The Mercy of God.

Judges 13

For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. ­– Judges 13:5 NASB

We've seen just how bad it can be with the people of God. Time and time again, they walk away from the one true God to worship the gods of the nations who surround them. They have refused to remove the pagan nations who occupy the land, but instead have chosen to intermarry with them and grow comfortable in their relationships with them. They have learned to acclimate themselves to their surroundings. Rather than live as God's "set apart" or holy ones, they have become increasingly like the nations around them. Now in chapter 13 we see that they are once again doing evil in the sight of the Lord. This does not mean that they had stopped and are starting again, but that they continued to do evil. And as a result, God sent punishment in the form of Philistine oppression. This non-semetic people group would prove to be a thorn in the side of Israel for years to come. They would grow in power and prominence, becoming Israel's greatest threat well into the reigns of David and Solomon. In fact, at this time, Israel found it easier to learn to co-exist with the Philistines than to fight them.

It's interesting that there is no cry for help recorded in this passage. They are oppressed, but do no call out to God for deliverance. And later on when God raises up Samson as their deliverer, the people will refuse to cooperate with him. They would rather continue their co-existence with the Philistines rather than oppose them – even if it meant disobeying the commands of God. Yet in the midst of their rebellion and reluctance to obey, God steps in and shows mercy. He sends His angel as a messenger of good news. He announces the miraculous arrival of His messenger and deliverer to a barren woman. Into a bleak situation and physically impossible circumstances God announces His plan to do something great. God was going to deliver His people whether they asked for it or not. He was going to show mercy and grace in spite of their rebellion and unfaithfulness. Remember, the book of Judges is about God, not Israel or even the judges themselves.

This was not the first time God had chosen to use a barren woman to accomplish His will. And it would not be the last. Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth were all barren, as well as Mary the mother of Jesus. "What does he [God] do when he has a people who refuse to forsake Baal and have no desire to forsake Philistia? A people grown so used to bondage they don't even have sense to call out for relief? At least here the very God who judges them (Judges 13:1) begins to work their deliverance—anyway (Judges 13:2-5). That is grace—grace greater than all our sin, than all our stupidity, than all our density." – Dale Ralph David, Such a Great Salvation. Living in oppression can actually become comfortable to us. We can grow accustomed to living in the midst of sin and no longer see it as a threat. That is exactly where the people of God were at this time, and fearfully, it is where the church is today. We have grown far too comfortable in a society that is oppressing us and molding us into its image. We are losing our significance and set-apartness. And it doesn't seem to bother us. If it did, we would cry out for deliverance.

Yet in spite of our silence, God is rescuing His people. He always is. He is raising up deliverers to wake up His slumbering church. There are pastors, speakers, and writers all across the world issuing wake up calls on behalf of God. They are attempting to stir the people of God to awaken to the call of God once again. The key will be whether we will listen or not. Samson himself was to be set apart from even before his birth. He was to do be dedicated to God and His purposes. God is raising up a generation of Christ-followers who are to be set apart for His purposes. He is calling out a people from among His people who will live by a different standard and model a different way of life – even to those within the church. The bride of Christ has become "Canaanized." We have grown comfortable and complacent with the world. We are satisfied with co-existing with the world, rather than transforming it. Are you hearing His call? Are you willing to heed it?

Father, wake up Your church! Raise up a host of men, women, boys and girls, who are ready to step up and do what You are calling us to do. Forgive us for our love affair with the world and the things it offers. We are distracted and no longer living for You. We are ineffective and powerless in the midst of a world that hates us and is out to destroy us and the message You gave us to share. Give us ears to listen anda willingness to obey You. Amen

A False View of the One True God.

Judges 11-12

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." ­– Judges 11:30-31 NLT

Back in the 1330s, Petrarch described the Middle Ages in this way, “Amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius; no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness and dense gloom.” The same could be said of this time in Israel called the period of the Judges. It was a dark time in the life of Israel. The book of Judges connects the period of time in which Israel was under a theocracy (God's rule) and the monarchy (when men ruled). There is nothing glamorous or pretty about the period of the judges. It is bleak, dark, and depressing. The writer of the book of Judges sums up this period quite well: “After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10 NLT). Joshua had died. The people had only begun to possess the land. They were not unified, but were isolated tribes spread over a large region with no central authority. The priesthood, located in Shiloh where the tabernacle was, seemed to provide little in the way of spiritual direction or leadership. And the period of the Judges ended much the same way it began: “The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:24-25 NASB).

So as we read through the book of Judges, we have to keep in mind that it is not really a book about the judges, but about God. He is the hero of this story. It is a book about God and His covenant faithfulness. It is about His power and presence. It is about His patience and persistence. In the midst of the story we have glimpses into the lives of the people of Israel and into various characters who God sovereignly uses to lead His people. Most of the judges bring little or nothing to the table. They lack leadership qualities. They are reluctant deliverers and flawed men and women whom God uses them in spite of themselves. We’re not to emulate the judges or idolize them, but we are to see God’s sovereign hand in all that takes place in their lives.

In the story of Jephthah, we have a glimpse into just how bad things had gotten in Israel. “Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight. They worshiped images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. Not only this, but they abandoned the LORD and no longer served him at all” (Judges 10:6 NLT).  In other words, it's more of the same. But look at how far they have fallen. Now they are worshiping Baal and Ashtoreth, but they’ve added the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon and Philistia. They are completely non-discriminatory in their idolatry. Except that now they had abandoned God completely! So God had turned them over to the Philistines and Ammonites who would afflict them for 18 long years. But as always, they cry out to God! It took them 18 years to do it, but they finally give up on their replacement gods and turn to the one true God. “Finally, they cried out to the LORD, saying, ‘We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal’” (Judges 10:10 NLT). But God sees through their seeming repentance and tells them He has had enough. He has been here before with them. He has heard them repent, only to see them turn right back to their false gods again. So He sarcastically encourages them to let their gods rescue them this time. “Go ahead! Cry out for help to the gods you've chosen--let them get you out of the mess you're in!” (Judges 10:14 MSG). In fear, the people cry out again. But God is looking for more than repentance. He wants a change of heart. He wants actions in keeping with their repentance. God wanted proof that they were serious. As long as we want to keep our “gods” handy, God will allow us to find out just how well they can deliver us when we’re in trouble. We find it so easy to turn to our gods of prosperity, popularity, power, position, and pleasure instead of Him. But He wants us to put them away and return to Him.

This all reminds me of what John the Baptist said to the Pharisees who were showing up to be baptized in the River Jordan: “Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.” (Matthew 3:8 NLT).

So the Israelites seem to respond positively, putting aside their false gods. “Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the LORD. And he was grieved by their misery” (Judges 10:16 NLT). But repentance alone would not get rid of their problem. The Ammonites were still there and they still wanted the land and were willing to kill for it. The threat was still real. The problem didn’t go away. You see, repentance isn’t a vaccine for escaping difficulty. It is not some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card that allows us to escape trouble. The presence of the Ammonites was going to reveal that the Israelites were repentant, but not dependent. They had confessed. They had repented. They had returned. But they were still doing things their way. They decide to solve their problem their own way by choosing a deliverer of their own making. And they choose an unlikely candidate. They choose a poor substitute for God in choosing Jephthah. And the interesting thing is that nowhere does the passage indicate that God chose Jephthah. And look at his qualifications: Valiant warrior, son of a harlot, skilled at warfare, and an experienced leader. Jephthah is some kind of a guerilla fighter who had been kicked out of Gilead for his questionable birth. Yet now that things are tough, the people turn to him instead of God.

The people are desperate for leadership. They want a king. And in choosing Jephthah they are rejecting God as their leader. They are making Jephthah a substitute for God. Immediately, Jephthan reveals his skill as a negotiator as he attempts to talk the Ammonites out of their demand for the land. But his efforts fail. War is inevitable. Then Jephthah the negotiator attempts to negotiate with God. He makes a vow with God, swearing to give Him the first thing that walks out of his house if God will give them victory over the Ammonites. There was no need for this vow. God did not require it. God would have given him the victory without it. So why did he make it? I think it reveals just how "Canaanized" Jephthah and the people of Israel had become. They had been so influenced by their worship of the false gods of the nations around them that they had a false view of the one true God. They saw Yahweh as just another one of the pagan deities they worshiped. Listen to what Barry Webb has to say about Jephthah and his negotiating with God: “His negotiations with the elders, his diplomacy with the Ammonites, and his vow, have all amply displayed Jephthah's facility with words. Jephthah, we know, is good at opening his mouth. (How ironical that his name means literally 'he opens'!). What has precipitated the crisis with his daughter is that he has opened his mouth to Yahweh, that is, he has tried to conduct his relationship with God in the same way that he has conducted his relationships with men. He has debased religion (a vow, an offering) into politics.”

Jephthah didn't know God anymore. He didn't understand the God he worshiped. He had false views of the one true God. And it resulted in him making an unnecessary and tragic vow. And the sad thing is, if he had known his God, he would have known that there was a way to escape the consequences of his rash vow. God had provided a way to fulfill the vow without the sacrifice of his daughter.

"Jephthah believed he could not get out of his vow (v. 35). Unfortunately he did not know or had forgotten that God had made provision for His people to redeem things they had vowed to give Him. Leviticus 27:1-8 told the Israelites that if they vowed someone or something to God and then wanted it back they could pay a stated ransom price and buy it back. Had he obeyed the Word of God he could have avoided sacrificing his daughter. With his vow he sought to secure his present, but through it he ended up sacrificing his future.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable

Jephthah didn't know his God. And sometimes we suffer from the same thing. We share some common misconceptions about God today.

God falls out of love with us

• So we have to keep Him happy
• We have to do things to keep Him appeased
• Leads to works-righteousness

God has to be bargained with

• We have to negotiate with Him to get what we want
• You don’t get something for nothing
• God is a hard-bargainer

God demands sacrifices of us

• The more it costs and hurts us, the better
• If we don’t give it to Him, He’ll take it away from us
• God keeps a list of all we owe Him

Sickness, trials, and difficulty arepunishment from God

• God pays us back for the sins we have committed
• Trials aren’t a test, but payback from God
• Illness and difficulties are the result of something we’ve done

Many of us have unbiblical views of God. We don’t understand the God of the Bible. We don’t know Him. Our views of Him are distorted and unclear. And our false views of God can lead to faulty decisions for God. The book of Judges and the rest of the Bible give us a glimpse into the character of God. We get to see how He thinks, how He works, how He loves, and how He interacts with mankind. It is the Bible that reveals the character of God and it is the life of Christ that models the character of God. We don't have to guess or draw false conclusions. We just need to study the life of Christ and the Word of God.

Father, thank You that I don't have to guess as to Your character. It is right there for me to see in Your Word and in the life of Your Son. Yet I find it so easy to reach false conclusions about You. I listen to what the world says or what other religions have taught about You. But they are wrong and unbiblical in their conclusions. Help me to see You in Your Word and learn to have a true view of the one true God. Amen

Just When You Thought…

Judges 10

Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight. They worshiped images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. Not only this, but they abandoned the LORD and no longer served him at all. ­– Judges 10:6 NLT

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the people of God, it did. After their debacle with Abimelech, you would think they would have taken the hint and learned their lesson that God was to be their ruler and nobody else. But the Israelites were a little slow on the uptake. They do seem to get a 45-year break from the constant rebuke and punishment from God in the form of the judgeships of Tola and Jair. We don't learn a lot about either of these two men, but we do know that while they judged there is no indication of enemies attacking or punishment being meted out by God. But that doesn't mean that all was well in the land.

Because verse six gives us a glimpse into what was really going on. The people had been busy falling back into their old habit. But now they were not only worshiping Baal and Ashtaroth (who were the female consorts of Baal), but they added a whole slew of other gods to their retinue, including the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon and the Philistines. On top of that, they had completely forsaken Yahweh altogether. This wasn't a case of adding more gods to their worship of the one true God, they had left Him out of the mix completely.

So once again, God responds by giving them over to their enemies. Instead of victory, they would suffer defeat and humiliation, and it would last a long 8 years. And the amazing thing is, it took the people 18 years to finally call out to God. No doubt they had been calling out to all their other gods the entire time and finally decided they weren't getting the answer they were looking for. So when all else fails, call on Yahweh. But God responds by reminding them of all the times He has rescued them before. He had saved them time and time again, and each time they had turned right back to their other gods. So this time, God tells them He is done rescuing and encourages them to turn to their other gods for help. "Go ahead! Cry out for help to the gods you've chosen--let them get you out of the mess you're in!” (Judges 10:14 MSG). God wasn't being mean. He was looking for something – true repentance.

It wasn't going to be enough to just cry out to Him for help. They had done that before. This time God wanted action in keeping with their words. It reminds me of what John the Baptist had to say to the Pharisees when they showed up asking to be baptized. He told them, "Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God” (Matthew 3:8 NLT). John was looking for fruit in keeping with repentance. So was God. He wanted to see them clean house. To get rid of their other gods. Which they did. We aren't told how long it took them to do so, but they finally got rid of their substitutes for God and put Him back in the place where He belonged. And when they did, God showed mercy.

But the interesting thing is, their troubles didn't disappear. Repentance is NOT an elixir to get rid of all our problems. They still had the Ammonites camping outside their door. They had repented, but they weren't dependent. They were serving the Lord again, but they weren't looking to Him to solve their problems. They were still looking to substitutes for God. And this time it would be a man, not another god. But it would still prove to be a bad decision. And we'll see more about that tomorrow.

But suffice it to say, that we can never afford to find substitutes or replacements for God. People, possessions, power, prominence, pleasure ... none of these things can deliver what only God can. They will always disappoint and the people of Israel would learn that lesson the hard way.

Father, why do we always feel the urge to find replacements for you? Why can't we learn to trust You and rely on You alone? I can turn to so many other things other than You. But they never deliver as anticipated. They always disappoint. But You never do. Help me learn to rely on You and You alone. Amen

The Dark Ages of Israel.

Judges 9

No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. ­– Judges 8:33-34 NIV

The book of Judges records a very bleak period during the history of God's people. It was a dark time filled with unfaithfulness, immorality, and corruption. At this point, the people of God are scattered across the Promised Land. They have been relegated to their various tribes and clans, with little overall leadership. While the tabernacle had been erected in Shiloh, it appears that the Levitical priesthood had little to no influence over the people. At this point the people had become completely "Canaanized." They were worshiping other gods and ignoring the one true God. And in spite of all that Gideon had done for them, as soon as he was dead, the people turned back to Baal and away from God. They forgot all that God had done for them.

Once again, the people had no leader and they had rejected God as their king. So they were ripe for the picking. Into this moral void stepped Abimelech. He was one of Gideon's many sons, but was born to a concubine. So in essence, he was a half-brother to the other 70 sons of Gideon. While Gideon had refused to let the people make him king and had told them that none of his sons would serve in that capacity either, Abimelech had other plans. He arranges to murder 69 of his brothers, eliminating any threat to him taking over leadership of the people of Shechem. Only one brother, Jothan, escapes. The people of Shechem agree to make Abimelech their king, in spite of the clandestine and immoral way in which he gained the throne.

The whole story of Abimelech is a picture of just how bad things had gotten in Israel. And it is clear from the passage that God did not put Abimelech on the throne. Yet He would use Abimelech to punish the Canaanites. That the people of God would allow a man like Abimelech to rule over them is a sad commentary on the spiritual state of the nation. The peoples' lack of faithfulness to God and constant interaction with the gods of their enemies, had twisted their thinking and perverted their discernment. They didn't know right from wrong any more. Since God was not their king, they were desperate for someone to lead them and they would turn to anyone, regardless of their morals or lack of ethical integrity. Yet, in spite of the unfaithfulness of the people, we see the hand of God working throughout this story. One son is spared and he happens to utter a curse on Abimelech and the people of Shechem. God uses this young man as His mouthpiece to pronounce a deadly end to their love affair with Abimelech. God is still in control. He will continue to eliminate the Canaanite presence from the land, even though His people refused to do their part. Abimelech is a picture of mankind's greed and obsession for power. He will do anything to get to the top and the people will gladly allow him to murder his way into power, as long as they think it will be to their benefit. The greatest threat to Israel's existence was almost always from within, not without. They were their own worst enemy. Time and time again the nation rebels against God and He sends rebuke in the form of a foreign nation. The people end up in slavery or some other form of oppression, but then finally cry out to God. He rescues and restores them, only to see them rebel yet again.

The story of Abimelech is a reminder that sometimes God allows us to have exactly what we want. It reminds me of the story of king Saul. The people demanded a king. They were not satisfied with having God as their ruler. Instead, they wanted a king like all the other nations. So God let them have what they wanted, and it did not turn out too well for them. The same thing is true of the people of Shechem. They wanted someone to rule over them. But they were not content with it being God. So God gave them Abimelech. And it proved to be disastrous. "Thus, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon came true." (Judges 9:56-57 NLT). This was a dark time in the life of the people of Israel. They had turned from God to worship other gods. They had rejected God's leadership. They had placed their hope in someone or something other than God. And God was going to allow them to learn that there is no substitute for Him. Nothing else can save like He can. No one else can lead like He can. No one else can protect like He can. Nothing else can satisfy like He can. But those are lessons that we still have a hard time learning today. So many of us are turning to other things when we should be turning to God. We place our trust in all kinds of things other than God. And yet, He patiently waits, allowing us to learn those lessons the hard way, until we finally call out to Him for rescue and restoration.

Father, what a stubborn people we can be. We are a lot like the people of Shechem and Abimelech. We are greedy for power and recognition and ready for anyone to provide us with a semblance of hope and leadership. We turn from You and turn to just about anything or anyone in the hopes that they will provide what is missing in our lives. And You patiently wait for us to learn the truth. Thank You for Your patience. Amen

Little Is Much When God Is In It.

Judges 7-8

The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength." ­– Judges 7:2 NLT

God works in mysterious ways. He doesn't do things the way we would. He accomplished His victories in ways that we never could have dreamed up. Take a look at the story of Gideon. We’ve seen the seriousness of the situation. We’ve seen the fear and doubt in Gideon. There are 135,000 enemy troops amassed (Judges 7:10) against Israel and Gideon has only 32,000 soldiers – that’s more than 4 to 1 – bad odds – and bad odds can lead to some seriously big doubt. We already know Gideon struggles with doubt. Now he finds himself in a difficult situation and yet God has promised to deliver the Midianites into his hands. But as Gideon takes a look at the situation, he has to conclude that the odds are NOT in his favor. He does not have enough troops. But bad odds are great for revealing just how big our God is. In fact, Gideon was going to learn something about his God, and he was going to learn something about himself. He was going to learn that this battle was God’s battle. The odds didn't matter to God. In fact, God was going to even the playing field and make the odds even worse! Why? So that when the victory came, only He could get the glory.

So God tells Gideon he has too many men. In doing so, God is telling Gideon that this isn’t about Gideon's strength, but His! God has Gideon send home everyone who is afraid, so 22,000 men take up Gideon on his offer, leaving only 10,000 men. Now the odds are more than 13 to 1. But God is not done. He tells Gideon he still has too many men and has Gideon take his men to the spring to drink. One group kneels to drink, the other laps the water like a dog. God tells Gideon to send home all the kneelers. We don't know why. The passage doesn't tell us. I think it was an arbitrary decision. God was going to use the lesser group to accomplish His will. So 7,000 more men are sent home. That leaves Gideon with just 300 men to fight a force of 135,000. The odds just got worse – 450 to 1. But God is not limited by our limits. He tells Gideon, "With these three hundred men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midinates." (Judges 7:7).

Then God tells Gideon to march against the camp of the Midianites – 300 against 135,000. But God knows Gideon and He knows that Gideon still has doubts and fears. So He tells Gideon to take his servant and go sneak into the Midianite camp at night. Gideon has no way of knowing what this little trip will bring about. But when he arrives at the edge of the enemy encampment, he discovers that the armies of the Midianites are like locusts, their camels like grains of sand on the seashore. There are so many of them, that they are too many to count! But while he is there, Gideon overhears two Midianite soldiers talking. One is sharing a dream he had had that night. It involved a loaf of bread rolling into a tent and knocking it down. Immediately, this guy's buddy informs him that he knows the meaning! "Your dream can only mean one thing – God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over all the armies united with Midian!" (Judges 7:14).

God had preordained this encounter. He had arranged for this enemy soldier to have this dream and for him to relate it to his friend. Then God had given this other soldier the exact meaning of the dream. All so Gideon could overhear it and be assured of God's upcoming victory. Gideon takes it as a sign from God and immediately worships God. Then he goes back and organizes his “troops”. God used this simple dream to mobilize the Israelites and demoralize the Midianites. No doubt this dream and its interpretation spread like wild fire through the Midianite camp and caused all kinds of doubt and fear among them. Which probably explains their bizarre and erratic behavior when the "battle" took place.

You know the rest of the story. Gideon takes 300 men armed with little more than adream, clay pots, torches and rams horns, and goes up against the 135,000 Midianites. They blew their trumpets, broke the pots and held up their torches and screamed, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon" (Judges 7:20). Then all the Israelites had to do was stand and watch. They didn’t have to swing a sword or throw a spear. God did it all!

When the three hundred Israelites blew their horns, the LORD caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth–shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel–meholah near Tabbath.– Vs 22

God made it look easy. When we let God fight the battle, it’s always a whole lot easier. Because His ways are not our ways. God is the God of the impossible. He is the God of the improbable. He uses the weak, foolish, and powerless to accomplish His will. "God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful" (1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT).

God wanted Gideon to come to grips with his weakness and God’s strength. He wanted him to realize that the victory is always the Lord’s. God doesn’t want to know how strong you are, He wants to prove how strong He is.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the LORD. – Proverbs 21:31 NASB

For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.– Psalm 20:7 NASB

Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. – Psalm 24:8 NASB

O Sovereign LORD, my strong savior, you protected me on the day of battle. – Psalm 140:7 NLT

And everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The LORD will give you to us! – 1 Samuel 17:47 NLT

So what do we learn? God is the hero of this story – and of ours. God’s salvation doesn’t come to the strong, but the weak. God is God alone, and there is no other. In the heat of battle is where God so often reveals Himself. God’s ways are not our ways. Less is more when God is involved.

Father, help me learn these lessons. Help me to see your strength in the midst of my weakness. The odds mean nothing to You. The greater the odds, the greater my God. You want to prove Yourself strong in my life and You regularly do. But I still doubt and fear. Help me to learn to trust You more and more with each passing day. Amen

The Reluctant Rescuer.

Judges 5-6

…if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, "The LORD brought us up out of Egypt"? But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites. ­– Judges 6:13 NLT

Do you ever doubt God? Do you ever struggle believing He's there? Or that He cares? Do you feel like you’re out-numbered and under-manned at times? Do the odds ever seem stacked against you? If so, then you’re going to relate well to Gideon. There are some characters in Scripture I have a hard time relating to (i.e. Daniel, Joseph). But Gideon is my kind of guy. He is painfully honest and transparent and the Scriptures don't cover up his flaws. His story begins with some less-than-spectacular circumstances. Israel finds themselves once again under oppression because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness. The Midianites have been harassing them for seven years. They were experiencing regular invasions at the hands of the Midianites and the loss of their crops and livestock. They had been reduced to near starvation. Their land had been stripped bare and so they were once again crying out to God for help? (Isn’t that just like us?)

In the midst of all this, God sent a prophet to remind them of all that God had done for them. He had brought them out of Egypt. He demanded faithfulness. But they had failed. "I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me." (Judges 6:10 NASB). The people had been worshipping Baal. Even Joash, the father of Gideon, had been worshipping Baal. And so God comes up with His plan of rescue and redemption. And He chooses an unlikely hero. We find Gideon threshing grain in a wine press. He is hiding from the Midianites, trying to keep what little he has from being stolen. Yet when the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon, he addresses him, “O valiant warrior!" The New Living Translation renders this phrase, “Mighty hero!” What an unexpected greeting. What had he done to deserve this title? Nothing up to this point. But God is actually revealing who Gideon would become, not who he was. It was a title of expectation. Much the same way God called Abraham the father of a multitude of nations before he even had any children. He called him that when Abraham was old and his wife was barren! Jesus called Peter a rock before he behaved as one. God calls us saints even though we’re not yet as saintly as we will one day be. God knew what He was going to do in and through Gideon.

The angel then tells Gideon, “The Lord is with you!” This is the theme of these two chapters. This story is really about God, not Gideon. We are all bit players in God’s grand play. He is the author, director, and star. God is choosing to use Gideon, not because of who he is, but because God wants to reveal who He is through Gideon. But Gideon gives an unexpected response to God's call. He responds a little flippantly. He accuses God of abandoning them and not doing anything for them. He takes a look at the current circumstances and determines that God has been nowhere to be found. Gideon wants to know why all this has happened. He wants to know where all the miracles are. He’s basically accusing God of doing nothing and of abandoning them. But it was really the other way around. He failed to realize that their condition was the result of their abandoning God, not His abandoning them.

God’s response was to tell Gideon to go and deliver! He tells Gideon to go in his strength. What a strange statement. What strength was God talking about? Gideon hadn't exactly shown himself to be strong up to this point. Once again, God is not talking about a strength coming up from inside of Gideon. He is talking about a strength that would be based on God's presence. This isn't about how strong Gideon is, but about how strong Gideon's God is. Gideon was to go in the strength of God’s presence. God was sending him. God was going with him. God would give him victory over the Midianites (Judges 6:16). But Gideon shows his doubt again. He tells God he is too weak and insignificant for the job. But God refused to listen to Gideon's excuses. Instead He tells Gideon to clean house! He commands Gideon to go and clear out the idols in his own home (Judges 6:25). His own father had erected idols to the gods of the Midianites. Gideon obeys, but fearfully. He tears down the altar at night because he is afraid of what they might do if they catch him. And his fears are justified because when the people find out what he has done they threaten to kill him.

Gideon continues to struggle with trusting God. Time and time again, God assures him of His presence and His calling on his life. But Gideon doubts. He is reluctant to believe God and step out in faith. So God continues to reassure Him with a variety of signs. God is preparing Gideon to accomplish great things, and He is willing to tolerate Gideon's doubt. Much the same way He does with us today. We constantly doubt and question God. We look at our circumstances and question whether God is even there. We look at our own strength and qualifications and determine ourselves unfit for duty. But God has other plans. He has resources we aren't aware of. He can even use us to do His will. And He will, if we allow Him to.

Father, if You can use Gideon, You can use me. And You do – on a regular basis. And each time You do, I am amazed and humbled. Thank You for tolerating my doubts and using me in my weakness. I know I can't boast in my accomplishments, because anything I do of value is all a result of Your activity in my life. Amen

Thank Heaven For Little Girls.

Judges 4

“Very well," she replied, "I will go with you. But since you have made this choice, you will receive no honor. For the LORD’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. ­– Judges 4:9 NLT

Barak hesitated. This valiant warrior was given the honor of leading God's troops into battle against the Canaanites, but he hesitated. He told Deborah, the judge God had raised up to lead His people, that he would not go into battle unless she went with him. We don't know the exact reason for his reluctance to fight without her, but it seems clear that he was unwilling to do the job he had been called to do. He tells Deborah, "I will go, but only if you go with me!" (Judges 4:9 NLT). For refusing to simply obey the command of God, Barak would lose the honor that would come with the defeat of the Canaanites. God had already assured him of victory, but Barak would not get to enjoy the glory that normally comes to the conquering hero. Instead, an obscure woman named Jael would get the glory and honor.

The key to this story is that God is the one who deserves recognition and honor. He is the one who rescued the Israelites from the hands of the Canaanites, in spite of their unfaithfulness. He rose up Deborah. He gave her the command to attack the Canaanites. He led her to choose Barak to lead the troops. He assured them of their victory. And he placed Jael at just the right place at the right time to ensure that Sisera would be killed. This was God's battle and God's victory. And He determined who He would use to bring it all about. The fact that He chose to use two women to bring about a resounding victory just further illustrates the power of God. In that culture, women were not held in high esteem. They were viewed as little more than property. But God chooses to use two women to bring about a great victory. It is Deborah, a woman, who leads Barak, the great warrior, into battle against the Canaanites. It is Jael, who eliminates the Canaanite threat once and for all by killing the Canaanite king Sisera.

But when all is said and done, it is God who gets the glory. "So on that day Israel saw God subdue Jabin, the Canaanite king" (Judges 4:23 NLT). God will use whoever He wills to accomplish His will. In this case He chose to use two women. Barak hesitated. Jael didn't. But God gets all the glory. Deborah, Barak, and Jael would all eventually fade into obscurity, but not God. He would continue to lead and deliver His people just as He does today. And He is using men and women of all types to accomplish His will. Are you one of them?

Father, use me. I want to be like Jael, ready to do Your will – to get my hands dirty if necessary. I want to be used by You to bring about victory, but I want You to get all the glory. Raise up a host of men and women in Your church who will serve like Jael. There is work to be done and You will accomplish it through some unexpected sources. Amen

Our Standard Achievement Test.

Judges 2-3

“I did this to test Israel – to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” ­– Judges 2:22 NASB

Have you ever wondered why God left you here? I mean, if heaven is so great (and I think it is!), then it seems like it would have made more sense for Jesus to take us to be with Him when He saved us. But for some reason He chose to leave us here. So we spend out lives living in a place that really isn't conducive to Christ-likeness and where the inhabitants really don't like us very much. Jesus Himself warned us that the world would hate us (John 15:19). And yet, we have to live and somehow survive here. He even expects us to thrive here. Why? Could it be that He wants to do the same thing for us that He was doing for the Israelites? God put them in a place where they were surrounded by enemies. The land He had given them as a possession was not void of conflict, but seemingly full of it. The Philistines, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Hivites... were all in the land. So what was God up to? He was testing them. Yes, He was punishing Israel for her infidelity, but there was more to it than that. He would use the presence of these nations to continue to test Israel's allegiance. Each of these nations had their own gods and Israel would be constantly tempted to make those gods their own. Not only that, there would be a constant temptation to interact with and even intermarry with these nations – even though God had forbidden it.

So how did they do on the test? Well, not too well. Not only did the Israelites live among them, they intermarried with them and ended up worshiping their gods (Judges 3:5-6). But there was another test. God was allowing the enemy to remain in the land not only to punish Israel and tempt them, but to prepare them for battle. They were going to learn to fight. This generation was not battle-hardened or ready for war. So they would have to learn to fight. They still had land that needed to be conquered and to do so would require going to battle. That meant they would have to become warriors. You don't really learn to be a soldier in boot camp or in peace time, but on the battlefield. And we learn to fight the spiritual battles in our lives not by learning the concepts of war, but by getting in the trenches and doing battle with the enemy. God left us here to test us, try us, and train us. He is using the trials of this life to teach us to trust Him, rely on Him, turn to Him, and to serve Him alone. God wants to reveal our weaknesses and display His power.

As we read through the history of the various judges of Israel, we see how the people of Israel did with the tests of life. And we see how God intervened and rescued them time and time again. He is always faithful. What an incredible reminder to us that God is with us in our daily battles with sin and temptation. He is testing us, but He is also fighting alongside us – showing us that He can be trusted for the victory we need in whatever conflict we find ourselves.

Father, thank You for allowing me to experiences the tests of life. Forgive me for the many times I fail, but continue to show me what You have to teach me. And continue to reveal Your power in the midst of my weakness and failure. Amen

A Lack of Drive.

Judges 1

The LORD was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains because the people there had iron chariots. ­– Judges 1:19 NLT

The first three chapters of the book of Judges will paint of picture of why this period in Israel's history was even necessary. The book forms a bridge from the time in which Israel was ruled by God (a theocracy) to the time in which they would demand rule by a king (a monarchy). As we read we will see Israel move from success to failure. They will go from victory to defeat. All due to their disobedience and unfaithfulness to keep the commands of God. But the primary purpose of the book of Judges seems to be to show the sovereign grace of God in preserving Israel in spite of Israel. God will remain faithful in spite of their increasing unfaithfulness.

Chapter one sets the stage for what is to come. Joshua has died and God does not replace him with another military style leader. Now the individual tribes are expected to continue to process of conquering the land and inhabiting it. We read in verse 19 that Judah had the presence of God with him as he and his tribe fought against the Canaanites. But in spite of God's presence, they were unable to defeat the inhabitants of the hill country. The excuse given for their failure is the advanced weaponry of their foes (iron chariots). But was that the real reason for their failure? As we continue to read in the days ahead we will discover that the real issue was their disobedience. Rather than fight, they were making allegiances and alliances with the people and worshiping their gods. The people of God had become highly selective in their obedience to God's command. They were making executive decisions about what they would and would not do. And as a result, they were experiencing limited success. In fact, verses 27-36 record failure after failure on the part of Israel in driving the inhabitants from the land.

…Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean…

…but they did not drive them out completely…

…Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites…

…Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron…

…Ahser did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco…

…Napthali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh…

And on it goes. The situation in the Promised Land will continue to degrade until God has to intervene and rescue His people yet again – time and time again. The book of Judges is a record of the period of the judges. Who were these individuals? Were they prophets, pseudo-kings, or military leaders? To help us get a better grasp on the role these people played in the lives of Gods people, take a few minutes to read what John Bright has to say about them:

Though the judge enjoyed great prestige, he was in no sense a king. His authority was neither absolute, nor permanent, nor in any case hereditary; it rested solely in those personal qualities (the charisma) that gave evidence that he was the man of Yahweh's spirit. It was a type of authority perfectly expressive of the faith and constitution of early Israel: the God-King's direct leadership of his people through his spirit-designated representative. . . .

The judges were by no means men of identical character. Some (e.g., Gideon) rose to their task at the behest of a profound experience of divine vocation; one (Jephthah) was no better than a bandit who knew how to strike a canny bargain; one (Samson) was an engaging rogue whose fabulous strength and bawdy pranks became legendary. None, so far as we know, ever led a united Israel into battle. All, however, seem to have had this in common: they were men who, stepping to the fore in times of danger, by virtue only of those personal qualities (charisma) which gave evidence to their fellows that Yahweh's spirit was upon them, rallied the clans against the foe. – John Bright, A History of Israel

So as we read through the book of Judges, keep your eyes open for God's faithfulness. Look out for examples of His sovereign grace and mercy. Watch how He rescues His own even in the midst of their rebellion. He is faithful. And look at the ways in which he uses ordinary men to accomplish extraordinary tasks. Just like He longs to do today.

Father, as we read through the book of Judges, give us eyes to see You. Don't let us read it as ancient history, but as an up-to-date glimpse into Your heart. You are still gracious and merciful. We are still rebellious and disobedient. And You continue to rescue us from the results of our own unfaithfulness. Make that reality come alive to us in the days ahead.  Amen

When Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Joshua 24

So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. ­– Joshua 24:14 NLT

I think they meant well. The Israelites that is. They had been challenged by Joshua to serve God and serve Him alone, and their response was a strong affirmative. They all gave Joshua a thumbs up and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods." (Joshua 24:16 NASB). Twice in chapter 24 they swear to worship God alone – even after Joshua somewhat pessimistically warns them, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and sins" (Joshua 24:19 NLT). But they assure him that they will. And I think they meant it. They sincerely wanted to serve God alone. But the problem was that they still had idols they were worshiping in place of or in addition to God. I think it is interesting that they never seem to come right out and say that they are willing to worship GOD alone. While a few of the translations add this word, it does not seem to appear in the original manuscripts. So the people seem to conveniently leave out the word "only" or "alone" when assuring Joshua that they will serve God. They seem to be leaving themselves an out – a way to keep their existing gods while assuring Joshua that they will serve Yahweh as well.

Joshua seems to sense this when he tells them to, "destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel" (Joshua 24:23 NLT). He knew that they were going to have a hard time giving up their idols, their substitutes for the one true God. They wanted both. They wanted the freedom to worship God, but also keep their alternative gods carefully tucked away in their tents – just in case. It's kind of like us saying that we will trust God to provide for us, but all the while we keep checking on the status of our 401k or mutual fund, just to make sure that we have something else to fall back on in case God doesn't come through for us. Sure, we'll worship God, but we want to make sure we have other options when it comes to meeting our daily needs.

Joshua warned the people that God is a holy God and a jealous God. He doesn't like to play seconds. He doesn't like being an option. He wants His people to serve Him wholeheartedly, in sincerity and truth, totally committed, showing loyalty and not allowing anyone or anything else to compete for our love or attention. But we allow so many things to stand as replacements for God. We put all kinds of things in His place, turning to them for comfort, assurance, hope, help, power, rescue, joy, contentment, and a sense of peace. God made it clear in the opening verses of this chapter all that He had done for the people of Israel. Over and over again He said, "I gave," "I sent," "I brought," "I delivered," and "I destroyed." From the day He had called Abraham out of Ur, He had been leading, guiding, protecting and providing for them in incredible ways. He deserved their sold-out allegiance, their non-distracted commitment to Him and Him alone. But they would struggle with faithfulness for generations to come. Just as we do. James gives us a powerful warning in his letter about allowing anything to come between our love for God. He is as jealous for us as He was for the people of Israel. "You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful?" (James 4:4-5 NLT).

So are you friendly with the world? Is your aim to enjoy this world and all it has to offer? If so, then James says you can't be a friend of God. Sound a bit harsh, doesn't it? But God jealously longs for us to be faithful and He knows how easily it is for us to become distracted by the things of this world. Maybe its time for a reality check. What ARE we worshiping other than God? What are the idols in our life? Are we willing to remove them?

Father, I say I worship You and You alone, but the truth is, I have so many things that compete for my love and attention. They show up as the things I worry about, think about, stress over, and spend my time with. In giving them my valuable time and attention, I am in essence worshiping them. I am giving them something of value that I should be reserving for You. Give me the ability to recognize the idols in my life and the strength to remove them. Amen

Cling to the Lord.

Joshua 22-23

But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. ­– Joshua 23:8 NASB

Joshua is growing old. The people are in the land, but have yet to take possession of all that God has given them. Several times in these two chapters Joshua refers to the land "which remains." God had given them enough land to take over as their numbers grew. He had taken into account their future as well as their present needs. But because they had not yet occupied all the land, there were still other nations remaining in those areas. Joshua warns the people not to grow intimate with these people. "So be strong! Be very careful to follow all the instructions written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not deviate from them in any way. Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or worship them" (Joshua 23:6-7 NLT). Joshua knew that the people would be tempted to not only allow these other nations to remain, but to grow comfortable with their presence and even learn to accept their ways and their worship. So he strongly warns them of the consequences of their actions.

Joshua spends a good part of his address to the people reminding them of all that God has done for them. The Lord had given them rest from all their enemies on every side. It was the Lord who had been fighting for them all this time. God would continue to give them victory over their enemies as long as they remained faithful to Him, keeping His commands and expressing love to Him through their obedience. God had remained faithful, but He expected Israel to do the same.

"If Israel does not do her part, then God will not do his. Here is the danger of freedom. God seeks man's free response of love. God does his part to deserve and receive such love. God does not force his attentions upon man. But the man who ignores God's claims finds God's punishment." – Trent C. Butler, Joshua

Because we live in a dispensation of grace, we sometimes fail to realize how serious God is about faithfulness in His people. We relish His grace and count on His constant forgiveness. We love the idea that our future salvation is guaranteed and we can't do anything to screw it up. But that assurance can lead to a kind of complacence. We can become casual in our obedience and a little too familiar with this world. Joshua warned the Israelites of how dangerous this would be for them. But is it any less dangerous for us? No, we will not lose our salvation, but we can miss out on all that God has promised for us. John warns us as believers, "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. or the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world." (1 John 2:15-16 NLT). Jesus Himself prayed on our behalf, "I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am. Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth." (John 17:15-17 NLT).

We are not to grow cozy with the world in which we live. We are not to take on the characteristics of this world system. Instead, we are to be set apart. We are to be in the world, but not of it. We are to be agents of influence, not the influenced. Like the Israelites, we are to be God's representatives in a land where He is not worshiped or esteemed. We are to be His people, living according to His will and illustrating what it means to walk according to His way. No, we need not fear His cursing of us, but we should fear living outside of His will. Falling in love with the world should be the farthest thing from our minds when we consider all that He has done, is doing, and has promised to do for us in the future. Even in the midst of all the temptations and influences to be unfaithful, we should cling to the Lord. He is our help, our hope, and our faithful God.

Father, I want to learn to cling to You. But instead I tend to cling to the things this world offers up as replacements for You. Forgive me for my lack of faithfulness and my complacency. I have become far too casual in my relationship with You. I don't want Your love for me to cause me to lose my respect and awe of You. Never let me grow so casual that I become complacent. Amen

The Faithfulness of God.

Judges 20-21

Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. ­– Joshua 21:45 NASB

Sometimes we fail to recognize the faithfulness of God. In fact, we oftentimes doubt it and complain that God is not doing His part. We take a look at our circumstances and determine that God has not done for us what we assumed He could or should do. If we find ourselves going through difficulty, we assume that it is NOT from God, and therefore He has dropped the ball and inadvertently allowed the difficulty to take place. At other times we may feel like God is nowhere to be found. He is absent or preoccupied with other things and too busy to help us. Or perhaps we think that God is angry with us and has decided to punish us for something we have done or haven’t done. In all these cases, we fail to understand the unfailing faithfulness of God. The end of chapter 21 of Joshua is a welcome reminder that we serve a faithful God who never fails to follow through on His promises.

Joshua reminds his readers that God had done all He had promised to do. “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies” (Joshua 21:41-44 NLT). Now the reality was that they had not yet occupied ALL the land. There were not enough Israelites available to take possession of all the land that existed. But they had taken possession of great portions of the land, and as the previous chapters indicate, they had divided up the land between all the tribes, including the Levites. Now it was up to the Israelites to do their part. God had done His. In verse 45 Joshua seems to be illustrating the fact that God had been faithful to His promises up to that point in time. He had promised possession of the land, rest on every side, and victory over enemies. And the truth was, Israel had experienced all of these to some degree. God had been faithful to the “good promises” He had made to them when they had prepared to cross the Jordan (Joshua1:1-9).

God had been faithful and would continue to be so. The only reason the Israelites would not take possession of some of the land would be due to their own infidelity, not God’s. Any future conflicts with their enemies in the land would be their own fault, not God’s. God had given them the land and victory over their enemies. It was up to the Israelites, by faith, to make it a reality. But they would prove to be unfaithful. Just like we tend to be. We don’t lack peace and joy because God is unfaithful to provide it, but because we turn to anything and everything else to get it, other than God. It is ours for the taking, but we will only find it in Him. Chapter 21 tells how the Israelites gave portions of their land and cities to the Levites, the priestly family. This assured that priests were close by all throughout the land. The priests were to instruct the people in regard to the Law of God and help them keep it. In Shiloh, the tabernacle was erected, the place where God’s presence dwelt. Shiloh was in the middle of the Promised Land. So God’s presence was always in the middle of the people of Israel. God’s priests were always close at hand. They had no excuse for not following God. But they would do so any way, and on a regular basis. But so do we. God has given us His Word, He has provided us with places of worship and ministers to instruct us in His Word. But we still turn to other things for comfort, happiness, and significance. God has been faithful to us, but we regularly reveal our unfaithfulness to Him. If only we could open our eyes and recognize His presence and power in our midst. He is there. He is faithful.

Father, help me grow in my awareness of Your unfailing faithfulness. I have no reason to doubt You. You are a constant presence in my life – whether I see You or not. You are there and You care. Your promises are as good as fulfilled. Even your promise of eternal life. It is a done deal. Nothing can change it. Thank You. Amen

Possess the Land.

Joshua 18-19

How long will you put off entering the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? – Joshua 18:3b NASB

The land had been promised by God. Now all they had to do was take possession of all that had been given to them. Without doing so the inheritance would remain unofficial. It had to be received, possessed, and appreciated. But seven of the 12 tribes still stood around waiting to take what had been given to them by God. The land had been subdued (Joshua 18:1), but unoccupied. So Joshua confronts the remaining tribes and asks them a somewhat uncomfortable question: “How long will you put off entering the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? (Joshua 18:3b). “What are you waiting for?,” he seems to ask them. “Why are you procrastinating?” “What’s keeping you from enjoying what God has already given you?

Those same questions could be asked of you and me today. Like the Israelites, we have incredible promises made to us by God. We are heirs of God with access to everything from peace and joy to abundant life and contentment. We have the promise of His constant presence through the indwelling Spirit. We have the promise of His power. We have the promise of His provision. Yet we fail to take advantage of all the promises of God. We live like paupers instead of princes in the land. There is so much waiting for us, yet we seem content to settle for less. We have learned to accept a weak and powerless brand of Christianity that is far from what God has promised. That may be why so many of our lost friends, neighbors, and co-workers are turned off by what we offer up as the “good news” to them. There is far more at our disposal than we are taking advantage of. We have become satisfied with a steady diet of beans and weenies when we have a sumptuous banquet right at our fingertips. We have put off entering the land.

It’s interesting that right in the midst of all this, we read about the tent of meeting or tabernacle being set up in Shiloh. The name literally means, “place of rest.” God had given His people the promise of His abiding presence. And His presence was to dwell wherever the tabernacle was erected. So when they set it up in Shiloh, the place of rest, there seems to be a not-to-subtle reminder that God’s presence and rest go hand in hand. The sanctuary of God was to be right in the middle of the people of God. So they set up the tabernacle in the central hill country – smack dab in the middle of the land allotments to the various tribes. The presence of God should bring the peace and rest of God. He is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He is there to empower us.

When we fail to “possess the land” we fail to enjoy the full extent of His presence and peace. We live in weakness and fear. We fall prey to the powers and the worries of this world. He is there, but we do not sense or see Him. He is with us, but instead of the peace of His presence, we suffer from a feeling of aloneness and emptiness. Both of these we attempt to fill with other things. But God is offering us a place of rest. He is offering us the power of His presence. He is offering us joy in the midst of the battle. But we must take possession of what He has given us – in faith.

Father, forgive me for failing to take possession of what You have already provided. I don’t enjoy Your peace. I fail to live with a sense of contentment and joy. I don’t recognize and utilize the power You have made available to me through the Holy Spirit. I live too often like a pauper instead of a prince. I act like a squatter in the land instead of an heir of the king with the full rights and privileges that come as one of Your sons. Help me to step out in faith and take hold of all that You have put at my disposal. Let it begin today. Amen

When Almost Isn't Enough.

Joshua 16-17

But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns. They could not drive out the Canaanites who continued to live there. Later on, however, when the Israelites became strong enough, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves. But they did not drive them out of the land. – Joshua 17:12-13 NLT

They couldn't drive out the Canaanites. That little statement speaks volumes. Their inability or unwillingness to completely exterminate the Canaanites from the land would come back to haunt them. It didn't really matter that they would occasionally make them slaves. They were supposed to purge them from the land. And they didn't. However big or small this remnant of Canaanites was, they would continue to have a negative influence on the people of Israel. It would be like attempting to break a nasty drug habit all the while keeping an assortment of drugs in your pantry. The likelihood of you remaining "drug free" would be minimal at best. The same was going to prove true for the Israelites. They would find themselves constantly harassed and negatively impacted by the presence of these people. No matter how much Israel may have felt that they had the Canaanites conquered, their presence would prove to be a continual problem.

What a reminder to you and me about the sin in our own lives. We can learn to tolerate it and live with it – rationalizing it away. But sin is sin and its presence will have consequences. That is why it is so critical for us to deal with it seriously and often. Which is why John encourages us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NASB).

Father, forgive me for the many times I have allowed the "Canaanite" toremain the land. Help me see the seriousness and the danger of sin in my life. Don't allow me to grow complacent of comfortable with it – no matter how small I may think it is. Help me to see it, acknowledge it, and confess it on a regular basis. Give me the strength to remove it from my life with Your help. Amen

Dripping With Devotion to God.

Joshua 14-15

Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. – Joshua 14:8 NASB

Remember Caleb? He was the one, who along with Joshua, went in to spy out the land more than 40 years earlier. Twelve men were sent by Moses to check out the condition of the Promised Land prior to them taking possession of it. But ten of the spies came back with a bad report. They said there were giants in the land. Their report scared the people so badly, that they refused to go in. "Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, 'The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there'" (Deuteronomy 1:28 NASB). The result was that God condemned them to wandering in the wilderness until that generation died off. Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who recommended that the people obey God and enter the land – in spite of the presence of the Anakim or giants. These two men trusted God and now, more than four decades later, Caleb is coming to Joshua to claim his inheritance. God had said, "Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully" (Deuteronomy 1:36 NASB).

The amazing thing is that Caleb is now 85 years old! But his faith and determination have not weakened over the years. In fact, he claim, "I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then" (Joshua 14:11 NLT). Not only does he want to inherit the land God had promised, he wants to occupy the land of the Anakim – the giants whose presence scared off the first generation 40 years earlier. At 85 years of age, Caleb is ready to take on the Anakim and their fortified cities. He says to Joshua, "So I’m asking you to give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the Anakites living there in great, walled cities. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said" (Joshua 14:12 NLT).

Caleb got his wish. He was given the city of Hebron and the hill country surrounding it as his inheritance. But he still had to go out and conquer and occupy it. Which he did. Then after all that, Caleb would willingly give the city he fought and won to the Levites as a city of refuge. He would then live in the pasture lands surrounding it (Joshua 21:12).

What a picture of devotion to God. Caleb is the epitome of what we should look like when it comes to our love and devotion to God. He followed the Lord FULLY. That word is rich in meaning. It conveys the idea that he was wholehearted in his devotion to God. He gave himself totally to God. In other words, he loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. His was not a wishy-washy relationship with God, but a totally sold-out, lay-it-all-on-the-line kind of relationship that flowed from every pore of his body. His devotion to God didn't diminish with age, it got stronger. Years of wandering and waiting in the wilderness didn't staunch his passion, it increased it. One of the possible meanings of the word "fully" is that Caleb was literally "dripping with" devotion to God. He was soaked through and through. He was brimming over with his commitment to and love for God. Nothing would stand in his way when it came to following after God. And that's exactly the kind of mindset we need today. God is looking for more Calebs – men and women who are His fully devoted followers – sold out and dripping with devotion to Him. Age, income, education, upbringing, talent – none of it matters. Nothing stands in the way of someone who is willing to follow God FULLY. Their devotion to God is full, drenched, running over, complete, wholehearted, and overflowing. Does that describe you?

Father, I have to admit or confess that my devotion to You is far from full. I am not dripping with devotion to You. I find that it is sometimes in short supply. Circumstances, time, and the cares of this life take their toll. I find myself devoted to a lot of other things, including my own agenda or my own comfort and convenience. But I want to be a Caleb. I want to follow You fully, not half-heartedly. I want to be defeating the giants in the land when I'm in my 80s, not resting in some retirement home or driving golf balls into the high grass in an attempt to wile away the waning days of my life. Give me the heart and passion of Caleb so that I might give all that I have to You. Amen

Still Work To Be Done.

Joshua 12-13

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the LORD said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed." – Joshua 13:1 NASB

Joshua is probably 80 years old at this point in time. Since entering the Promised Land, he has been a busy guy. He has led the people of God in their conquest of the land and helped them defeat 31 different kings. But they are far from done. After seven years of fighting the people of God occupied very little of the land. "Very much" of it remained for them to possess. Now it was going to be up to the individual tribes to finish what Joshua has begun. There would be no more large-scale battles involving the combined forces of Israel. Instead, each tribe would be responsible for the lands allotted to it. While the major cities and military threats had been taken care of, there were still going to be serious work required to purge the land of its remaining inhabitants. The goal was not to completely eliminate other people groups from the land, but to ensure that Israel was in control and had eliminated all remaining threats to its rightful possession of the land.

The next chapters are going to relate the dividing up of the land to the various tribes. That was the easy part. Now the real work would be the actual taking possession of the various territories by each of the tribes. This was going to require real faith. The people of God were not to be content with the conquests of Jericho and Ai, or the defeat of the 31 kings mentioned in chapter 13. They had much more to do. This is all about the inheritance that God had promised them. He had given them this land, but they were the ones who would have to conquer and colonize it with God's help.

"Resisting the temptation to skip over this section of Joshua [chs. 13—21] can result in an appreciation of important features of God's covenant with Israel. Beyond the obvious detail of the content of these chapters and the means by which God blessed those who remained faithful in the conquest of the land, this passage also addresses the question why the land formed so significant a part of God's promises to the patriarchs and remained a key feature of the covenant." – Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary

Eleven different times in chapter 13 the word "inheritance" is used in speaking of the land. This land was God's gift to His people, but they had to take possession of it. They had to conquer it. They had to colonize it. This was going to require effort on the part of the people. It would not be easy. The inhabitants of the land did not roll over and play dead. They were going to put up a fight. The same is true for us as believers. We have been promised abundant life, not just in the future, but now. But to experience and enjoy it requires that we "take possession" of it. We must purge our lives of the remnants of sin that remain.

"…throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception." – Ephesians 4:22 NLT

"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices." – Colossians 3:9 NASB

"We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." – Romans 6:6 NET

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." – Galatians 5:24 NIV

"So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry." – Colossians 3:5 NLT

For most of us, "very much of the land remains to be possessed." We are not experiencing the fullness of life promised by God and made possible by Christ. Why? Because we have allowed a lot of our sinful habits to remain. We have not remained faithful to work alongside the Holy Spirit allowing Him to purge our lives of our old sin nature. Like Israel, we have failed to finish the task at hand. "But the Israelites failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day" (Joshua 13:13 NLT). Let's allow God to finish what He has begun.

Father, You are not finished in my life. But I can easily become content with where I am. I can grow complacent in my faith journey and become perfectly fine with the status quo. But You have called me to more. You have promised more. Never allow me to remain satisfied with less than Your best for me. Amen

War Before Rest.

Joshua 10-11

So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war. – Joshua 11:23 NLT

The Promised Land turned out to be one tough place. The original spies were right. It was a land filled with formidable enemies. From the first day Joshua and the people had set foot in the land, it had been one conflict after another. God had given them a miraculous victory over Jericho, but then it had become one war after another. They had been routed at Ai, then turned around and returned the favor after having purged the sin from their camp. Next, a group of Amorite nations form a coalition against the cit of Gibeon, because they had made a covenant with Israel. Joshua is forced to defend the city because of the treaty he had made with them. God miraculously destroys the armies of the coalition and then Joshua and his forces destroy their cities in a clean-up operation. The move from city to city, destroying everything and everyone. In spite of the Lord's presence, this would have been a wearying endeavor. They were having to march across vast amounts of land to accomplish their task. But Joshua and the people were able to capture all the kings and their cities because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for them (Joshua 10:42).

But their victories led to more battles. The kings of the northern cities of Canaan heard about Israel's conquests and formed a coalition against them. And the size of their combined armies was massive. "All these kings responded by mobilizing their warriors and uniting to fight against Israel. Their combined armies, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore" (Joshua 11:4 NLT). The Jewish historian, Josephus said that the northern armies had 300,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 20,000 chariots. That's some army! Yet we are told, "the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth–maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive" (Joshua 11:8 NLT). Joshua went on to capture every city within the enemy coalition, destroying, burning, and plundering them. Joshua and his forces march throughout the land, from city to city, fighting and taking the land into their possession. It wasn't just handed to them. Yes, God was involved and performed significant miracles to make their job easier, but the people of God still had to do their part. They even went on to destroy the Anakim, the giants who had terrorized the spies more than 40 years earlier (Numbers 33). Joshua and the people conquered the entire land and its inhabitants. In doing so, they were being obedient to the call of God to Moses. But it required hard work and determination. We are told that "Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings" (Joshua 11:18 NASB). We tend to read these condensed versions of these stories and lose the significance of the energy and effort expended in order for victory to be accomplished. Taking the Promised Land had turned out to be hard work. Even dangerous at times.

But all their effort turned out for the best. Their obedience resulted in rest. Because they had done what God had commanded them to do, "the land had rest from war" (Joshua 11:23 NASB). There was a time when the battles ceased and the people could rest. Their efforts were rewarded with rest. The fighting stopped and they could enjoy the fruits of their labor – without fear of attack. So what does this have to do with you and me? Well, we have to realize that we too are in a battle. We live in the midst of a spiritual war where the enemy is attacking constantly, trying to destroy us every chance he gets. John 10:10 records the words of Jesus warning us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan is out to annihilate us. We, like the Israelites, are invading his land. He wants to stop the advancement of God's people and His kingdom. And he will do everything in his power to make that happen.

But we want rest. We want peace. We want to enjoy ourselves and have fun. We have lost sight of the reality of the spiritual war in which we find ourselves. This is NOT heaven. We do have God presence and power available to us, but we are also under attack. Which is why we are encouraged to put on arm ourselves for battle. It is why we are admonished to fight. Paul encouraged Timothy to "fight well in the Lord’s battles" (1 Timothy 1:18 NLT). Paul reminds us that, "We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NLT). He also warns us to "Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13 NET). Why? Because we are at war. We live in difficult days. This is no time for the feint-hearted. We fight for the Lord. We are part of His army and represent His kingdom on this earth. We are part of His invasion force, taking back what rightfully belongs to God. We have a job to do. Rest will come. But first we must do the work He has called us to do.

Father, forgive me for wanting rest before I've even fought the good fight. I have a peacetime mentality in a time of war and nothing could be more dangerous. The enemy tries to convince me that there is no war. He wants to make peace with me like the Gibeonites did with Joshua. He attempts to deceive and delude me. Open my eyes to the reality of the war being waged all around me. Give me the strength I need to fight the good fight of faith. You've promised me rest, but that does not mean I don't have to fight and do my part. Amen

Taking God For Granted.

Joshua 8-9

So the Israelite leaders examined their bread, but they did not consult the LORD. – Joshua 9:14 NLT

Once the Israelites had purged the sin from their camp, they easily defeated the city of Ai – mainly because purging of sin had restored the presence and power of God. He was with them once again and He gave the city into their hands. Word of their subsequent defeat and destruction of the city of Ai, coupled with their victory over Jericho, had gotten around. A group of Canaanite nations joined forces to fight against Israel. They had seen what had happened to Jericho and Ai, and knew that their only hope was in an alliance against the people of Israel.

The Gibeonites, another Canaanite nation, took a slightly different approach. They decided to use deception. They used the "if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them" approach. They sent a group of emissaries to seek peace with Israel, but they dressed them in worn-out clothes and gave them old provisions and dried-out wine skins to carry. They were to tell Joshua that they were from a far-off country and head heard of the power of Israel. Their goal was to seek a peace treaty or covenant with Israel. It was perfectly acceptable for Israel to make covenants with distant cities, but they had been commanded by God to destroy ALL Canaanite cities. The city of Gibeon was just 6.5 miles from Ai!

Joshua and the leaders of Israel took the bait. They bought the lie. And the writer of the book of Joshua makes it painfully clear why they were so easily deceived. They did not seek the counsel of God. They just assumed He was with them, so they didn't bother to ask Him. This is especially odd considering all the times Joshua had seen Moses ascend the mountain to talk with God. He should have known better. He should have realized that no matter was too small to consult with God about. It was never safe to assume that God's input was unnecessary. Joshua had even been given clear instructions how to seek the will of God in any matter. "When direction from the LORD is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will determine the LORD’s will by means of sacred lots. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will discover what they should do" (Numbers 27:21 NLT).

I see two truths revealed in this chapter. First of all, the enemies of God's people will always align themselves against us. They will join forces in an attempt to defeat the kingdom of God. But they will also use deception and alliances to get us to accept them as they are. They will make peace treaties with us and encourage us to allow them to live with us in the land. Which is exactly what Joshua did. He failed to seek God's will and so he bought the lie of the Gibeonites and made a covenant with them. When he discovered his mistake, he attempted to correct it by making the people of Gibeon slaves of Israel. But while this sounds like a fitting punishment for their deception, it allowed the people of Gibeon to remain alive and infiltrate the nation of Israel. Their presence would have long-lasting influence over the people of Israel. This allegiance would lead to future problems for the people of Israel. Years later, King Saul would attempt to wipe out the Gibeonites as part of a purge. In doing so, he would violate the covenant. The result would be famine in the land. "During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. The Lord said, 'It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites'" (2 Samuel 21:1 NET).

God tells us, "Good advice and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine" (Proverbs 8:14 NLT). We are to seek His counsel about any and all matters. But it is so easy to assume that some things are just up to us. We can easily fall prey to the idea that we can make decisions on our own, without seeking His advice. The world is out to deceive us. It is constantly trying to trick us and cause us to make false alliances with it. Compromise is a constant threat to God's people. Which is why we need to seek His face. We need His counsel each and every day for each and every circumstance. It is when we get comfortable making decisions without Him that we are in real danger.

Father, I confess that there are so many times I do not seek Your counsel. I either don't think I need it or I just don't want to take the time. I also probably fear that if I ask Your advice, You will contradict the decision I have already made. But it is clear that living my life apart from Your input is dangerous. I am easily deceived. I am prone to make decisions that will have long-lasting implications on my life. Teach me to seek Your face in all things – big and small. Amen

Sin in the Camp.

Joshua 5-7

Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things. – Joshua 7:13 NLT

These three chapters offer us two extremes. On one hand we see the incredible, miraculous victory of God over the fortified city of Jericho. In a strangely fable-like story, the walls of Jericho fall after the people spend seven days marching around them and simply shouting. But then we see a demoralizing defeat take place against the much smaller city of Ai. In a matter or days, the people go from ecstasy to agony, from victory to defeat. What happened? Sin in the camp. They had disobeyed God. But not everyone. Just one man had decided to ignore God's command not to covet and take anything under the ban.

Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury. – Joshua 6:18-19 NLT

They were to completely destroy the city, its inhabitants, and everything in it. Only the gold, silver, bronze and iron were to be given to the Lord's treasury. Nothing else was to be taken by the people. But someone decided to take matters into his own hands. And his disobedience led to the defeat at Ai. "But Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, of the family of Zimri, of the clan of Zerah, and of the tribe of Judah" (Joshua 7:1 NLT). Isn't it interesting that chapter seven starts off with the phrase, "But Israel was unfaithful"? Even though one man had sinned, the whole nation was held guilty. While only Achan had ignored the ban and disobeyed God, the entire nation was being held responsible.

There was sin in the camp. And as long as there was sin in the camp, there would be no victory. The presence and power of the Lord would no longer be available to them. "That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction" (Joshua 7:13 NLT).

God wanted them to purge the camp. He wanted them to expose the sin and remove it from their midst. Until they did, they would continue to suffer defeat. ""Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst." (Joshua 7:13 NLT). In our day, we have decided that faith is an individualized thing. It is something that is simply between God and myself. What I do is my own business. But we have lost sight of the reality of the fact that we are part of the body of Christ, and our sins have impact on everyone, not just ourselves. Our individual sins have corporate consequences. The power of God is limited by the presence of sin in the camp. And we seem content to tolerate it. To turn our heads at the sins being committed by the people of God that end up preventing the power of God to be displayed among us. This is not a call for a witch hunt, but a reminder that God takes sin seriously and so should we. We cannot afford to wink at sin and tolerate its presence. It is serious business and has serious consequences. Defeat is a result of disobedience. God is ready to give us victory, but first we must purge the sin from the camp.

Father, show us the sins that exist in our camp. Open our eyes and let us see where we are being disobedient to You. Maybe it is our love affair with the world. Perhaps it is the sins of immorality that exist among us. But whatever it is, help us to see it and deal with it. To confess it and allow You to cleanse us so that we can experience the full extent of Your presence and power. Amen

The Crossing.

Joshua 3-4

Today you will know that the living God is among you. – Joshua 3:10a NLT

This day has been long in coming. For more than 40 years, the people of God have been waiting for this moment to take place – the crossing over into the land of Canaan, the long-awaited Promised Land. This is the event that all their decades of wandering has been leading to. They are getting ready to move from the wilderness to living in the land that was flowing with milk and honey. But before they could get there they were going to have to cross the Jordan. Once again, the people of God found themselves faced with a daunting task – somehow getting the tens of thousands of their people, not to mention livestock, from one side of the Jordan to the other. And at the time of year when the Jordan was at its highest and widest.

It is no coincidence that they had arrived at the Jordan when they did. This was God's timing. The Israelites were to cross the Jordan when the river was at its widest, deepest, and swiftest, in late April or early May. At this time of year, the snow on Mt. Hermon melts and the rainy season ends. The Jordan rises to a depth of 10-12 feet and floods to a width of 300-360 feet at this point even today. This was not going to be easy. But God never said it would be. This was going to be an opportunity to see God work. It was going to be a chance for God to prove the reality of His presence.

The plan was simple. The Levites would carry the Ark of the Covenant into the waters of the Jordan. When they stopped in the middle of the river, the waters would cease to flow and the the people would walk across on dry land. This wasn't just a miracle, as amazing as it was. It was a statement of God's presence and a reminder of His covenant promise to deliver the people of Israel to the Land of Promise. The Ark was a visual representation of God. "The ark is the very symbol of the covenant of the Lord. Thus the full light falls on the redemptive significance of the event. No mere recalling of a miracle is envisaged. The miracle is to be viewed as an expression of covenant fidelity" (Martin H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua). God was fulfilling His promise. He was doing what He said He would do.

Getting from one side of the Jordan to the other was an event. It was a day worthy of remembering and that is exactly why Joshua had the people set up two memorials. One in the middle of the river and one on the far bank of the river. One would be seen for generations and serve as a reminder of God's covenant faithfulness. God does what He says He will do. God is present with His people. His power protects and provides for His people. The other memorial would be under the water of the Jordan – invisible to human eyes– except in times of drought. But even then, it would be a reminder that God is with them.

The conquest of the land had to begin with the crossing of the river. If they didn't get over the river, they would never take possession of the land. It all began with God. That's the way it has to be. Even for us. Our victories in this life all begin and end with God. He must go ahead of us, providing what we need every step of the way. God wants to prove that He is among us, even today. He wants to show His power. He wants to reveal His presence to us. He is still the covenant keeping God.

Father, You go ahead of me every day. You provide the way when there is no way. You do signs and wonders – even though sometimes I don't even notice them. You are at work in my world. You are parting the waters of my life. Open my eyes so that I can see more clearly Your presence. Amen