BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 4-6

‘“The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”’ (1 Samuel 4.2-3)

Israel’s battle with the Philistines did not go well. “Oh, we forgot to bring God along,” they thought. So, they brought along the ark expecting it to bring victory against these enemies of God’s people. But the plan backfired. Not only did they lose again, but the ark was captured and put in the temple of the Philistine god Dagon (1 Samuel 4.10-11, 5.2).

The Philistines were proud of themselves, thinking they had not only defeated Israel but their God as well. Pretty quickly they discovered they were dead wrong about YHWH. The next morning, they found their god face down in front of the ark. The day after they found Dagon lying on the floor cut into pieces (1 Samuel 5.3-4). Soon after, YHWH ‘terrified and afflicted them with tumors’ (5.6). They sent the ark to different towns which were all met with the same outcome. They finally had enough and sent the ark back (1 Samuel 6.2-ff). They were no match for this God.

This episode was a lesson for God’s people as well as his enemies. YHWH wasn’t constrained to the whims of his people nor was he subject to fight the enemies on their terms. He needs no person to prop him up or fight his battles. He is YHWH and he has no rival. Through these events he definitively proved his inherent worthiness and sovereignty in the world. And the same is true today. YHWH is subject to no power – in heaven or on earth—nor is he limited by the plans or abilities of his people.

From time to time, we need to be reminded that God is not subject to our directives. In fact, he will not join in our efforts if they bring him no honor. He is not a power to be accessed only when it is convenient. He is not a trophy to parade in front of our pursuits. We are not the leader in this kingdom but are his subjects who serve his purposes.  And when it comes down to it, God does not need us at all to accomplish his purposes. Make no mistake, he wants and expects us to be involved—we are his workmanship created for good works! (Ephesians 2.10)—but we should never allow ourselves to think we are indispensable or even necessary. God’s people are the vessels for his glory, and even when we’re broken—especially when we’re broken! —his glory is manifest in our weakness (2 Corinthians 4.7-16; 12.7-10).

Stories like this are a reset. God deserves our respect as the Supreme leader in our lives, families and church. By his grace we have been called to be a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2.9). We need to ensure we give him the honor he deserves by seeking his glory and not the glory of our pursuits, power or prerogative.

BIBLE READING: Ruth 1-4

Ruth is a compelling story of a faithful woman, who ends up among the people of God almost by chance and would go on to become a lasting figure in the genealogy of King David and Jesus Christ (Ruth 4.18-22; Matthew 1.5). Her story is one of hope; but her entrance into the biblical narrative is a provocative plot twist as our attention shifts from the power struggles and pride of the Israelite nation to the story of a widower and her daughter-in-law’s fight for survival.

Culturally the story has shock value, as Ruth was a Moabite (Ruth 1.22; 2.2, 21; 4.5, 10; [1.4; 2.6]). These people were a perineal enemy of Israel following the Exodus. Moab belligerently refused help to Israel in their time of need, even warring against them on their way to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 2.1-ff). So, Moses would curse them saying, “no Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD… you shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever” (Deuteronomy 23.3-6). These people were under judgment by God; and yet this Moabite woman suddenly becomes a temporary focal point in the narrative.

Ruth is a sharp contrast to the characters in the Judges. She is both loyal and honorable. In many ways, her actions are a reversal of what the Moabites did to Israel. She was faithful to Naomi, even refusing to leave her when asked (Ruth 2.2). Naomi was destitute and Ruth sought to provide for her by her own means. This quality in Ruth not only overrode the curse, but also demonstrated that far from being a liability, her Moabite component in the royal Davidic lineage was a significant bonus. Ruth was not born into privilege; she chose to commit to these people. Indeed, the deeper the enmity between Moab and Israel, the more profound was Ruth’s switch of allegiance, and the more amazing her present action and the more noble her character. The fact that Ruth is both accepted and exalted from her cursed position is a powerful foreshadowing of the gospel. God is making a point that even those cut off from God and under judgment can find hope among the people of God through covenant faithfulness.

There is nothing miraculous in the story of Ruth. But God is clearly at work to ensure Ruth and Naomi are provided for, and the lineage of Judah is secured and established as promised (Genesis 49.10). We need the reminder that we don’t have to see everything God is doing to appreciate his work. Furthermore, this Old Testament story continues the thought that God’s promises continue through unexpected people and circumstances. He opened the Red Sea. He rained manna from heaven. He knocked down impenetrable walls. He raised leaders who were self-deprecating and unsure of themselves to defeat armies thousands. This is God’s MO [mode of operation]. Don’t think you’ve got him figured out… he won’t work like you think he does. And sometimes his help comes when you least expect it

BIBLE READING: Judges 17-21

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. (Judges 17.6; 21.25)

In the absence of a king, who is in charge? Nobody. Everybody. The book of Judges is chaotic and confusing, marked by corruption even from the ‘saviors’ in Israel. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” basically states that anarchy existed in Israel. This refrain identifies the specific problem behind the issues during this time: there was no definitive authority.

Of course, this didn’t have to be true. God himself was their king (1 Samuel 8.7), fulfilling the roles of protector and provider. But in the absence of a ‘present’ human leader, God was taken for granted and ultimately rejected for the king of each man’s creation.

This is an obviously negative commentary on the state of Israel. In the absence of clear leadership, Israel rejected the charge Moses laid upon Israel: to do what was right in God’s eyes (Exodus 15.26; Deuteronomy 6.18; 12.25, 28; 13.19; 21.9). Whatever the shortcomings of the future Israelite monarchy, there was no uncertainty in Israel during that period as to the sphere from which leadership was expected. Without a definitive governing authority to maintain discipline and order in Israel, the people were morally destitute and totally lost. In other words, they didn’t need a king to mess things up; each person did a fine job of that themselves.

Sounds a lot like Paul’s message to the Romans: “None is righteous; no not one. No one does good… no one seeks after God… all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3.10-ff). But here, Paul is not talking about Israel but of the sad state of humanity.

Look around at our world… it’s no different than the times of the judges. We “do our own thing” and sing songs that boast, “I did it my way.” Circumstances dictate behavior because the ‘self’ is the god who is being protected. History demonstrates that when self is supreme, the outcome is always conflict and violence because that is the only way to maintain what is valued. Without the authority of God, nations into the depths of depravity and moral decay.

This is a cautionary tale for God’s people today. It is not the name on the building or the family we came from that makes us unique. Adherence to God’s rule is the distinguishing feature of God’s people. We know that God’s authority gives right perspective and value to the things of this world. Of course he is not physically present, but he exercises authority through his people who hold to his testimony. We are salt and light in the world, preserving it from the chaos that is sure to come without his authority. This is why we must be all the more diligent to know and do what God says. The corruption in this world is evidence of the coming judgment of God. We cannot alter its ultimate course, but we can introduce them to the king who will give them peace.

BIBLE READING: Judges 9

Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites was unexpected. God had whittled his army down to 300 against more than 100,000, and they won handily (Judges 7.19-23; 8.10). Add to that Gideon was an unmotivated, cowardly cave dweller with no clout and little experience (Judges 6.11, 15). This victory was clearly Divine.

But the victory did not serve to further God’s glory among his people. As Gideon completed the assault against the Midianite kings, he kept their purple garments and ornaments from their camels as a token and reminder to himself (Judges 8.21, 26). The people were ready to make him a king, and though he refused, he accepted a tremendous amount of gold spoil from them which he made into an ephod (8.21-27). This was put in his city as a testament to his leadership and caused the people to be unfaithful to, even to whore after something other than, God (8.27). Furthermore, Gideon’s proud choice put a superiority complex in the minds of his family, becoming a snare to them and the nation (8.27). They were now the leading class in Israel (9.2). In this climate, Abimelech stepped in to take advantage of his opportunity. He convinced the tribes of his worthiness and consolidated his power by killing 70 of his brothers (9.1-6). However, this unsanctioned behavior prompted God to create discord between Abimelech and the tribals leaders (9.22), leading to conspiracy, war and ultimately the circumstance leading to his death (9.25-55). It all seems a bit random, but ‘thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing is seventy brothers’ (9.56).

How sad that this was the follow-up to a clearly Divine moment of salvation! And yet we see once again the depravity of human choices apart from God’s leadership. Godly influence can so easily be undone by pride. For all the good changes in Gideon’s time, his legacy left the nation in a worse place than before. The good of the past didn’t justify the lapse of judgment in the present leading to failure in the future. We must learn to be on guard and not allow past success to prop us up with pride. Even the ‘greatest’ people of faith made choices that negatively impacted their families and the future (think David with Bathsheba). As the scriptures say, ‘pride comes before a fall’ (Proverbs 16.18) and ‘do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to but think with sober judgment’ (Romans 12.3).

We have been saved through a clearly Divine act of God’s grace, and any success we experience in our lives should be treated as his grace. We must position ourselves and our families in this grace by teaching them to give him glory. This means we don’t act for our own pride when teaching and training them. We must act with settled determination to help others know God rather than act for our good. We must check our desires to ensure we don’t leverage our opportunities to receive attention deserving of God. This is how we raise a generation to know God. But more importantly this is the purpose of our lives.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2.9-10)

BIBLE READING: Judges 2

Judges 2.10-23 summarizes the sad cycle of the book of Judges: The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD (2.10-11) … so he gave them over to plunderers (2.14) … Then the LORD raised up judges who saved them… whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers (2.17, 19). This generation did not know life in slavery, and many of them did not know war (Judges 3.1). They were recipients of this good land but were not equipped with a knowledge of God to make them grateful (Judges 2.10-11). Instead, they were entitled and enticed by everything but God (Judges 2.12-13). The kernels of disobedience from the conquest generation (Judges 2.1-2) quickly blossomed into betrayal which led to overt rebellion against God.

In this context, we learn much about the faithfulness of God, who kept reaching out through discipline and salvation. But I want to focus on their habitual response: “they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers” (2.19)

Human rationale can be ridiculous, even stupid at times. How bull-headed do you have to be to spurn the one who saved you?God’s activity is completely undeserved and demonstrates unparalleled love and desire for relationship. And yet people so easily take that for granted. Perhaps we have fallen victim to this before. Have you ever pled with the Lord to change your circumstances, even making promises to be different and more faithful, only to slide back into your routines afterward? This is a natural response that is not just rude; it is wicked.

This generation did not see the hand of God in their circumstances because they had not been trained to do so. They knew what they wanted and even what others were doing; but they had no knowledge of God’s operation through his servants or his ability to save. And so, as the prophet would later say, “My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4.6). He’s not referring simply to book smarts but awareness of God’s nature and work. When God’s people don’t know and trust him, they will credit other sources and turn back to what is comfortable or attractive.

We are inundated with information like never before and it motivates us to the same place it did these people. We are drawn by emotions and attractions. This can lead to superficial practices, and worse, a heart that desires its own pleasure. God’s people turn back from God when relationship with him is not clearly in view. We must be diligent to establish our lives in the knowledge of God and his efforts towards us. He does not give us good things so that we can go about life without him. Instead, we are his workmanship created in Christ so that we might be a people for his own possession (Ephesians 2.10; 1 Peter 2.9-10). Let’s not be foolish and let comfort, pleasure or good things draw us from the one who gives those good things. Instead, “in everything give thanks for this is the will of God” (1 Thessalonians 5.18) and “let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Hebrews 13.15)