QT 31 Oct 12, There is nothing evil in complaining to God, but most times the answer is much closer to home

Judges 6:11-16 (NIV) The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

14 The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

16 The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

NOTES: The phrase, "the Lord is with you," is repeated elsewhere in Judges, and also curiously left out of key passages (example 1:19a and not 1:19b; and 1:22 and not 1:27-36). The reason is given in 2:2-3, that while Israel was winning in the hill country, it did not break down the altars (probably on the high places) and it made treaties with the people (in violation of God's command), such that when Israel attack the plains, the Lord was no longer with them. Gideon's response is well-reasoned, although somewhat short-sighted. He realizes that God is not with them and that God has abandoned them (from an appearance point of view). He has heard the stories of God's wonders but sees no evidence of them in his time. What he fails to understand is that the people abandoned God, not God abandoning the people. They did not want to obey him or seek him, and so God gave them what they wanted: life without God's intrusion. When life turned sour, they blamed God for leaving, but it was really their leaving God at the root of their problems. And now they are suffering again, at the hands of the Midianites. Once again, God is sending a redeemer because the people cry out to him in their distress (6:6). In some ways, Midian makes a mistake by asking where all the wonders are, because he is about to be pushed to an extreme to show the wonder of God. I suppose the real lesson in all of this is, that when life is hard, to start the questioning with ourselves rather than trying to blame God. The Psalmist's attitude is best: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps 139: 23, 24)."

QT 29 Oct 12, How do second generation believers avoid the pain of failure through disobedience?

Judg 6:1-10 (NIV) Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

7 When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

NOTE: Because of the Israelites' evil, God once again gives them into the hands of their enemies--to the point where they cannot own homes or possession or grow their own food. It was not as if God had not warned them. There is this continual cycle between obedience and disobedience in Judges. And usually it is the next generation which has to learn the lesson anew. Why is it that second (or next) generation believers have to struggle so much? And what factors make it more difficult? In this case, Israel is hardly a "connected" country, and there are multiple "worldly" forces living within them. Consequently, they are pushed back and forth by these external forces. Only after a particularly difficult time, do they stick with God for a time, but learning to follow God the painful way is not an optimal choice. But, it is not necessarily inevitable that one has to learn the hard way every time (to quote an old Jim Croce song). I think the key is found in both Judges and its corresponding book, Hebrews. One needs to attach themselves to other GROWING believers (lesson from Hebrews) and place themselves under accountable spiritual leadership (Judges). Fellowship needs to be growing, not just gathering, where real spiritual discussions take place. Leadership needs to have the right to question a person and hold them accountable, but without abusing the authority. These are the keys to successfully walking with God in the next generation.

QT 21 Oct 12, God can use women spiritually to lead when men refuse the role

Judges 4:2b-3a, 7-10, 17, 21 (NIV) The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, . . . 7 (God says through Deborah) I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

. . . 15 At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.

. . .

21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

NOTE: God was planning to work through Barak and save Israel. But Barak lacks the faith in God. He requires Deborah by his side in battle. Obviously not to fight, but as a symbol of God's presence. The book of Judges is a story about spiritual leadership and its effect on the people. By this time in Israel's history, there are no men to lead Israel, so God turns to a woman. Deborah is perfectly capable of doing the job, but that is not the role that God has called women to. Neither are the women to be the warriors, but the person who ultimately kills Sisera is another woman, Jael. She is not even an Israelite, and her husband is a friend to Sisera, but she must have seen his cruelty to be willing to strike against Sisera. Her action is very brave. Too many things can go wrong trying to kill a man with a tent peg while he is asleep. The men have failed to lead the country spiritually. They have also failed to have faith in God during the battle. It takes two women to show the men their failure. There is nothing wrong with the women leading--scripture makes no negative comments about these actions. The only thing wrong, if anything, is that the men have failed to step up and provide the spiritual leadership in the country, and by implications, in their families.

QT 18 Oct 12, Even God prepares people prudently

Judges 3:1-4 (NIV) These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

NOTE: Actually these verses do not contradict the previous verses on why God did not remove all the nations (Israel's disobedience), as part of the reason is re-emphasized in verse 4. Rather, God adds another dimension to the existence of the nations in and around Israel; it is to teach those without battle experience how to fight. I'm sure the cynic will leap on this verse and exclaim that, how can a God of love teach warfare to his people? Well, he just does. And actually for good reason. People are sinners and nations will sin against Israel. While God will fight for them, Israel will, in most cases, have to contribute as well. Very seldom did God ever fight the battle all by himself. Additionally, warfare is a short-lived commodity. The skills developed are quickly lost if not reinforced. At this point in history, standing armies are rare or extremely small. So, God sees a need and prudently prepares his people. The only difference is that the way it is exercised and the way God would have exercised it are very different. The people fight after years of oppression (God's discipline), whereas God's plan would have probably been for the people to fight to defend themselves without the need for oppression. Application: we need to be prudent when we live in this world. God does promise to protect us but not to take the action for us.

QT 17 Oct 12, God wants our hearts and he knows how to get our attention

Judges 2:18-23 (NIV) Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

20 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did." 23 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

NOTE: God's refusal to make life easier (verses 21-23) is directly tied to Israel's disobedience (verse 19), that is, their refusal to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. The verses prior to this declaration describe the cycle repeated in Judges. The people would sin. Their enemies oppress them. They call out to God in their oppression. God raises up a judge to rescue them. When the judge dies, they return to their evil ways and so begins the cycle over again. Ultimately, the people remain as a test of the obedience. But I think the test is also the way God draws people back to himself. There is another pattern in scripture which is repeated in books like Isaiah: when life is good, people forget God, and when life is hard, people call out to God. Wouldn't it be nice if we called out to God and sought him all the time, and did not have to go through the hard times just to be taught to come back to God? The misapplication of Judges is to think if I do right, life will always be pleasant. No, while this is taught in the old covenant, it is not taught in the new covenant. What does follow though is the principle of God using hard times to get our attention. So while life is not necessarily better because of obedience (in a quid pro quo sense), we do avoid the discipline of God to bring us back to him when we are obedient to his word and when we seek him regularly.

QT 16 Oct 12, A warning to second generation believers

Judges 2:7-8, 10-16 (NIV) The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. …

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

NOTE: So, while the people failed in the larger task of destroying the foreign altars, for the most part they do obey for as long as the elders of the exodus generation are alive. But, the new generation, who had not seen God's work (and his punishment) desert God. The result is that God deserts them. They are defeated by their enemies to the point of great distress. And only then, when (as the book will later elaborate) they call out to God in their distress does he send deliverers, in the form of judges. The problem is disobedience and disregard for their parent's faith. The solution is distress and the emergence of spiritual leaders and some not-so-spiritual-leaders who rescue Israel from their distress.

I see this story being repeated today. The children of Christian families reject or have a laissez faire attitude toward their faith and the result, for believers, is that God does whatever it takes to bring them back home to him. This can be very painful and it is a result of their disobedience. This is different from the health and wealth gospel teaching because it is based on Hebrews 13 where God disciplines his children whom he loves. Actually, the book of Hebrews is the Judges of the NT. It is a story of Hebrew Christians turning from the faith and going back to Judaism, and a warning of a coming judgment. The judgment in this case is quite severe because, if they don't realize their error, they will be caught up in the destruction and burning of the city and temple, and the resulting loss of their earthly lives. If on the other hand, they return to the faith, they can avoid the upcoming pain. So what is the solution? It is obedience to God's word. It is the encouraging effect of good Christian fellowship. And it is the submission to Christian authority and leadership. That is the message of Hebrews and this is the message of Judges.

QT 15 Oct 12, Where do we need to start personally to see God do an even greater work in our lives?

Judges 2:1-7 (NIV) The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

NOTE: The failure in Judges to remove the Canaanites is actually preceded by another failure. Chapter 1 lays out the results after the death of Joshua, but chapter 2 lays out the preceding failure during the time of Joshua. And so two conclusions jump out from this passage. 1), verse 7 reiterates the importance of good spiritual leadership, but 2) the preceding verses show that the requirement of obedience goes beyond the leadership. Even good leadership does not equate to good obedience. The people failed in one major area, they did not destroy the foreign altars. Even today, our tolerance-fed society would probably disobey as well, but for different reasons. We keep things that have historical or cultural value, and decry the destruction of ancient artifacts. But in this case, God had ordered the destruction of all the altars, no matter how beautiful they might be. This was not a permanent decree, that is applying to all Christians today, but it was a requirement for the Exodus generation as they conquered the land. Because of the failure to destroy all the altars, which were probably at the high places, God says that he did not drive out the people. In other words, God did not help the people to clean out the land, since the people failed to clean the things there were required to clean. So, what things do we need to take the first step of obedience to clean out in order to see an even greater work of God in our lives?

QT 11 Oct 12, Making God King means more than acknowledging his Lordship, but that we REALLY do what he says

Judg 1:1, 19-21, 27-36 (NIV) After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

. . .

19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

. . .

27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

NOTE: The Book of Judges is a tale of missed opportunities. Judah was fairly successful, at least in the hill country, but nearly all of the other tribes failed to drive out the Caananites from the land. Judges does not give a reason, although the book starts with a mention of Joshua's death along with a question from God. The question is not answered by the people but by God as the Lord chooses Judah to go first. There is no longer any one leader among the tribes. The nation has been led by Moses and then Joshua for many years. Judges is a story of men raised up to lead Israel, but every time the leader dies or fades away, the people return to lives of sin, and consequently failure. Which really raises the question of spiritual leadership. Are we dependent upon spiritual leadership as a people? Maybe God designed us to be under authority? Is it really possible to walk with God without being part of some spiritual authority structure? Ultimately, a phrase will be repeated over and over again in Judges, "during those days, Israel had no king, and everyone did as they pleased." Of course, God was supposed to be their King. God will tell Samuel, one of the judges, that it was not him who they had rejected but God whom the people had rejected. That would suggest that they had a king, but as individuals chose to reject his ruler-ship in their lives, which is really a rejection of his word. So, what kind of spiritual authority are we under, and do we seriously accept his ruler-ship over our lives -- not a title, Jesus is my Lord, but his actual command of how we live our lives?

QT 10 Oct 2012, People choose to not believe AND God hardens hearts, they are both true

John 12:37-43 (NIV) Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

"Lord, who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40 "He has blinded their eyes

and deadened their hearts,

so they can neither see with their eyes,

nor understand with their hearts,

nor turn — and I would heal them."

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

NOTE: This is an interesting group of verses and it is a little like the chicken and the egg analogy. Is the unbelief the result of the people's refusal, fear, or love of praise from man, or is their unbelief the result of God blinding their eyes and deadening their hearts? Or are both reasons true? A deadened heart is usually the result of prolonged sin. This is one of those truths that is just believed as God says it, people choose to not believe in Christ despite the miracles, and people's eyes and hearts are blinded and deadened by God. One does not precede the other. They occur together and both cause the other. If I had to choose a precedent, I would argue that our choices lead to blinding by God. And I would submit Pharaoh as my case. He originally refuses to believe in God through Moses, and then later we see God hardening his heart which was probably in conjunction with his refusal to believe. But independent of that, both happen and it is not worth arguing which really happens first. The real concern is that refusal to believe makes it harder to believe in the future.

QT 4 Oct 12, Lose your life in order to save it

John 12:23-33 (NIV) Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!"

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."  33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

NOTE: Jesus very clearly foretells his death to the crowd. He also introduces a new math for the follower of God--lose your life and you will keep it for eternal life. I have read atheists who say that they cannot believe in God because it would mean renouncing some sinful habits that they like. Certainly, we cannot work for our salvation and so the idea of "renouncing" is not technically correct for salvation. But true repentance admits with God that we are sinners and is a desire on the person's heart to change his ways. So the atheist is correct that you do need to lose your life (what you are living for now) if in fact you want to gain eternal life. If you are not willing to give up your sin for Christ, then, in Jesus' words, you will lose your life. And unlike a famous author, love does not win out in the end, and you do not receive salvation.

One other thing of note happens in this passage. It happens three times in the gospel (using my memory), twice in a public setting and once in a private setting, and that is God the Father speaking audibly. God does it at the beginning, the baptism, and here right before the end of Jesus' life. He also speaks audibly on the mount of transfiguration, but that is only for the benefit of three disciples. So, the crowd hears God "thunder" a response. I wonder how many of those hearers were shouting "crucify him" six days later. Miracles are signs of something big happening or changing but rarely convince people of truth.

QT 2 Oct 12, Our desire to be entertained hides the real need of our souls

John 12:9-13, 17-22 (NIV) Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

"Hosanna!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Blessed is the King of Israel!"

. . .

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

NOTE: For the Pharisees, things have clearly got out of hand with this last miracle, the raising of the man from the dead -- and not just dead, but from the grave. I think this is why many of Jesus' strongest statements and most amazing miracles are near the end of the three years of ministry, because they cannot be ignored and they force the hand of the leadership. They must either believe what he says or get rid of him (and all attempts to discredit him have failed). I've often wondered what verses 20-22 are doing here since they are never referenced again, but I think they highlight the Pharisees' concern in verse 19, that truly the word about Jesus is beginning to spread around the world. But being excited about Jesus or going to a Jesus event is a far cry from believing in Jesus. The event of palm Sunday is recorded here, and yet less that one week later the city of Jerusalem is screaming, "crucify him." We are a fickle group indeed, far more interested in entertainment than in the real need of our soul. We like to be part of the big events or see something rare happen, than to truly investigate a person and his claims. It doesn't matter whether it is political or spiritual matters, we want to be entertained. How else does one get from palm Sunday to the crucifixion in six short days? Lord, in this day and age of entertainment gone amuck, open our eyes to our real need. 

QT 1 Oct 12, Some disciples' seriousness destroys other's service