Judges 9:1-49
Things were going from bad to worse! The people of Israel had forgotten ‘the Lord their God’(8:34). ‘The enemy’ was ready to ‘come in like a flood’(Isaiah 59:19). Abimelech - Gideon’s son by ‘his concubine who was in Shechem’(8:31) - was very unlike his father. Gideon had pointed away from himself to the Lord (8:23). Abimelech was eager to draw attention to himself. He murdered his seventy brothers, paving the way for himself to become king (1-6). Abimelech spelled trouble! Things were only going to get worse with Abimelech. There was ‘an evil spirit’ at work among God’s people (23). Where was God in all this? - ‘Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct’(Romans 1:28). What kind of person are you becoming? Each of us must choose!
Judges 9:50-11:11
With verses 56-57, read Romans 1:18 - ‘The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth’. Doing ‘what was evil in the sight of the Lord’, ‘the people of Israel’ brought themselves under God’s judgment (10:6-9). When Israel began to return to the Lord, He said to them, ‘Mean what you say’(10:10-14). When they persisted with their confession of sin, He answered their prayer - ‘In all their affliction He was afflicted... In His love and in His pity He redeemed them’(15-16; Isaiah 63:9). God’s answer came in the shape of Jephthah, ‘a mighty warrior’, a man who ‘spoke all his words before the Lord’(11:1,11). Thrust out by men (11:1-2), he was loved by the God of grace - His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9)!
Judges 11:12-12:15
Israel was not looking for trouble - ‘Let us pass... through your land to our country’. The Amorites insisted on fighting with them. They had to be faced and defeated (19-21). The Christian life is like an ‘obstacle race’. We do not go out looking for problems. Sometimes, we cannot avoid them. Obstacles can become opportunities - for spiritual growth (James 1:2-4). Watch what you say (29-40; Ecclesiastes 5:2-6). Watch how you say it (1-6). The accent is not the important thing. It is the attitude. Is the accent on Christ? Let the attitude be less of self and more of Christ. Proclaiming the same Christ is more important than pronouncing the words in exactly the same way! Be slow to say, ‘He is not one of us’. Be quick to say, ‘Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice’(Philippians 1:18).
_________________
Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
Things were going from bad to worse! The people of Israel had forgotten ‘the Lord their God’(8:34). ‘The enemy’ was ready to ‘come in like a flood’(Isaiah 59:19). Abimelech - Gideon’s son by ‘his concubine who was in Shechem’(8:31) - was very unlike his father. Gideon had pointed away from himself to the Lord (8:23). Abimelech was eager to draw attention to himself. He murdered his seventy brothers, paving the way for himself to become king (1-6). Abimelech spelled trouble! Things were only going to get worse with Abimelech. There was ‘an evil spirit’ at work among God’s people (23). Where was God in all this? - ‘Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct’(Romans 1:28). What kind of person are you becoming? Each of us must choose!
Judges 9:50-11:11
With verses 56-57, read Romans 1:18 - ‘The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth’. Doing ‘what was evil in the sight of the Lord’, ‘the people of Israel’ brought themselves under God’s judgment (10:6-9). When Israel began to return to the Lord, He said to them, ‘Mean what you say’(10:10-14). When they persisted with their confession of sin, He answered their prayer - ‘In all their affliction He was afflicted... In His love and in His pity He redeemed them’(15-16; Isaiah 63:9). God’s answer came in the shape of Jephthah, ‘a mighty warrior’, a man who ‘spoke all his words before the Lord’(11:1,11). Thrust out by men (11:1-2), he was loved by the God of grace - His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9)!
Judges 11:12-12:15
Israel was not looking for trouble - ‘Let us pass... through your land to our country’. The Amorites insisted on fighting with them. They had to be faced and defeated (19-21). The Christian life is like an ‘obstacle race’. We do not go out looking for problems. Sometimes, we cannot avoid them. Obstacles can become opportunities - for spiritual growth (James 1:2-4). Watch what you say (29-40; Ecclesiastes 5:2-6). Watch how you say it (1-6). The accent is not the important thing. It is the attitude. Is the accent on Christ? Let the attitude be less of self and more of Christ. Proclaiming the same Christ is more important than pronouncing the words in exactly the same way! Be slow to say, ‘He is not one of us’. Be quick to say, ‘Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice’(Philippians 1:18).
_________________
Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
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