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[Judges 10]
6The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. 7So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
10And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals." 11And the LORD said to the people of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress." 15And the people of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day." 16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
17Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
[Judges 11]
1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman." 3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.
4After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites." 7But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" 8And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." 9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head." 10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say." 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.
The Jephthah cycle is a case study in how people try to gain leverage with God and one another. Once again, Israel is in the hole because they refuse to turn from idolatry. So far in the book of Judges, we have been introduced to Baal and Asherah. Now, in the era of Jephthah, the people have extended their allegiance to a virtual supermarket of foreign idols from Canaan, Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia (10:6).
When foreigners oppress Israel, the cry for help is raised toYahweh. Only this time, Israel is explicit in their confession of sin (10:10). In fact, this is the first time the people of God confess sin in the book. God's response is terse: "I won't deliver you anymore. Go ask your gods, let them deliver you" (10:13-14). Did the people really understand that their idols could not deliver anyone? I believe at times they did, and their persistence in crying out to God seems to say as much. However, these moments of truth and clarity were few and far between and never had lasting effect on them.
God's interaction with Israel reminds me of a story involving a father and a son. The father had a shrine in his living room loaded with icons and religious objects. The most visible object of worship was a small statue of a voodoo god next to the virgin Mary. The father bowed down before his shrine three times a day, never failing to perform his devotional duties. Through contact with and the testimony of Christians, his son experienced the birth from above. Having come to know Jesus Christ, the father's array of idols was a vexing sight for the son for many days, and attempts to witness to his father had been fruitless. "You have your god, and I have mine," was the response.
Eventually, the son did something most daring. In the absence of his father he removed all the idols from the shrine. He left only one, the voodoo figure. When father came home, he was outraged, and suspecting his son to have something to do with the disappearance of his prized icons, he challenged him: "What in the world have you done? Why have you removed my gods?" The son replied, "I did not do it." Then, pointing to the voodoo figure, he added, "He did it." The father answered without taking time to think: "This thing cannot do anything. What have you done?" The son raised his hands in the air and said, "But, Father, this is what I was telling you all along. None of them can do anything for you." In dealing with the idols of our own hearts, we do well to remember this story.
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
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