Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."
Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?"
Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh." The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," they said, "All right, say 'Shibboleth.' " He said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.
Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.
After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died, and was buried in Bethlehem.
After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. Then Elon died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Judges 12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In chapter 11, we saw where God had given the judge Jephthah victory over the Ammonites but at a great cost. You’ll recall that before the battle, Jephthah made a vow to commit to the Lord and sacrifice the first thing that ran out of his door to meet him upon returning home from victory. So as Jephthah returned home, his daughter…his only child…ran from the door to him and his vow turned tragic as he knew he had to sacrifice her to keep his vow to God.
As Chapter 12 opens, Jephthah finds opposition from an unlikely source. For the Gileadite is confronted by “the men of Ephraim” who imply that Jephthah went to fight the Ammonites without calling them so they could participate, an allegation that Jephthah vehemently denied saying that he had called but the Ephraimites had not responded or helped. Ephraim’s threat to burn down Jephthah’s house showed their commitment to conflict and conflict is what they got.
The sad part about what was to come is that it didn’t have to be that way. The Lord had given the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand and it didn’t matter who did or didn’t fight with him for victory was already certain. The Ephraimites should have been in a spirit of thanksgiving and giving glory to God for His latest display of grace and deliverance but they weren’t. Instead, they were upset about not getting a chance at glorifying themselves in battle…jealous that Jephthah had been used in way that they hadn’t.
How often do we display this same kind of jealousy when we see others succeed around us? Don’t we too often covet what they have achieved instead of just being happy and congratulatory toward them? In fact, there are too many people who can’t deal with another’s success to a point where they go out of their way to try and make them look bad so they might look good…a kind of personal or professional sabotage if you may. We need only look at the way our politicians often behave to see it in full display.
So what happens between the Ephraimites and Gileadites, the men of Jephthah? Well, we see where a bloody battle ensues with the Gileadites wiping out the attacking men of Ephraim (42,000 total) who would have been so much better off just giving credit where credit was due…to God. But instead, Ephraim let their pride get the best of them and ended up finding out the hard way that pride can often lead to destruction (what would become a famous proverb…Proverb 16:18).
As Chapter 12 ends, we see Jephthah dying after a six year reign as judge. He would be followed by Ibzan, Elon and Abdon who would lead Israel over the next 25 years.
So what do we take away from this scripture? We should all learn a lesson from Ephraim and beware anytime we begin to feel jealous or covetous of another for what they have or what they have achieved. For God would expect us to share in one another’s joys and successes, celebrating what He has done while giving Him glory for the vast measure of His goodness. In the end, He and only He is worthy of all our praise, now and forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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