Read Judges 7:16-25

There is truth to the saying that your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness. In the areas you are most confident, pride and negligence often take hold. Pride, as Proverbs tells us, comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

For the Midianites, their strength of numbers became their weakness, as God put them to battle against themselves in the fright of night. For Gideon’s army, their weakness and reliance on God was their strength. While Israel’s blades may have joined the fray, it was clearly God’s strength that made perfect Israel’s weakness, and God’s strength that made Midian’s strength their weakness.

In one encampment, Midianites were so numerous that they and their camels were like locusts upon the land. In another encampment, Gideon and Israel numbered just 300 in number. In worldly terms, an uneven fight; even the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae eventually fell to the great Persian Army.

But this was no ordinary match up of armies. Gideon and his servant had snuck into the Midianite camp, and heard how God had given Midian into his hands from the mouth of one of its own soldiers (vv.13-14). Gideon rejoiced, he knew victory awaited (v.15).

Gideon told the Israelites what he had heard and that “the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand” (v.15), divided the men into three groups, armed them with trumpets and empty jars with torches inside (v.16), and gave them instructions about how they would “attack” (vv.17-18). Hardly typical military weapons.

The little Israelite army surrounded the great Midian encampment in the middle of the night. They blew their trumpets and smashed the jars, revealing the torches of fire (vv.19-20). They cried out “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” (v.20). 

For the Midian force, it was as if the vanguard of an army had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them, in the middle of the night. Terror ensued. As the Israelites stood around, all the army ran, cried out, and fled (v.21). So desperate to escape this force, they fought each other (v.22). 

Except it was not worldly terror, but God making their strength of numbers their great weakness. “The LORD set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army” (v.22). In a sense, the Midianites defeated themselves. But they did so, because God ordained it so.

The remnants of the Midianite army fled the terror of the LORD come upon them (v.22). As they did so, the “the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian” (v.23). The men who years before had failed in their own strength to defeat Midian were now able, because God reduced the Midian strength to the weakness of a fleeing horde, not an organised force.

To complete the victory, Gideon called on the tribe of Ephraim to race down from the hill country to the Jordan River, seize the fords and crossings, and capture any Midianite who tried to cross (v.24). The Ephraimites did so, sealing the victory, capturing and killing Oreb and Zeeb. 

Oreb, meaning “raven”, and Zeeb, meaning “wolf”. Like the animals whose names they had taken, these oppressors of God’s People were hunted down and dispatched, facing the judgement of God’s hand through the arm of his people.

Trumpets and torches were the weapons of victory, but really it was faith in God that was the powerful weapon Gideon’s force held. Previously Israel had fought and lost in their own strength, and became weak. When they recognised their weakness and trusted in God, he made them strong. All they needed to do was shout “Boo!” and God did all the winning for them.

There is a lesson here for us. It is not the means of the world which grants victory, it is God. If we put our faith in God just as Gideon and his army did, God will save us. If we put our trust in worldly means, we will fail.

Gideon’s victory shows that it is God that wins through what the world derides as weakness. Jesus, dying a traitor’s death on the Cross, looked like a worldly failure. But it was God’s will that he suffered to bring us pardon from God’s judgement, and victory over sin and death.

Faith in Christ and holding to his Word is madness to this world, busy in their pursuit of sinful desires. But it is the breath of life, and sin is a banquet in the grave. The world may have the upper hand right now, but Jesus wins! Strength becomes weakness, weakness is made perfect in God’s strength.

How do we fight sin in our lives? In God’s strength, not ours. How do we endure the rejection of the world? In God’s strength, not ours. How do we proclaim Christ, his sacrifice for us and any who will believe? In God’s strength, not ours. He will make perfect our weakness, for his glory and honour.

Read Judges 7:1-15

Our world too often operates on the “might makes right” basis, whether it is through control of the levers of power, or invading other countries who have something you would like. Weakness is not a virtue, or a place from which victory is expected. Those that win through strength of body, supporters, or numbers, live in boastful pride that none can stop them.

But this position is not true. God humbles the proud, and lays low the wicked. Sometimes he uses great numbers, and sometimes the weak and humble to demonstrate his own power and leave no room for boasting. The victory of Gideon over Midian would be a demonstration of God giving strength through earthly weakness.

After receiving the assurance he sought from God, Gideon and those who answered his call arose and encamped beside a spring, with the Midianite horde gathered to the north (v.1).

Gideon and his force numbered 32,000 men, a formidable group to wage war against the enemies of God’s People. But that number was too many for God “to give the Midianites into their hand” in case they proudly thought that they had won the battle, not God (v.2).

So God commanded Gideon to order the fearful to return home (v.3). This order was from the Law, which in Deuteronomy 20:8 instructs that the fearful and fainthearted should be dismissed from battle, in case they affect morale and cause a dangerous and disordered retreat in battle.

The effect of this order was to send away 22,000 fearful men, leaving 10,000 (v.3). A considerably smaller force, which would face a significant disadvantage in battle. But still too many for God.

The next step Gideon was to take to refine his army was to “take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there” (v.4). There, Gideon was to split into two groups those who drank by kneeling, and those who lapped the water with their tongues (v.5).

While it might be tempting to place some military superiority in one group over another, the reality is the distinction was arbitrary and only to allow God to further weaken the Israelite force, in case they had any reason for pride in their fighting abilities.

Those who lapped the water were 300, while the remaining knelt to drink (v.6). With these God would defeat Midian. “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home” (v.7).

Gideon had his army of 300, to fight the countless thousands of Midianites. An unfair fight, because despite their few numbers, God was on Israel’s side.

God made this even clearer to Gideon by a very unusual means. God instructed Gideon to go down into the Midianite camp, and if he was afraid given his past acts and the extreme odds, to sneak in at night and hear what the Midianites were saying to each other (vv.9-10). By doing this, Gideon would “be strengthened to go down against the camp” (v.11).

Gideon went down to the giant camp, which was full of Midianites and allies like a swarm of locusts (v.12), and heard what must have been the most unexpected words to come from the mouth of your enemy!

Listening to the campfire chat, Gideon heard one Midianite soldier describe a dream where a loaf of bread knocked over a Midianite tent (v.13).

What was the interpretation of this dream? “His comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp” (v.14).

Imagine hearing that! Your own enemies are casually prophesying their doom. Only God could lie behind that message.

This was a message Gideon could not ignore. After flaming pyres and fleeces, an absurdly small force and an absurdly large prophecy of doom, Gideon knew that God would deliver Israel through his hand. He worshipped God, and raced back to the Israelite camp to tell them the good news (v.15). Despite their weakness, they were strong, because God had given them strength.

God wins through the humble and earthly weak today. God uses many humble folk to witness to him, to quietly work, and advance God’s kingdom despite the earthly desire for charismatic people.

God could use you to humbly and simply stand for him, in the place he has called you to. You do not need to be quick on your feet or “strong”, because God will give you strength.

After all, what was Christ if not the meekest and lowly, born in a manger, in a backwater of the Roman Empire. Yet this humble man of humble origins was God’s Son, sent to save us from our sins. Outwardly weak. But the demonstration of God’s strength, defeating the powers of sin and death that we could not conquer, lest we should boast in our own strength instead of God.

Read Judges 6:33-40

The Christian walk can feel like a constant conflict between strength and weakness. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we step out in faith and trust God’s promises, turning away from sinful patterns of life. Yet at the same time, our faith is still weak and requires reassurance, and our old ways still live within us.

For Gideon, his first steps in faith at following God’s commission to him were successful. But addressing the spiritual problem which caused the oppression of Israel was only the first step. The Midianites were still a problem that required dealing with. For that, God would clothe Gideon with power. Yet despite this, Gideon was still a man of weakness, who like us needed assurance from God.

After Gideon vanquished Baal by chopping down his idolatrous image and escaping punishment from an impotent non-entity, the next step in freeing Israel from bondage began. Gideon still had to deal with the Midianites and their human-locust ways.

The opportunity would not take long to appear. “Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel” (v.33). The enemy gathered themselves together, crossed into the Promised Land for their annual pillage, and camped in a northern valley of Israel.

Last time, Gideon had hid his wheat in the winepress out of fear. This time, “the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon” (v.34). Rather than fear, God clothed Gideon with his Holy Spirit, strengthening and empowering him for the battle ahead.

Gideon, clothed in spiritual power, “sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him” (v.34). He summoned his clan for the fight, and “sent messengers throughout all Manasseh” along with “Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them” (v.35). Clothed in God’s strength, Gideon assembled the strength of the surrounding tribes to take on their oppressors.

Despite this strength, we still see the same pattern of weakness in Gideon’s life. Gideon needed assurance that God would fulfil his promises. Despite the revelation and commissioning Gideon received. Despite his clothing in the Holy Spirit.

This need for assurance led Gideon to confirm that the steps he was taking were those which God wished. He wanted confirmation that God would save Israel by his hand, “as you have said” (v.36).

To seek this assurance, Gideon laid down a fleece on the the floor of a threshing pit, and asked that as a sign only the fleece have dew on it, “then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said” (v.37).

The issue is not unbelief, but assurance. Gideon is hesitant. He wants assurance that the steps he has taken are those God wishes him to take.

God did not respond with angry shouts demanding obedience, but the response of a parent reassuring a young, hesitant child. 

“And it was so” as God answered his request. “When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water” (v.38).

Yet this request was not enough assurance. Gideon asked for the even more dramatic reverse, where the fleece was dry and the ground damp (v.39). We would expect the fleece to soak up the surrounding damp, even if it did not fall directly on the fleece. This made the request even more profound, since it would violate “natural law”.

While our expectation might be God losing patience, instead “God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew” (v.40). Gideon’s weakness was assured. God was surely with him to drive out the Midianites.

Asking for this or similar miraculous signs today is not a valid understanding to draw from this passage. But there is a lesson for us. God recognises and is patient with our weaknesses, just as he was with Gideon. Jesus sympathised with our weaknesses in his ministry on earth and continues so now in his intercession at God’s right hand (Hebrews 4:15).

Instead of dew on fleeces (or not), God provides assurance to us through the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel and the Word preached, through Baptism and Communion, and in prayer. In these, God assures us of his pardon and his presence with us, and that he will fulfil his promises.

One of those promises was to fill his people with the Holy Spirit (Joel 2, Acts 2), which is fulfilled today for all believers. Through the Spirit’s work of application, we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness. We are equipped to increasingly fulfil the call to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God (Eph. 4:24); to put on Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14).

Through the Holy Spirit clothing us with Christ, we are strengthened even in our weakness to fulfil the mission God has given us, reassured of God’s presence by the means of grace.

Read Judges 6:25-32

Nobody likes it when their idols are cut down. Our idols reflect our sinful desires, whether as individuals or as groups. Whether they are an ideology, a practice, or a physical object, idols are very precious to us. When they are shown to be the impotent things they are compared to God, trouble is not far behind.

Gideon discovered this lesson very early in his mission from God to rescue God’s People from the menace of Midian. His first act, at God’s command, was to cut down the local idols to the false gods which divided the loyalties of God’s People. This placed a demand on Gideon, as it did on God’s People; to choose God over the false gods who cannot fight for themselves. That same demand falls on us today.

The evening after God commissioned Gideon, and Gideon built an altar to God at Ophrah (v.24), God once again spoke to Gideon. The message this time was a command.

“Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down” (vv.25-7).

This command was a demand. If Gideon was to deliver his people, it was not enough to treat the symptoms; that is, their oppression by Midian. If Gideon was to deliver his people, he needed to treat the cause of their oppression; their divided loyalties.

This divided loyalty was symbolised by the idols that Gideon’s own father had established for the locals, to the Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah. Gideon was to attack this idolatry by cutting it down, and reconsecrating it to God by building an altar “in due order” following the commands in Deuteronomy 12:3 and Exodus 20:24-5 and sacrificing a bull to God on it.

Two sets of altars stood in close proximity. One to God, and one set to false idols. This could not stand. Baal might be happy to share the idolatry and immorality of false worship with Asherah, but God will not share worship of himself with anything else.

Gideon recognised the demand, and heeded it. But Gideon was not yet a brave man, still the guy like you or I who fearfully threshed his wheat in secret to avoid the eye of Midian. Gideon “took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him” (v.27) but did so at night “because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day”. 

Gideon knew that he was cutting down idols, and that it would upset the locals who had become accustomed to the “sacrifices” and “worship” given to Baal and Asherah. While perhaps some might question him for obeying God by night, at least he obeyed!

Gideon’s fear of the locals was not unfounded. “When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built” (v.28).

Shock! Horror! Breaking News! The local mob stir to answer “Who has done this thing” before word arrives that it was Gideon, son of Joash (v.29).

The mob want their vengeance for the cutdown of the idols, telling Joash to “bring out your son, that he may die” for daring to do such a thing (v.30). The crisis caused Joash to come to his senses at least, as he challenged the locals saying essentially “If Baal is a God, let him kill my son himself!” (v.31).

No lightning came from the sky to smite Gideon, so the matter was decided. Gideon was given a new name – Jerubbaal, meaning the one who contends with Baal. Gideon fought Baal, and demonstrated Baal was a useless idol without minions to do his bidding. Gideon spiritually cleansed his little part of Israel. The Midianites were next.

It should not surprise us that the locals reacted to Gideon’s act as they did. We can expect exactly the same today when we stand up and point out the impotence of our culture’s idols; its passions and desires worshipped through culture and legislative change. 

Money, sex, power, expressive individualism; these are the idols of our age. Like Gideon, we are called to stand and declare that there is only one God, even if it attracts the anger of the locals. We must fear God, rather than man.

But we must also look to our hearts for idols. Any sinful desire that divides our loyalties between it and God is an idol that must be cast down, and the ruins sanctified. Thankfully, through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s help, we are enabled to heed God’s exclusive demand.

Read Judges 6:11-24

What skills and attributes do you need to serve God? Does God only call people who meet certain standards to serve and honour him? While God does set standards for those he calls to Eldership or the Diaconate, in general God calls us despite our sinful inadequacy to serve and enjoy peace with him.

In Judges 6:11-24, God calls Gideon to lead Israel in throwing off their Midianite oppressors. God approaches Gideon in his weakness, commissions Gideon with a promise, and assures Gideon with a sign. Gideon realises the heights of God’s holiness and the terror of his inadequacy, but experiences the peace with God that ultimately comes to us all through Jesus.

The first ten verses of chapter six establish the need for another Judge to lead God’s People in driving out their oppressors. The Midianites are like locusts on the land, taking all the food and resources and leaving the Israelites impoverished and hiding their crops to have something to eat.

It is in that context that God approaches Gideon in his weakness. Gideon, like the rest of God’s People, are fearful of the Midianites and their locust-like ways. Gideon “was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites” (v.11), which is not the standard way of beating out wheat. 

Normally, to separate the wheat from the chaff, large open spaces were used to allow the wind to carry away the chaff. Gideon instead is hiding his wheat in a winepress (which is designed to not let contents escape), to avoid detection.

As Gideon was hiding his wheat in the winepress, “the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah” (v.11) which belonged to Gideon’s father, and announced to fearful Gideon “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valour” (v.12). God declared Gideon a man of valour, because God was with him.

Gideon responded by asking why, if God was with Israel (not just him), then why were the Midianites oppressing them (v.13)? God had already answered this question when he sent the prophet to Israel (vv.8-10).

As this question from Gideon missed God’s point, and had already been answered anyway, the passage moves to God commissioning Gideon with a promise. This promise was already given in verse 12, it is repeated again.

“Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” (v.14). God would specifically be with Gideon. Specifically to save Israel. God was sending Gideon.

Gideon’s response showed his hesitancy to step into the role God was commissioning him to. He questions how he could be Israel’s saviour, given he was the youngest son of the weakest clan of Manasseh (v.15).

God’s response emphasises his adequacy in Gideon’s inadequacy. “I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man” (v.16). Just as with Moses (Exodus 3) and Joshua (Josh. 1) before, God would empower a reluctant leader to serve him.

Despite this promise of sufficiency in God, Gideon wanted a sign (v.17). He wanted to know that the promise was truly from God. So God assured Gideon with a sign.

The angel of God waited as Gideon prepared a meal for him, a process which would have taken some time (vv.18-9). Then, Gideon followed instructions to lay these on a rock, with the broth poured over (v.20). Would God accept the offering?

The answer was yes, as the angel’s staff touched the rock, which erupted with flame and turned the dampened meat and bread into cinders! At the same time, Gideon’s visitor vanished (v.21).

Only at this point did Gideon realise that the messenger was not just from God, but was God. This realisation brought fear, not assurance (v.22).

Despite this, God followed up his sign with words of comfort to Gideon. God spoke to Gideon from the sky, telling him “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die” (v.23). Gideon accepted his commission, rested in this assurance, and built an altar there that spoke of the peace which comes from God (v.24).

While Gideon’s response of terror might seem odd to us, it reflects his view of God’s holiness which we forget or downplay today. God’s holiness is awe inspiring. It causes terror, it caused grown men to faint (Daniel 10, Revelation 1:17).

It is only as we grasp God’s holiness and our sinfulness that we can truly grasp the wonder of peace with God. God’s mercy is so great because his holiness is so great. His forgiveness and grace are so amazing because of how far we fall short of his glory.

This peace was available to men like Moses, Joshua, and Gideon, because of Christ’s holiness. Christ’s holiness given to us, and our sinfulness paid for by his death on the Cross, is the reason we have peace with God. It is the reason that, like Gideon before us, our inadequacy is made more than adequate to serve God.

Read Judges 6:1-10

You would think that after God’s mighty acts of salvation, God’s People would stay on the straight and narrow. Sadly, this was not what happened. God’s People once again forgot God’s goodness to them and fell into sin. 

You would think that after God’s mighty act of salvation, we would stay on the straight and narrow. Sadly, this is not what happens. We often forget God’s goodness expressed to us through Jesus, and fall into sin.

Often in these situations, God disciplines us to draw us back to him. When we cry out, God will deliver us. But sometimes, before doing so God reveals the reasons for the discipline first, so that we might follow the path of holiness. Yet this discipline and criticism, just as in Judges 6, comes with the promise of his goodness and grace towards us.

After Deborah and Barak’s victory over Sisera and Jabin, the land was at peace for forty years (5:31). God’s deliverance of Israel from her oppressors led to songs of praise, which should have reminded God’s People of their saviour and encouraged them to thankful obedience.

Sadly, as before, this did not happen. “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (v.1) once again, inviting God’s anger and discipline once again.

This discipline came in the form of the Midianites, from the south (v.1). In Deborah and Barak’s day, salvation in the form of rain sent by God to bog down Sisera’s chariots came from the south (5:4). Now discipline comes from the south.

The description of the discipline Israel endured is quite detailed. At first is a slightly cryptic statement – “the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds” (v.2). Why would Israel see the need to hide away in caves and dens, or build forts to hide inside?

The answer is that the Midianites were like a horde of human locusts. Whenever Israel planted crops for food to eat, “the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them” (v.3).

Then they would eat. They would “devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey” (v.4). They came with the animals and stripped the land clean of food; just like locusts, the book of Judges describes them (v.5).

Imagine years of this. You plant your crops to feed yourself, your kids, and your animals. And then the Midianites come like a swarm of locusts, swallowing it all up. You are tired, defeated, hungry, and poor. Feeding yourself and those you love is hard. You have to hide as much food as you can in caves and dens. No wonder Israel was brought low by Midian, and “the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD” (v.6).

In this situation, no doubt God’s People wanted God to strike down the Midianites as he had oppressors beforehand. But this is not God’s first act in response to their cry for help.

Instead, God sent a prophet (vv.7-8), because Israel needed to know why they were in that position. What they need is a miracle of deliverance, yes, but before that they need a reminder. It was not a random chance that saw them subjected to Midian’s stripmining, but God, whose voice they did not obey when they worshipped once again the false idols of the land (v.10).

Yet in this reminder, there is also a reminder of God’s goodness, graciousness, and past acts of salvation. God reminds them of who he is, in relation to them: the God who rescued them from Egypt and gave them the land they dwelt in (vv.8-9). None of these things were what they deserved, yet God had mercy on them.

While these words instead of acts might seem mean, they are actually kind. The prophet sent by God expresses God’s sympathy for their situation, because while it indicates God’s willingness to once again act, he does not leave them unaware of the reason for their strife.

God does the same for us too. Discipline comes to our lives in many shapes and forms. Perhaps it comes in subtle ways, rather than the dramatic modern-day equivalent of a Midianite stealing your food. But nevertheless, if we are God’s children then he does discipline us (Hebrews 12:4-11). It might be unpleasant, but it is for our benefit; that we might turn to God and not to the idols of our heart or this present evil age. We cannot blame God, because he is always good to us.

That goodness is expressed in the salvation we have received through Jesus, received every time we repent, and every breath we take. And accompanied with the reminder through his word – preached, taught, read – that our misery comes from our sin. But our redemption and release comes from God.

Read Judges 5

My younger son likes to ask lots of “why” questions. He likes to ask on a variety of topics, but at least one of them (which I actually appreciate for a change) is why we do things at church. Why do we go to church on Sunday, and not Tuesday? Why do we sing? Why can’t I go to Sunday School?

These “why” questions are really important. We do these things for a reason. Why do we sing at church? It’s not because of an enjoyment of choral music, but because we are gathering together to sing praises to God. Why? Because of who God is, and what God has done.

Singing praises to God was important throughout history, and in Judges 5 we see another song which sings praises to God for who he is and what he had done for God’s People in delivering them from their oppressors. This song speaks of God’s action versus Israel’s plight, the different approaches of God’s People to the call to arms, and praise for God’s servant versus the mother of wickedness.

Firstly, Deborah and Barak’s song speaks of God’s action compared to Israel’s plight. They offer praise to God for raising up God’s People and leadership for the deliverance (vv.1-3). Their deeds responded to God’s calling.

Next, they describe God as going forth from Seir and marching out from Edom. When this happened “ the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.  The mountains quaked before the LORD, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel” (vv.4-5). The God who went out to conquer Sisera was the God who saved them from Egypt.

Compared to this lively action, the Israelites cowered. They did not use the highways, only byways, due to thieves, and they were defenceless (vv.6-8). It was only when they saw how desperate they were, they understood how great God is. And now victorious, the humble and even the greatest should praise the greater God (vv.9-11).

Secondly, this song contrasts the different approaches of God’s People to the call to arms. While most were cowed by their oppressors, a noble few answered God’s call and marched out, led by Deborah and Barak (vv.11-13). Amongst them were Ephraim, Benjamin, West Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali (vv.14-15,18) who risked their lives for the sake of Israel and serving God.

In contrast, others played it safe. Reuben discussed joining the uprising thoroughly, but the sheep needed watching (v.16). East Manasseh across the Jordan found the river “too hard” to cross, while Dan and Asher had maritime trade they had to maintain (v.17). The local inhabitants of Meroz, close to the battle, are cursed for their failure to join God’s side (v.23).

The faithful tribes fought alongside God, and were joined by the elements of nature (vv.19-20). That meant God was fighting, as he sent a torrent to flood the valley and wreck Sisera’s chariots (vv.21-2).

Thirdly, Deborah praises God’s servant Jael, and mocks Sisera’s mother. Two women have their fruits contrasted.

Where Meroz was cursed, Jael is blessed for coming to Israel’s aid (v.24). The song graphically retells Jael’s acts, as she lulled Sisera into security then smashed a tent peg into his head, delivering God’s judgement on him (vv.25-7). While confronting us, this is Israel’s delight in God’s deliverance; with no sugar coating.

Contrast this with Sisera’s mother, sarcastically described as pining at the window for her son to return from war (v.28). She and her attending princesses reassure themselves falsely that it takes time to divide up the spoils of war and brutalise the women (vv.29-30). The wicked fruits of this woman’s womb will lead to her sorrow, while the good fruits of Jael lead to blessing. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

The song closes with a hope that the demise of Sisera would fall on all God’s enemies, so only God’s Kingdom remains. At the same time, it called Israel to faithfulness in their covenant love and friendship with God, and to find their strength in him (v.31). If they would do so, the rest would not just be 40 years, but forever.

This too should be our prayer. That we will be faithful to God, loving him and keeping his commandments until God crushes all God’s enemies under his feet, just as Jael’s tent peg crushed through Sisera’s skull. Secondly, that we will hear and answer God’s call on our lives, to wage war against sin and witness to the world of God’s greatness and his soon-coming judgement of the nations.

It also reminds us that God’s deliverance is something to savour. While a tent peg is brutal, it delivered many of God’s People from great brutalities. In the same way, the brutality of Christ’s death on the Cross saves many people from the brutality of eternal judgement. This is not something we should shrink from, but something we should embrace and dwell upon.

God’s goodness, greatness, and deliverance of his people is always something to praise.

Read Judges 4

So far in Judges we have seen unusual characters and means of victory. An ordinary, God-fearing man. A left-handed man. An outsider. All of these have demonstrated the different ways God uses different people, often those the world would not choose, to fulfil his plan.

Judges in Chapter 4 God further demonstrates his use of unusual means to save his people; two women. Where the men are weak, fearful, and cowardly, two women are brave and courageous, striking a blow for freedom.

Ehud’s victory over Eglon brought peace to Israel, but that peace was imposed and when Ehud died, Israel reverted to its wilful, disobedient ways (v.1). Again, God disciplined Israel by placing under the yoke of Jabin, a king in Canaan, and his general Sisera (v.2). And true to the pattern, Israel cried out to God, asking for deliverance again (v.3).

The men of Israel appeared to be weak and incapable of providing spiritual or physical leadership, which is apparent in this passage. Leadership of some sort is instead provided by a woman named Deborah, whom God has called as a prophetess and provides some sort of magistrate role (vv.4-5).

Deborah called Barak to take leadership of Israel’s military in the north (around Galilee), and defeat the pagans who oppressed God’s people (v.6). Barak was instructed by God to assemble an army of ten thousand at Mount Tabor, and from there march out to where God would deliver them into Barak’s hand (vv.6-7).

Unfortunately, Barak feared Sisera’s chariots (v.3), thinking he and his men would be slaughtered. He would only go if Deborah came with them, as a sign of God’s presence (vv.8-9). Barak abdicated his leadership.

To emphasise Barak’s cowardice, it would be a woman who delivered the blow for God, not him (v.9).

The Israelite force, with Barak and Deborah, gathered at Mount Tabor, while Sisera and the chariots gathered nearby in a valley to smite the upstarts (vv.10,12-14). Meanwhile, a certain Kenite (with family links to Moses) and his wife had relocated to the area (v.11).

While strategy, force of arms, and tactics may win battles between nations today, it is God that grants victory for his people. “the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword” (v.15). The 1200 BC equivalent of a tank was no match for God, defeated by God sending a rainstorm to flood the valley and bog down the chariots (5:21). 

Mighty general Sisera fled the area on foot, leaving his troops to be slaughtered to a man by the suddenly emboldened Barak and troops (vv.15-16).

Ordinarily Barak as leader would bag the prize of Sisera, but God was clear through Deborah that an unlikely vessel of victory would deal to him (v.9). That woman was Jael, wife of the Kenite who had moved to the area (v.11) and who apparently was in league with Jabin and his rule over Israel (v.17).

Thinking that he was at a place of refuge, Sisera was easily deceived by Jael’s invitation and provision to think he was safe (vv.18-20). He lay down to sleep, weary from his flight and the pursuit of Israel.

At this point, Jael took a tent peg (a large wooden peg) and smashed it into Sisera’s head! Unfortunately for Sisera it seems that Jael was no fan of him or Jabin’s acts, and she much preferred God over her husband’s alliances. The mighty warrior, who brought fear to Israel for his king was killed by a woman (shock horror), not the leader of Israel’s resistance (v.21). All Barak was there to do was to confirm the kill (v.22).

On that day, God overcame the enemy of his people through two unlikely vessels; two women who respectively led, and bled a general (v.23). From that blow, Israel was able to drive out and destroy Jabin and his rule over them (v.24).

Clearly, no mighty warrior of Israel conquered Sisera and Jabin. It was God who was victorious, sending the rain which made the chariots useless, and sending Sisera to Jael’s tent, where he met his judgement.

The message of this passage is that it is God who delivers and saves. Two women are the unlikely vessels by which God raised an army and drove a tent peg. 

In our lives, it is God who delivers and saves through having taken human flesh. And, in unlikely fashion, being born in a lowly cattle stall, living a humble life, and dying a criminal’s death on the Cross for us.

This passage is not about women’s roles in church life, though in it women play a big role due to their men’s weakness. And all women certainly have a role to play in many parts of church life. Instead, this is a passage about how God saves despite manly weakness, through what the world sees as unlikely heroes called to a special role, as vessels of salvation for God’s People.

Read Judges 3:31

Sometimes in the Bible, just as in our everyday life, there are people who play a significant role but only in passing, then fade away. Someone who provides support in our time of need, then is only a memory, or a person whose actions save many only to fade into obscurity.

Shamgar, a judge whose account is sandwiched between the account of Ehud and the account of Deborah and Barak, is just one of those important but passing characters. We do not know much about who he was, where he came from, what he did, and what effect it had on Israel. He only rates a one verse mention. But he is still important, because the Bible points him out.

Shamgar’s account, brief as it is, reminds us that God works through the ordinary and the transitory, just as he works through the dramatic. It also reminds us that the issues God’s People face can be issues faced later, even if the times seem unique. And it also reminds us that sometimes God’s salvation plan is advanced by those who seem to be outsiders, but have come to sympathise with us.

After Ehud defeated the Moabites, Israel rested for eighty years (v.30). But this was not the end of their troubles. Other foreign nations would arise and cause problems.

Ehud’s successor was a man named Shamgar. We know very little about Shamgar. His name is likely not Israelite, which suggests he was either a foreigner whose acts helped Israel, or more likely (in my view) a foreigner who became a follower of God and sympathised with God’s People.

Shamgar is named as a son of Anath. This may mean he was a worshipper of Anath, a Canaanite goddess of war associated with Baal. Or perhaps Shamgar lived in a Beth-Anath in the area of Judah in the South of Israel and was thus one of its sons, like a rugby player being the “Paekakariki Express” or another title; there were places named such in north and South Israel (Judges 1:33, Josh. 15:59).

We also do not know if Shamgar acted alone, or with a few friends, or with a local militia. What we do know is that he “killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel” (v.31). 600 is a sizable number to kill. Perhaps it was a raiding party or a scouting party looking for easy prey; their lack of return suggested it was unwise to send more troops.

What we do know is that Shamgar used an oxgoad as his weapon. This was essentially a large spear, about two metres long. One end contained a sharp prick to goad the oxen where they would otherwise not like to go, thank you. The other end had a spade for cleaning the plough that oxen often pulled. This tool of animal husbandry could serve as a useful spear or bayonet as an improvised weapon, or an effective club.

We also know the enemy that Shamgar vanquished – the Philistines. The Philistines were mentioned in Chapter 1 with their iron chariots, but otherwise have not appeared until now in Judges. Later, they will become Public Enemy Number 1 by the time of Samson, and a problem even into King David’s reign. But before Samson, Saul and David battled the Philistines, Shamgar defeated them and set them back in their plans for a time, and thus saved Israel.

Shamgar must have been a public figure of his day, because Deborah knew of him (5:6). But by the time Judges was compiled, Shamgar was relegated to a footnote of history. Someone to mention, but not to expand on.

Shamgar, in other words, for all his past deeds, was another transitory figure God worked through to advance his plans. God used Shamgar, but the lesson of Shamgar is that God uses all sorts of people to advance his plans. Even people who are reduced to minor players in Judges. Even people who never get a mention.

In the same way, God uses us to advance his plans. Not just the Big People of history (most who will be forgotten in enough time anyway), but ordinary everyday people. Whatever our gifts, our place, and what we have to hand, God uses us to advance his plans. Others may not know, but God knows.

We also see that the Philistines, who still troubled Israel hundreds of years later, were Shamgar’s foe. Likewise, many of the issues the church faces today, whether moral, spiritual, or physical, are issues faced by the church throughout the ages. We can take comfort that just as God delivered his people in the past again and again, so too he will deliver us today from the same issues facing us.

Finally, Shamgar was an outsider who God used to deliver his people. Sometimes, outsiders deliver God’s people from their troubles. After all, what greater outsider is there than the Creator of Creation, God the Son? He became human like us, sympathised with us, and delivered us from our enemies of sin and death.

Read Judges 3:12-30

Sometimes laughter is the best medicine. Laughter reduces stress, and can make difficult situations bearable. It can bring perspective to sometimes scary and serious problems, and can reduce the lofty ideas of this world to the parody they are.

Judges 3 contains a story which holds plenty of comical relief, along with an element of personal gorishness which surprises and shocks our sensibilities. But along with the comical relief, the story describes a different type of relief; a relief from oppression.

Despite the gore of the story, the story of Ehud the Judge parodies the attempts of the world to grow wealthy through oppressing God’s People. Eventually, judgement comes. Ehud is a saviour for his people, who restores their peace for a time. He points forward to Christ, who in defeating the world will give his people rest for all time, with a down payment enjoyed today.

After Othniel died, “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” and God once again sent foreigners to test and discipline Israel for their sinfulness (v.12). Eglon of Moab, together with the Amalekites and Ammonites defeated Israel, and subjected Israel to Eglon’s rule for eighteen years (vv.12-14).

This service came in the form of tribute (v.17), likely substantial amounts of food and the crops of the land. In that situation, the people of Israel would have become very thin, while their conqueror “Eglon was a very fat man” (v.17). Think Jabba the Hutt fat, likely off the sweat of the Israelites.

When Israel came to their senses and cried out to God, he again raised up a Judge to save them (v.15). Ehud was left-handed (v.15), a distinctive from God which would come handy. Assigned to deliver the tribute to Eglon, Ehud made a sword and fastened it to his right thigh, which would not draw attention from guards (expecting a right-handed man with a sword on the left; vv.15-18).

After dismissing the tribute-bearers, Ehud convinced Eglon that he had a secret message, so all Eglon’s guards and attendants would leave them alone (vv.18-19). Ehud then presented “a message from God for you (v.20) in the form of the sword embedded in Eglon’s belly, who was so large that his body swallowed the sword whole (vv.21-2).

To make his escape, Ehud closed the doors behind him, as if Eglon had wanted some privacy (v.23). His servants waited around embarrassingly longly as they assumed he was using the conveniences, until concern overcame hesitance and they discovered Eglon dead (vv.24-5).

In the meantime, Ehud had escaped and rallied the troops at Seirah (vv.27-8). Ehud then led the Israelites down to attack their oppressors “for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand” (v.28).

The Israelites seized the strategically important fords over the River Jordan and blocked the oppressors off from reinforcements, before defeating the 10,000 garrison troops to a man (v.29).

From that point on, Moab no longer oppressed Israel but in a classic reversal of fortunes, Moab fell subject to Israel (v.30). As with Othniel, Israel again enjoyed a period of peace and rest, this time for eighty years (v.30). 

Of course, the fact that this peace was only for eighty years highlights that it was only a temporary peace. Israel had peace because they had turned to God in repentance and God had delivered them, through Ehud. But they would squander the opportunity given them again, and the cycle would begin again.

While this story is messy and certainly gory, it does remind us that God works in all sorts of situations to achieve his purposes. Even scenarios involving deceit, messy deaths, and an almost satiric retelling and recording into history. Even the absurd is under God’s control, achieving God’s purposes. If God was willing and able to work in the messiness of Eglon’s downfall, God can surely work in the messiness of our own lives.

It also shows that there is a judgement for the world in oppressing God’s People. While Israel’s subjugation was God-ordained because of their sin, it was still oppression of those God loves. Eglon literally grew in largesse through stealing from Israelite mouths. But despite this worldly success, his excess was his downfall. 

In the same way, while it may seem today that the oppressors of this present evil age are winning, their success will end and they will be humbled before Christ, as every knee bows and tongue confesses he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Ehud’s left-handed stroke brought relief for Israel from its foes. But that relief was only temporary. It eventually ended, because Israel failed to take the opportunity God graciously gave them. 

One day, Christ will return to bring permanent rest to all the earth, not just a part. On that day, there will not be any more fresh chances. Today and every day is until then is the day to trust in our own Saviour, Jesus, for freedom from our oppressors.