I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 17-19.

    This entire passage is summed up by verse six in chapter 17, “all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” The three stories in this passage illustrate how things get worse when there is no standard of right and wrong to which we hold each other accountable. First we have Micah setting up his own idol, with a Levite serving as priest and offering up sacrifices to it on his behalf. Then we have a war band from the tribe of Dan stealing the idol and its furnishings and threatening Micah when he confronted them about their theft. Finally, we have the story about the men of Gibeah who wanted to rape the Levite traveler who spent the night in their town. It is clear from the story that this was not an isolated incident. This story tells us what happens in a society where no one has standing to tell anyone else that what they are doing is wrong. The answer to this problem is NOT for us to hold others accountable to do what is right, but to ask others to hold US accountable to do what is right (although, we need to be willing to hold others accountable when they ask us).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Remember, it’s Friday, but Sunday is coming.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 14-16.

    We have here the story of Samson’s life. It is clear that his parents spoiled him and never gave him any true discipline. My basis for saying this is that Samson’s parents agreed to get the Philistine woman from Timnah as his wife, despite knowing that she was a bad choice for him. Samson demonstrated poor judgment when it came to women. First, he allowed the woman from Timnah to wheedle the answer to his riddle out of him (a riddle which was at the root of a bet which was probably in poor taste to make in the first place). Later, Delilah convinced him to tell her the secret to his strength, despite the fact that she tried to use the false answers he initially gave her against him. Really, the entire passage shows us time and again that Samson had poor judgment. The story of Samson tells us that even if we have great gifts, we will suffer if we do not use good judgment/

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 11-13.

    Jephthah was cast out by his half-brothers and the people of their town because his mother was a prostitute. Later the people of the town needed to come to Jephthah to beg him to come to their aid. We can learn lessons from both sides of this story. If we make someone an outcast because of something over which they have no control, we may come to regret it. Second, sometimes God calls us to come to the aid of those who rejected us. The story of Jephthah also contains a warning against taking foolish vows. Jephthah vowed that he would sacrifice the first thing to come out of his house to greet him if he returned victorious. That something was his only child, his beloved daughter.

    Manoah and his wife were unable to have any children until God sent them a messenger with instructions which she was to follow about her diet (avoiding forbidden food, alcoholic beverages, and anything related to grapes). One thing that struck me was that Manoah wanted to know the name of the messenger so that when its predictions came true they could honour him. The messenger refused to give Manoah his name because he recognized that the honour would quickly turn into worship. We need to remember to worship only God, avoiding the trap of honouring His messengers more than we do Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 9-10.

    After Gideon’s death, the Israelites began worshiping Baal-berith. Interestingly enough, Baal-berith means “god of the covenant”. I am certain that the Israelites believed that Baal-berith was the same as Yahweh, after all, wasn’t Yahweh the God of the covenant? Yahweh had entered into a covenant with Abraham and again with the children of Israel at My Sinai. However, the story of Abimelech, Gideon’s son, highlights the difference between Baal-berith and Yahweh. Schechem was the center of worship of Baal-berith. The people of Schechem did not act in good faith when they supported Abimelech over his brothers. They supported Abimelech in his plot to kill his brothers, the rest of the sons of Gideon. The people of Schechem worshiped Baal-berith and claimed that he was the same god as the One who brought Israel out of Egypt. Just as we can tell by their actions that the people of Schechem did not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we can tell by their actions today what sort of god people worship.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 7-8.

    When Gideon called together an army of men from among his clan and tribe (Manasseh), and from the tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali. The army which mustered was 32,000 men strong. God told him that he had too many men. So, Gideon reduced the army to 300 men. I could spend time discussing Gideon’s strategy, but the key point of this story is that God often times calls us to go into “battle” with forces which are badly under-powered for the task at hand. God wants it to be clear to us that it was His power which won the day. In Zechariah 4:6 this is spelled out even more clearly:

It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

    It is by God’s Spirit that we will have the victory. That is true when it comes to accomplishing tasks which God has given to us, when it comes to overcoming the trials and challenges we face in our lives, and it is true when it comes to overcoming temptation to sin in our lives. I know that I often think that I will overcome the challenges I face by buckling down and working harder. While sometimes I need to work harder, it is still only by God’s providential power and love that I have overcome the challenges I have faced. I need to remember this as I struggle to find a new place to live. In the same way, I often seek to overcome temptation by exerting my willpower. I do not know why I do so, since it has never worked for me in the past. I have only ever succeeded in resisting temptation by the grace of God. To be perfectly honest, those temptations which I can defeat by application of my willpower are not really temptations at all.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 4-6.

    This passage shows us that the Judges of Israel were not always military leaders. Deborah was a prophet and judge of Israel. When declared to her that it was time to overthrow the forces oppressing the Israelites, she sent word to Barak, a military leader of the people. It seems likely that if Barak had not been afraid to go into battle without the prophetess along that we would not have heard of Deborah (that, by the way, does not mean that her significance would have been any less). I would also like to point out that I am not suggesting that Barak was a coward. One thing that I want to make clear, Barak did not do anything wrong in this story. However, because he insisted on having Deborah with him when he went into battle, he did not get credit for the victory.

    NExt we have the story of the call of Gideon. I am convinced that Gideon had been among those calling on the Lord for help. It strikes me that he was likely troubled by the way in which his fellow Israelites worshiped idols. As I have been reading the Bible more and more, I have become convinced that the average Israelite did not see a distinction between God and Baal. They believed that the people worshiping Baal were worshiping the same God as they were. They understood that the methods of worship were different and that some of the practices which were followed were different, but they believed they were all worshiping the same god. They even recognized that some of the practices which the Baal worshipers followed were wrong, but even then they believed them to be merely misguided, not serving a different god. From time to time, a leader would rise up who would call the Israelites to a purer worship of God. A leader who would show them the distinction between Baal and Yahweh. Gideon was one such leader. He did not start out as a military leader doing battle against the oppressors of Israel. He started out as a religious leader calling for a rejection of idolatry and faithful worship of God. This is an important reminder for us. Reclaiming our land for God starts with being more faithful in worshiping Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 1-3.

    The Israelites has failed to drive the people out of the land which God had given them. With the death of Joshua they stopped trying and began to enter into treaties and co-existence with those peoples. Many of them began to worship the gods of the people around them. This is always a temptation for God’s people. It is easy to become complacent and adopt the practices of those around us. Doing so allows us to avoid conflict. In addition, we have a desire as human beings to not be different.

    Time and again the people turned from God and suffered the consequences. Time and again they cried out to God and He sent a judge to rescue them. The first of those judges was Caleb’s nephew, Othniel. While Othniel was judge the Israelites had peace for forty years. When he died the Israelites once more turned to worshiping other gods and following the practices of the people around them. Once more they suffered as a result. When they called out to God for rescue, he called Ehud. Ehud killed their oppressor and led them to victory over the Moabites. The circumstances which occurred here remind us of that groups of people need a strong leader to direct them to follow God. We, also, see that each generation needs to learn to follow God for themselves. Those who have not experienced God’s mighty works often believe that they have no need for God.