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In Christ, Mark
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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Judges, chapter 11, we saw where God had given the judge Jephthah victory over the Ammonites but at a great cost after he made an unnecessary, foolish vow to the Lord. You’ll recall that before the battle, Jephthah made promised 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 he returned home after gaining victory, his daughter…his only child…ran from the door to him, sealing her fate for Jephthah had to fulfill his vow, one that sinfully violated God’s command against human sacrifices.
Turning the page to chapter 12 opens, we still see Jephthah on center stage as he finds opposition from an unlikely source. For we read where the Gileadite is confronted by “the men of Ephraim” who imply that he went to fight the Ammonites without calling them to participate, an allegation that Jephthah vehemently denied saying that he had indeed summoned them but they had not responded or helped. Ephraim’s threat to burn down Jephthah’s house showed their commitment to conflict and as we see, conflict is exactly 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 with that, it didn’t matter who did or didn’t fight with him because God had already guaranteed victory. Rather than being confrontational, the Ephraimites should have been in a spirit of thanksgiving, praising the Lord for His latest display of deliverance but they weren’t. Instead, they were upset over not getting the chance to glorify themselves in battle…jealous that Jephthah had been used in way that they hadn’t.
With this, I wonder how often we might be like the Ephraimites, displaying the same kind of envy when we see others succeed around us. Instead of just being happy for people, congratulating them on their accomplishment, we end up coveting what they have achieved.
The fact is that people are doing this way too often and aren’t even trying to mask it. We see them openly going out of their way to try and make others look bad so they might look good, just so they can gain recognition for themselves. It’s nothing short of personal and/or professional sabotage if you may and we need only look as far as politicians to see in on full display and at its worst. Frankly, it’s a constant display of disgusting, arrogant behavior...behavior that is far from God-honoring, that’s for sure.
Going back to our passage for today, 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 it can often lead to destruction (a truth that would later become a famous proverb attributed to the wise King Solomon…Proverbs 16:18).
As chapter 12 ends, we come to the end of Jephthah’s life as he died after reigning as judge over Israel for six years. He would be followed by Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon who would take the reins as judge over the next 25 years.
So what do we take away from these scripture verses?
I believe the Lord wants us to all learn a lesson from Ephraim and be on guard when we begin to feel jealous or covetous over what another person has attained. For God would want us to be satisfied and grateful for what He has given us, content like Paul was no matter his circumstances (Philippians 4:11-12). This allows us to avoid yearning for the things that others gain, whether that is work success or a special love with someone or material gain. It allows us to just be genuinely happy for people when the Lord provides blessings to them, sharing in their joy and thanksgiving to Him for His amazing goodness that is always on display.
When the enemy tries to take you down the road of pride, decline the offer and instead humbly accept what He has done for you while praising Him for the great things He is doing around you, showing Him that He and He alone is worthy of all honor and glory, now and forevermore.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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