Author: Rick Henderson

Re:Verse passage – Judges 8:18-34 (day seven)

His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. vs 31

The Bible is Divinely inspired and written over thousands of years. Throughout that time, various authors use many different genres to communicate God’s Word. Judges falls into the category of historical narrative. What is the point of a narrative? To tell the story. There is no fluff, no frills, no beating around the bush. It is “straight to the facts.” In narrative we don’t get to hear the author tell us point blank, “Gideon made some poor choices.” That wasn’t his point. He was just stating the facts. However, if we catch the context clues, we can see that the author is foreshadowing the consequences that come from Gideon’s poor choices. The son of a concubine, Abimelech, is going to be a thorn in this family tree. Sometimes it may seem like the Bible doesn’t condemn our heroes for their sinful behavior, but the narrative is just showing us the facts. It’s our job to interpret the facts in context of what else we know to be true about God. Isn’t the Bible cool?

Re:Verse passage – Judges 7:23-24, 8:1-9 (day seven)

“When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.” Judges 8:9

Pride goes before destruction… Proverbs 16:18

If you have ever played some sort of organized sport, you have probably heard a coach say, “There is no I in team.” Why is this phrase so popular in athletic circles? Tell me, do you think kids who are playing basketball in their driveway are imagining themselves sitting on the bench while someone else shoots the game winning shot? No, they are imagining being the one who hits the buzzer beater and being carried off on their teammates shoulders!

It is human (sinful) nature to want to be in the limelight (pride). Especially once you have gotten a taste of success, you begin to crave it! Coaches fight this attitude in their players, because self centered play in sports can destroy a team. Similarly, self centered leadership can destroy an organization. Gideon has tasted success, but he is beginning to let that success change his leadership.

Re:Verse passage – Judges 7:12-22 (day seven)  

“Each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled.” vs 21

Imagine yourself as one of the soldiers in Gideon’s army. Imagine the confusion as you watch 32,000 fellow soldiers dwindle to 10,000 then again to 300. Imagine the feeling in the pit of your stomach as you marched up on a camp of 100,000+ with only a jar of clay, a trumpet, and a torch. Imagine the relief as you watch your battle be fought for you right before your eyes.

How many of you didn’t have to imagine this? How many of you have lived it? You found yourself asking “God what are you doing?! I don’t see your plan!” Then you begin to fret because you feel ill prepared for the task at hand, only to be relived when you see God had already fought your battle for you.

“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Exodus 14:14

“Cease striving and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Re:Verse passage – Judges 7:1-11 (day seven)

Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. – Judges 7:3

This was actually Law. Deuteronomy 20:8 ordered the officers to give permission for men to leave the battlefield if they were afraid “so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.” Not only was God dwindling the army so that He may be glorified, but He was strengthening the mental health of this group. God knew that fear can become toxic. The spiritual enemy uses fear as a weapon to derail the plans that God puts on our heart. By making the group smaller, God purged the camp of toxicity so that the group that was left would trust Him and obey with confidence. 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.” 

Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:36-40 (day seven)

My initial reaction to this passage is to ridicule Gideon. How could he doubt God after everything God has already done? He has already asked God prove Himself by  performing a miracle (17-22) then Gideon asks for another miracle, not once, but twice! Isn’t this the type of mentality that Jesus  addressed in the Pharisees? “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” Matthew 16:4

Then my wife said to me, “Isn’t it cool how patient God is with Gideon?!”

I realized in that moment that I am Gideon. I may not demand signs, but time and time again I act as if God hasn’t miraculously provided for me. I continually doubt His plan and try to do it my own way. God is patient with me and waits for me to see His plan. Because of that patience I get to experience His love in a whole new way.

Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:22-35 (day seven)

Last week we saw Gideon questioning the existence of the Lord (vs 13). How does God respond? He uses Gideon to disprove the existence of other gods (vs 31).  Gideon asks for God to work. God puts Gideon to work.

Gideon was also complaining about being the low man on the totem pole (vs 15). How does God respond? He puts Gideon in charge of thousands of warriors (vs 34-35). Gideon complains. God give Gideon responsibility.

Gideon then asked God to prove that this was all real (vs 17). How does God respond? The Spirit of God rests on Gideon (34). Gideon asks God for sign. God makes Gideon the sign for others.

Be careful what you ask for. God has a knack for putting the solution to our problems back on our plate. How will you respond? Will you continue to complain, or will you take responsibility, get to work, and let God shine through you?

Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day seven)

Why do bad things happen to good people? I would expect that everyone has pondered on this question in their faith journey. Why would God allow for wicked to prevail while the good people continually end up in bad circumstances? Why does the mother of three get cancer? Why did that drunk driver live while the teenager he hit is now in a coma? Why did the man who had been loyal to the company for 20 years get laid off? They were Christians. They prayed. They went to church. They all echo Gideon in verse 13, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”

Bad things are a product of the brokenness of this world. Not that any one person deserves a harsher life on this earth due to their sin, but because of humanity’s sin, this earth will never function as it was intended. Bad things happen to non-christians too. Where Christian’s hold the advantage is that we know the best is yet to come…

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 2 Cor 4:17

Re:Verse passage – Judges 4:4-23, 5:7, 24-27 (day seven)

Whether we realize it or not, each one of us are leaders. God has entrusted Christians with the Gospel to be missionaries to our workplace, to our homes, to our friend groups, etc.  In these circles, we are leaders. Even if we are not the “boss” in these circles, our Christlikeness draws people to us. I expect this is similar to what Deborah experienced.

Being a woman in a patriarchal society, I doubt Deborah was looking to be a Judge for all of Israel. People came to her under her tree not because of her physical traits, but because of her Godly wisdom. She gained leadership from Godliness, and she maintained leadership from humbleness. She empowered those around her, knowing others strengths and her own limitations. She pointed all glory back to God, not on herself.  She culminates her leadership in thankfulness. Her song to the Lord is full of thanks for what He did to deliver Israel.

In your leadership circles are you exuding Christlikeness? Are you wise, humble, and thankful? People are already following your lead, where are you leading them?

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:31  and Acts 2:42-47 (day seven) 

“After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.”

One verse. One sentence. One story. We are only 3 chapters into Judges but we can already fill in the blanks for the details of this story… After 80 years of peace, the people forgot about Ehud and started worshipping other gods. They then fell into oppression to a foreign nation. Some of the old people said, “Remember when we worshipped YHWH and life was good? Lets do that again!” So they cried out to God for help. God listened and called Shamgar while herding cattle to go fight the Philistines. Shamgar took that literally and left with his cattle prod to fight the Philistines. Shamgar obeyed. God won. Israel was saved.

Why is this story so easy to fill in the blanks? Because it’s our story too. When reading this book, we would like to think we are the judges, but in all actuality, we are the people stuck in our own cycle of sin. Lucky for us, our Judge has already saved us. We need only to call out His name!

Re:Verse passage – Judges 3:11-30 (day seven)

“And the land had rest for eighty years.” Vs 30 (ESV)

Imagine a political paradise where there was peace for 80 years. No wars, no conflicts, everything was calm. The land got to rest! To give you a little perspective, the closest the United States has ever been to this is 31 years between the War of 1812–1815 and the Mexican-American War of 1846–48. We are currently at only 76 years since the end of WWII and have had multiple wars and foreign conflicts in that span. 80 years is a long time for peace!

In the cyclical pattern of sin that chases the Israelites through Judges and seemingly the rest of the Old Testament, we see Israel turn back (repent) to God after a time of running away. What is the result? Peace. It’s not just momentary, but it is lasting peace that allows everyone to take a deep breath and rest with God!