QT 1 Feb 13, Internal discord is the next stage in a nation ignoring the biblical truths of God's word

Judges 12:1-7 (NIV) The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."

2 Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?"

4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh." 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," 6 they said, "All right, say 'Shibboleth.'" If he said, "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

7 Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.

NOTE: The Ephraimites seem to have an issue with not getting called out to participate in the battle. They confronted Gideon on the same account. Jephthah is not so diplomatic in his response, and as a result we have our first instance of internal civil war. At every stage, the country plunges into a deeper hole, now costing them forty-two thousand lives. It is clear that the country does need leadership, spiritual leadership to bring them back to God and to set an example. Samuel will start the transition by teaching on a circuit, but a ruler is needed to set the pace for the people, one who is not a priest but still by example lives for God. It is not a rejection of God's kingship to seek that person. The rejection of God's rule occurred much earlier in the book when the people worshipped idols every time life was good again. A transformation is required and only good leadership built on sound biblical practices can restore the nation again. This is still true today. Our failure to follow God, especially for second generation believers, is a direct result of our ignoring his rule in our life and his teaching. We need good biblical practice  and a knowledge of God in our everyday lives. If we fail in this, we begin a cycle of sin that can lead to devastating consequences.