Day #93

Sermon - Audio
Judges 10-12 - Audio
Judges 10-12 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Judges 10

10.1: Tola's name means "worm". There is a sense that contrary to Abimelech who thought highly of himself and came to ruin, Tola has a right attitude and is successful. Tola's family in 1 Chronicles 7.1-2 is noted for being mighty warriors. The fact that he lives in the hill country of Ephraim implies that Issachar has not yet taken over their inheritance.

10.4: To have donkeys was to be wealthy. Apparently Jair was a man of means.

10.6-7: The continual theme of unfaithfulness comes around yet again.

10.8-9: The oppression began on the East side of the Jordan, but eventually spread into the land of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim. This reminds us that the judges did not deliver all of Israel, just parts of it from oppression.

10.10-15: This is an interesting section. There is a dialogue between God and the people, but we are not informed as to how this dialogue took place. No prophets are mentioned, no visit to the tabernacle, only the reality of God telling the people of their continued unfaithfulness and their begging for deliverance.

10.10: This is the first confession of sin in the book of Judges. Before they cried out because of their trouble but did not speak of their sin.

10.11-14: God doesn't buy their confession. He points out that they are confessing only because of the trouble they are in.

10.15: The demand to be delivered "this day" shows that their confession remains hollow.

10.16 he became impatient over the misery of Israel. Many scholars see this as a reference to God’s great mercy and his capacity to be moved by Israel’s misery and repentance (cf. 2:18). Another interpretation is that it is Israel’s unfaithfulness, the cause of their misery, that makes God impatient. This would indicate that Israel’s “repentance” here was only a superficial one. ESV Study Bible

10.18: The people don't look to God for their deliverance, instead they try to find someone who can lead their armies.

Judges 11

This story of deliverance is an unusual one in Judges. The New American Commentary says, "Although Yahweh will empower Jephthah with his Spirit (11:29) and be credited by the narrator with his victory over the Ammonites, he is totally out of the picture in the account of Jephthah’s rise as leader and deliverer of Israel. Whereas in every other narrative cycle Yahweh had played the decisive role in the emergence of a deliverer, Jephthah’s emergence is treated as a purely human development. Yahweh is indeed invoked as a witness to the covenant between Jephthah and Israel, but this is a far cry from earlier episodes."

11.1-3: Jephthah has a less then stellar background. Like Abimelech he gathers less than stellar people around himself.

11.8: Instead of turning to Yahweh, the people turn to Jephthah.

11.10: An ironic promise since the people didn't really follow the LORD (Yahweh).

11.12-28: Rather than going to battle Jephthah first seeks to bring resolution through negotiation. Since the people of the land were to be driven out by Israel this is a picture of compromising on the call of God.

11.12ff: The negotiations are carried out on the basis of ancient claims verses Yahweh's giving Israel the land.

11.26: The time for making a claim on the land passed long ago according to Jephthah.

11.30-31: A rash vow is made. It may be an attempt to manipulate God into acting for Jephthah in the upcoming battle. If so, this shows that Jephthah doesn't distinguish God as being different then the gods of all the other people.

11.35: The idea that he can't break his vow in the light of Israel constantly breaking their vows to Yahweh seems odd. What is it that keeps him from breaking his vow or being faithful? Is he more concerned about what will happen to him if he breaks his vow than he is about his daughter's future?

Judges 12

12.1: Ephraim has issues. They are self-important, but only are willing to go to battle after the battle is done. Now they come to Jephthah's place and threaten to burn down his house because they perceive he has dissed them.

12.2-4: Gideon did some smooth talking when he dealt with the people of Ephraim, Jephthah isn't going to be so gracious.

12.7: The writer of Judges wants us to see the continuing disintigration of the situation in Israel. As Jephthah's story comes to a close we are not told that Ammonites were finally defeated or that the people lived in peace. The downward spiral is moving faster.

12.8-10: Ibzan is politically astute. He extends his clout by marrying his daughters outside the clan and bringing in wives for his son from outside the clan. His name means "father of coldness" which leaves us to wonder if his political calculations reflect a calculating and cold personality.

12.13-15: Abdon’s tenure is distinguished above all as a period of peace and prosperity. Like Gideon (8:30), Abdon had the ideal royal family consisting of seventy descendants. Forty of these were immediate sons, but the narrator looks to the future by noting that Abdon also had thirty grandsons. As in the days of Jair (10:4), the fact that each of these men rode on his own donkey is a sign of the tranquility of the times. But Abdon governed for only eight years before he died and was buried in Pirathon. New American Commentary