May we 𝐧𝐨𝐭 live in interesting times 😅

S: Judges 9-10

O: After Gideon, his son Abimelech killed the rest of Gideon’s sons, and usurped power, but one, Jotham, escaped, and pronounced a curse on Abimelech. It’s unclear if God directed Jotham to pronounce that curse or not, but in any case, God did honour it and brought justice on Abimelech – though Abimelech won his war against Shechem, God killed him with an ignoble death anyway. So justice was done.

After Abimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

³ After him Jair, the Gileadite, arose. He judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts. They had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵ Jair died, and was buried in Kamon.

Judges 10:1-5 

Tola and Jair

A: There’s that supposed Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” (It’s actually probably made up by British politician Joseph Chamberlain, later popularised by Robert F. Kennedy.)

I want to be like Tola and Jair. Follow God faithfully, serve faithfully, die peacefully 😊.

But regardless of whether we get to follow Yahweh uneventfully like Tola and Jair, or have interesting times like Joshua, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah and Barak, we should follow Yahweh faithfully. Let’s go for serving God faithfully and not halfway like Gideon, and, as we will see later, Jephthah and Samson. And definitely do not forget Yahweh altogether like Abimelech.

P: Father, may I follow You faithfully all the days of my life. I know I mess up. Thank You that if we confess our sins, You’re faithful and just to forgive us of ours sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Gideon's slide

S: Judges 6-8

O: Judges 6 shows Gideon as a fearful young man. The Angel of Yahweh called him, “Mighty warrior!” and I could imagine him looking behind him to see who the angel might be referring to, with a “Who me?” surprised response.

He was so afraid that he cut down the Asherah pole at night to avoid being detected. They figured out it was him anyway, but somehow his dad had the presence of mind to deflect the anger of the crowd.

Then there was the famous “laying out the fleece” incidents before he was willing to obey God to go against the Midianite invaders.

But then the amazing victory came in Judges 7, with only 300 warriors, he routed the far more numerous enemy. Gideon now starts to become bold.

Up till this point, Gideon relies on God every step of the way, but by Judges 8, he’s confident – and perhaps, over-confident – of his own abilities. What he says when he kills Zebah and Zalmunna shows that, instead of doing it for the sake of Israel and Yahweh, he is now doing it to exact revenge on them for killing his brothers.

Then he went and exacted revenge on the men of Sukkoth and Peniel. While Sukkoth and Peniel were wrong for their cowardice in not giving Gideon and his men provisions before they beat Zebah and Zalmunna, Gideon’s over-the-top vengeance by killing them and destroying their defences (the tower of Peniel) shows him going overboard.

Gideon has a bright point at 8:22-23 when he refuses to become king, saying “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.” But after that, he resumes his slide, by taking gold tribute then making a gold ephod that ended up becoming an idol. The ephod was a garment meant for the priesthood God set up. By making this gold ephod, then people started worshipping that instead of Yahweh.

A: Gideon started out correctly, a true judge truly chosen by Yahweh, commissioned by the Angel of Yahweh. But we can never idolise a person God truly chose and truly used. They are still human. They can still fall.

So while it is good to honour people God had used greatly, we must not accept everything they do blindly. A recent example is Ravi Zecharias. He was a great apologist, but he ended up molesting several women. It doesn’t mean that God didn’t truly use him earlier, but we still have to be aware and test.

That’s one of the major reasons why the Catholic Church waits till someone has passed away, and often for many years, before they start the process canonisation – i.e. the process of investigating a person’s life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to see if the person is really saved – i.e. a saint. Even for someone “obvious” like Mother Teresa, it took them 19 years – which is actually one of the shortest in modern times. And, while there is no evidence she had any bad intentions, she did make mistakes in the choices she made regarding how to care for the people under her charge.

God really did commission and empower Gideon, but he still made serious mistakes. Mother Teresa lived a life of genuine compassion and sacrifice, but she still had limitations and theological blind spots. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – even genuine saints.

P: Father, in my flawed way, I follow You. Help me never to idolise any human great person, but honour how they have done Your will, while being aware they could be wrong in other ways. Help me to recognise when I’m wrong and repent. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Simeon, Dan, and Joshua: Three Paths, Three Outcomes

S: Joshua 19

Simeon: ⁹ Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the middle of their inheritance.

 

Dan: ⁴⁷ The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their forefather.

 

Joshua: ⁴⁹ So they finished distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them. 

O:

Simeon: Back in Genesis 49:5-7, Jacob, in his final message before he died, recalled that Simeon and Levi had deceived the men of Shechem into circumcision, then slaughtered them while they were vulnerable. While it was legitimate for them to be upset at Shechem's rape of their full sister Dinah, their reaction was overboard -- murdering/genociding Shechem's entire tribe. So Jacob cursed them to be “scattered” in Israel.

Hence, Levi was literally scattered by being given no land but spread throughout the 12 tribes to serve in the priesthood. Simeon was “scattered” by being absorbed into Judah. During the monarchy, Simeon was virtually absent, being mentioned only in briefly in genealogical notes. They were absorbed into Judah, fulfilling Jacob’s words in a “dispersed” sense — not scattered city by city like Levi, but erased as a distinct tribal presence. Not that Joshua was punishing them, but this was the long-term unfolding through the generations. Sometimes consequences unfold slowly.

Dan found it too hard to conquer their assigned territory and gave up as it had stronger enemies, so, instead, they went and genocided a peaceful people not among those God had condemned – the Leshem of Laish. (See Judges 1 and 18.) This ended up being an early centre of Israelite idolatry, as mentioned in Judges 18:30. So, in their disobedience, they ended up apostate.

Joshua did not take advantage of his leadership position, unlike many of our political leaders today. He waited till everyone else had their inheritance, then he chose Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim. This was indeed in his tribal land of Ephraim, but it wasn’t the best agricultural land – it was up in the hills. He even had to build the city there himself, it wasn’t ready-made.

Conclusion

• Simeon was weakened by past sin, and got absorbed.
• Dan avoided the difficult task and did something easier but that was illegitimate, and ended up going apostate.
• Joshua did not take advantage of his political clout but as a servant leader, worked honestly for his own land and city.

A: Simeon’s story teaches us that, while working for justice is correct, going overboard with revenge is wrong. Dan’s story teaches us that we need to obey what God has for us to do, even if it’s difficult, and don’t take the easy, illegitimate way, out, or there will be consequences. Joshua’s story teaches us that we should not take illegitimate advantage of our power or position, but instead, reap the fruits of legitimate honest work.

All 3 faced a temptation:

• Simeon: the temptation to justify excessive retaliation in the name of justice.
• Dan: the temptation to avoid the hard obedience and redefine the assignment.
• Joshua: the temptation to use one’s position for personal gain.

 We need to choose the difficult right way over the easy wrong way and trust God for the long-term consequences.

P: Father, help me to be like Joshua and be faithful to You and not like Simeon or Dan. May I stay faithful to You, and repent quickly when I sin. In Jesus’ name, amen.