Scripture: Judges 10:6-15; 11:1-8 (selected)
Today’s lesson from the Book of Judges is the 6th
in our series, and it’s one that all of scripture leans toward – and that is the
power of God’s Grace. Grace is one of
those things that everyone has heard about, and some even proclaim it. But very few of us actually understand
it.
Grace, in the simplest of terms, is God’s love in
action for our benefit. It is also His great
gift to the undeserving, His gift of mercy to the needy. And what does He expect in return? No more than we would expect when we love
another – that love would be shown in return!
But how do we know that His grace is actually for us? That the love He shows us is deep and unmistakable? The truth is that it is all around us! It is ours in the sacraments of communion and
baptism, and it becomes ours every time that we come together in worship, and
in those moments when we realize that a prayer has been answered, and in every thought
that comes to us when we read a book, or
chapter or even one verse of His word, and grace falls fresh upon us every time
we feel God’s blessing on our life.
And the experience of our Judge for this and next
week, a man known as Jephthah, will show us, first, that God’s grace is most
evident when we are faithful toward Him, and second , that His grace can come
to us either directly through the love He shows, or sometimes through the restoration
and acceptance of others.
But for the next two messages, we are going to see
how God’s grace can bless us in one moment, while sometime later, the faithfulness
that He shows to our desires will hardly seem to be a blessing at all.
Read Judges 10:6-10
Those pesky foreign gods just don’t give up, do
they! And every time that Israel was
left to their own designs, those gods came right back to haunt them. And the truth is that it isn’t just one or
two of these false gods, it is a whole conglomeration of those lies! This time, unfaithful living resulted in 18
years of foreign oppression, and it wouldn’t be until Israel confessed their
sins, that not only were they following the worldly gods of other nations, but that
they also acknowledge that in doing that, they were turning away from the Almighty
God who had seen them through many years of trial, and struggle, and wandering.
Those other gods were doing nothing for the people,
and the people readily admit that their actions are nothing short of sin! So the question for each of us today is this –
what does it take for us to realize our sin, to acknowledge it to our good and
gracious God, and to ask for His forgiveness?
Haven’t we all discovered that throughout this book, over and over again,
that God’s forgiveness, His restoration to divine Presence and Glory, comes to
us only when we leave the ways of earth behind, and ask for His forgiveness,
and fully embrace the one true way of our great and Triune God?
Until we do, persecution, oppression, errant ways,
and, SIN will continue to hold us captive.
It is only in our return to God’s truth that the burden of earth’s lies
will be lifted from our hearts and minds.
Read Judges 10:11-15
The LORD’s words may, at first glance, seem to be a
condemnation upon Israel. But I believe
that the LORD is offering the nation a test - a test to ascertain
just how convinced they are being when they confess that they have sinned, and
have intentionally left the embrace of God’s grace, and now truly desire to be
taken back!
And when we read that God “will no longer
save you”, He
is revealing the consequence of their repeated denial of His presence in their
lives. After all, how many times do they
expect to be forgiven? In Matthew18:21-22, Peter
asks Jesus about this very issue – how many times should I forgive – is seven
enough? And Jesus tells him that seven is
nowhere near enough – that every sin that is committed against us must be
forgiven over and over again, that in truth, there is no limit on forgiveness.
So
if we are to forgive an endless amount of time, how much do you think that God will
forgive us? And through our experience
with His forgiveness, we also discover that the false gods of this world will
welcome us back to their way as often as we desire, and it has absolutely nothing
to do with their forgiveness! Worldly
forces know that their tool is always based in suffering, and temptation, and
hatred of God’s way, while the LORD’s way is focused in our repentance, and Godly truth, and His forgiveness.
Read Judges 11:1-8
And it isn’t until now that Jephthah is introduced
to this story of restoration, and forgiveness, and redemption. But in these few verses, it isn’t God’s
forgiveness that is being highlighted – it is the brothers, or rather
half-brothers, of our Judge. They had
shunned him, and rejected him, and forced him to flee from their presence. Why?
Because he was not only their half brother, but his mother was a prostitute. But what was it that caused the brothers to
go to Jephthah and invite him to come back home? It was because they, and the nation, needed
his warrior skills to help them take a stand against the army of Ammon. They wanted him to be the army’s leader!
It isn’t actually a gift of forgiveness, but it is
an invitation to restoration. So later
in this passage, we read that Jephthah accepts the offer, and the offer and acceptance
are dedicated to the LORD at Mizpah.
This dedication to the LORD God Jehovah may very well be a confirmation
that Jephthah is not only the army’s commander, but that he has been chosen to
be God’s Judge. As we read through the
Old Testament, the successful leaders are always the ones who are not only God’s
faithful, but also His choice.
And who does the LORD choose? The perfect?
The able? The brilliant? None of these! God looks for the repentant sinner, the one
who seeks His forgiveness, the one who knows that God is the ultimate authority,
that He is the all-knowing, the all-powerful Person, and who we are prepared to
follow, regardless of where it may take us.
We sin and step away from God’s Presence, we come to
the realization of our folly, the ignorance that led us to turn away from the LORD, we
confess our sin and repent of our narrow minded decisions, we seek the LORD’s
forgiveness for failing him and agree that we will never willing turn to the
way of earth again, and it is then that we will be welcomed back.
Jephthah’s lesson is before us. Will we learn from it, or ignore it! It’s our choice to make.
