Read Judges 16:23-31

The Church is often closest to victory in God when it appears closest to defeat. The Gospel advanced like wildfire in the Roman Empire, even as persecutions swept the land. Rebellious leaders who have sought to crush the Church within their bounds have joined the dustheap of history, while the Church marches on and undergoes revivals in their lands. Moments of weakness lead to moments of vindication.

This link between weakness and vindication does two things. First, it reminds us that it is God’s strength which brings victory, not ours. Second, it reminds those that oppress God’s people that victory belongs to God, not them. These themes are true of Samson’s vindication and final defeat of the Philistines.

Samson was certainly in a position of extreme weakness. Having finally and foolishly given in to the treachery of Delilah, Samson’s hair was cut and with it his strength was gone. He went from confounding the Philistines to a captive of the Philistines, blinded and serving them by grinding grain in the prison grounds. From the Philistine perspective, the downfall of Samson was complete.

Samson’s downfall was cause for their celebration. The Philistine leadership gathered together to offer sacrifices to their false god Dagon (v.23). The Philistine people rejoiced that “the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us” was now blinded and in chains (v.24). 

Sacrifices and praise which should have been given to the only true God, Samson’s God, was instead given to a false deity. Whenever we read these passages in Scripture, we can just about guarantee that eventually This Will Not End Well.

The recipe for things to go drastically wrong for the Philistines occurs in verse 25, where we read that after a couple of refreshing beverages they decided to further humiliate Samson by dragging him along to their temple as entertainment. They parked Samson, who was blind, next to a couple of pillars which were structurally important (v.25).

This further humiliation of Samson provided the opportunity for Samson’s vindication. The Philistines were focused on their victory, but had not been looking closely at Samson’s head. His hair, we have already learned, had begun to grow again (v.22).

There was nothing magic about Samson’s hair, it did not bestow supreme strength by itself. That came from God. But Samson’s hair was the most visible sign associated with his strength (as one of the elements of his lifelong Nazirite vow), and so its renewed growth was a visible indication his strength was returning.

Ultimately though, Samson would have to trust and rely on God to empower him as God had once before, if he was to do anything other than serve as entertainment for the drunk Philistine leadership.

The stage, then, was set. Samson requested of the boy who helped him fumble his way through life to feel the pillars, supposedly to rest against them (v.26). In the temple with him were 3,000 Philistines, men and women, including the leadership of the Philistine people (v.27).

In this situation, Samson prayed to God asking him to “remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes” (v.28).

God heard his prayer, and answered it. When Samson pushed against the two structural pillars of the temple, the whole edifice came tumbling down, killing Samson and everyone inside (vv.29-30). 

Samson’s vindication saw more Philistines die in one event than everything he had done before (v.30). Samson wiped out the entire leadership of the Philistines in one hit.

After that, his family retrieved his body and buried it among the people he had judged, however imperfectly, for twenty years (v.31).

Samson’s vindication reminds us that God still uses flawed believers to achieve his aims, and to bring glory to him. Samson was a picture of the sinfulness and waywardness of Israel, yet God still used him to defeat the Philistines.

In the same way, God can use us despite our sinfulness and our waywardness from following God’s commands, just as God has done so with Christians throughout history.

Samson’s vindication also reminds us that apparent visible weakness does not mean God’s people are defeated or destroyed. In this one event, Samson did more damage to Israel’s oppressors than he had before.

Apparent weakness in the Church today does not signal defeat. God is still building his Church and will vindicate Christ’s Bride, even as he lays low every earthly power that rebels against him.

After all, the greatest moment of apparent victory for the world, when Christ hung lifeless on a Cross, was also the moment of victory over sin and death. That victory was vindicated when Christ rose from the grave, showing the world that their defeat was soon at hand.

While Christians might undergo outward trials and troubles that seem like worldly loss, we are hidden in Christ with God. Our souls are safe with God. One day, we will rise vindicated, as those who celebrated our apparent humiliation are crushed underneath Christ’s feet.

Read Judges 16:1-22

Sometimes in life, a person and the events that occur to them ends up being a picture of a group they belong to. In Jesus’ parables, figures like the older brother stood quite clearly for the life and attitude of the Pharisees.

Samson’s life also served as a picture of Israel. His sinful life, expectation of God’s presence, and his downfall mirrored that of Israel in its relationship with God. It reminds us that as individuals, as a congregation, and as a church, we must watch our lives and keep them focused on Christ.

After avenging himself on the Philistines for the death of his wife, Samson is said to have judged Israel for twenty years (15:20). Yet what sort of leadership did Samson provide?

The first portion of chapter 16 suggests that it was not a particularly dignified and holy leadership. Samson had a weakness for women, especially the Philistine variety. His weakness led him in unsavoury directions.

Firstly, they led Samson to sinfully engaging the services of a Philistine prostitute (16:1). While there, the local Philistines saw an opportunity to get their man (v.2). But Samson again embarrassed the Philistines by recognising the prospect of an ambush, sneaking away, and removing the Gaza Gates to a hill near Hebron while he was at it (vv.3-4). They could do nothing against his strength, it literally left them defenceless.

Besides indicating Samson’s tendency to indulge his lust, this second episode introduces a pattern of weakness which brings Samson’s downfall. Eventually, Samson’s eyes fall upon Delilah (v.4), who is paid 1,100 pieces of silver to seduce and betray Samson to them (v.5).

Samson’s weakness for Philistine women led him to Delilah, who would make Samson weak so the Philistines could overcome his strength.

Delilah questioned Samson as to what made him strong (v.6). Samson lied, suggesting seven fresh bowstrings binding him would make him weak (v.7). But when Delilah tied him up and invited in the Philistines, he snapped the strings like a twig and defeated them (vv.8-9).

So Delilah tried again. Samson shows his weakness and stupidity when it comes to pretty women by either not sniffing a secret agenda, or not caring. Thus a repeat with fresh ropes, and the same result (vv.10-12).

So Delilah tried again. Samson got closer to the truth this time, his guard getting lower when it should be getting higher. He mentioned his hair, suggesting weaving and pinning it would weaken him like any other man (vv.13-14). Same result.

So Delilah tried again. This time, she preyed on his weakness suggesting he did not truly love her because he kept secrets from her (v.15). She pressed him day after day, vexing his soul to death (v.16). 

Alarm bells should have been ringing. The only thing ringing was his lust. He gave in for some peace on the home front. He told her the truth about the Nazirite vow, and the one part which had not yet been broken – his unshaven hair (v.17).

The deed was done. The Philistine lords warned and the money brought (v.18). She made him fall asleep on her knees, and his hair was shaved (v.19). He thought everything would be fine this time, as it had before, but his strength had left him with his hair (v.20) and the Philistines seized him like they could never before (v.21).

They blinded him by gouging out his eyes, and set him to work grinding grain with a hand mill in Gaza (v.21). The bester and humiliator of Philistines so many times, bested and humiliated himself. The downfall was complete.

But the story was not over yet. His hair began to grow again (v.22).

Samson presumed upon God’s grace and favour. He assumed that God would continue to remain with him, despite his sinful life and ultimately breaking every vow of a Nazirite. God could have left him at any point until this point in the text, yet because of God’s grace to Samson and Israel he remained with him until his hair fell onto the floor.

Israel, likewise, presumed on God’s grace, chasing after foreign gods and assuming God would dig them out of trouble time and again. It was their downfall, just as it was Samson’s.

We must examine our lives. Do we depend on God or presume on him? Do we seek to keep his commands, or break every one? Are we empowered by God’s Spirit or “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17)? If the latter, we should repent before we too find ourselves humiliated and defeated by the world and sin, brought down by our sinfulness and weakness for lusts of this world.

Yet as we fail to do so perfectly, or at all and fall, the final verse reminds us that this does not have to be our end. If we repent, our spiritual “hair” may grow back, because while we live forgiveness in Jesus is still available. God is long-suffering in his grace.

Read Judges 15

After the episode at Timnah where the Philistines manipulated Samson’s wife to reveal his secret riddle, Samson went home angry and all seemed well. The woman Samson married was given to his best man. Problem solved for the Philistines?

Judges 15 continues the story of conflict between Samson and the Philistines. However, this conflict is driven not by ideology or devotion to God, but by his own passion, pride, and temper. While God uses this to mock and begin to destroy the Philistine oppression of Israel, it does not reflect well on Samson as a person or a leader. This reminds us that God uses even base motives to advance his cause, but also that only a sinless man can rescue us from oppression.

While the Samson problem appeared resolved, things were only just heating up. After cooling off, Samson decided to go spend time with his new wife, but was stopped by his wife’s father (v.1). Unfortunately, his wife had been married off to his best man; but her sister was attractive and available if interested? (v.2)

Samson was incensed at his wife being given away to cover up his father-in-law’s embarrassment, and declared himself innocent in his revenge (v.3). The revenge was to tie flaming torches to 300 foxes and set them loose amongst the Philistine fields, destroying their harvest (vv.4-5).

This was economic warfare which shocked the Philistines into action. After they discovered the who (Samson) and the why (his wife was given to another man), they fought fire with fire and sought to solve this problem by killing his wife and father-in-law (vv.6-7).

If that was meant to solve things, it only made things worse. Samson took their deaths as a personal attack, and “struck them hip and thigh with a great blow” in great slaughter in vengeance (vv.7-8).

The Philistine solution to this escalation was to capture and kill Samson – problem removed, problem solved. They advanced against Lehi in Judah, to attack and induce them to give Samson up (vv.9-10). A contingent of Judah’s forces assemble, not to attack the Philistines but to capture Samson.

Sadly betraying the depths of their despair, showing that they do not even feel their chains, they asked Samson “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” (v.11). While Samson was no leader, he judged people who did not realise their true situation.

Samson did not object to Judah binding him up, so long as they agreed not to hurt him themselves (vv.11-13). Of course, they were happy for the Philistines to do the hurting, so long as it did not upset their quiet life.

Unfortunately for the Philistines, compliant Judah had not solved their problems. This was not a purely physical war, but a spiritual one too. The Spirit of the LORD rushed on Samson, empowering him to snap his ropes like they were flax on fire, pick up a jawbone of a freshly dead donkey (another Nazirite no-no), and strike down 1000 Philistines (vv.14-17). 

To commemorate his victory, the place was named “Jawbone Hill”.

After this feat of strength, Samson was extremely thirsty. He cried out to God for help, recognising that he lacked sufficient strength to save himself even if he could kill the Philistine masses with the jawbone of an ass (v.18).

God answered Samson’s prayer by splitting open the ground to provide water for Samson to revive his tired spirit. Thus Samson renamed Jawbone Hill to “The Caller’s Spring”, recognising his dependence not his self-sufficiency (v.19).

After this account, the text notes Samson judged Israel, but not for a full generation. Like only Jephthah with his shortened reign, Samson judged Israel for a half-generation, 20 years (v.20). Samson’s sinfulness will catch up with him.

It is clear that Samson’s purposes are motivated by personal causes rather than devotion to God. Yet despite this, God still uses Samson’s base motives to fulfil his plan to begin to free Israel from the Philistines.

This reminds us that God can use circumstances and situations where people are motivated by sinful acts and motives to achieve his will, even preaching the gospel (Phil. 1:15-18). But it also reminds us to stop and reflect on our motives, and whether they reflect a godward ambition or a “happy alignment” of our own desires and serving God.

This passage also reminds us of the importance of fighting sin for another reason – if we do not, eventually God’s People forget and accept their sorry state. Judah, which had initially led God’s People (1:1-20) were willing to sacrifice him than accept his leadership and rise up. We too, if we do not fight the sin in our lives, will become complacent with its presence in our lives and the world.

Sinful Samson could not lead a sinful people. Only sinless Jesus, whose motives were pure and perfectly aligned with God, could ultimately defeat our oppressor, sin, and draw us to follow him into paths of righteousness.

Read Judges 14

Plenty of people have secrets and agendas. Agendas lie behind the actions people take, or try to make take place. Secrets are held as influence over others, or the intentions behind an agenda someone wants to put in place. Of course, not all secrets and agendas are bad.

In Judges 14, we are introduced to three people or groups with secrets and agendas. Samson has an agenda and secrets. The Philistines have an agenda, and want to know secrets. Finally, God has an agenda in the actions of Samson and the Philistines. This passage reminds us that whatever the secrets, agendas, and actions of sinful people, God’s agenda is the one which carries the day.

Samson, now a grown man, went down from the Israelite occupied hills to a Philistine town in the plains where he spotted an attractive Philistine woman (v.1). Samson demanded that his parents arrange for their marriage, to the upset of his parents who would prefer he marry an Israelite rather than a pagan (vv.2-3).

Samson refused, because it did not fit his oddly ungodly agenda “she is right in my eyes” (v.3). But this agenda of Samson’s was part of God’s agenda, to create tension between Israel and Philistia (v.4), since the Israelites did not seem concerned with their oppression (13:1).

While on the way to secure the woman’s hand in marriage, Samson tears an attacking lion to shreds (vv.5-7). This secret act will serve as the basis for a riddle, but as Samson was empowered by the Holy Spirit it demonstrates God’s agenda to strengthen Samson as Judge despite his unfitness. An unfitness which is hinted at again when days later, Samson secretly eats honey from a hive nested in the dead carcass, despite the Nazirite vows (vv.8-9).

Samson then arranged a drinking party for thirty Philistine men provided to him to celebrate his coming marriage (again, Nazirites should not drink, vv.10-11). To spice things up, Samson proposed a bet – solve a riddle for thirty sets of clothes (vv.12-13).

After three days the Philistines could not solve the riddle, lacking the secret shared between us and Samson of the lion and bees (v.14). Since dispossession and humiliation by some backwards Israelite does not fit the Philistine agenda, they pressured Samson’s wife and family with death if she did not spill the beans (v.15).

Samson has a weakness for women, which will only become more apparent. Samson’s wife, understandably fearful, pleaded with Samson for the answer (“don’t you love me?”) and Samson eventually gave in (vv.16-17). 

“He told” is quickly followed by “she told” and the Philistines, armed with the secret, felt their agenda had the upper hand (vv.17-18). But Samson is no fool; he realised that they only knew because they had “plowed with my heifer” (v.18) to get the answer.

Since Samson’s secret was sprung and his agenda foiled, Samson was enraged. But this was all part of God’s plan (v.4). So to meet his side of the bet, Samson descended on the Philistine town of Ashkelon and, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, struck down thirty of Ashkelon’s men to steal their garments and give them to the successful riddlers (v.19).

Samson’s wife was given to his best man (v.20). Samson had returned home, angry and spouseless (v.19). All seemed okay in the Philistine town of Timnah where the antics had occurred. 

But there was trouble brewing between Samson and Israel and their Philistine overlords, according to the agenda of God. Samson’s attack on Ashkelon had started God’s plan to begin to deliver Israel from Philistine (13:5).

There are plenty of secrets and agendas operating in this passage. But all of these secrets and agendas were part of God’s agenda. There is little godliness in action in this chapter, perhaps only in Manoah and his wife hoping that Samson will marry an Israelite instead of a Philistine. However, ungodly agendas and secrets of Samson and the Philistines advance God’s agenda in creating tension between these two.

God uses the sinful and messy to serve his saving purposes. After all, even our most righteous acts are tainted by sin. How much more so our unrighteous ones? And yet, God works in our sinful acts, agendas, and secrets to sanctify us through adversity and struggle and advance his kingdom.

This is most apparent in righteous Jesus’ death on the Cross to save us from our sins. Jesus’ crucifixion was the act of sinful men, pursuing their own agendas and secret desires but also according to the definite plan and agenda of God (Acts 2:23).

Often the sinful tragedies of our lives, whether from our acts, those of others, or those of living in a sinful world, seem purposeless. But those same tragedies create opportunities for little acts of God’s providence, through loving deeds or the Spirit’s provision, to awaken us to our sinfulness and our need to rely on God for deliverance. To put aside our secrets and agendas and embrace God’s agenda.

Read Judges 13

Despite the riches, the pomp, and all the people running around to serve you, I think it must be hard coming to terms with one day becoming King (or Queen). The weight of expectation that one day, after your parent dies, you step into their shoes. Difficult enough for (then) Prince Charles and Prince William to bear, but what about young Prince George?

Thankfully for most of us, our path at birth is not as clear to us. But for some, it is. Samson, the final judge in the Book of Judges, grew up knowing he had a special destiny. In Judges 13, God’s dramatic power to provide a saviour for Israel from birth is demonstrated to a common man and his wife. The passage reminds us of our need for saving from our sins, and that God provided that salvation through Jesus, appointed our Saviour from birth.

As should have become painfully familiar to us as we work through Judges, “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (v.1) so were again subjected to outside oppression as discipline, this time from the Philistines for forty years. 

However, unlike previous examples in Judges, the people do not cry out. They are used to oppression. It feels normal to have a foreigner rule over them, rather than freedom bounded only by God’s Law. They do not know they need saving.

Despite this lack of repentance, this lack of a need for salvation, God still graciously intervened. He did this miraculously, for the man named Manoah and his unnamed wife had no children (v.2). Like Sarah, Rachel, Rebekah, and later Hannah, Manoah’s wife was barren.

Unlike other judges who were appointed by God (or man) later in life, Samson’s appointment came at birth. The focus on Samson’s birth story makes it clear that Samson is special in a particular way.

The Angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife, and pointed out that despite her barrenness, she would conceive and bear a son (v.3). She is specifically warned at this point not to drink wine or eat unclean food, or shave his head (vv.4-5) because he will be a Nazirite from birth (Numbers 6:1-8).

The wife failed to recognise this as The Angel of the LORD, but dutifully reported this announcement with her husband Manoah (vv.6-7). 

Manoah prayed to God, asking for another visit to confirm the details and God graciously obliged (vv.8-9). When the Angel of the LORD again appeared to Manoah’s wife, she went and grabbed Manoah to speak to him (vv.10-11).

Expressing faith in the announcement they would become parents, Manoah asked what the child’s manner of life and mission would be (v.12). Instead of answering directly, the Angel points out he has already told his wife and repeats the instructions for Manoah’s wife’s pregnancy (vv.13-14).

Sadly Manoah seems a bit slower than his wife, and offers a meal to the Angel who rejects it but is willing to accept a burnt offering to God (BIG HINT; vv.15-16). Again, the Angel rejects a request for a name, because it is too wonderful (vv.17-18).

Only when Manoah offered the burnt offering, and the Angel of the LORD ascended upon it, did he realise who he was talking to (vv.19ff). Both fell to the ground in reverent fear and worship (v.20).

While Manoah worried that he was for smiting having seen God (and not recognising him!), Manoah’s wife had more spiritual sense (v.22). She recognised that the promises and an accepted burnt offering meant God’s gracious favour, not his judgement, would come to them (v.23).

Sure enough, God’s promise was fulfilled and baby Samson was born, blessed by God (v.24). As he grew, God’s Spirit began to stir him, to unsettle him compared to his settled docile Israelite brethren at their state (v.25). Mighty works, like that hinted at in the Angel of the LORD ascending the burning flame of the altar to heaven, would ensue.

He would be such because Israel did not know that they needed saving. In our natural state, we too are the same. Our slavery to sin feels normal. We have got used to it. We do not cry out, because we do not feel our need. We need to be unsettled by the Holy Spirit.

That unsettling should leave us searching for a saviour. The one also born in miraculous circumstances, whose parents were visited by a heavenly messenger. Jesus, who was wholly devoted to God all his days, and was appointed from birth to save God’s People from their sins.

God can do this because he is a miracle worker. The God whose name is wonderful is a gracious God, who does not smite us despite our sinfulness and lack of spiritual sense and his holiness, and answers prayers just as he answered Manoah by returning once again to Manoah and his wife.

Samson’s birth to judge Israel reminds us of our need: for Jesus, a saviour from birth.

Read Judges 12:8-15

Last week Queen Elizabeth 2 passed, the first time a Monarch died in many of our lifetimes. The Late Queen will be remembered for her lifetime’s dignity and service. As Queen, she held great wealth and power (in a sense). Yet her eternal legacy will not be her reign, but her faith in Christ.

People like to gather power and wealth because it makes them notable, but in the end most will just become a passing mention at best. Like three of the judges mentioned in the next section of Judges. Ultimately their power and wealth, however beneficial to them and to Israel, is nothing compared to God. They, like us, are passing mentions in the story of history, which brings glory to God.

Compared with the major sequence of Jephthah which took up nearly 50 verses (more if you count the verse prior which set the scene for his appearance), the three judges that followed are recalled with only sparse details of their rule in eight verses. This can be broadly summarised as their names and pedigree, and the duration of their rule. 

These men must have been warrior leaders, but there is no detail of their victories. Perhaps this serves as a point to remind us that not everything in Judges was All War All The Time, as you might assume from only reading the great stories of deliverance.

While there is not a wealth of detail about their lives, their rule, or who they defeated, it is certainly clear that in the case of at least two of these judges, they were wealthy and powerful.

Firstly, Ibzan had 30 sons and 30 daughters (v.9). As any parent can attest, not only did that mean he had a fair amount of money to support that many, but secondly he must have been extremely busy! Ibzan was able to marry his daughters off to outside his clan, and marry in daughters-in-law too, which would have given him massive social power and influence through family ties (v.9).

Secondly, Abdon had 30 sons and 40 grandsons, who rode on 70 donkeys (v.14). Poor people walked. Rich people rode. Abdon had enough wealth to ensure his sons and grandsons never suffered from shin splints.

The mention of Ibzan and Abdon’s families also contrasts against Jephthah. Jephthah only had one daughter, and because of his tragic vow and his foolish fulfilment of it, lost that daughter and any descendants. The civil war with Ephraim (12:1-7) and the short nature of his rule after defeating the Ammonites suggests God’s judgement against him for this act.

On the other hand, Ibzan and Abdon had great numbers of descendants. Ibzan had 60 daughters (30 daughters plus 30 daughters-in-law)! Was this because Ibzan was more righteous than Jephthah? Who knows! While we can speculate, ultimately the answer rests in God’s providence.

Their numbers also compare to Gideon. Gideon’s sons were killed by his illegitimate son Abimelech, but there is no indication of any of this sort of behaviour by Ibzan and Abdon’s sons.

But note that unlike Gideon, and like Jephthah, all three judges did not oversee periods of rest. Unlike earlier in Judges, all of the later judges have their years of rule listed, but not years of rest. Ibzan, 7 years (vv.8-10). Elon, 10 years (vv.11-12). Abdon, 8 years (vv.13-15). 

Why? Because of Israel’s increasing apostasy. Israel’s righteousness was like water circling a drain. It kept going around in circles, but descending.

Finally, there is another reason we can see in the inclusion of these three judges. These three make the total recorded in Judges add to 12. Further, smarter minds than I point out that one from each tribe (including the half-tribes of Joseph), excluding Levi, is covered in this book. Levi will be dealt with by a separate tale later.

That reminds us that Judges shows us the wisdom and plan of God in history. God is working to advance his salvation plan, through the tribes of Israel.

Some of those characters are great in their deeds, and remembered for such. Some, like Elon, are a passing mention. Ibzan and Abdon are not much more, despite their great wealth and power. It too fades away to a few verses in the great story of God in history.

Same for us. In God’s providence, we all have different roles to play. Some are more dramatic than others. Some of us may receive greater wealth, power, or kids than others. But all of these things are just passing mentions in God’s Story.

Like Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, we too will die. We are a moment, a passing mention. Only God is unchanging, eternal. Our reigns will end, but Christ’s reign will never end. Our eternal legacy is not in what we accomplish, accumulate, or breed, but found in our faith in Christ.

For all the good that wealth and power can bring, it is nothing compared to faith in Christ. Only in Christ are we raised to reign eternally with him, to glorify God in never passing mention.

Read Judges 12:1-7

The Book of Proverbs teaches that pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (16:18, commonly shortened to “pride goes before a fall”). More than enough events in history and our lives prove how true this statement is. Likewise, prejudice against those different to us is an ever present truth in this fallen world.

In this passage, we see the tragic consequences of pride and prejudice (sorry Jane Austen). Ephraim’s pride, combined with Jephthah and Israel’s prejudice against Ephraim, lead to a further tragic event overshadowing victory over Ammon. It reminds us to check our pride at the door and adopt the same humility Christ demonstrated in redeeming us, and warns us of the dangers of prejudice.

Jephthah’s victory over Ammon was tarnished by his foolish vow, and the death of his daughter. The sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter turned to tragedy, and brought sorrow to joy.

Sadly, this was not the end of things for Jephthah, or Israel. Their moral and religious decline had brought internal strife and civil war during the time of Abimelech, and things had not improved with the passage of time.

When Gideon defeated the Midianites, the tribe of Ephraim were upset that he did not call them up earlier (ch. 8). The Ephraimites were primarily interested in their status. After Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, the Ephraimites “were called to arms” (12:1).

Their target was not the Ammonites or the Philistines, but Jephthah. “They crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire” (v.1).

The Ephraimites were annoyed that Jephthah had fought the Ammonites without consulting or including them in the glory. They were important, and important people need to be respected, or else bad things happen.

Jephthah had grown up an outcast, and knew what it was like to be unimportant (11:1-3). It seems he had little interest in stroking the egos of the self-important, such as Ephraim. Instead, he pointed out that he had indeed asked for their help, which they had not provided (v.2-3). Jephthah had been left to do it by himself, with God as his strength (v.3).

Perhaps Ephraim was seeking an apology, or some flattering words like Gideon had previously offered them to make them feel more important than they were (8:1-3). Jephthah was a straight-shooter though, and did not give them what they wanted to hear. So Ephraim insulted Jephthah and his followers as being “fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh” (v.4). Then the fight started.

Jephthah and his company of soldiers attacked Ephraim, then captured the fords over the River Jordan, cutting Ephraim off from their homes (vv.4-5). Then, they used the particular regional accent which had developed on the eastern side of the Jordan to identify the fugitives.

Like a Kiwi Southlander who cannot help but roll the r in a phrase like “purple shirt”, the Ephraimites could not say Shibboleth (flowing stream) like an Easterner, where the “s” had become a “sh”.

When the poor Ephraimite fell into the diabolical dialect trap, “they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan” (v.6). Through this scheme, 42,000 men of Israel, from the tribe of Ephraim, died at the hands of the Judge of Israel.

No surprise then that Jephthah’s period as Judge was neither long nor especially peaceful. Jephthah judged Israel for six years, before he died and was buried in his hometown (v.7). In his wake, victory over Ammon, but a short time of leadership, the end of his family line because of keeping his foolish vow, and more internal conflict within Israel.

Ultimately this episode serves as a judgement on Jephthah for the sacrifice of his daughter. But this does not let Ephraim off the hook.

Ephraim wanted to lead. To be Top Dog. Their desire for status (ch. 8) was stroked by Gideon, but their pride led to their destruction in Jephthah’s day. There is no place for pride and status in Christ’s Church. None of us are the centre of salvation’s story; Jesus is. None of us are better than each other. We all have different gifts and contributions to make so the body functions (Romans 12:4-8).

Likewise, prejudice should have no place in God’s People. Ephraim looked down on the other tribes. The other tribes looked down on Ephraim as big mouths, absent when the fight came. 

Prejudice exists in the Church too. In some places from income, ethnicity, or education. Sometimes, shibboleths exist based on particular doctrinal points. Differences over say baptism or church government are real, but not enough to deny fellowship to a fellow believer.

Instead, our attitude should be that of Christ, who in humility became human and died on the Cross for our sins (Phil. 2:4-11). Pride and prejudice fall away when we worship and follow the example of Christ, who redeemed us from our sins.

Read Judges 11:29-40

We all say or do foolish things, or make stupid promises. Sometimes we wish we had stopped rebelling against God earlier, or paid more attention to God’s commands. Most of the time they don’t have dire, life-changing consequences. Sometimes, they do.

Jephthah’s tragic vow sits firmly in the life-changing consequences camp, both for him and for his daughter. His vow, and its fulfilment, is so serious it completely overshadows his deliverance of Israel from Ammon. It reminds us of the importance of knowing God’s Word to serve him rightly, being cautious in our promises, and that any earthly deliverer is flawed at best compared to God in Christ.

While Jephthah’s history lesson had corrected the misinformation that Ammon’s king was attempting to use as the argument for invasion, the Ammonite king was not for turning (v.28) and so a fight was inevitable.

Since that was the case, the Spirit of the LORD empowered Jephthah to specially lead and deliver Israel from their enemies, as he went through Gilead and Mannaseh to gather together an army to take on Ammon (v.29).

During this recruitment campaign, Jephthah uttered a vow which the text will later make clear was a tragic promise to make! He vowed to God that “whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (vv.30-31).

The writer of Judges next summarises Jephthah’s victory over Ammon in broad outline. There is only a brief description of the geographical movement to meet and defeat the enemy because God “gave them into his hand” (v.32). That the victory was comprehensive is only related by the short phrase “the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel” (v.33).

The reason is the greatness of Jephthah’s victory over Ammon is spoiled by what came next. Remember Jephthah’s vow; as he approached home at Mizpah, who greeted him but “his daughter… to meet him with tambourines and with dances” (v.34). While Jephthah’s daughter greeted him with joy, her joy would soon turn to sorrow.

This was compounded because “she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter” (v.34). There would be nobody else to carry on the family line if Jephthah went through with his vow.

Jephthah realised his predicament, he tore his clothes in grief at the sight (v.35). He believed he had to keep his vow, even though it clearly breached God’s commandments about human sacrifice (Deut. 12:31, etc) and ignored the Law’s escape clause for rash vows (Lev. 5:4-6).

The story grinds on. Jephthah’s daughter submits to Jephthah’s intention to keep his vow (v.36). The two months reprieve to grieve her inability to carry on the family line only draws out the inevitable (vv.37-8). After two months, she returned and Jephthah fulfilled his vow (v.39), leading to a custom of the local women mourning her loss (v.40).

Some suggest that the mourning over her virginity and Jephthah’s knowledge of Israel’s history and evidence that he worshipped God mean he cannot have possibly killed her but instead submitted her to a life of monastic service (a Judges-era nun). I sadly agree with those who think the plainest reading of the text is what happened. Jephthah offered his daughter as a burnt sacrifice to God, fulfilling his tragic vow.

This was a sinful vow, which Jephthah should not have kept. There is no evidence in the text that God approved; simply, the event is reported. That Jephthah did completely overshadowed his victory over Ammon, and shows the depths that Israel had fallen to in their decline.

We cannot assume Jephthah did not know the prohibitions, but perhaps Jephthah thought those only applied to foreign gods. Or the circumstances and his piety led him to believe this was an exception to the general rule. Sometimes Old Testament believers did the wrong thing for the right reason, yet still sinned (eg, Uzzah, 2 Sam. 6).

This shows that it is not enough to know our history, to know about God, but we also need to know God and his will revealed in Scripture. If we approach circumstances like Jephthah according to our limited knowledge and our assumptions, we can still end up sinning.

Knowing God, in terms of his nature and his character, not just God’s acts, is important to following God and serving him in a way which pleases him.

It also reminds us to be careful about our vows and our promises. Vows are serious, and should not be made lightly, nor made in a way which opens the door to sin.

Thirdly, this passage reminds us that human deliverers are flawed at best. Jephthah’s rash vow and his sinful fulfilment of it show that he could not be Israel’s ultimate saviour. No sinful man can. Only Jesus, sinless, could deliver us from our sinful place in a way which brings joy out of tragedy, instead of tragedy out of joy.

Read Judges 11:12-28

History provides a sense of context and place. It helps explain why things are, how they came to be, and where we came from. This is why history can be such a contentious topic, why people propose competing views and interpretations of history, or seek to forget or remake it for their own ends.

In our second look at Jephthah’s role as a Judge over Israel, we see the importance of history in the conflict between Israel and Ammon. Ammon promotes a revisionist history of the settlement of Israel, which Jephthah corrects, showing God’s goodness towards his people in giving them their land. This passage reminds us that God’s goodness to his people is a history we should all learn, especially in a pagan world which would rather revise or forget.

After Jephthah’s appointment by Israel’s elders, orchestrated by God, Jephthah could turn his attention to the Ammonite threat. Jephthah sent messengers to Ammon, asking why they were attacking Israel (v.12).

The answer from Ammon’s king was a piece of revisionist history: “because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan”, so they should hand it back (v.13).

Jephthah’s response begins with a correction of this history. First, he points out how when Israel left Egypt and their wilderness wandering, they asked permission from Edom and Moab to walk through their territory which was declined (vv.15-17). Instead of attacking, Israel walked around both territories (v.18).

Then when Israel came to the Amorite lands and asked permission to cross their territory, the response was not a permission declined but an attack by Sihon king of the Amorites and his forces (vv.19-20). God gave the Amorites over to Israel’s hand, so “Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites” (v.21-2).

These corrections to the factual record raised various problems with the Ammonite king’s argument. Firstly, while he was claiming the land in dispute (v.13), it belonged to the Amorites first, who then lost it to Israel when God drove them out (vv.21-3). They could not claim what was not theirs in the first place.

Secondly, it was God that drove out the Amorites (v.23) and gave it to Israel to possess (v.24). Israel was not claiming anything that wasn’t theirs by divine gift from God. Ammon should be content with the land they had been given, supposedly as they thought by their false god.

Thirdly, while Balak the king of Moab saw Israel as a threat due to their proximity to his lands, he did not fight them to drive them out of lands which were his, or he claimed were his (v.25). If Balak had that sense, then the Ammonite king ought to follow suit.

Fourthly, Israel had lived in the lands in question for 300 years, yet only now did the dispute arise (v.26). If this was an issue that meant conflict now, why not earlier?

For these reasons, it was clear that Ammon was reinventing history to cause conflict (v.27). Jephthah called on “The LORD, the Judge, [to] decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon” (v.27), as the only true judge of what was right history and alternative facts. 

Unfortunately, the king of Ammon was not interested in the facts (v.28) when it interfered with his agenda.

If Jephthah had been ignorant of his history, and of God’s goodness, he would not have been able to rebut Ammon’s arguments with objective truth. Thankfully, Jephthah knew the history of his people and of God’s leading and gifting. He could rely on God to judge, because he knew that God had given them the land in question and would decide for them.

That history is our history too. The history which Jephthah recalled forms part of God’s salvation plan, as God prepared for the coming of our promised Messiah Jesus. It is ours to remember, and to see as evidence of God’s goodness towards us.

It also reminds us to learn the goodness of God to us throughout all history. God did not stop being good to us, but continues to this day. The history of the Church is the history of God’s goodness to his people, to build a church which nothing can prevail against.

The Church has been a force for good overall throughout 2000 years of history. Pagan Rome and Europe were not nice places, unless you were male, rich, and powerful. The West’s cultural legacy and ideas like compassion or equality of individuals before God are Christian ideals, not pagan. Sure, the Bible has been used to justify evils like slavery, but also to bring about their demise.

As our culture tries to forget or reinvent this truth to return to its pagan past and uncivilised practices, we should not buy the lies of revisionist history. Instead, we should know and build our lives on the treasures of God’s goodness to us through Jesus, in the past, today, and into the future.

Read Judges 10:17-11:11

How often in life do we reject the help or advice of someone until it is past time that we need it? As a father, it seems like my children do not listen to my advice until it is too late. Then they want my help! If I look at my own life, it’s the same story.

If it is true of our everyday life, it is just as true of people towards others, and people towards God. In this passage, Israel negotiated with a previously rejected saviour to save them from the Ammonites. This negotiation mirrored that of Israel and God, and reminds us of our own saviour, who was despised and rejected by men.

After Israel binged on idolatry with the fake gods of the surrounding nations, God sent the Ammonites and Philistines upon them to discipline them for their sin (10:6-9). Israel cried out to God, who challenged their rainy day repentance, but ultimately acted out of his love for his people to set in motion the Judges who would save them from Ammon and Philistia (10:10-16).

While Israel repented of their sins, the Ammonites were still about to attack (v.17). The army of Israel gathered at Mizpah, but there was no general to lead them (v.18). Who could step into the leadership vacuum?

There was an obvious answer, but an obvious problem. The obvious answer was a man named Jephthah, who was “a mighty warrior” (v.1). But there was an obvious problem; “he was the son of a prostitute” (v.1). Jephthah was born from an affair with a prostitute, but was driven off by his father’s legitimate sons who did not want to share the inheritance with their half-brother (v.2). Jephthah went to Tob (“good”) and gathered a band of thugs (v.3).

Now the Ammonites had come (v.4), bringing distress with them. At this point, the elders of Gilead came bowing and scraping in repentance to Jephthah to lead them out of their bind (vv.5-6).

Jephthah was no fool. When the elders came to make him general, he answered “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” (v.7). Rainy day repentance is suspicious in its sincerity, at best.

The elders at least acknowledged that circumstances had changed, and so too their attitude towards Jephthah (v.8). Before he was worthless, now he was worth every penny to deliver them.

Jephthah could have left the elders to lie in the bed they made, but instead he agreed to lead, with conditions (v.9). To “bring him home” was to restore Jephthah to his rightful inheritance among God’s people. As one who trusted God, who believed it was up to God to hand Ammon over to him (v.9), this was his rightful place.

The elders of Gilead agreed to Jephthah’s terms, and swore an oath to fulfil it (v.10), so Jephthah went back with them and was made Israel’s leader at Mizpah (v.11), where later Saul would become king.

There are multiple similarities between the way Israel treated Jephthah (vv.1-11), and how they treated God (10:6-16). When times were good, Israel wanted nothing of either God or Jephthah, and removed them from their presence. Neither had done anything to deserve this treatment; Jephthah is not responsible for his parents’ acts, and God is always good.

Then, when bad times came, specifically here the Ammonites, suddenly God and Jephthah were back in vogue. Israel repented of their wrongs to God (10:10) and Jephthah (vv.5-6), but both God and Jephthah were weary of their change in attitude (10:11-14, 11:7). Yet Israel appealed to both (10:15-16; 11:8) and both God and Jephthah relented and moved to help Israel (10:16; 11:9-11).

Yet there is also a sense in which Jephthah and Israel are similar, too. Jephthah was cut off from his inheritance, and sent away. He did not control what ought to have been his by right of grant from his father. He wanted back that which he had lost to his brothers, and the elders of Israel who let it happen.

Israel too wanted back their inheritance. While God had given it to them, their sinful acts had caused God to send foreign nations to discipline them, and taken it away from them. They wanted the Ammonites gone, and the fruits of the land, their inheritance from their Heavenly Father, back.

In both these senses there is a picture of Jesus, our saviour. The Son of God born a man to identify with us, and gain back for us the inheritance we have lost because of our sin. Though he, unlike Jephthah, was sinless.

Jesus also was despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). But God chose what man rejected. He chose Jesus to save us and defeat our true enemies, sin and death. 

God did this despite our sinfulness. But unlike Jephthah, Jesus’ salvation is perfect and complete.