Reflections
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 19
S a m u e l
The Lord had granted the people their wish to have a king reign over them. Samuel had made it abundantly clear that it was tantamount to a rejection of God Himself, and that they would need to tread very carefully in obeying the commands of the Lord so as not to make matters worse for themselves. It is evident from our reading this week that the first two years of the reign of king Saul were uneventful. We do know that God had given Saul a ‘new heart’. I speculate here because we are not told, but it may well have been that in the flush of that new experience Saul was indeed treading very carefully, (I have in mind the experience of some in our day, to my certain knowledge, who once came to faith in Yeshua. Starting the life of faith well and enthusiastically, but failing to ‘last the distance’, become distracted, and slip back into former habits, friendships, practices, and lifestyle) … but I could be wrong in my speculation! In any event, what king Saul did after the first two years drew this reaction from Samuel. “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For (by) now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel for ever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you”. I note carefully the past tense there. “What the Lord shuts .. no one opens!” (Revelation 3:7). But the stubborn king Saul did not appreciate, or even understand, that word.
In order to gain some perspective on the events about to unfold, reference to a good Bible Map would help. The initial action takes place approx. 30 km. north and slightly east of Jerusalem. Samuel had no sooner left the scene, then king Saul’s son Jonathan, engaged in a belligerent act of aggression against the Philistines. The Israelites had for some time been in subjection to the Philistines, who had ensured that the people of Israel did not have any blacksmiths in their company, so had to rely on the Philistines to sharpen and make tools of iron for them. Also the Israelites were thus unable to make their own swords and spears to do battle. Never-the less, Saul’s son, Jonathan decided to engage them in a skirmish, in which he killed about 20 men before the Lord intervened by causing an earthquake. It was at that point that king Saul took his army into battle (without swords) and found the Philistines fighting themselves in the confusion of the earthquake. King Saul had also foolishly put his army under an oath of fasting until the battle was decided. Jonathan had not heard that instruction and ate some honey himself and encouraged others to eat to sustain themselves. In addition, even though king Saul had built an altar to the Lord (the only one we find account of in the Scriptures) it was evident that he had made decisions about engagement in battle without consultation with the Lord. As a result he had completely lost the attention of the Lord, who then stopped responding to his prayers even when Saul did try to consult with Him. Now that is a brief summary of what happened that day. But the consequence of those events carried on for the rest of king Saul’s life. His relationship with the Lord was broken. His relationship with his son Jonathan was broken, with the people siding with Jonathan over his father king Saul, even though the battle that day established Saul as a warrior king as he surrounded himself with strong fighting men. His relationship with Samuel was broken. And “there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul”. (1 Sam 14:52). But that did not mean that the Lord had abandoned Israel.
It was at this point that the Lord spoke to Samuel, instructing him to direct king Saul to engage in battle with the Amalekites in retribution for their hostility towards the Israelites on their journey to the land of God’s promise. They were to be ‘utterly destroyed’. A well known story. (1 Samuel 15) King Saul certainly engaged and conquered the Amalekites and caused great destruction, “BUT Saul and the people spared Agag (the king) and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed”. Then the Lord spoke to Samuel again. “I greatly regret that I have set Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments”. When Samuel confronted Saul about the mission, Saul claimed to have completed it as instructed, bringing from Samuel that famous retort “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?” Reminding me of a famous truism from the Scriptures “Be sure your sin will find you out”. (Numbers 32:23) (And because of king Saul’s disobedience, we meet a descendant of Agag again, hundreds of years later, in Esther 3:1 in the person of ‘the wicked’ Haman).
For many reasons it is a sad story of a man, God anointed to lead the nation, who failed to appreciate the importance and value God places on obedience to His command. There is surely a lesson in that story for anyone willing to learn it. God is NOT reliant on any ‘person’ to fulfil His agenda. But He is reliant on every ‘person’ He chooses to faithfully walk with Him in accord with His plan and purpose. Samuel asks some pertinent questions. “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king”. Samuel and Saul did not meet again during their lifetime.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 18
S a m u e l
The appointment of the first king over Israel.
The faithful and highly esteemed Samuel appears to have made a mistake! When he was ‘old’ he made his sons, Joel and Abijah, judges over Israel in Beersheva. “But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice”. The elders of Israel took the matter to Samuel, presumably dismayed at the injustices they could see taking place, and sought Samuel’s support in appointing a ‘king’ to assume authority over them instead of ‘judges’. Samuel prayed, and perhaps to his surprise, the LORD told Samuel to “heed the voice of the people”. But, also to “solemnly forewarn” the people what behaviour they could expect of a king who might rule over them. It was a description of complete selfishness.*(see comments in penultimate paragraph) But the people wanted to be ruled in the manner of other nations around them …. and God told Samuel to appoint them a king.
Saul, a Benjamite, was head and shoulders taller than his kinsmen, and a very good looking fellow. His father, Kish, had lost some donkeys and sent Saul and a servant out to look for them. They travelled widely around the countryside but could not locate the donkeys. Read the story in chapter 9 of our text. Saul went to the city where Samuel (whom he had heard of as a seer) was attending a festival, to consult with him about the donkeys. As soon as they met, the Lord spoke to Samuel saying “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people”.
It was an amazing encounter. When they met, Samuel told Saul that they would dine together that evening and meet again the next day, at which time Samuel would tell Saul all that was in his heart. Furthermore, almost as a ‘by the way’, Samuel said “But as for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found”. There was no hint that Saul even mentioned the donkeys! The next morning as Saul and his servant were about to leave, Samuel took Saul aside and anointed his head with oil and kissed him .. a sign of great honour. “Because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance”. Then Samuel told Saul a number of things that would occur as he journeyed back to his home.
First a meeting with two men at the site of the tomb of Rachel just outside Bethlehem, who would announce that the lost donkeys had been found. Next, as they continued their journey they would meet three men in an oak grove, who were on their way to Bethel to worship God. Those men would share their food with Saul and his servant. After that, another encounter with a group of men praising God with singing and musical instruments. Samuel told Saul that he too would join them in praising and worshipping God “and be turned into another man, “And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you”. The Spirit of the Lord would be Saul’s guide as he continued his journey. Finally, Samuel instructed Saul to proceed on down to Gilgal (where the Israelites had camped when first entering the land). There Samuel would join him one week later and let him know what he should do next. “So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day”. There was an evident, immediate, change in Saul’s behaviour such as was noticed by all who knew him. On being questioned, Saul told them about his meeting with Samuel and the donkeys, “but about the matter of the kingdom, he did not tell them what Samuel had said”.
Samuel convened another convocation of all the people at Mizpah. He reminded them of all the Lord had done for their forefathers and for them, but did not refrain from also telling them that in asking for a king, they were effectively rejecting the will of God for them. Never-the less, as the tribes were presented before Samuel, by some process of elimination. Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, was chosen and announced to be their new king. But Saul was evidently a reluctant candidate, and was no-where in sight. Ironically, it was the Lord Himself who told them where he was hiding from them! Samuel said “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no-one like him among all the people”. The tall handsome Saul stood before them. “So all the people shouted and said ‘Long live the king’.” “Then Samuel explained to the people the behaviour of royalty”. How did Samuel know? The Lord had carefully explained these things to Moses, and caused him to write it in a book. Samuel had diligently read that book, and probably committed much of it to memory. It’s NOT a secret. That book is readily available to us today. The relevant section is Deuteronomy 17:14-20. *(It is nothing like the descriptor quoted earlier in this ‘reflection’. In fact it was written specifically to avoid such a person being selfish and detached). But that did not mean that there weren’t those among them who were unsupportive of the new king.
Saul seemed to be somewhat reluctant initially to assume his position as king and that drew a certain boldness among the enemies of Israel, specifically the Ammonites. The consequence was that Saul became emboldened and led the people into a victorious battle against the Ammonites. But throughout all this, Samuel continued, into his old age, acting as a check and a balance on Saul as he began his reign as king, encouraging the people to remain faithful to the Lord. “For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, for it has pleased the LORD to make you His people”.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 17
S a m u e l
We ended last week with “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel”.
Samuel was appointed God’s prophet. ALL Israel recognised the authority with which Samuel spoke. His word became synonymous with God’s word, the same way that, centuries earlier, Moses’ word was received. BUT, Eli was still alive as ‘judge’ over Israel, albeit almost 100 years old. And his sons Hophni and Phineas, were still acting corruptly as priests. The dark cloud that covered Israel had not yet departed. In yet another battle with the Philistines, Israel lost another 4000 men. So in a futile attempt to somehow gain favour with the LORD, they went to the tabernacle at Shiloh. The corrupt and self serving Hophni and Phineas, in an act of reckless tokenism, took the Ark of the Covenant into the battlefield against the Philistines. 30,000 more Israelites, including Hophni and Phineas, died there. Furthermore, when news of the death of his sons reached Eli, both he, and his daughter-in-law died. To cap it all off, the Ark was captured by the Philistines. What a disaster for Israel. And as the story unfolds, an even more disastrous outcome for the Philistines!! And the Ark of the Covenant was never returned to the tabernacle at Shiloh! (Such a monumental event that Yeshua made reference to it when He drove the moneychangers out of the Temple in Jerusalem centuries later (Matt 21:13, Mk 11:17) as He recalled the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7 ‘house of prayer’) and Jeremiah (Jer 7:11,12 ‘den of thieves’. And not many years later the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed too.) There is a lesson here in the root cause for this. The casual, or even reckless abandonment or contempt, by those who are called by His name, to observe, with reverential fear, the commandments of God. We live in days in which sincere believers demonstrate similar traits. “The Torah of God is obsolete” we often hear within the ‘believing’ community. Or “Jesus kept the commandments so we do not have to” is another. Hebrews 8:13 (becoming obsolete) is usually quoted in support of this. Or worse, we just trustfully repeat the words of others who conveniently neglect the fact that the text refers to the ‘covenant’ (agreement) NOT to the Torah (instructions). The remedy? Study the Scriptures for yourself.
The Philistines were an immigrant (from Crete) gentile group who had settled in the coastal areas of Canaan. They had embraced “Dagon”, the Syrian and Canaanite god of agriculture, as their god, and set up temples to his worship in Gaza (destroyed by Samson) and Ashdod. It was in the temple at Ashdod that they put the captured Ark of the Covenant. The next morning the people who gathered at that temple were alarmed to see the statue of “Dagon”, with head and arms broken off, prostrate on the ground next to the Ark. At the same time, the people of Ashdod were plagued with ‘tumours’ (thought by some to be haemeroids). The Ark remained in Philistine hands for seven months, being moved from city to city, and wherever it was taken, the people were plagued by the ‘tumours’. And many others who did not suffer the ‘tumours’ died. So it was that the Philistine hierarchy called upon their priests and sages for advice about what they should do. Read the story in chapter 6 of our text. It is a story of miracles. An ox cart, drawn by cows who had left their calves (against all that is natural) and headed directly back to the Israelites at Beth Shemesh. The curiosity of the men of Beth Shemesh, who could not resist looking inside the Ark, cost 50,070 of them their lives! How many times do we need to be reminded ? “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. (Hebrews 10:31)
Well, it certainly got the attention of the Israelites on this occasion. The Ark was taken to Kiriath Jearim (a town founded by Shobal, descendant of Caleb, on the border of Judah and Benjamin north of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 2:50,53)) where it remained in safety, in the household of a man called Abinadab, for the next 20 years. After the recovery of the Ark of the LORD, Samuel spoke to the people. We could learn a good lesson if we considered these words as spoken to us even today! “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths (the female goddesses of Cannan, principally the moon goddesses) from among you, and prepare hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines”. The reaction of the people was a measure of the standing of Samuel in the LORD’s eyes. The idols, the gods, the Ashtoreths, were all ‘put away’, and worship was again centred on the LORD. Samuel summoned the people to an assembly at Mizpah (it was here that, in the first century BCE, Judas Maccabees called an assembly before recapturing the Temple from the Romans). There the people repented of past sin and disobedience.
However, the Philistines learned that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah and went to do battle with them there, bringing great fear on the people of God. “Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him”. The LORD’s answer? A thunderstorm which so confused the Philistines that they were completely overcome. The text is not explicit on this, but I speculate that it was a violent thunderstorm that was NOT heard by the Israelites. Such is my consideration of the mighty God we serve! “And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel”. In addition to that, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to them.
Samuel enjoyed the favour of the Lord all the days of his life. “He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there”.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 16
S a m u e l
Eli was the ‘judge’ who followed Samson for the next 40 years. We learned last week that he was also High Priest. That did not stop him from compromising his office by failing to bring his wayward sons Hophni and Phineas, also priests, under correction for their corrupt behaviour. Their damning description? “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt, they did not know the LORD”. Eli should have known how his sons were ‘mocking’ God in respect of the sacrifices the people brought before the LORD. He seemed not to know, and even when he was told, all he did was, proverbially, “slap them on the wrist with a wet lettuce”. God’s view was very different. Speaking to Eli, He said “Why do you kick at My sacrifices and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honour your sons more than Me ?” There is a valuable lesson here. There are obviously two views of this situation. The first is the view of Hophni and Phineas, who treated violation of God given instructions, in this case of sacrifice, in a casual and self serving manner. Along with that is the reaction of Eli, who did not grasp the gravity of what was taking place before his eyes, and for which he had the ultimate responsibility. The second is the view of God, who issued those instructions. Just read on a few verses in our text! “Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed’”. No-where in the Scriptures will you find that God has abrogated ANY of His instructions for righteous living.
Am I ‘honoured’ or ‘lightly esteemed’ by God? Selah!
The period of the ‘judges’ of Israel, which had prevailed for the previous few hundred years, draws to an end. Samuel, the last ‘judge’, was also a prophet of God, and Samuel was the one God chose to bring about the transition of leadership of Israel from ‘judges’ to ‘kings’. The Books of Samuel and Kings, originally each a single book, were both divided into two books at the time the Septuagint, (Hebrew Scriptures written in Greek), also known as LXX. It was written, from about 270 BCE to 150 BCE, essentially describing the next 600 years or so of the political history of the kings of Israel. In the fulness of time, under King David, Israel became a united kingdom. But after the death of King Solomon, Israel was divided again into the two kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The Books of the Chronicles cover the same ground as 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings but from a more spiritual perspective, and we will make appropriate reference to the Chronicles as we proceed in our ‘reflections’ on that history.
The interesting story of Samuel’s birth is told in the opening chapter of our reading. Elkanah had two wives, one of whom, Hannah, was ‘barren’. She had possibly heard the story of Samson’s miraculous birth, and pleaded with the LORD for a child of her own. She promised that if that child were male, he, like Samson, would be offered in the LORD’s service as a Nazarite for his lifetime. Eli saw Hannah praying, her lips moving but no sound coming from her. Eli comforted Hannah by telling her that her petition would be granted by the LORD. And it was. She named the baby Samuel (which means ‘Asked of God’.) Evidently, Elkanah had joined his wife Hannah in her vow to the LORD and on his next annual visit to Shiloh offered sacrifice to the LORD, and he confirmed that vow (the LORD also blessed her with 3 more sons and 2 daughters later). In the fulness of time, when Samuel was old enough, he was taken to Shiloh and left with Eli to be taught in the matters of serving the LORD. His mother made him miniature priestly garments, but as an Ephraimite, he would not be permitted to serve in the tabernacle.
“And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation”. The LORD spoke clearly to Samuel as he prepared to sleep one evening. That was the moment when God appointed the young Samuel as His prophet."So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his (Samuel’s) words fall to the ground, and all Israel from Dan to Beersheva knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD”. That is truly amazing. The seeds of unity of the people around a prophet of the LORD. But what follows provides one of the best lessons any believer could ever learn from this passage of Scripture. Note it carefully. “Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh”. The suggestion here is that the LORD had absented Himself from the people during their time of rebellion against Him. But there is MORE. “For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD”. That verse leaps out of the page for me. I have had a very personal experience of the LORD speaking directly to me through His written word. It is probable that most of us have. That is why this lesson is so vital for us today. God speaks directly through His word. God’s word is trustworthy. Many believers falter in their faith by neglect of His word. As indeed had the Israelites in our text. There are those in our community today who claim that the LORD has spoken ‘thus and thus’ to them. Well, there is a simple test of the efficacy of that ‘word’. Does that ‘word’ accord with what God has already written? If not, treat that word, and the proclaimer, with extreme caution. Our text continues “And the word of Samuel came to all Israel”. God’s man for God’s time. God speaks to those who speak to Him! And He always speaks to those who diligently seek Him in His word.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 15
J u d g e s
The lessons and summary of the Book of Judges
We cannot leave this book of Judges, with its litany of repeated failures, without wondering why it is included in the cannon of Scripture at all. It is hardly edifying, and to many even downright discouraging. The triumph of the rescue from the slavery of Egypt, and the long journey to the land God promised to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, seems to have come crashing down as the people failed to honour the covenant which successive generations of Israelites had confirmed. We haven’t even seen any of those “judges” so stand out, (except for quite short periods of respite), that they motivate and lead the people in completing the task of uniting the tribes of Israel as examples of harmonious, righteous living to the nations among whom they now lived. BUT, there is a reason, and to discover it we need to delve a bit longer into what follows this Book of Judges. Two things become clear. The author, whoever it was, uses this record of failure to bring about necessary change. Several times (seven to be exact) in the text of ‘Judges’ the author uses the words “in those days”. They indicate that the author is looking back in history at the events being described. Furthermore, that the author yearned to see improvement in the situation.
Although ‘uncertain’, a case is made that Samuel, the last ‘judge’ of Israel, was the author not only of the books that bear his name, but of Judges and Ruth too, even though Samuel did not initially favour the appointment of a democratically appointed king. The precise timing of events is not critical to our understanding of the message. However, Ruth and Boaz lived about the time when Gideon was judge in Israel. Samuel was born while Samson was judge, and Eli was High Priest and became judge over Israel shortly after, or late in the life of, Samson. We will ‘reflect’ much more on the life and influence of Samuel later in this series. But in broad terms, given Samuel’s enormous influence of events which transpire in the life of the Israelites in the promised land, it is possible to see how important it would have been for him to remind the people of their abject failure, recorded sometimes in minute detail, in the Book of Judges.
The story of the gentile Moabite lady, Ruth, adds nothing to the narrative about actual life in the land, EXCEPT as it goes to the very heart of love God demonstrates in His relationship to those who choose to worship Him out of a willing heart. Boaz himself is held up as the “kinsman redeemer”, covering his gentile bride with the attributes of love and sacrifice which are later found in the all embracing love of Yeshua. And that is in sharp contra-distinction to those who belonged to God but wittingly, even wilfully, turned away from Him into idolatry, which quickly morphed into decadence and immorality. Let us remind ourselves of some wise words of counsel which the beloved Rabbi Sha’ul gave to his protege Timothy (2 Timothy 3:16,17) centuries later. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. For that reason, the hundreds of years of repetitious failure recorded Book of Judges is used by its author to remind future generations of Jews of the traps and pitfalls which are to be avoided. And not the least being the generation amongst whom God miraculously caused him, Samuel, to be born. One of only six men recorded in the Scriptures being born of a formerly ‘barren’ woman. God’s man for God’s time … and ALL time.
The Book of Judges does not deal with the SIXTY year period of ‘judges’ who came after Samson. That is left to the first two “books of the kings” which bear Samuel’s name. We begin our ‘reflections’ on those books next week. We know very little about Eli who succeeded Samson in that role, except that, somewhat surprisingly, he was also High Priest at the same time as he was ‘judge’ and resided in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was set up by Joshua. He was a direct descendant of Aaron’s fourth son Ithamar. We also know that he eventually lost his life as a direct result of an accident which was triggered out of his own moral failure in the matter of the conduct of his own two sons. That is an indication of the continuance of the unsavoury behaviour patterns which beset the Israelites, and which characterises the Book of Judges.
We may conclude that this was the point in history when God said “enough”. In preparation for change, and by miraculous intervention, God placed the righteous Samuel right in the centre of the ‘action’. But before any of that action could commence the Book of Judges had to be written. The failures recorded there provide the background and reasons for the need for change.
Furthermore, as we have already reminded ourselves with Paul’s quotation and counsel to Timothy, there are many lessons to be learned from this ‘book of failure’ for any who have the diligence and willingness to learn them. “Be diligent (study) to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”. Another word of counsel from the Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 2:15).
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 14
J u d g e s
In the list of judges shown in the table here, we have ‘reflected’ on 13 of them, and the book of Judges does not mention either Eli or Samuel. After the death of Samson and the hierarchy of Philistine leaders, the writer of this book provides more detail of significant moral failure which succeeded that event. It may well be that later Scripture authors were motivated, in part, by these events in making some of their observations. I think of Psalm 1 and Matthew 7 and 12 specifically in reference to the fruit borne by ‘good’ and ‘rotten’ trees. Quite clearly, the ‘tree’ in our Judges ‘reflections’ , Israel, was ‘rotten to the core’. The strong leadership provided by Moses and Joshua, hundreds of years earlier, was a distant memory.
“And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel …”. Which resulted, as the very last verse of our text today says “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes”. (Judges 21:25) The word ‘king’ is often, as in this instance, a word used to describe the civic leader. Since Israel had no such person, it is little wonder that with no-one in charge, there was no direction, and very little, if any, moral compass. Thus opens our reading today. Micah, a man of Ephraim, stole money from his mother. He remorsefully returned it to her. It was money she had planned to use to make a statue which she would worship. Which is exactly what the money was eventually used for. Micah’s home became a shrine of idolatry, with one of his sons consecrated as a priest of that idolatry. Then a Levite (a man dedicated to the priesthood of the Lord), from Bethlehem, turned up at Micah’s home and was persuaded, for an annual stipend, to remain in Micah’s employ as a priest of idolatry. Micah reasoned that if he had a Levite as priest, albeit doing the wrong thing, that would out things right with the LORD! But that is not the end of the story. Read it in Judges 18. The tribe of Dan eventually took possession of those idols and symbols of worship, together with the wayward Levite, and set up an official idolatrous worship centre in their new location of Dan, formerly called Laish, with other pseudo priests from the tribe of Manasseh. What a mess! All this time, for hundreds of years, the House of the LORD still clearly established in Shiloh, where Joshua had set up the tabernacle. The writer of this book is now intent on establishing the depths of disobedience which had gripped Israel.
The Levites were set apart for the service of the LORD. They were allowed to marry but had constraints on their lifestyle, and the status of the women they could marry, which were significantly more strict than for the ordinary Israelite. (Leviticus 21:14). The Levite in our text (Judges 19:1) had abandoned the conditions of his calling. A strong sign of the moral decay within that society. Perhaps there is a salutary lesson that we may learn from this. Our status as ‘believers’, since we belong to the LORD, requires that we live by standards which are different to those who have made no such commitment. And there are plenty of witnesses to our behaviour. (A personal note:- when as an 18 year old I was conscripted into the Air Force, my old Sunday school teacher counselled me to “nail your colours to the mast”. You won’t need to wonder if you are going ‘off track’ , he said, because you will be surrounded by people who will be only too pleased to tell you. He was speaking from his personal experience as a christian working in the South Wales coal mines). People around us take note of how we live as evidence of our confession of faith. Actions speak louder than words.
The graphic story of that disobedient Levite, and the events which took place as a result are detailed in Judges 19 to 21. In a bizarre and gruesome account of his “wife’s” demise, one thing stands out. “So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan (in the north) to Beersheva (in the south) as well as from the land of Gilead (in the east), and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah”. 400,000 men of military age. They decided to send an army of 40,000 to deal with the matter. They demanded that the Benjamites (who had army of 26,000) deliver up to them the “vile men” who had killed the Levite’s wife, for judgement. They refused. In two days of conflict, Israel lost all of its army, 40,000 men. That brought the Israelites to their knees (literally) before the LORD. Read the account in Judges 20. All but 600 Benjamites lost their lives in the next battle, and their cities were destroyed. It is a sad story of disaster which can only be attributed to the judgement of God on them for their wanton disobedience to the covenants they had made, and reaffirmed, many times. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. (Hebrews 10:31) Yes, that is the same God who also said “I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6) And also YES, He was addressing those who belonged to Him. Selah!
It looked as though the tribe of Benjamin would be wiped out as a result of these disastrous encounters. But in the course of time, there was a reconciliation and the other tribes found a way to keep Benjamin in the “family” of Israel by providing wives for those who survived the conflict. Never-the-less, the book of Judges lives up to the conclusion to which I referred in the first ‘reflection’ on this book, that it might well have been named “The Book of Failures”. And in spite of that, there are many lessons for us to learn about the way God deals with, loves, corrects, and chastises those who are His.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 13
J u d g e s
“Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years”.
After this time of travail for the Israelites, the LORD Himself took a hand in their rescue. We do not read that the people cried out to the LORD as in former times. In fact there is evidence in our text today that the people had settled into a life of subservience to the Philistines! (Judges 15:11) So the LORD sent an Angel to the childless (barren) wife of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, to announce that she would bear a son who would begin to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of the Philistines. This is not the first occasion the LORD had miraculously caused a ‘barren’ woman to bear a son who would have a prominent role in God’s plan for His people.
Think Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, now Samson, soon Samuel, and finally John the Baptiser. Six miraculous occasions in which God provided a timely leader for the benefit of the people called by His name.
Manoah’s wife, on this occasion, was given unique and vital, instructions regarding the child she was to bear. This boy was to be dedicated, from conception, to the LORD’s service. A Nazarite to the LORD. No alcoholic drink, no unclean foods during the pregnancy. And the boy himself was not to be a Nazarite from conception to death. The conditions under which a Nazarite lived are specified in Numbers 6. Ordinarily, the vow was taken by a man or woman for a specific period of time (remember Rabbi Sha’ul in Acts 21 demonstrating his own ‘orderly walk’ by assisting 4 men who had taken such a vow). But for this young man it was a lifetime appointment by God Himself. Such was the gravity of the work God had for him to accomplish. Manoah sought a further conversation with the Angel of the LORD to clarify how the lad was to be brought up. The Angel merely confirmed what he had already spoken to his wife, and then supernaturally departed from their presence. “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him”. That statement covers a period of several years, during which time there came a moment when “the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him”. Now, in order to understand the context of what follows, keep in mind that at this time the Israelites were in subservience to, and cautious of, the Philistines.
However, the young Samson went to a small Philistine town, Timnah, about 5 Km east of Zorah. became attracted to a young Philistine lady, and asked his parents to arrange a marriage between them. At first they were quite reluctant to make that arrangement, (they did not know that this was part of God’s plan) but eventually Samson did marry the young Philistine woman. Read the fascinating story in Judges 14 to see how God used this lady to betray Samson and thus turn him against the Philistines. (“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD” Isaiah 55:8).
There followed a series of conflicts between Samson and the Philistines, on each occasion the conflicts resulted in many Philistines losing their lives as the Spirit of God came upon Samson to gift him with supernatural strength. Of course, we know that it was because the LORD had both chosen and anointed him for the task. We are not given any more detail here of the oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines, but evidently the effects of Samson’s presence caused him to be anointed judge over Israel for the next twenty years. We can safely assume that they were years of relative peace. But that is not the end of the story of Samson. His family lived in the area known as the “Valley of Sorek”. As did the family of a lady called Delilah, for whom Samson had developed a ruinous affection. The Philistine hierarchy bribed Delilah with the promise of 1,100 ‘pieces of silver‘ ($23,000+ in 2023 currency), to entice Samson to reveal the source of his supernatural strength.
Well, the story is very well known by anyone whoever attended a Sunday school, At the first, Samson ‘toyed’ with Delilah by inventing fanciful reasons for his strength, but eventually, in a naively trusting manner, told her the truth. Now here is an important lesson. As children, mostly, we were told what Samson declared to Delilah was the truth. That his strength came from the length of his hair. But the real truth is that the length of his hair was just a symbol of his relationship with God, made in a Nazarite vow even before he was conceived. In every case (Numbers 6) the Nazarite vow voluntarily ended with a sacrifice to God (with whom the vow was made) and shaving the head. Samson we might presume, forfeited his relationship with God, as a Nazarite, for the love of Delilah. No longer could Samson instil fear in the Philistines to the peaceful benefit of the Israelites.
However, the story of Samson, the judge of Israel, has one more surprise. Blinded and tormented by his captors he was brought before the leaders of the Philistine’s as they gathered to make sacrifice to their god, Dagon. The symbol of Samson’s strength had begun to grow again, and Samson cried out to the LORD that his supernatural strength be restored one more time. It was. And the building in which the Philistine sacrifice was to be made came crashing down on all those assembled there. “So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life”. The last word to the LORD!
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 12
J u d g e s
After the death of the wicked Abimelech, there came upon the people “the curse of Jotham” (Judges 9:57). Many commentators have attempted to provide insight into this “curse”, and the general consensus seems to agree that it consists of a spirit of discontent, treachery and revenge. By any measure, such behaviour in a community or group leads to more division, and healing becomes almost impossible.
But “After Abimelech there arose to save Israel ,Tola”. He was of the tribe of Issachar, he lived in the mountains of Ephraim, and apart from knowing the names of his father and grandfather, that completes our knowledge of him. He judged Israel for 23 years and he died!
For the next 22 years Israel was judged by Jair of the tribe of Manasseh, who lived in Gilead. (Numbers 32:41) He had 30 sons, who rode on donkeys and had 30 towns in Gilead, over which they presided. Then Jair died and was buried in the town of Camon. That is the sum total of our knowledge about Jair. During the period of 55 years, while Tola and Jair were in charge of things, not-withstanding the ‘curse of Jotham’, it appeared that the people did not fall into their usual pattern of idol worship. But as soon as Jair died, the pattern resumed. All over the country, the gods of the Canaanites, of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of the Philistines were honoured in worship instead of the God of Israel, YHWH Elohim. “So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel”. Again. For 18 years the Israelites were harassed and oppressed. On both sides of the Jordan River, the tribes, Rueben, Gad, Manasseh, Benjamin, Judah, Ephraim experienced the harsh oppression of the Ammonites in particular. So once again, the Israelites called out to their God for help. And received a huge shock.
In human terms the word “exasperated” probably best describes the reaction of God to their pleas for His intervention. “Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress”. Now we are not given any sense of a timeline here. So it is impossible to estimate how long it took for the ‘penny to drop’ with them, or how long it was before even the LORD could stand it no more. But what is plainly evident is that the LORD was greatly distressed to see His chosen ones, with whom he had made an everlasting covenant, struggle with their oppression. And that, my dear friends, is a lesson for the whole world to know. The precursor to their salvation? “So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD”. The Scriptures tell us clearly that there is still more oppression ahead for the people called by His Name. But God will keep His covenant with those who are His. “And ALL Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26).
In our text, the ‘saviour’, the next judge over Israel, was again a most unlikely character. Jephthah, a son (by a harlot) of Gilead of the tribe of Manasseh. Originally rejected by the rest of his step-brothers, he fled to the land of Tob, to the east of the King’s Highway (today a scenic road between Amman and Wadi Musa) in Jordan. There he became something of a bandit, but skilled in the art of warfare, and well known as a result. Thus it was that the elders of Gilead sought him out to lead them against the Ammonite predators. Jephthah was a skilled negotiator too, because he bargained with those elders to become head over them (and thus as their judge) as a condition of his help. He was less successful in his negotiations with the Ammonites (Judges 11:12-28) but, after seeking the favour of the LORD, he made a fateful vow which eventually cost him the life of his daughter. But God gave them success in the resulting battle with the Ammonites. Yet it did not bring the peace that might have been expected. It would appear that the “curse of Jotham” was still upon them. It manifested itself in a dispute between Jephthah and the Ephraimites, who were ‘miffed’ by the fact that Jephthah had apparently not asked them to be part of the battle with the Ammonites! In the events which followed, a great battle took place between the men of Gilead and the Ephraimites, in which 42,000 Ephraimites lost their lives. Jephthah went on to judge the people for a further six years before he died.
Then followed relatively short periods of succession of the next persons who occupied the position of judges. Firstly, Ibzan, probably of the tribe of Benjamin. He judged Israel for seven years before he died. Then followed Elon of the tribe of Zebulun who occupied the position for the next ten years. After him Abdon of the tribe of Ehpraim, son of Hillel (not the famous Rabbi!) sat in judgement of the people for the next eight years. The only notable thing we are told about him is that he was quite wealthy, evidenced by the number of donkeys in his family.
Then the old patterns of behaviour returned. Idolatrous worship accompanied by unrighteous living became rife among them. So once again, the LORD allowed their enemies, this time at the hand of the Philistines, to sorely treat them. The next forty years they lived under that oppression before the Lord Himself intervened. Which is where we will start next week.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 11
J u d g e s
“So the land had rest for forty years. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel”.
Forty years after the death of Deborah and the miraculous delivery out of the hands of the Canaanite king Jabin, the pattern resumed! Idolatry and pagan worship replaced the worship of YHWH Elohim. The result? Fear, shame, impoverishment, subjection to their enemies, reprisals, and revenge. So yet again, in absolute despair, they cried out to the LORD. And in this we find an important lesson. It is easy to take the moral ‘high ground’ and judge these Israelites harshly. They surely deserve that harsh appraisal. But take a moment to compare and evaluate your own position in God’s eyes. Most of us, speaking truthfully, would have to confess our own shortcomings. I, for one, bow my head in shame. The sin might have a different character, but it is still sin, that causes separation from God’s influence. And that is precisely the situation of these ancient people through whom God chooses to reveal His nature of love of those who are His. Our God is a covenant keeping God. He did not, and does not, turn away from those who turn to Him in times of trouble. But I believe He expects that those who so do are sincere, remorseful, and penitent in their approach. Such was the case in our passage of Scripture today.
But first, God sent a prophet to speak to the Israelites. We do not know the prophet’s name, in fact all we do know is that it was one sent by God. The message of prophet was simple. He reminded the people of their history. Of the faithfulness of God. Of the deliverance of their forefathers out of the bondage of Egypt. Of the promises, in covenant, which their predecessors had made, and the blunt pronouncement that they had failed to keep that covenant. That was followed up by “the Angel of the LORD”, who came and sat under an oak tree on the property of one called Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh. His son Gideon, was at that time fearfully hiding out of sight of the Midianites in the winepress, threshing wheat. Then “the Angel of the LORD” appeared to Gideon and spoke to him. “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour!” It would be a gross understatement to say that Gideon was a reluctant candidate. Probably the last thing he would have described himself as was a "mighty man of valour!”. Here he was hiding out of sight of the Midianites. Yet, he was God’s choice for the situation. God’s instruction? “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Followed up by “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man”. Try to imagine how you might react to such a commission. Selah!
Well, the rest of the story is very well known. Gideon, the reluctant hero, was still unsure that he had actually, really, heard the message from God. The lengths he went to to verify that are amazing. “Show me a sign that it is YOU who talk with me. Do not depart from here (the winepress where Gideon was hiding), until I bring out my offering and set it before You”. When he returned with his offering, ‘the Angel of the LORD” spoke again. instructing him to put his offering on a rock there. Then the ‘Angel’ touched the offering with a rod, and immediately fire came out of the rock and consumed the offering. Wow !!! Then, emboldened by what he had witnessed, he was ready for his next assignment. It is a remarkable story. Read it in Chapter 6 of our text. And yet, after that, Gideon still wanted confirmation that God was with him and sought yet another sign with the well known story of the wet and dry fleeces.
Gideon was now ready to engage the Midianites in battle. But God had a few tests of His own for Gideon to pass before that battle took place. Gideon had assembled an army of Israel, from the tribes of Mannaseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali to join with him in the fight. So God set about downsizing that army to a mere 300 men to accompany Gideon into battle ! By this means God ensured that the victory would be “not by might. nor by power, but by the Spirit of the LORD”. (Zechariah 4:6) The story is told in Chapters 7 and 8 of our text. Thus it was that God chose Gideon, of the tribe of Manasseh, to be judge (and saviour). over Israel. And the Scripture tells us that there was peace in the land for another forty years while Gideon was alive. He died of a ‘good old age’ leaving seventy sons, born to him of several wives, and one son born of his concubine. That son was named Abimelech.
As soon as Gideon died, the idolatry (Baal worship) recommenced. Abimelech became ‘judge’ over Israel by treacherous default. A real scoundrel. In chapter 9 of our text Gideon is referred to as Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32). 69 of the 70 sons of Gideon by his several wives were slaughtered by Abimelech, and he himself met his own untimely death at the hand of the 70th son. It is a complete tale of vile treachery. Perhaps symptomatic of the debauched way in which these people behaved when there was no God appointed leader to guide them in the ways of righteous living. Just like today.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 10
J u d g e s
The events we covered last week span the years when Othniel and the left- handed Ehud were appointed as judges over Israel. It seems as though a pattern developed, wherein the Israelites got themselves into trouble, mostly by their neglect of the covenant they had made with God, by turning to the idolatrous and pagan ways of the various groups they were supposed to have driven off the land. Then in time, they would be so oppressed by their pagan enemies that they would again plead with God, and in His love, mercy and grace towards them, another judge would be appointed to rescue them and bring them back to right living again …. for a time !
The lesson for us who wish to learn it is obvious. Those who belong to God, the Israelites in this story, pay a dreadful price for their disobedience to the covenant willingly entered into with God. By ‘taking His hands off them’, which He clearly warned would be the result of their wanton disregard of those promises, they leave themselves open to the traps of sinfulness with which they were surrounded. That did not mean that they were abandoned by God, but they moved outside of His protection. The Apostolic Scriptures provide a warning for us if we are willing to listen. Look at Jude 21. This exhortation is paraphrased in the Living Bible as “stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and protect you !” Moving outside those boundaries is fraught with hazardous consequence.
Our ‘reflection’ this week begins with the death of Ehud. The pattern continued and again the people “did evil in the sight of the LORD”. There was a short period when Shamgar was appointed judge, and he operated in the territory of the Philistines in the Western plains and mountains. He reportedly killed 600 of them single-handedly with an ox goad. It is possible that his appointment coincided with that of Ehud while he was dealing with issues with the Moabites in the Eastern parts of Israel. And then we are introduced to Deborah, probably an Ephraimite, (she lived, near Bethel) who was first a prophetess, and now God’s chosen as judge over Israel. The only female to hold such office. I am intrigued to wonder exactly HOW the Israelites from each of the tribes knew who was appointed judge over them, but it is evident that they did. We are told that “she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came unto her for judgement”. But that was not all. It seems that the LORD also spoke to Deborah in her anointing as a prophet, giving her knowledge of the affairs of the tribes.
At this time, the Israelites were being oppressed by the Canaanite king, Jabin. He lived in Hazor, a large city in the Galilee, conquered by Joshua many years earlier, and in the territory allotted to the tribe of Naphtali. So it was that Deborah sent for Barak, of the tribe of Naphtali, who dutifully appeared before her. It is further evident that the LORD had provided Deborah with the wisdom and understanding of a military commander so that she had the God given plan to deal with the cruel excesses of king Jabin and his army. Deborah instructed Barak to assemble an army of 10,000 from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley. (Some consider this to be the mountain of Yeshua’s ‘transfiguration’ (Matthew 17)). Mount Tabor is over 550 metres high, providing a very good vantage point over the valley below. Barak agreed to assemble the army as instructed on condition that Deborah herself would accompany them, which she did, at the same time warning Barak that by so doing he would not be credited with the ‘glory’ of the battle victory, which she knew God would provide, because Sisera would be die at the hands of a woman.
Sisera was the commander of king Jabin’s army. God caused Heber, a Kenite from the family of Hobab (described here as Moses’ father-in-law, but in Numbers 10 as his brother-in-law) to inform Sisera that the armies of Naphtali and Zebulun had amassed at Mount Tabor. This is an interesting matter in regard to the purposes of God, as will become evident later in the story when we are introduced to Heber’s wife, Jael. In military terms it was a contest that Sisera could not lose, Although numerically greatly outnumbered, 10,000 Israelites against Canaanites in 900 Iron Chariots (it was the modern equivalent of thousands of foot soldiers against a handful of heavily armoured tanks), But that ignores the fact that God was on Israel’s side. He still is! We learn, from the song of eventual triumph sung by Deborah and Barak that God intervened in that ‘unequal’ contest by sending a great rainstorm which caused the chariots to be stuck in the muddy ground. That neutralised the advantage of Sisera and promptly changed it to Israel who had the vastly superior numbers. Read the story as recorded in Judges 4.
Sisera escaped and fled right into the hands of Jael, Heber’s wife. The lesson we may take from this is a simple “If God be for you, who can be against you?” Read the song of triumph of Barak and Deborah in Judges 5. Up until this time, Deborah had been judge over Israel for twenty years. Our Scripture passage ends with the words “So the land had rest for forty (more) years”. IF only the lessons had been learned !
Shabbat
RS