Year 7, Day 293: 1 Samuel 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

1 Samuel 7 is a great chapter to look at the concept of returning to the Lord.  The chapter begins with the ark being reclaimed.  This is evidence of the Lords greatness.  This is also evidence to the people that God is big enough to take care of His own things without their help.  God restores His own ark to His own people.

In response, the people consecrate Eleazar to tend the ark.  Remember that Eli’s sons were killed.  When Eli heard about the event, he himself died.  The people needed a new priest, so they consecrate Eleazar.

Enter Samuel.  Samuel comes forward and ceases the opportunity.  Listen closely to the directive that Samuel asks.  “If you are returning to the Lord, then put away the foreign gods.”  Samuel begins the return to the Lord with what should happen.  He begins by leading them into repentance.

Samuel doesn’t pat them on the back and say, “Ok, let’s just try again.”  Samuel comes alongside of them and says, “Before we try again, let’s look at fixing what went wrong.”  The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over again and expecting different results.  Samuel knows this.  When the people consecrate Eleazar, Samuel steps up and tells them that if they want different results, then they need to modify their behavior.

I love chapters like this.  They remind us just how much repentance is important.  Yes, God loves us as we are.  He wants us to know salvation.  But He doesn’t want us to stay as we are.

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Year 7, Day 292: 1 Samuel 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter is the capstone chapter for the Hebrew people’s folly that we saw a few chapters back.  Remember when the ark was stolen by the Philistines?  It was brought forth because it was believed that God would need to protect His ark and would therefore make the Hebrew people victorious.  Today we see that God can protect the ark in more than one way.

Yesterday we saw the way that the ark plagued the Philistines.  Today we see the plan to return it.  They decide to stick it in a cart and send the cows on their way.  Note the absence on human involvement once they point the cows in the right direction.  There is a bit of a discussion about how the lack of human involvement will be used to assure that the plagues are from God and not coincidence.  However, I personally believe that after all that the ark has done, nobody really wants to climb into the wagon and be closer to the ark than is absolutely necessary.  God can protect His ark so well that His opponents don’t really want to even be in its vicinity.

Also notice that the Philistines give a sacrifice of gold as they send the ark back.  They don’t just send the ark away, they make gold figures of mice and tumors and send the gold back along with the ark.  These Philistines are more than happy to pay for their atonement.

Here’s the ultimately amazing point in all of this.  The Philistines didn’t have to hear some Hebrew person come and tell them about the power of the ark.  They saw.  They knew.  They felt it.  God was able to get His message across just fine without needing any help from us. 

God is just fine on His own.  He doesn’t need us.  The fact that He wants to include us in His plan most of the time is really quite an honor.  We are invited by God. He is powerful enough to get His message across on His own as this passage portrays.  He wants us to be a part of His life.

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Year 7, Day 291: 1 Samuel 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

What an incredible follow-up to the chapter yesterday.  Why is God not concerned about saving His ark?  Why can God avoid the human trap the Hebrew people laid for Him when they tried to force His hand of protection over them?  God can rescue His own ark from oppression.  God can make the Philistines give the ark back all on His own!  He doesn’t need us to protect the ark.  He doesn’t even need to protect it Himself.  God is quite capable of getting His message to be among the Philistines.

The thing that I love about this passage is that it is set up yesterday.  When the ark comes, the Philistines know the power that comes with it.  Yesterday we hear that the Philistines know that the God who fought and won against Egypt has just joined the battlefield.

Perhaps this gives them more reason to capture the ark.  Perhaps they think, as most ancient cultures do, that if they capture the gods of another nation that they can control its gods, too.  They take the ark and make the same mistake as the Hebrew people. 

God will not be strong-armed.  He will not be used.  God sends curses among the Philistines and the ark goes from place to place.  By the end, people start refusing to even let the ark remain near them!  God is concerned about righteousness, not about His people always winning or His ark always being revered.  God’s emphasis is on His righteousness and His ways, not anything else.

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Year 7, Day 290: 1 Samuel 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an interesting chapter when we compare the human impulse versus the will of God.  Here’s what I mean.  The Hebrew people gather for battle against the Philistines.  The Philistines rout the Hebrew people.  The Hebrew people gather together and wonder what on earth went wrong and why God abandoned them.

Out of these questions we begin to diverge between God’s ways and the ways of humans.  The human beings gather around and decide that God must have something against them because He failed them.  Therefore, the call for the ark to come forward.  They think that surely God will defend His ark.  They are wrong.  The Hebrew people die in battle, their priests are killed, and the ark is captured.

The mistake that the Hebrew people make is to miss something obvious.  They fail to think that perhaps god wasn’t actually on their side.  This smacks of human arrogance.  If the Hebrew people are God’s people and they worship Him, why wouldn’t God want them to win, right?  The reality is that God is not on our side.  God invites us to be on His side.  God is on the side of righteousness.  When we are righteous, we are on His side.

What a fundamental and catastrophic flaw in the ways of mankind.  We think that we are earning favors from God.  We think that by worshipping Him we are earning some sort of divine debt that we can call upon to repay.  That’s just not right.  Our reward is being invited to participate in His righteousness.

The Hebrew people forget this.  They bring forth the ark without consulting God.  They do as they please, trying to force the hand of God.  The net result is that the Hebrew people lose the battle and lose the ark.  What is the ark to an all-powerful and all-knowing God?  Is God any less God because His ark is captured by another group of finite human beings?  Of course not.  They think that they can force the hand of God and instead they see what happens when we try  to force His hand instead of joining His hand in His work.

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Year 7, Day 289: 1 Samuel 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I other blogs posts on this chapter, I have focused on Samuel and his faithfulness.  To be sure, that is absolutely the main point of this chapter.  This chapter is first and foremost about God’s understanding that He needs to raise up a final judge to lead the Hebrew people.  Samuel is a faithful young man and has lived – as much as humanly possible – up to the expectations of human faithfulness.

Today I am going to focus on Eli.  For the most part, Eli has been a great priest of God.  He has done well in raising Samuel in the ways of the Lord.  He has served before God well and respected God’s ways.  Certainly, he’s not perfect.  Yet, as far as his own life is concerned, Eli has succeeded.

In this passage, though, God gives a bit of a critique about what Eli could have done better.  While God knows that he cannot hold Eli accountable for his sons’ actions, God can hold Eli accountable for not speaking out against his sons.  God holds Eli accountable for allowing them to continue to serve in spite of their rampant and unrepentant sin.  God blames Eli for not standing against them and preventing them from being religious role models when he knew full well about their sin.  Eli cannot force his children to behave, but Eli can decide whether or not they are capable of leading God’s people.

Here is a profound point.  We all know the famous cliché: you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.  Parents cannot be responsible when their children become adults and make poor choices, so long as they did their best to raise them up in God’s ways.  However, Parents can be held accountable for not continuing to hold their children accountable when they see unrepentant sin in their lives.  Parents can be held responsible when they stand idly by and do not intervene when sin is affecting the lives of their children.

For the record, I think this lesson applies to all people who are positions of leadership, not just parents.

God wants us to live a life that reflects His ways.  He wants us to encourage others to do the same.  He knows that we cannot force others to do the same.  He doesn’t want us to stand idly by approving while others live in unrepentant sin.

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Year 7, Day 288: 1 Samuel 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There’s something cool about being honest with God.  When we are actually honest with God, He gets an opportunity to demonstrate why He is God.  When we allow ourselves to confess our humanity to Him, He gets an opportunity to expose why the divine is so much better than the human.  Do you recall one of the places where I said yesterday that I was perplexed?  I said I was perplexed how a woman who mourned because she could not have children would so readily give up the child God gave her?  I still stand by that.  I don’t know many people in the world today that would be so willing to give up a child that came to them after being proven to be barren so long.  It’s perplexing.

But look at what God does.  As I said yesterday, observe how God uses that.  God inspires Hannah to use that moment of sacrifice as an incredible moment of worship of God.  Only God can take a hard moment in a person’s life and turn it into a moment of praise.  Second, God opens her womb and blesses her again and again with more children.  God shows us that He provides he doesn’t just give us enough, His provision abounds.  This lesson is made even more powerful because the impetus for this blessing is an action that perplexes us greatly.

The rest of this chapter deals with Eli.  This is a sad part of a story, but it also teaches us a good bit about humanity.  Eli is a faithful priest.  Eli is abiding with God.  But his sons are not.  Here we go again with a story about how the faithfulness of the parent does not automatically transfer to become the faith of the child.  Eli’s sons are not interested in serving God; they only want to use their position to serve themselves.

However, God does not abandon Eli.  He does condemn Eli’s family.  In fact, He closes the door on Eli’s genetic line.  But He does not abandon Eli.  God gives Eli something far better.  God gives Eli spiritual family.  Whereas Eli’s own biological family weren’t interested in being spiritual family to him, God has given Samuel to Eli.  God says it Himself.  He will raise up a priest who will do according to His will.

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Year 7, Day 287: 1 Samuel 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There are things about this chapter that utterly perplex me.  First of all, why would a woman allow her identity to be so torn up simply because she could not bear a child.  I realize, of course, that the reason I struggle with this is because I live in a different culture with different expectations.  However, I can’t be too far off the truth, either.  After all, isn’t that what Elkanah says to Hannah?  Doesn’t he say that he has worth to her more than ten sons?  To put it in modern perspective, does a woman’s worth come only from their ability to bear children?  Of course not!

Another thing that perplexes me is why one wife would torment another for being barren.  I get it, I just don’t understand it.  I know some people are cruel and enjoy feeling the lift they receive by putting other people down.  But I don’t understand why.  Why are some people so shallow that they would rather lower other people’s status than elevate their own by elevating the status of the people around them?

A third thing that perplexes me is why a woman would so freely give away a child that she prayed for and agonized over.  Again, I get it.  She gives the boy as a gift to the Lord.  She’s doing something that God can use, certainly.  It’s not a wrong choice; it is just a choice that perplexes me.  It does make me wonder if she cares more about the status of being able to produce a child more than she cares about the son.  But, in saying that, I am judging her motivations, and those aren’t mine to judge.  I’ll never know that answer, and it isn’t even my place to know that answer.

All of that said, those things that perplex me do not overcome what God is doing.  God will take this gift of a child and turn him into an incredible leader among His people. That point overtakes all that I may have said before.  Regardless of our choices and our movements, God will work His hand.

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Year 7, Day 286: Ruth 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Ruth 4 is a great chapter for many reasons.  The most obvious of these reasons is that we get to see the overarching plan of God at work. God has brought this faithful Moabite to His people for a reason.  Through this faithful Moabite and her new faithful husband, God would bring about the Davidic line of kings.  Out of this line, God would eventually bring about Jesus.  God is at work in this story at far deeper levels than caring for a simple Moabite woman.  Don’t get me wrong.  That absolutely is the short-term objective.  But God has more at stake here than just the short-term objective.  That’s cool.

Another reason that this chapter is neat is because of the perspective of Boaz.  He’s willing to redeem. However, he wants to redeem so that he can care for Noami and Ruth.  He’s in it for the redeemer role.  He’s looking to be the embodiment of grace, love, and mercy.  What a tremendous example.

Here’s another neat perspective on this chapter, although by neat I mean interesting, not good.  Look at the conversation prior to Boaz being declared the redeemer.  There is another who as more right to the role.  When he hears about the land, he’s all interested.  Land means wealth and status.  This redeemer will absolutely take the land and the increase in status that it would bring.  However, when the redeemer hears of the link to Ruth and Noami, he loses interest.  He’ll take the land for the increase of his own status, but he’s not interested in the role of redeemer.  How sad it is when our perspective is on the wrong kind of treasure!

Furthermore, the man is certainly lying about his motivations, to make himself look good.  He says that he can’t take on the burden because of the potential implications to the inheritance of his children.  In other words, he doesn’t want to introduce the possibility that children from a different wife might lay claim to the land that his original children will inherit.  While there is logic in this, which is how we know he’s trying to save face, we also know that it is a hollow argument.  After all, with Ruth comes more land!  Any offspring produced to Ruth wouldn’t lay claim onto his current children’s inheritance at all!  These new children would inherit the land that comes with Ruth.  The man is willing to speak a few easily trusted facts to cover up the fact that he’s more interested in the land than the role of kinsman redeemer.  What an honest perspective of humanity we have here.

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Year 7, Day 285: Ruth 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Every time that I read the story of Ruth I fall in love all over again.  This story is about humbleness, righteousness, faithfulness, and God’s provision.  Maybe it is because it follows so closely on the heels of Judges, but I find the story of Ruth to be almost fairytale-ish in what happens.  It is so good to see decent people live decent lives and find that their world works out just fine.  Ruth doesn’t have to step over people to get ahead.  Ruth just needs to be honest and respectful and faithful and humble.

What does she do well in this passage?  So many things!  First, Ruth seeks the wisdom and counsel of a wiser Naomi.  Second, she listens to the counsel that she receives.  Third, she acts humbly and goes just to Boaz’s feet.  Fourth, she waits humbly for Boaz to notice her and elevate her.  Fifth, she remembers Naomi, who gave her the good advice to begin with.  Sixth, she once more waits patiently and listens to the counsel of Naomi at the end of the chapter.  Ruth is an incredible icon of living a humble and faithful life.

Ruth also does something that allows Boaz to live humbly and nobly at the same time.  Ruth doesn’t chase after the younger men.  She is wise and content to go to Boaz, who by his own words, isn’t one of the younger men.  Because Ruth is willing to go to Boaz and not one of the younger men, she has gone to a man who is actually in a position to help her.  Her faithful humbleness continues to exude in everything that she does.

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Year 7, Day 284: Ruth 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Ruth 2, we get the overarching story of God’s provision.  Turn after turn, God blesses this young Moabite woman.  He allows her to find Boaz, who looks upon her with compassion.  Boaz allows her to glean among the other women.  He even allows her to glean the easy finds – a few of the bundles that had been brought in from the field.  Turn after turn Ruth finds herself blessed.

What is neat about this story is how Ruth responds.  When she is full, she doesn’t simply go back to her place for the night.  Ruth picks up what was left over after she is blessed and takes it home to Naomi.  Ruth is blessed; but in her blessing Ruth is looking to whom she can bless.  Ruth receives God’s provision and in doing so becomes a blessing to others.

This is such a beautiful concept to see.  It is easy to be blessed.  Any human being on the face of the earth can receive blessing.  What is special to see is someone who receives blessing with an eye for passing it along.  Who is blessed and in being blessed looks to be a blessing?

To take a step back from this scene, again I want to remind myself that this Ruth is a Moabite.  Tis woman being lifted up in the book of the Bible is not actually a Hebrew woman.  She becomes a very important part of the Hebrew family, but she is not inherently a part of it.  It is good to remember that the aspects of God are found throughout His creation; they are not limited to the people who claim the right to be like God.

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Year 7, Day 283: Ruth 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Compared to the end of Judges, Ruth is a breath of fresh air.  We have spent that last week or more talking about the rash behavior and thoughtlessness of God’s own people.  Today we meet Ruth.  Ruth is a Moabite, not from among God’s people.  In her, though, we see the glimmer of truth and hope.

Ruth is shown kindness and love while being the daughter-in-law of Naomi.  This is what convinces her to stay with Naomi as she heads home.  Naomi’s faithfulness evokes a response in Ruth and Ruth obeys.  She is willing to follow Naomi back to her home people because she desires to cling to faith, hope, and love.

This gives us two great lessons.  First of all, what a great testimony for why we need to be a people of faith, hope, and love.  When we act in those manners to the people around us, some will cling to it.  Some will take notice.  Some will allow us to reach into their life and pass along the faith, hope, and love to them.

The second lesson that we can learn is that even in the faithlessness of a generation we can still find people of faith.  The Hebrew people were godless and without good leadership.  Yet, we have Naomi.  She is a person who has great faith, hope, and love.

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Year 7, Day 282: Judges 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 21 is an awful chapter. Don’t get me wrong.  As I say in my theological commentary linked above, it’s a part of God’s Word and therefore God’s truth.  It’s a true chapter.  That being said, it is an awful chapter.

This chapter shows us what it is like to be between a rock and a hard place.  The Hebrew people thought they were doing right when they took an oath to not give wives to the people of Benjamin for their rebellion.  However, in doing so they condemned the tribe of Benjamin to eventual destruction.  In trying to follow God, the people make a rash decision and put themselves between watching their brothers go extinct and going against a pledge that they made against God.

Every time that we act before we think we potentially place ourselves between a rock and a hard place.  Life is hard enough to navigate when we do go about making rational decisions.  When we make irrational decisions, life only gets harder.  It truly pays to think.

As often happens, we see this position cause the Hebrew people to make another rash decision.  They offer up a tribute to God.  When a tribe doesn’t show up, they decide to go out and slaughter the men of that tribe to provide women to the Benjaminites.  But two wrongs seldom make a right!  Killing more people to make amends is seldom ever the true solution, especially when that solution isn’t from god.

Judges 21 is an awful perspective about humanity.  We try to solve our own problems, seldom without the wisdom we need.  We make rash decisions to try and fix problems we make.  We really should turn to God.  However, as the chapter ends, we find another source of truth.  Often we are just doing right in our own eyes.

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Year 7, Day 281: Judges 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 20 is essentially an extension of the story we read yesterday.  When God’s people hear about the sin of Gibeah, they gather for battle.  They desire to do something about this evil growing and living in Gibeah.

Note, however, that we can learn about the perspectives of human beings.  While most of God’s people gather to oppose Gibeah, the tribe of Benjamin stands with Gibeah.  The Benjaminites choose to stand with their brothers instead of choosing to stand with God’s ways.  If we are not careful, we can easily slip into the perspective of choosing family over God.  If we are not careful, family can become like an idol to us.  If we are not careful, we learn to justify the sins of our family because they are family.  If we are not careful, we gain a blind spot towards our family and become of little help to them when they are tempted by sinfulness.

Another thing that we can learn from this story is that God will always be the ultimate victor.  At first, it seems like the people of Gibeah will get away with their crime.  At the end of the last chapter, their crime had gone unpunished.  As the troop gather for battle we see the not once but twice the Benjaminites rout the people of God.  However, what is really going on here is that the people of Gibeah are being set up for utter destruction.  God doesn’t want to just teach them a lesson and put them in their place.  God wants to judge their whole city for their crimes and livelihood.  God is the ultimate victor in this story.

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Year 7, Day 280: Judges 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Judges 19 is a chapter that always makes me feel uneasy.  When I read it, I wonder what its place is in the Bible.  It seems to take death too lightly.  It seems to promote a comedy of errors.  It just doesn’t have the right feel at all.

In part, I think that’s the point. The story revolves around a Levite.  The Levite’s life, however, shows very little evidence of a relationship with God.  For example, we are told that the Levite has a concubine.  However, the Bible also speaks of the concubine’s father as the Levite’s father-in-law.  This is likely evidence that there was a marriage, but it was a marriage of legality and not a marriage of love.  This was likely an arranged marriage where the Levite never truly develops any kind of love for his wife.  She remains a concubine because he does not take her emotionally into his life for a full wife.  Even when the father-in-law pleads for the Levite to stay among them and develop relationship, the Levite is focused on returning home.  There is little relationship there.

We get further evidence of this Levite’s heart as they pass into Gibeah.  Granted, the people of Gibeah are clearly in the wrong as they look to have a lustful night of homosexual relations with the Levite.  Yet, the Levite himself shows just as much contempt for God’s ways when he pushes his concubine out among them.  He forces her to go out and be violated so that the lust of the people will be appeased.  He has no concern for her at all.  There is no love there.  There is no reflection of relationship with God in this act.

Even more, see how this Levite acts when he comes out onto the threshold the next morning!  He looks to the concubine and says, “Get up.”  There is no compassion.  There isn’t even any concern in his voice for her.  When she doesn’t move, he takes her dead body, sits it on top of his donkey, goes home, and cuts up her body!  There is no evidence of mourning.  He is solely focused on showing the people of God the brutality of the people of Gibeah.

We can absolutely become too focused on the law.  We can take such a legalistic approach to life that we lose all compassion.  We can become so focused on the black and white spaces of right and wrong that we utterly lose all perspective on love, grace, and mercy.  The Levite is a tragic role in this story, a person who has lost attachment to the joy of life that God has placed within him.

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Year 7, Day 279: Judges 18

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Two questions are raised within me as I read through Judges 18.  Both questions deal with faith.  Both questions deal with our human motivation within our relationship with God.

The first question is born out of the question that the Danites ask the priest when they come to plunder Micah.  “Would you rather be the priest of 1 or the priest of 600?”  Not that I think that Micah is the world’s most faithful person, but I don’t think I’d like to be the priest of 600 thieves and bullies, either!  The greater point that we hear in this is the human idea that bigger is better.  Are 600 automatically better than 1?  What if God’s calling is to the 1?  What if the 600 have no respect for God?  Yet, at first pass, human beings almost always pick the greater quantity instead of the lesser.

The second question comes out of Micah’s response to his gods and priest being taken away.  “What have I left if you take away my gods and my priest?”  This phrase reveals a great deal about Micah’s relationship with God.  Can mankind take away our relationship with God?  If God is the source of our power, life, and salvation, then who can take away those things?  Micah is more worried about the material representations of life than true life itself!

Don’t get me wrong on either of these points.  Human nature is to fall in line with the assertion of the Danites.  We think more is better.  Human nature also tends to focus on the tangibles and forget about the intangibles.  Both are short-sighted opinions, however.  We should be more focused on things like where God is calling and how God can provide for us.

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Year 7, Day 278: Judges 17

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is an obscure little story.  It’s probably a story that you’ve seldom if ever read before.  It’s a bit of a confusing story and if we aren’t in the habit of looking at motivation we can easily get lost in the story.

There is a young man whose name is Micah.  To show his moral character, we are to understand that he steals from his own family.  Of course, he is the son from a woman who is in the habit of pronouncing curses upon people who wrong her.  To give him a little credit, at least he does return the money he stole.  Granted, had he not stolen it in the first place, he wouldn’t have needed to return the money.

His mother takes a small amount of the money and gives it to a smith to make an idol.  This should cause a little more concern.  The fact that Micah goes out and finds his own personal Levite should concern us a bit more.  The fact that Micah then ordains this Levite under the auspices of his household god should really concern us.  Things are going south pretty quickly now.

If we aren’t careful, this sounds like the story of a grateful woman who dedicates some money for religious practices and whose son is so interested in the faith that he supports a Levite all on his own.  But that isn’t what is going on here at all.  This is a superstitious family doing right in their own eyes.  This is a young man who thinks he can buy his way into grace.  Do you see how this chapter ends?  Micah believes that now that he has his own Levite that God will notice him.

We need to be careful with our faith.  If we aren’t careful, we end up thinking that we can impress God with our surroundings.  We end up living life with the wrong motivation.  We end up doing right in our own eyes and maybe even fooling the people around us while we’re at it.

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Year 7, Day 277: Judges 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Samson continues to be a tragic story.  After Samson gets into trouble because of how he treated his wife, Samson goes and is consoled by a prostitute.  He doesn’t really learn. He is simply running around to find that which is right in his own eyes.

Then, Samson meets Delilah.  She tries to get him to tell his secret.  Here’s the thing, though.  Samson clearly doesn’t trust her.  He lies to her several times.  Several times she betrays him.  Clearly this isn’t a relationship founded on mutual respect and trust!  Yet, Samson continues to stay with her.  This is just more proof that Samson continues to what is right in his own eyes.  He’s not interested in thinking, planning, and being logical.  Samson is interested in doing whatever he wants to do in the moment.

Samson is betrayed and captured.  He becomes the laughingstock of the Philistines.  However, God is still planning to use Samson.  As his hair grows back, God’s strength returns to Samson.  In one final act of judgment, Samson reigns down death upon his captors.  Samson’s life ends as rashly as it was lived.

As I read this story, I can’t help but wonder if this is really the life that God desired for Samson.  Did God want Samson to be so impulsive?  Did God want Samson to be this role model?  Did God want Samson’s life to be snuffed out helplessly?

God uses Samson.  God punishes the Philistines through Samson.  But it is such a tragic story.  If anything, I see Samson as proof that God will use us in spite of ourselves.  God gives us free will, knowing that He can work in and through us regardless of what we choose.

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Year 7, Day 276: Judges 15

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Samson makes me laugh.  I don’t truly know how young Samson is in this chapter, but he seems like an impetuous young man.  He is rash.  He is doing what is right in his own eyes.

In fact, Samson knows this about himself.  I don’t think the Bible really wants to paint him as being innocent of the prior actions.  Do you hear Samson’s confession?  “This time I will be innocent.”  In other words, he hasn’t been innocent in the past.

I don’t really think that he is all that innocent now, either, for the record.  He thinks that he is, but he isn’t.  Why do the events of this chapter happen?  At the end of the last chapter, Samson didn’t particularly want his wife.  He gives the indication that he’s done with her.  Her father gives her to another man.  Samson comes back, for whatever reason, and is mad that other people moved on after he was impulsive.  He’s rash and not really all that innocent.

Don’t get me wrong.  God still uses him to bring judgment against the Philistines.  But don’t think for a minute that God has to be happy with Samson’s behavior!  Do you think God wants his own people binding up Samson because they know of his recklessness?  Do you think God wants one of his leaders treating women the way that he does?  God punishes the Philistines, but that doesn’t mean that God condones his behavior.

In fact, look at what happens what the fight is over.  Samson whines to God about how thirsty he is.  God splits open a rock to give Samson some water!  What does the Bible say happened?  Samson got a drink and then left.  There is no thanks to God.  There is no recognition of the miraculous.  Samson gets a drink, feel his need satisfied, and moves along.

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Year 7, Day 275: Judges 14

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I believe that we should be careful to distinguish between God using people voluntarily and God using people’s desires involuntarily.  In the last chapter, we see that God used Manoah and his wife voluntarily.  The wanted to be obedient.  They were humble.  They sought out the will of the Lord.

With Samson, God uses him involuntarily.  Samson isn’t coming to God to seek His will.  Samson isn’t obediently putting aside his desires to follow those of His Lord.  Verse 7 sums it all up rather well.  When Samson is looking for a wife, he looks for someone who is right in his own eyes.  His father and mother counsel Samson to find a Hebrew girl.  He wants a girl who is pleasing to his eyes.  God will use him and his desires involuntarily if He has to.

This moves us to his feast.  Samson’s father comes to visit and Samson throws a feast.  Samson’s wives’ people come to the feast and Samson thinks himself to be quick of wit.  He gives them an impossible riddle, convinced that he can use it to make himself rich.  Delilah’s own people get her to work against her husband – her loyalties are clear – and she tells them the answer.  The people foil Samson riddle.

Naturally, Samson isn’t dumb.  He can readily figure out where they got their answer. Rather than admit defeat, though, he solves his problems rashly.  He goes out, slaughters 30 innocent people, and gives their clothes to the people who had figured out his riddle.  He then turns around and gives his wife away, for the time being, to his best man.

Samson is once more solving problems according to what is right in his own eyes.  God will use the enmity Samson is building between himself and the Philistines, but that doesn’t mean that Samson is acting in a very godly manner.

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Year 7, Day 274: Judges 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In this chapter we get to experience the birth of Samson.  Samson is a man that I admittedly love to pick on.  It is important to remember that in all things, he was still called upon by God to save the people of God. 

Before we get to Samson, though, look at the people that God uses to bring about Samson.  Here is a woman who is barren.  In the ancient world, being unable to produce children was akin to bearing a scarlet letter of the gods’ judgment against you.  There should be little doubt that this woman lived in the specter of shame.  She may not have felt it every day of her life – at least I hope not!  But it did shroud her life.  Yet, God picked her.

Notice that God comes and talks to her, by the way.  God chooses this woman, whose name is not recorded in the Bible, to bring God’s peace to the family.  God speaks to a barren woman, a soul on the fringe of outcast.  God speaks through her.  God saves His people from the oppression of the Philistines through her.

What is also neat about this story is that her husband, Manoah, has no trouble with any of this.  An angel of the Lord comes to his wife and he is prepared to listen.  He is willing to obey and follow.  For the record, this is a pattern that we see throughout the plan of God’s salvation.  When the law is lost and rediscovered, it is the prophetess Huldah who confirms that the Law is good and it should be followed.  When Jesus is to be born, it is Mary to whom the angel appears first.  When Jesus is raised from the dead, it is Mary Magdalene who is told to bring the message to the disciples.  One of the points that we can take from this story is that God works through men and women.

What do this husband and wife do?  They live in obedience.  Manoah prays to God for more direction and he receives it.  They offer a sacrifice to the Lord.  They do as God asks.  Followers of God hold no prejudice and they live in obedience.  That’s what they do.  That’s what Manoah and his wife do.  It is these people who are the focus of God and his plan to save His people.

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Year 7, Day 273: Judges 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

No good deed ever goes unpunished.  I’ve found that’s a pretty true saying in my life.  When you compliment one person, others around you get jealous of why they didn’t get a compliment.  When you invest in the life of another, other people wonder why you didn’t invest in their life.  When you buy a small gift for another person, people wonder why you didn’t get one for them or even ask them to so in on the gift and make it from a whole group.  It seems like no matter what good we do, there is always a place that others can be critical should they seek to find such a place.

That’s not too far from what happens to Jephthah here. Jephthah goes out and frees the people from the Ammonite oppression.  When he comes back, the people of Ephraim are angry that they don’t get to participate in the glory.  Rather than celebrate the freedom from oppression, their worried about the fact the others might notice that they didn’t help out.  Jephthah feels the brunt of their wrath because they didn’t come out to help when called.

What’s worse is that this feeling escalates to war between the people of God.  Thousands of people die over a matter of social standing.  People die over a dispute of who gets honor and glory.  People die because Jephthah is the son of a prostitute who became a leader and did a great thing and others were unable to accept it as God’s hand of salvation at work.  People die because others are blind and ignorant.

Human jealousy is a terrible thing.  Our own envy can cause us to taint our perspective of God’s hand at work.  Our own envy can infect other people and bring them into destruction.  As I said, no good deed ever goes unpunished.  When we do good, we are just as open to criticism and strife as when we do evil.  The sad part is in that case it is for all the wrong reasons.

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Year 7, Day 272: Judges 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Much has been said about the end of this chapter because of the startling story which it contains.  I remember the first time that I read this chapter.  I was rather shocked to hear this content in the Bible!  While appalled at Jephthah’s ignorance, I remember feeling drawn more into the truth of the Bible because there would be no reason to include this story otherwise.  It isn’t a story that is likely to impress too many people.

However, not much is said about this story’s beginning.  Look at where Jephthah gets his start.  He is the daughter of a prostitute.  He is the product of a man and a woman outside of the bond of marriage.  Naturally, that isn’t Jephthah’s fault.  We can’t hold that against him.  But he is certainly a product of a sinful union.

In fact, his family does hold it against him.  His culture holds it against him.  They drive him away.  They tell him that he’s not welcome.  They remove him from their presence.  We don’t know why, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that they didn’t want the black mar of sin hanging over their family’s head.

That being said, God doesn’t hold it against Jephthah.  God still empowers Jephthah to defeat the enemies of Israel. I’m sure that there were plenty of people in good communal standing who could have stepped into the role of leadership.  However, God picks Jephthah.  We don’t have to be perfect.  We don’t even have to come from the right side of the proverbial tracks.

What does God want of us?  He wants a heart that is willing to follow.  He wants a heart that is focused on obedience.  He simply wants someone who is willing to follow His desires.  He gets that is Jephthah, the son of a prostitute who is reviled by his own family.

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Year 7, Day 271: Judges 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Here’s a fun little chapter on humanity.  Once more we see that when life is good, people abandon God.  They follow the frivolous passions of their hearts.  They chase after their gods.  They leave the straight and narrow and follow what is right in their own eyes.

Get the next part of the story right in your understanding.  God lifts His hedge of protection.  He allows them to fall into the hands of the surrounding nations.  They begin to be oppressed.  Persecution falls upon them.  This happens not because God forces it, naturally.  It happens because God doesn’t protect them.  It happens because God allows the people to follow the natural course of action from their choices.

Furthermore, take notice of how long the people were under persecution.  They were oppressed eighteen years!  Sometimes human beings are really slow to pick up on wrongdoing.  This is even more true when it is a cultural issue and not an individual issue.  It’s hard to change a culture that is happy doing what’s right in their own eyes.  It takes them eighteen years to figure it out!

After eighteen years, they final turn to the Lord.  After eighteen years they finally repent. After eighteen years of oppression they final begin to see their error and how the pursuit of their own desires wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been.

That kind of explains why God seems so resistant to taking them back, doesn’t it?

In the end, though, God does hear them.  Above all else, God forgives.  He will allow us to walk away.  He will watch us live in the consequences of our own sin.  But He does hear repentance and forgive us.

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Year 7, Day 270: Judges 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I know that I’ve read Judges 9 before.  I can even look on my blog and see the posts that I’ve written about it.  Yet it doesn’t feel like I’ve studied this passage before.  With the vivid description of human sinfulness throughout this story, I should remember it more than I do.

This story starts out with human ambition.  Abimelech wants to take over the leadership of the people when his father dies.  For the record, this tells us something about Gideon.  Gideon may not have said he was a king, but he certainly lived enough like a king so that Abimelech felt he should take over as leader.

After all, Abimelech does mean “My dad is king.”  Learn this lesson well, especially if you are a parent or someone who works with shaping young minds.  How we raise our children will impact how they behave when they are older. Abimelech is named to reflect that Gideon was a kingly leader among the people.  Abimelech lived into that self-fulfilling prophecy.

Furthermore, Abimelech goes out with a plan to kill his brothers (half-brothers, really).  He wants to be king so bad that he is willing to kill to get it.  This is really an act that is all about removing the opposition.  If none of Gideon’s children remain, nobody can challenge Abimelech for the role.

Notice, though, that we get more than just a self-fulfilling prophecy of kingship.  We also see that those who act dishonestly to get what they want often end up being bit by the same sword they used.  Abimelech is killed after a short reign.  Unlike Gideon, who followed God’s will and was allowed to live out his life in full, Abimelech kills to get into power and he is killed in order to get him out of power.

The way we are raised affects how we live.  The way we live affects the way we will live.  The way we live will affect what we can do in this life and how we can follow God’s will.  When we get it right, it can be a beautiful thing for parents and mentors to watch.  When we get it wrong, it can all come crashing down around us.

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Year 7, Day 269: Judges 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Before beginning Judges 8, I want to highlight some information in the commentary that I wrote six years back.  It has to do with exactly where Gideon’s heart rested with respect to ruling the people.  While he denies ruling them, he doesn’t exactly refute it by his lifestyle.  You can read more about it by following the link above and looking in the Gideon's fault section.

For the rest of this blog, I want to focus on the passage of Gideon.  Remember what Gideon has done.  With God’s help, he has freed the people from the grasp of the Midianites.  He has scattered incredibly large armies.  He has hunted down their kings and killed them.  He has brought freedom from oppression to the Hebrew people.

You would think that the people would be gracious, wouldn’t you?  You would think that the people would learn their lesson and realize how much they need God.  However, this isn’t what the Bible tells us happened at all.  As soon as Gideon dies, the people turn away from God and turn their eyes to other pursuits.  Their faith isn’t legit.  They are feigning faith while Gideon is around just to appease God and Gideon.  Their true colors show as soon as they can.

I think we all need to be careful or we fall into the trap of the Hebrew people.  It’s easy to turn to God when we are oppressed.  It’s easy to look like we believe when we are being watched.  It’s easy to say all the right words when people ask questions.  But how do we live when nobody is looking?  How do we live when the decision is ours to make and the consequences don’t appear to affect anyone but ourselves?  What is the true quality of our life?  What is our character?  What ethic do we hold ourselves to, if any?

These are really important questions.  Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we get it wrong.  The only way that we’ll improve and be the person God wants us to be is to admit our faults, watch out for them, and ask the hard questions of ourselves to see what truth really says.

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Year 7, Day 268: Judges 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Judges 7 we see how God takes care of the Midianites through Gideon.  The part of this passage that I think is really neat is that while Gideon is the physical hero, clearly God is the power behind the action.  After all, what human being would come up with a plan that involves sending away 99% of the people who come out to fight with you?  God is the power here in this chapter.

Look, though, at the process that God walks Gideon through.  Gideon starts out with 32,000 men for battle.  God tells Gideon to send everyone home who has a bit of fear within them.  22,000 people leave.  God looks at Gideon, who is a bit timid and fearful himself, and sends away the timid.  God is telling Gideon that while fear is human nature, it can be successfully put aside.

Next, God sorts out the people who live by instinct versus those who think.  Gideon has the people drink from a stream.  300 of the people dip their hand in the water and bring the water up to their mouth.  The other 9,700 kneel down and bring their face to the water like animals drink.  God sends those who lap up the water like animals away.  God is sending another message to Gideon.  God casts away out instinct and wants us to think.  God has empowered us to be able to rise above our natural instincts.

With those 300 men, God has Gideon explain his plan.  Imagine attacking a whole city of thousands of people with a mere 300 men.  Then, imagine doing it with clay pots and candles as your major strategy.  This is why the fearful and the instinctual had to be sent away.  This plan is ridiculous; it takes a thinking man and a God-fearing man to see the brilliance in it.  The brilliance is that it is all about God, not about us.

In the end, the city is set into panic.  People flee.  They turn on each other with their swords.  As they flee, more Hebrew people join the fight and hunt down these Midianites.  God has won through His power and Gideon’s obedience.  God didn’t mind Gideon’s timidity and doubt.  Obedient people can be timid and doubt.  They just need to be obedient in their timidity  and doubt.

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