God raises up some unlikely people to lead. We learn about Jephthah the Judge in this morning’s readings. Be blessed folks!
Judges 10: Tola and Jair
1 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.
3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Further Disobedience and Oppression
6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.
7 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,
8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
10 And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."
11 And the LORD said to the people of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines?
12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.
14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."
15 And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day."
16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
Judges 11: Jephthah Delivers Israel
1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
2 And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman."
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel.
5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites."
7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "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?"
8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head."
10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say."
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, "What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"
13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably."
14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites
15 and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,
16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
18 "Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to our country,'
20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.
21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.
22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?
24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.
25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?
27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon."
28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.
Jephthah's Tragic Vow
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,
31 then 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."
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand.
33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighbourhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow."
36 And she said to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."
37 So she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions."
38 So he said, "Go." Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains.
39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel
40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
Things to think about…
1. Tola and Jair serve faithfully as Judges, Jdgs 10:1-5. Israel had know peace for 45 years. But then we see Israel’s tragic cycle of returning back to false gods after the Lord’s blessing. Let’s continually assess what areas in our lives are not bringing the Lord praise? Often blessing brings complacency, it is always a battle to fight against spiritual lethargy.
2. Deliverance only happens when the people of God repent of their sin, Jdgs 10:16 “So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel”. Revival in the land starts with repentance and faith in the church. Sadly this is only brought about by people being brought low through oppression and suffering. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Acknowledging the Lord’s blessing in our lives should be a state of the heart for the believer regardless of our situation we find ourselves in.
3. Israel repents and the Lord raises up an unlikely Judge, Jephthah – the son of a prostitute. But the Spirit of the Lord was already upon him Jdgs 11:29. Sometimes the Lord uses the most unlikely person and calls them to lead God’s people. Jephthah had already known what it was to be an outcast to his family. In many ways he had nothing to lose by stepping forward to be the next Judge in Israel.
4. Jephthah, though the son of a prostitute, knew his history, Jdgs 11:11-28 with respect to the oppression that the Amorites and Ammonites had brought upon the people of Israel before they came into the land of Canaan. The land had been in Israelite possession ever since…for 300 years, vs 26. Jephthah knew he had a righteous cause. He challenges he king of the Ammonites to let his god Chemosh give him the land to posses and the Lord will give Jephthah and Israel what the Lord will give, Jdgs 11:24. We have a righteous cause when we share the gospel of Jesus with a dying city. Our Lord will call out those who are truly His.
5. Jephthah already had the blessing of the Lord but then makes a rash vow to the Lord, Jdgs 11:31-35. Did he really burn his daughter as a sacrifice, or did she just remain a virgin her whole life, vs 39? The commentators are divided on this, but when someone says they will make a burnt offering of something there seems very little doubt as to what is meant. This is why when we make a vow, or a promise to someone it is recorded by the Lord. Jesus and later his brother James would say “let your yes, be yes and your no, no. Anything else is of the devil”, Mt 5:37, cf James 5:12. What a tragedy it is when people, especially Christians don’t take their marriage vows seriously. God hates divorce, Mal 2:16.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon and reading topic for this week – Sermon “Don’t judge me”
Reading – Judges 2:1-19
1. The period of the Judges was cyclical in nature. They would fall into idol worship, they would be oppressed by Canaanite rulers, they would cry out for a Judge, God would raise up a Judge who would deliver them, they would live in prosperity, then fall back into idolatry and the cycle would repeat. This was because the Israelites did not get rid of the Canaanite inhabitants which caused Israel to turn their hearts towards idols. Discuss some of the idols in Australia. Which ones is the Australian Christian church struggling to fight against.
2. We are often told that we shouldn’t judge others. As Doug mentioned on Sunday the verses quoted to justify such a position are found in Mt 7:1-7. What is your understanding of these verses and what right judgement looks like? Are we in a position to Judge anyone? If so, how?
3. Doug mentioned the Apostle Paul’s words in 1Cor 5:9-13 regarding judgement that occurs in the church and those who are outside the church. Essentially we are called to judge those who name the name of Christ in the church, we are not even meant to eat with someone who claims to be a Christian yet falls morally, 1Cor 5:11. How do you understand these verses and how should we apply them as a church that wants to show the love of Christ?
4. Discuss some prayer points of the group. Church prayer points.
Prayer Points
1. Recharge youth and Kids@Church ministries. Pray for Maddison and Melinda as they Coordinate Kids and Youth ministries.
2. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
3. Church finances to meet our new staff and to put a roof over our café.
4. Getting drawings into council.
5. Sunday’s message from Judges 12 - “You’re not saying it right” – Pastor Jay.
Praise Points.
1. More visitors to church on Sunday.
2. Two cell groups starting up this term.
3. Praise and worship – pray for continued growth and blessing.
4. Unity, peace and grace at CBC.
Announcements
1. Members meeting 23rd May after the morning service.
2. Recharge on this week all high schoolers – 6:30pm-8:30pm Friday at church. $2 coin donation. Melinda Fourie heading up this ministry.
3. Kids Church for all primary schoolers. Maddison Willey is the ministry contact. Parents please check your rosters. Remember to sign your kids in and out.
4. Working bee – Saturday 5th June, 8:00am start at the church.
5. Outdoor service in the morning 6th June followed by lunch on “the common”
6. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
