Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Obedience
- Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father. Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
This is a pretty cool chapter to look at the lens of
identity. We have two positive examples
and two negative examples. Let’s start
with the positive examples.
In this chapter we have two major judge stories. Othniel and Ehud are called upon by the Lord
to rescue the Hebrew people from oppression.
Both of these judges are up to the task and they accomplish the work. When our identity comes from the Lord and we
find ourselves doing what the Lord asks, we find success.
And then we look at Eglon.
Here is a man who seems to have everything in control. He’s even dominating over the Hebrew
people. From a perspective of the world,
he had everything he could possibly have wanted! But where is his identity? Does the fact that he has everything support
that God loved Him? No, actually the
opposite is true. Because he has
everything, he finds himself in a position of judgment by God. Ehud runs him through with a sword and he
dies in his identity. Just because he
has everything and finds himself in control of others doesn’t mean his identity
is right.
Now, stop and ask yourself why it was that the Hebrew people
needed a judge in the first place. Didn’t
God say that if they were faithful to Him that God would defend them
Himself? Absolutely! So this points us to the fact that the Hebrew
people were not faithful. The Bible
tells us that much plainly. The Hebrew
people turned away from the ways of the Lord and rebelled. They needed a judge because their identity
was in the wrong place.
Truthfully, how often is this true about me? Don’t I need rescue most often because my
identity is coming from someplace that it shouldn’t? The times that I need a “judge” most often in
my life are those times when I have strayed far enough that I need help
discerning God’s truth.
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