help me through the withdrawals and gave me the will to stick to it. Nine years later I still thank Him for that.
Vs. 18. Reminds me of the old cereal commercial, “I’m not gonna try it you try it. I’m not gonna try it you try it. Hey let’s get Mikey to try it”.
Ch. 11. Here is another example of how God uses the outcast to make His name known, the son of a prostitute was leader over part of Israel for a time.
Now, here is one of these Old Testament moments that should be carefully considered. I am writing this before Brandon’s comments so I may be off base. After Jephthah makes a promise to God, there is no written response from God. Jephthah is victorious and sees his daughter on return from battle. God does not demand that Jephthah follow through on his promise, nor did Jephthah make a plea to God for his daughter’s life. Besides Abraham and Issac are there other examples of potential human sacrifice in the Old Testament to God? This is one of these times that I think that man has responded in the way they thought best, but were not necessarily following a direct command from God.
Ch.12. Not much unity in the twelve tribes here. Killing 42,000 of their own I’m sure will not settle well in the next few chapters. Sounds familiar within some churches today!
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