Judges 7-9
7/66 | Author: Unknown | Old Testament | Genre: Historical | 1170-1125 B.C. (estimated)
7: Gideon Learns that Less is More
After receiving signs of confirmation, Gideon went to battle with his army. However, the Lord told him he had too many soldiers for this fight.
"You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength" (Judges 7:2, NLT).
More than twenty-thousand fearful men departed, leaving Gideon with an army of ten thousand. But, this was still too many. God told Gideon to lead his men to a nearby river, observe how they drank, and split the methodologies into two groups. From here, it would be determined who was fit to stay and fight. God selected the group with fewer to become His army of three hundred men. Later that night, the men attacked the Midianites.
8: Gideon's Fight
When seeking assistance with food, Gideon encountered resistance from nearby villages. After wiping out their target, he returned to those who mocked them and conquered their leaders. When the Israelites saw Gideon's bravery, they asked that he be their leader, to which Gideon declined and told them that they would follow the Lord (8:23).
However, Gideon did build an idol out of the gold he plundered along his way. The Israelites followed along and worshiped this statue too.
Gideon died sometime later. The Israelites reverted to their old ways of turning from the Lord. Verse 34 says, "They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their surrounding enemies."
9: Abimelech's Leadership
Abimelech, a son of Gideon, became king after killing his brothers. One of the brothers, Jotham, hid and survived. Jotham stormed to a mountaintop and questioned the people on whether they truly wanted a man like Abimelech to be their leader. If this city were to allow Abimelech to proceed, Jotham spoke destruction over the people and Abimelech.
Three years into Abimelech's reign, "God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted" (9:23, NLT). The proceeding verse explains this as a consequence of both Abimelech's murderous actions and the citizen's choice to enable his sin. As 9:23 stated, the citizens ended up rebelling against Abimelech in an attempt to harness control over their city. After Abimelech achieved some success in availing, a woman dropped a brick on his head and ruptured his skull. He begged his men to kill him so no one could ever say that he died at the hands of a woman (9:54).
"In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled" (9:56-57, NLT).
Chapter 7 displayed God's faithfulness in having a plan to deliver Gideon and teach man to rest in His guidance. God doesn't need us to gather all of the possible resources, nor does our strategy tend to align with His. There have been countless times when I have stressed over planning and preparing when taking on a goal or task, just for God to redirect me in a way that my human mind would have never considered. He only requires faith to provide miracles. As John 3:30 states, He must increase, but I must decrease. We must set it at His feet. By relinquishing control and being expectant of God's plan, we allow His divine purpose to unfold in our lives.
How quick are we to forget God's way of rescuing us from our own modern-day Midianites? Some of our battles are self-inflicted, and we still tend to blame God for our hardships. Or, we praise the wrong source like the Israelites did with Gideon or Gideon went on to do with his golden statue. Aside from Jotham, we didn't get to hear about the cries to be rescued while under Abimelech's reign, but we did see that they were given a choice to be loyal to Abimelech or turn away from him. Ultimately, they chose to be complacent. This reminded me of the current stressor of electing the "best fit" candidate to enhance our worldly way of life. We tend to use our free will to focus on people or objects that will not save us. This is not to say we should be negligent and uninvolved in current events; it is the opposite. We should strive to reintroduce the world to Jesus amidst the growing chaos.
These chapters highlight how God remained present. He planned to end the ways of an individual who committed evil and rose to power to continue lawlessness. Before Jesus, justice was served through suffering from the consequences of sins. The main consequence of sinning and not repenting or atoning was always death. However, it is important to note that God does not delight in causing pain or hardship. His ultimate desire is to establish justice, offer eternal life to the righteous (that's us through Jesus!), and maintain peace and order in His creation.
Gratitude List
Satisfied cravings
Surprise "thought of you" gifts
Ice cold water
Little baby sneakers
Getting through the drier part(s) of a long book
Finding new creators/accounts to keep up with
Pumpkin carving contests
Clingy dogs
Pedicures & massages
New mattress + fresh bedding
Anniversaries
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References:
Myers, R., & Williams, A. B. (2020). She Reads Truth Bible. Holman Bible Publishers.
