Mark 2:13

13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Jesus could draw people. How? I don't know. Was it his fame? His wise teaching? His perceptiveness in choosing His target audience?
What I do know is that Jesus draws people, and we must preach Jesus and learn from Jesus.

Titus 3:8-9

Revival: For and Against

That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. (Titus 3:7, 8-9)

Paul gives a resounding affirmation on preaching justification by grace and the inheritance of the hope of eternal life. The preacher is to continually affirm these things. The result of such preaching will be increased love in action in the church. Revival. This is what we need.
What we don't need is study for its own sake. Questions that do not have a practical answer, historical research that does not make a spiritual difference, debates, and trying to set rules that everyone needs to follow all work against revival.

Titus 3:2-7

Based on Titus 3:1a, 2-7

Put them in mind… To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. 3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

When other people hurt us, saying things that are hateful or just deceived, we can remember that we were once this way also. The kindness of Jesus Christ has allowed us to be forgiven for our own hate and with that same kindness Jesus wants to remove the hate from our lives by His Holy Spirit.
I want Jesus to remove the hate from me, why don't we ask Him now?

Titus 3:1

Based on Titus 3:1

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work (Titus 3:1)

This doesn't sit really well with us 21st Century Australians. Well, we don't mind doing good works, though maybe not every good work. But we don't want to submit to authorities. We want our authorities to submit to us.
It is good not to be a slave to the will of others. But we need to learn to be respectful for our own sakes.

Judges 16:22

Judges 16:22

Howbeit the hair of Samson's head began to grow back again after it was shaved. This seems really obvious, but the "howbeit" suggests that the regrowth of his hair is portentous, the fact that it is will be confirmed later in the story. Samson did a lot of wrong things, and even apart from sins, Samson made a lot of mistakes. None of these resulted in Samson losing his strength, only the shaving of his hair. It seems like Samson's hair regrowing indicates that things are about to get better for him.

God works in mysterious ways. God is gracious enough to overlook a multitude of our mistakes, but sometimes something seemingly small can bring us great grief. Samson's unshaved hair was a part of his religious identity, perhaps that is why it was more significant than his lust for less than ideal women. God has given each of us an identity, we need to protect it from anything that would bring dishonour to His name.

Judges 16:6-21

Judges 16:6-21

Be careful who your friends are. Samson ended up mutilated and in slavery because he did not leave Delilah. She was never his lawful wife, but he loved her and he would not leave her. Delilah was obviously trying to do something tricky with Samson, but he just kept coming back.
Samson needed to get out and meet some new people. Samson needed to spend some time with people who honoured God. Samson had been associating with twisted people so long he thought it was normal. He needed to heed the wisdom of God and stay away form these people.
This is articulated well in Proverbs 1:10-19, though Samson would not have had access to that, since it was not yet written.
Be kind to many, but trust few.

Isaiah 64:1-5

Based on Isaiah 64:1-5

We need to be saved. That pretty well sums up a large portion of Scripture.

I think this must be the passage that 1 Corinthians 2:9 is based on:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

In the Isaiah passage it is written that since the beginning of the world nobody has observed any God but Jehovah who takes action for those who depend on Him.

All this is follows imagery of God coming down and making the mountains tremble, all to save His people from their sins.

Judges 16:4-5 // Lover of Money

Based on Judges 16:4-5

Now for a third time Samson finds a Philistine woman to desire. Maybe there were many more instances, but we only have records of three.
We are told that Samson loved Delilah. But it is certain that Delilah did not love him very much. The woman Samson married in his youth cheated him out of some money because of death threats. Delilah was content to cheat Samson of his life for money.
It was certainly an offer of a lot of money. There were five lords of the Philistines, and each promised 1,100 pieces of silver. Delilah would certainly have been wondering what was going on when first the foreigner Samson and then every ruler of her people started paying her attentions.

Delilah is named, perhaps because she is the only one of the three Philistine women who can actually be considered a villain. The other two were more like victims of their circumstances. Delilah was not threatened, she was bribed. The lords of the Philistines had to resort to a large bribe, maybe she was from a powerful family. She had the choice to be loyal to her lover, but chose to betray him for money.

In a similar way, Jesus' church has often betrayed him throughout history. That is, by not protecting his faithful followers under her care, but persecuting them instead. The love of gain and success has been a trap for the church in the past. Temptation must be overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the Lamb's people must be protected.

Kindness

Based on Titus 3:1-5

We as Christians are to be obedient to our governments and not critical of anyone. This can be difficult. We tend to see the government as against us, along with everyone else who is not a Christian. Paul reminds us that it is the grace of Christ that has transformed us from the faults of those in the world and therefore we can empathise with them and do to them as we would have wanted others to do to us.

It's easy to say, not so easy to do. It all starts with today, find kind words to express yourself today.

Judges 16:1-3 // Weakness in Strength

Based on Judges 16:1-3

What Samson was doing in Gaza I don't know. The fact that Samson was always noticing Philistine women requires that he spent a fair bit of time hanging around there.

Maybe this was Samson's fault. Samson had trouble resisting Philistine women, but at least he could stay away from being always in contact with them. It really is easier to resist temptation if you don't get as close to it as you can without "crossing the line."

Samson is definitely someone to be pitied. He really seems to be cast adrift, looking for meaning in all the wrong places. We ought to pray for people who are in danger of going astray, and doing what we can to reach out to them personally.

Samson had the strength to carry a massive load a long way, but not to have a meaningful life. Samson needed Jesus, and you and I do too.

Judges 15 // Juvenile Delinquent

Based on Judges 15

Samson and the Philistines are a good match… if you like bloodshed and mutual annihilation that is. After a while Samson got over his anger and came back to get his wife… specifically to sleep with her. Her father wouldn't let this happen because for some unclear reason he had given her to his best man. Then her father offers his younger daughter instead, which seems a fairly unrealistic proposition, Samson would need something really wrong with him to go along with that.
So Samson is unhappy, but he seems to be overreacting somewhat when he makes the first version of Firefox. He does this by the incredible feat of actually catching 300 foxes and using them to spread fires all over the Philistine wheat fields. This would have been an economic disaster for the Philistines, and seems a bit much considering that Samson was the one who left in a huff at the end of his wedding without his wife.

The Philistines are a match for Samson though, and act just as irrationally, burning Samson's wife and her father to death. Samson is understandably upset by this, and goes on a killing spree, we don't know how many people he killed. I don't know what the reference to "hip and thigh" is, I'd be interested to find out though. Anyway, Samson decides "its the hermit's life for me" and goes and lives on a rock where the Philistines come looking for him.

Samson must be pretty torn up at this point. He's lost the woman he loves and he knows it's his own fault. So he doesn't care too much what happens to him. But he still hates the Philistines.
The Philistines raise an army to come looking for Samson, and send the men of Judah to fetch him. Samson doesn't want to cause trouble for his own people and goes along with them and then kills as many of the Philistine army who will stand and fight.

He famously does this with a donkey's jawbone. He less famously sings a song about it. It wasn't a very good one, but the Philistines thought it was a hit. People who know nothing about art and culture have been called Philistines ever since. (Tongue in cheek)

The finale is that God gave Samson a water fountain out of the same jaw bone because he complains he's thirsty. Reminds me of the exodus.

And the epilogue is that Samson judges Israel for 20 years.

What can we get out of this story? If God is willing to work with and care for a juvenile delinquent like Samson, he can do the same with you and me.

Judges 14 // Worst Wedding Ever

Judges 14

This is Samson's first attempt at love, so at this point one can feel a bit sorry for him, because this is the first of a miserable series of stories. Samson's big mistake is to be fooled by superficial glamour, and this leads on to everything that follows. Samson's parents frustration is understandable, there are a lot of Israelite women that Samson could have chosen, but he has picked a Philistine. Is is because of her wonderful personality? No, he sees her and wants her. This will become a pattern.

The Philistines were a much more technologically developed civilisation than the Israelites and much less morally developed. As such, Philistine women would have a had a lot more access to makeup and other means of attracting male attention than Israelite women.

I personally don't like the the look of the "painted" woman, and I don't think this is completely unusual. But it doesn't have to be about actually looking appealing, the way women typically present themselves proclaims availability rather than beauty. For a man who doesn't mind having multiple partners, availability is much more important than beauty. The Philistine culture would have made their women seem a lot more readily "available" than the Israelite, and this would have been appealing for the impulsive Samson.

Samson's Philistine groomsmen were so miserly that he was forced to buy 30 suits instead of each of them buying one. I'm glad mine aren't like that. Samson reacted understandably and killed 30 people… I mean Samson reacted inexcusably and killed 30 people to take their suits! What a terrible guy! This will become a pattern. Israel at this time was the wild west.

We also see here the first instance of Samson being manipulated by his desperate bride who is getting death threats form his demonic Philistine groomsmen. I'm glad mine aren't like that. In case you think they're joking, they're not, you'll see later because… this will become a pattern.

Someone once played me a One Direction song which had some words about "the story of my life" with something about taking a girl home. Perhaps those children would be able to relate to Samson. Incidentally, Samson may not be a lot older than them when this story takes place. This too is the story of his life.

This really was the worst wedding ever. The bride was crying the whole time and the groom didn't know why. The groomsmen were stingy blackmailers. The groom was a mass murderer. The groom's parents only approved the wedding so the groom would end up killing lots of Philistines.

How much of what we do is for selfish motives? Is there a difference between selfish motives and righteously finding our heart's desires? I would say yes, Samson should have gone for an Israelitess.

Judges 13:6-25 // In Step

Judges 13:6-25

The theme of this passage seems to be how bad Manoah is.

Manoah's wife tells him what the angel told her, and Manoah's reaction is to ask God to send the "man" to talk to him instead. Manoah has some sort of pretext for why he wants to see the "man", but when the angel comes he answers Manoah's question by repeating his instruction given to the woman.

Next he tries to invite the angel to dinner, still thinking it is a man. In the case of Abraham this seems to have been commendable, in the case of Manoah, the angel refused. Manoah was allowed to offer a sacrifice to God, and when he did it the angel ascended to heaven.

Then, after all this, Manoah mourned that having seen the angel he and his wife were both going to die. This doesn't make any sense at all; there is no indication in the Bible, known to me, that this should be true. Anyway, the angel had just been telling them that they would have a son. How could God's promise be fulfilled if they were both dead?

Manoah's wife showed patience and good sense, it was unfortunate for her she was married to such a faithless and dim-witted individual.

But maybe we can all be like Manoah. Horrors. When I am not spending time with God every day, meaningful time. When I am not really wasting time with God, I am out of step with His purposes and miss His opportunities. Manoah missed every beat in this story because he was not connected with God. If I want my story to be any better I need to have a real connection with God today.

Judges 13:1-5 // New Life

Judges 13:1-5

From this point until the time of David, the Philistines are the main enemy of the Israelites. Samson's mother was not able to have children. This is not written as if this is something God is doing it to her, but as if it is simply her natural condition. At any rate, it is no problem for God, who is able to work all kinds of miracle and facilitate the creation of new life in her womb.

Just as miraculously, God is able to create new life in our barren sinful hearts and make our lives righteous.

Judges 12:8-15 // Factual

Judges 12:8-15

Three more obscure judges.

Why Ibzan wanted all his sixty children to marry foreigners I don't know.
Why Abdon gave seventy young donkeys to his sons and nephews to ride I don't know.
Why Elon had nothing to be said about him I don't know.

The Bible does not always have a spiritual agenda for recounting something. What about 2 Timothy 3:16? Even without a spiritual agenda, Bible passages are still useful. Anyone trying to reconstruct the history of the judges, needs the record of these obscure judges to be accurate.

God cares about accurate history. God cares about facts.

To ensure that what we say to others is not only sincere but also factual is a challenge. But it is a necessary one.

Judges 12:1-7 // Shibboleth

Judges 12:1-7

Why the Ephraimites hated Jephthah enough to want to murder him is not very clear. Their justification that he should have let them do the fighting sounds like bureaucratic nitpicking. Maybe Ephraim had a special army that was meant to fight off invaders. At any rate the previous judge had been a Gileadite, so there is no clear precedent for this. Besides this, Ephraim had been unable even to defend themselves. Perhaps the Ephraimites were worried about the prospect of a bandit being chief of Gilead.

Whatever their reasons, the Ephraimites raised an army to go and kill Jephthah. It may be that not one of those soldiers made it home. The Gileadites not only defeated the Ephraimites, they guarded their route home and executed them one by one as they tried to escape. They identified their cousins of Ephraim by their accent, they were not able to make a "sh" sound, using the word Shibboleth, which has acquired an idiomatic meaning today.
(Definition of the English idiom here if you want it. The original Hebrew word has the idea "growing, flowing")

Why the Gileadites were so cruel that they wanted to kill every Ephraimite is not clear either, they may have been afraid of the Ephraimites trying another invasion.

What lessons can we take from this closing chapter of Jephthah's life? I see some lessons for church politics. One is that the group in power may be surprised at the result if they make war on the radical and slightly unsavoury people that God is using. Another is that whatever side of a conflict you are on, you may well get hurt. Even though they were practically part of the same tribe, the Gileadites had no mercy on the Ephraimites. Don't join an army that's going to murder a man and his family. Don't get on the bandwagon trying to destroy the reputation of a man that's trying to serve God, even if he has real problems.
Finally, despite the politics and stark evil; Israel was still God's people with God's message of truth. Don't sacrifice your salvation for a grudge or for your disgust with those who claim to represent God but do not.

Judges 11:34-40 // Faith and Grief

Judges 11:34-40

This is probably one of the most disturbing passages of scripture for me. Not because it shows anything against God, but because what happened was just a terrible, horrible, pointless thing. I have heard that Jephthah's daughter may have had a life as a kind of nun, but this doesn't really fit with the mourning of the girls of Israel. I wish I could explain it away, but I can't escape the conclusion that Jephthah's daughter was murdered by her own father to fulfill a foolish vow.
Jephthah's daughter is not primarily a victim however. She showed unshakable faith as well as genuine grief. No doubt she will live on in the resurrection, with every desire met by Jesus, the lover of our souls.
Are we ready to meet our destiny with this kind of faith? By God's grace we will.

Judges 11:29-33 // Give Dad What He Really Wants

Judges 11:29-33

The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and inspired him to attack Ammon quickly before they invaded. The thing that God inspired Jephthah to do was successful. It was not necessary for Jephthah to make a deal with God, he was already doing God's will. But Jephthah, like all of us, had some ideas of his own.
I don't know what he was thinking, promising to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house. It can hardly have been a sheep, goat, ox or dove. These are the things that God permitted the Israelites to sacrifice. Jephthah made an absurd promise, it was almost impossible for him to righteously follow through with it.
Sometimes in the heat of the moment, we make foolish decisions. What we do with the consequences says a lot about our character. But so does the kind of decision we make without thinking. In the case of Jephthah, he had a kind of religious devotion, but it was a bit egotistical. He was willing to make big promises, and be the big man of the moment. But he was not inclined to promise God the things that He had asked for. (See for example Leviticus 7)
Many times we Christians are like that today. We sing songs full of great promises to God and hold meetings that are supposedly to worship God. But unless we are actually giving God the service that He has asked for in His Word, we may as well stay home.

Judges 11:12-28 // Records

Judges 11:12-28

Knowing history can be useful. The king of Ammon was justifying his invasion by claiming that Gilead rightly belonged to his kingdom. Jephthah made a counter claim, defending Israel's right to posses the land. The king of Ammon would not relent, and Jephthah had to fight instead for his land and his people.
This reminds of another pair of warring monarchs. Satan claims this world as his rightful kingdom, and humanity as his slaves. Jesus had to fight to take us back. Jesus had to shed blood. Not the blood of others, His own blood. Jesus has kept careful records so that when He reclaims this land, there will be no need to doubt if it is rightfully his.
We should be careful to keep records. Tax records, life records, records of our spiritual journeys. This will help us when Satan or his servants try to claim us as their own. We will have records that we can use to be sure they are wrong.

Judges 11:12 // Diplomatic

Judges 11:12

Jephthah, in his wisdom knew not to go straight into battle. But to try a diplomatic solution first. It is a pity that we do not use this wisdom more often in our lives.

Judges 11:1-11 // Close to the Top

Judges 11:1-11

Jephthah had an unfortunate birth. The odds were stacked against him from birth. Jephthah was cruelly thrown out of home for the circumstances of his birth. Although he was bitter Jephthah made the best of his situation and became a leader of a group of bandits.
When the region came under attack, the bandits seemed like the best people to fight against them. The leader of the bandits, Jephthah was made chief of the clan.

Sometimes we are put in bad situations for no fault of ours. Make the best of it. Adapt to your situation and learn as much from it as you can. You never know how close you are to the top.

Judges 10:6-18 // Persisting In Prayer

Judges 10:6-18

Here the Bible articulates more specifically before the reason for Israel's problems. By worshipping idols, Israel was putting God in a position where He could not save them. Saving the Israelites would only make the idol worship stronger, since the idols would get the credit for God's salvation. To break their idol addiction God allowed the Philistines and Ammonites to raid the Israelites. This is the beginning of a long series of extensive Philistine raids. At this stage however, the Ammonites were the greater threat, overrunning Gilead and even crossing the Jordan to raid Ephraim, Benjamin and Judah.
The Israelites wake up to the fact that their idols are not saving them and ask God to do it. God refuses at first, until the Israelites persist and get rid of their idols, though they may have simply put them in the attic so to speak. Sometimes we need to persist in prayer for our own sakes. So we know we are truly repentant.

Judges 10 // Contentment

After Tola came another judge who seemed to create little drama. Jair judged for 22 years, had 30 sons and each one established a settlement in Gilead their home. In the ancient world, this was a success-story at its best. But we are not told anything else about Jair except the city he was buried in.

I suppose God's servants sometimes get the rewards for their right choices, even in this life. We do not know whether God will entrust us with earthly riches. But one thing must be certain: we must entrust God with everything we love or possess. Gideon's sons had been murdered a few decades earlier, and perhaps Jair feared his sons would meet the same fate. But if he put his trust in God then his days would have been full of happiness.

There is nothing better than being able to enjoy what you have.

Judges 10:1-2 // Faithful

Judges 10:1-2

Tola son of Puah doesn't seem to warrant much of a story. He was based in Ephraim, a central location, and judged for 23 years up to his death. When the Bible briefly mentions people like this I wonder if it is for a positive or negative reason. Is little said about him because he did little wrong or because he did little good?

Something in me, and I think it is in many of us, fears a life of obscurity. I don't want to come and go without having made a difference in the world. The desire for fame is a snare to many, because they make a difference for evil. Tola rates a mention in the Bible. Tola did his work faithfully for a long time. There wasn't much special to say about it but its impact could have been enormous.

Aspire to that, to be faithful in your work to death.

Judges 9 // Unsafe Times

Judges 9

The men of Shechem treacherously killed most of Gideon's sons and eventually their treason was turned back on them. The son of Gideon who instigated the murder was also killed by a woman trying to kill others. This is the rough justice of a time that was much worse to live in than our times, though we have our own problems today.

The wicked may seem to prosper while the innocent suffer, but this is a very superficial judgment. The wicked, though they may die in their beds and leave many children, have gained nothing from their wickedness. Those who honour the Lord gain everything and can enjoy Him forever.

Judges 8 // With Friends Like These...

Judges 8

Gideon had heroically defeated the Midianite marauders and put them to flight. As his army chased the Midianites, they needed food. But none of the Israelites that they encountered along the way were willing to give them any.
This betrayal is a turning point in the story of Gideon. He takes cruel revenge on those who were too fearful to help him. His execution of the enemy kings does not go according to plan. But worst of all, he makes an idol that resembles a true symbol of God, confusing the people and confounding much of his positive influence. Gideon also goes on to live selfishly, taking many wives, although to his credit he refuses to become a king.

When we are betrayed by friends it is tempting to get even by betraying God. When we are trying to do a good thing in God's name and people oppose us and make it a failure then blame us, it is tempting to tell everyone who will listen about the injustice. We want everyone to know how bad those people are and that we are not failures. This does not really get back at them, it only hurts us. People do not care if you have failed, they will like you if they think you would not betray them. By refusing to speak badly of those who have hurt us we will be able to have a positive influence on those around us.

Wise Risk

Matthew 25:1-13. Wisdom is clearly characterised here as planning ahead for problems. If the bridegroom had come when expected, the wise virgins may have looked foolish because they brought un-necessary oil. Is it happened, the wise were vindicated because the bridegroom took longer than any of the virgins expected.

We are expecting Jesus to return, but we are foolish if we do not live in such a way that we can live on faithfully for many years and that our children and children's children will do so after us.

Caution is often described as lack of faith by those in the church who are not accustomed to being opposed. Caution is a form of wisdom, but we ought not be too cautious (Eccles 7:16) because we must live by faith. To know the right path we must be willing to take risks that we are able to stand by even if everything goes wrong.

Judges 7 // Gideon, The Man of the Hour

Judges 7. Much has been made of the fact that God commanded Gideon to send away almost all the soldiers he had accumulated. It is not typically recognised that considering Gideon's strategy, he only needed a small number of men anyway. It would have been more comforting however to know that thousands of men were not far away, ready to help if Gideon's plan didn't work. It was Gideon's plan by the way, not God's. God probably gave Gideon the wisdom to come up with it, but God is not recorded as telling Gideon to do what he did. Rather, God gave Gideon the confidence to go ahead, and God made the plan work by ensuring that the Midianite coalition did not trust each other. We tend to look to God for instructions at times when He wants us to grow up and think for ourselves.

On the other hand, God also instructed Gideon to dismiss most of his soldiers. Gideon was willing to risk having no human backup for his plan. This stands out most to us, probably because it is something we never do.

At the moment the modern application of this I am thinking of is church offerings. I have never heard a church say it would accept a certain sum in offerings and no more. Yet we read in Exodus 36:6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

When I give offerings, I understand that I am giving them to God. But I sometimes have a hopeless sense that I am fuelling an unquenchable fire. If the church has needs I appreciate knowing how much is needed so I can get a sense of how much I am contributing. This problem is much worse in the endless secular charities and not-for-profit organisations that are always asking for money, as much as possible, with no indication what it would take to actually solve the problem. Charity does not seem to be so much about solving problems as salving consciences.

God does not want anyone to take the credit for what He does. Why? Because He is vain? No, because He is the only being capable of preserving life in the Universe. If created beings do not see God as the source of power, rather than each other, then they will be vulnerable to reject Him and die. Let God moderate how much of our own strength (money and time) we invest in "His" cause, so that when His actual goals are realised, He will take all the credit. We need to do all the things that He has taught us to do: obey his commandments, show love to those around us, and tell others about His impact in our lives; but we must restrain our unquenchable desire for vainglory.

People should be called to live sustainable lives in the way they spend their time and money. The church should also behave responsibly and decide what it needs to do before it appeals for money to do it.

Judges 6 // The Preparation of Gideon

Judges 6. Gideon must have been the son of a local chief, because when he destroys the local places of worship (pagan) his father threatens anyone who speaks against it with death. Gideon calls his family the least in the tribe of Manasseh, this would be referring to the Abiezrite clan.
After this, Gideon is able to raise an army. His notoriety from destroying the pagan shrines was probably the reason he was able to attract soldiers. Soldiers from Asher, Zebulon and Naphtali come to help fight the Midianites, who were raiding in Jezreel, in the tribe of Issachar along with other local enemies of Israel. The Midianites had been raiding and laying waste from south to north, and now Gideon would meet them in battle.
Ever cautious, Gideon made sure that God was with him by laying out a fleece.
What I find most striking about this story is that Gideon challenges the angel with skepticism that God still works in his day. We typically think this way, but Gideon was thinking this way before David, Elijah and Daniel lived and did miraculous things. Our doubts about God's involvement mean nothing. God could be just about to do a miracle, as He did for Gideon, and we would not know it.
The account of Gideon begins with "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord" not "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord"as in other places. This may be chronologically one of earliest incidents described in Judges.

Inside Out

Matthew 23:23-39. Holiness must be both inside and out. Holiness inside (faith, love) must not be without holiness outside (works, standards). Holiness outside must not be without holiness inside. Faithfulness must be in both big and small things. Faithfulness in small things (diet, offerings) must not be without faithfulness in big things (witnessing, charity) and vice versa. There are two types of sinners: those who want to be considered sinful, and those who want to be considered spiritual. Both are equally sinners: the first sin inside and out, the latter sin inside but not out. When Jesus becomes Lord of our lives He changes the inside and the outside begins to change too. People begin to notice changes in our lives. These changes may be perceived as either good or bad by our friends. The drunkard becomes boring to his drinking buddies when Jesus comes into his life. The religious fanatic becomes apostate to his brethren when Jesus comes into his life. The religious “moderate” becomes fanatical to fellow churchgoers when Jesus comes into his life. The harsh man becomes sensitive to those who love him and weak to those who do not care about him when Jesus comes into his life. The weak woman becomes courageous to those who love her and strict to those who do not care about her when Jesus comes into her life.

Following Jesus will not make us popular with everyone. It will bless our relationships with those that love us, and wear away our relationships with those who do not. This is a great blessing. I want Jesus in my life.

Finishing Well

2 Timothy 4:6-8. Finished. Paul finished strong. May I also finish strong. When running long distance races I would struggle over the finish line. Sometimes I won these races, but it was always a struggle to get over that finish line. I could not put on that universally assumed final burst of speed. I could not finish strong. Why not? I believe it is because I did not train regularly, and so I reached exhaustion quickly. My natural athletic ability gave the appearance of superior fitness, but the end of the race proved that it was superficial.

Natural ability can give others the impression that I am extra spiritual or holy. Only by living each day in the grace of Christ and spending time training with Him will that be true for me. Natural ability may bring a level of success without training. But with training it will bring greatness.

The Singular Lawgiver

Matthew 23:16-22. Jesus seems quite upset. It seems that people were being taught in His time, that it would promise to do something by the temple; your promise did not need to be kept. But if you promised to do it by the gold in the temple you were obligated to keep your promise, and so on with other examples. I really feel like I am missing something not knowing the background of this, but I have some thoughts anyway.

My guess is that there was some technicality that made promises by the temple void. For example, it might have been to discourage people from doing this. The conclusion I come to from this is that we must beware lest we make rules to prevent one problem that cause another. What is the solution to this? Avoid making rules as much as possible. Advocate God’s rules, and don’t try to add your own.

James 4:12

Judges 4:1 // The Assassin's Mantle

Judges 4:1. When Ehud died, his followers (the Israelites) went off track. Why does it always happen like this? Christian leaders need to be proactive in forming new leaders that will not only continue their good work but to take it to greater heights. To simply train another to be identical to yourself is courting disaster. The moment you are dead, his real character will come out and he may lead the people astray. Do not focus on the success of your ministry. Focus on the success in ministry of those you are mentoring and training to take your place. It is not only death that needs to happen for succession to be necessary. In our modern world, we frequently move on in life to some other place or endeavour. When we do, we have failed if we have not trained a leader to take our place. It is unfortunate but sometimes unavoidable that this doesn’t always work out. But it ought to most of the time, unless you as a leader are doing something wrong.