Sunday 24th August
Read Psalm 123
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
Psalm 123 is short and it contains two parts; the first two verses are a concentrated looking to God for mercy and help, the third and fourth about the ridicule and contempt that they consistently face. Martin Luther says of this Psalm that it is, a very fit example to show the force of prayer not to consist in many words, but in fervency of spirit. For great and weighty matters may be comprised in a few words, if they proceed from the spirit and the unspeakable groanings of the heart, especially when our necessity is such as will not suffer any long prayer. Every prayer is long enough if it be fervent and proceed from a heart that understands the necessity of the saints.”
As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.
Monday Judges 7:9-25
Gideon had already sought a definite sign that God would give the Midianites into his hand but here, without him asking, God gives him a another sign of his coming victory as he and his servant Purah creep down to the Midianite camp and hear of the fear of the Midianite men. Sometimes God is so good to us that he gives us things unasked – do we give humble thanks for such things rather than just accept them in puzzlement. God is good.
Where Gideon got his tactics from we are not told but he had his men prepared ith the hidden lights in the jars and the trumpets in their hands. Surrounding the Midianite camp in the middle of the night and waking them with the terrible noise of trumpets and the lights bursting in sight the Midianites were panicked and ended up fighting each other. As they started to move the rest of the army pursued them and then Gideon called on all the Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh to come out and seize the waters of the Jordan. At the close the men of Ephraim seized the Jordan waters as well as capturing and killing the two Midianite leader, Oreb and Zeeb. Sometimes fear can be overcome in the people of the Lord when a small number rise up in faith and strength and everyone see the great things that can be accomplished.
In chapter 8 we find complaints – was it because of a loss? – no, but because one group didn’t get the kudos they thought they deserved. The battle was started by Gideon and his 300, followed by a general pursuit of the fleeing Midianites and only when the fords at the Jordan needed to be blocked that the Ephraimites were finally summoned and came out to close off the fleeing enemies. They complained to Gideon, “Why didn’t you call us out to fight earlier?” and they were quite vigorous in their complaint.
Gideon could have been mad and given as good as he got verbally but he didn’t, he calmed things down by congratulating them on their involvement and telling them that, after all, it was them who were responsible for the capture of the leaders of the enemy forces – Oreb and Zeeb. “What was I able to do compared to you?” he said (v3). Here is the Christlike spirit of a humble man and a word of wisdom for us all when attacked unjustly. Yes, it is true that we can sometimes be unjustly attacked but wisdom will direct us in a different direction. It is like the old saying about knowledge and wisdom:- knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad! Learn this lesson from Gideon.
This passage occurs earlier than the altercation with the Ephraimites. Having crossed the Jordan with his three hundred men he sought the help of fellow Israelites in the town of Sukkoth but they were rejected on the grounds that Gideon’s victory wasn’t secure yet and the same thing happened when he went to Peniel. He swore that he would exact revenge on these towns and their inhabitants when he returned from victory.
Who often do we want to see the end result before we give support and sustenance to our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord? If we always consider ourselves we may be punished for our failure.
The next snippet in the story tells of Gideon questioning Zebah and Zalmunna about a killing at Tabor and finding out that it was his own family who were murdered about which he exacts revenge by killing the perpetrators.
Despite some of the grumbles about Gideon, at least some of the Israelites wanted to make him King and to form a dynasty so that his sons would follow him. Such a thing would be counter to the law of God for his people and Gideon responds rightly, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you” (V 23). How worthy of the man but unfortunately he follows it with a request which takes him and the people into a false future – he asks for their gold earrings and accoutrements and makes a gold ephod which he places in Ophrah, his town, and “it became a snare to Gideon and his family” (V27). An ephod is a priestly garment but from what is said about it here it appears not so much to be an idol as something which would bring honour to Gideon and his family instead of to God.
Anything that puts us higher than God is a stumbling block to righteousness. Seeking praise for ourselves will always draw away from honour to God.
The end of the chapter tells of the conclusion of Gideon’s life. He is referred to a couple of times by his Jerub-baal name, meaning ‘let Baal contend’, after his initial taking down of his fathers idols. Having been buried beside his father, Joash, the people turned away from God to worship Baal-Berith as their god. They didn’t remember the Lord their God who had delivered them from their enemies the Midianites and, as we shall see, they didn’t show loyalty to Gideon’s family despite in earlier days declaring their desire to have him and his family rule over them (v22). How fickle people can be chopping and changing their minds about things. We can see how the Church has changed its mind about things once thought of as settled and secure (issues of faith, issues of morality?). It was well said of the Israelites that they were a stiff-necked people.
Saturday Judges 9:1-21
We come to a section which has to be explained in terms of wives and concubines. Wives had the higher social status and legal rights for her children, the concubine although having certain rights had no inheritance rights for her children. Gideon had many wives but it was the concubine who had borne him the man Abimelek. Abimelek was a man with his eye on the main chance wanting the complete inheritance of his father and prepared to grasp it my foul means. First of all by seeking to sow dissent amongst his half brothers, and putting himself forward as a unifier- of the family which was precisely what he was not as we can see from what followed (v3-6). Jotham who escaped told his tale which perfectly fitted the occasion.
Families can become places of pitched battles upon deaths where the inner desire for gain and aggrandisement springs to the fore and members struggle against each other. Beware, you might not think you will be tempted in this way but, have a care.
