Judges 12 ~ judged Israel

Judges 12

David Cochran, English Standard Version

¹ The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire." ²And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. ³And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?"

⁴Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh." ⁵And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" When he said, "No," ⁶they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

⁷Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

⁸After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. ¹⁰Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. ¹²Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Part of our sermon last Sunday was learning to answer the call of Jesus Christ - loving the not loving. And asking prayers for the family we'd rather not gather with over love and joy. Or the neighbor at the neighborhood party that would look good stuffed over his own mantle.

This was our reading for the sermon:


Luke 6:32-35 (The Message)
32 If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. 33 If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. 34 If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that. 35 "I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never - I promise - regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst.

I am not the best at doing this. The Romans liked their dignity. Hey. I do too.

The Message explains pretty well why the two tribes of Israel were fighting each other -

⁴ So Jephthah got his Gilead troops together and fought Ephraim. And the men of Gilead hit them hard because they were saying, "Gileadites are nothing but half breeds and rejects from Ephraim and Manasseh."

So many conflicts are because we try so hard to place each other on the totem pole ranking system. And lots of turmoil results from it. Innuendo, hearty joke and jab with retaliation not far behind. Trouble. Each year, we all gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with our families. And there will be 'opportunities for a solution'.

I'm from the south - raised most of my years in Texas with parents from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. We moved to Pennsylvania for 4 years and I had really always wanted to be in a snow fight. What could be more Christmassy? Let me tell you, if you have never participated in a snowball battle, you have to pack a snowball for it to fly. That happy, happy song about snowflakes that fall on your nose and eyelashes - has nothing, nothing, nothing to do with being hit with a snowball in the face in a snow fight. Even the word snowball is misleading. Ice propellant would be more accurate. So suddenly you are not just cold to pieces, you are now hit in the face with a baseball ice propellant. It is just plain fun like falling off of the roof. I clearly remember watching some 8th grader guys from my class in Emporium, PA very happily take time to set up battle grounds over Christmas trees set out for pickup. Oh, yeah. It looked like a movie studio scene for a little while and then there was jumping over "the fort" for a fist swinging 'good' time. And I thought... there is the reality of it all.

Judges 12 is actually a great passage for this. Jephthah is swung into reaction. So, so very different than David. David complained a lot. Read the Psalms - not everyone was great to wonderful David all the time. David in his complaining - to the Lord - not everyone he could find on the telephone and text and FB, was actually coming to grips with the reality of mankind. David was doing something important - He Was Growing Up. In David's vast life of hero, husband, fugitive, crazy man, and outcast, expatriate killer to king - David never forgot to invite the backsliders to be on his side.

Okay - sure - fine - Jephthah was Justified. Nasty Ephraim didn't help out, Never Did Call, and then began to shovel out fresh hell of totem pole judgement. Nasty, nasty, nasty Ephraim. They've Always Thought that They Deserved More Ever Since Grandpa Jacob Mentioned Them First. Those guys can't even pronounce things correctly. So.... we are going to kill 42,000 of them. Christmas colors are red .... right?

How did Israel feel after the fields ran red (and Christmas was over?) Ibzan of Bethlehem tells us. Overall Israel was Not Pleased. Ibzan starts out doing everything he can to reach out to be inclusive. Kind. Mixing people together. And was it reaction? No. It was a plan. Ibzan knew that trouble is part of life. Like David did. They decided that something was Larger in the mix than being ignored, mistreated and an ignorant comment.

So here's the Christmas thought from a real hero:

Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

He is kind to...me. Maybe just, maybe I can drum up some of this kindness stuff. God willing to grow His Holy Spirit within me. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.


Merry Christmas!




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