Judges Study - 2026-10-28

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

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Heavenly Father, we just bless you tonight, God, as we gather together.

Lord, we give you all the praise and all the worship, Lord.

Tonight, God, you are worthy of it all.

We lay before you, God, all the issues of the day, all the troubles in our hearts,

Lord, all the things that are clouding our minds, Lord.

We lay them at your feet now, and we come to you, Lord, with open hearts and open minds,

Lord, ready to receive your word, God, through your scripture, God.

We pray tonight that we come to better understand a portion of your story,

Lord, and how it can apply to our lives, Lord, and what it means to us, Lord.

We just pray for your spirit to be here among us, Lord.

Holy Spirit, just come and anoint your scripture here, God, and anoint this time in Jesus' name.

Amen.

All right, so we are in Judges 11 tonight.

So recapping real quick from Judges 10.

Israel had once again abandoned the Lords and turned to foreign Gods.

I feel like at least 95% of the times I talk, it starts out that way.

I mean, the people of Israel abandoned God and have moved on to other things.

Maybe it's just my timing.

I don't know.

But, you know, so God had allowed the Ammonites and the Philistines to oppress them.

And after 18 years of suffering through this, and this was all covered last week by John,

their cries for deliverance, God hears their cry.

And so the Ammonites, they assemble for war.

They're getting ready to go to battle and then enter Jebthah, who is an unlikely leader

with some complicated things in his past.

So that's where you guys left off last week and where we're starting here in Judges 11.

And this is a great book.

I mean, this is a great chapter in the book of Judges.

It's just a fascinating piece.

And there's so much, once again, there's so much to unpack from what God is doing.

Jebthah rises up out of rejection and becomes the deliverer for Israel,

you know, that presents this contrast of a guy who, you know, comes from this background,

this challenging background and steps forward, but then makes some really bad decisions.

Again, not an uncommon story here.

So let's start out one through three.

Jebthah, the Guineanite, was a mighty warrior.

His father was Gilead.

His mother was a prostitute.

Gilead's wife also bore him sons.

And when they were grown up, they drove Jebthah away.

You are not going to get any inheritance in our family, they said,

because you are the son of another woman.

So, Jebthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Taub,

where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.

Some great language there to layer through.

So, Jebthah is introduced as this mighty warrior with the caveat that his mother was a prostitute,

right?

So, his half-brothers are, you know, stepping in and denying him,

basically getting him out of town, and then he leaves and connects with this group of men.

So, you know, his family is judging him on his birth circumstances rather than who he is,

his character and his ability and what Gods call him to.

So, sound familiar?

Because Jesus, that would have followed Jesus around for his entire life.

The fact that he would have been born, you know, born when he was conceived out of wedlock.

Solomon, you know, had some of that background.

Ishmael.

Could have gone, you know, if different circumstances and he could have gone in a different

pathway.

Rahab was a prostitute herself and the mother of Boaz, who was what?

The great grandfather of King David.

So, you know, all throughout the Bible, there are characters and people who, you know,

their birth circumstances or just circumstances in general are not that of what we would consider.

Well, these are people who would really, really make it in the world.

So, Jephthah's brothers saw the past of his mother instead of seeing the potential of what

God had for their step-brother.

So, this is, again, this is just a redemptive story all throughout the Bible that God just

loves to redeem people who everyone has already cast aside and said, you know, that he likes

to see people that we want to put limits on because of what we see.

God is saying, I can accomplish so much more, more through them.

So, his rejection then places him outside of the family structure, outside of his tribe,

but he develops this reputation as a capable leader and a warrior.

The text, if you look through the various translations, you know, it alludes to scoundrels or

lawless man or, you know, the unsavory bunch he was hanging out with.

The Hebrew expression kind of conveys this idea of, you know, empty man or worthless man

or people that just didn't necessarily have a place in society outcasts and wanderers,

men without position or livelihood.

And you know how I look at Scripture whenever I see something that seems a little odd?

You got to do a little digging.

So, how did he develop this reputation as a warrior and as a leader?

Well, this group, they must have been men who supported themselves through armed expeditions,

you know, or raids or hired fighting or mercenaries or something.

And I immediately thought of, not the mercenary part, but kind of the ragtag group.

I thought of David, you know, in 1 Samuel 22 where he attracts men, you know, who were in distress

and death and disconnected in the form of fighting force under his leadership.

Also, you know, immediately connected the situation with Jephthah and related it,

and we'll talk a little bit more about this later, with Joseph, you know, who was rejected

by his brothers. They even took it a step further and tried to kill him, but then he

became an instrument of deliverance for his brothers. So, Jephthah goes from being rejected

by the family and the tribe to become a leader of outsiders, so his years in exile that he's

out there, kind of help him develop this persona of leadership and military leader.

And again, it's this idea of human rejection doesn't disqualify us from what God has for us

or what God wants to use us for. So let's continue. 4-11, so sometime later

when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah

from the land of top. Come, they said, be our commander so we can fight the Ammonites.

Jephthah said to them, didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?

Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble? The elders of Gilead said,

nevertheless, we are turning to you now. Come with us to fight the Ammonites and you will

head over all of us who live in Gilead. Jephthah answered, suppose you take me back

to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me. Will I really be your head?

The elders of Gilead said, the Lord is our witness. We will certainly do as you say.

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and the people made him head and commander over them.

And they repeated all his words before the Lord admits them.

So when the Ammonites are threatened, I mean, when the Ammonites threaten Gilead,

you know, the elders are seeking help. So they're going to someone who they believe

is going to be able to deliver them. And you got to love, you got to kind of read into the

tone here a little bit from Jephthah, you know, didn't you hate me and drive me out of

my father's house? So he's kind of getting a little snarky with them. So they offer him

this position if he'll fight. And Jephthah, of course, is just a bit skeptical. So he says,

well, what if I come in and win and you don't really do what I say? So he kind of gets, he's

making sure that he's negotiating here. So he's making sure he's getting the deal that he wants.

So the question that immediately came to mind was, you know, why did the elders seek out

Jephthah? I mean, certainly there had to be other capable fighters and other capable men

that could do this. And it says he was recognized as a mighty warrior. So he had gained a name

and a reputation out there. So Gilead was facing destruction from the powerful Ammonite army.

And the leaders were desperate to find someone who they really felt. So he must have been

quite the guy because they really sought him out. And there's irony here because the man that they

considered unworthy, you know, to even be a part of the household that he was in and the tribe

that they were in, they feel he's the guy that's going to be able to deliver them. And I think

they had to swallow their pride a little bit, right? I mean, they had to eat a little bit of crow

to go back to him. And that takes humility. So they approached the man that they had basically

kicked out and they're asking him now in humility for help. So there's a bit of a reversal here.

And I think, again, this is a lesson for us to learn that when God is in something,

we can't take that road of pride. And Jephthah, he had a choice to make too, pride or humility,

because he could have easily said, go pound sand. I'm not helping you guys. I'm not doing it. Look

what you did to me. I'm doing all right over here with my mercenary friends and we're getting by

and we're doing good. I'm not going to help you. He could have easily refused it for the

way that they mistreated him, but instead he agrees. And I think this reveals two sides

of him. One is he's willing to move beyond. And I don't know if you've ever been in a situation

like that where you've been rejected or been harshly treated. And now you have the opportunity

to either put it back in their face or be humble about it. And he chose to be humble about it.

But he also wanted something out of it as far as a guarantee of position. So he was negotiating,

which is practical wisdom, which shows he had some level of ambition for that.

And I think Jephthah also recognized God's authority and God's power and God's ability

to deliver this through him. So he acknowledged and said, ultimately,

this is the Lord. He said, suppose you take me back and I fight the Ammonites and the Lord

gives them to me. He doesn't say, suppose I go back and I win. He said, suppose the Lord

gives them to me. So he understands that his strength and military strength alone cannot deliver

that it was in God's hand to do it. And how many times have we seen that now in the Old Testament

studies where realizing that it's the hand of God that delivers them and when they rely on themselves

doesn't go as well. So getting back to Joseph, there's a powerful parallel here

with the story of Joseph, how his brothers rejected him. And then years later,

when God has a way of moving no matter what happens in our circumstances. So God had a plan

for Joseph. His brothers were trying to thwart that. And he got taken away in the slavery,

but still God took him to that position that he wanted him in. So, you know, Joseph had the power

then when his brothers came and said, hey, we need help. He had the power to basically retaliate

to them, but he ultimately chose reconciliation. He chose the path of humility and Jephthah took

that same thing. So, you know, a couple of things that I pulled out of that is, you know,

rejection by those around us, even those close to us, doesn't mean that we're disqualified

from serving God. Humility sometimes means asking for help, even from somebody we may have

wronged. Forgiveness doesn't necessarily eliminate the need for boundaries. You know, Jephthah had,

you know, he forgave and took the path of humility, but he still kind of set some

boundaries there. And pride can exist on both sides of reconciliation. It's just a matter of

having a humble heart that God wants us to have. So, 12 through 28, this is a long passage here,

but I had to group it all together, so I'll try my best to get through it.

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question,

what do you have against me that you have attacked my country? The king of the Ammonites answered

Jephthah's messengers. When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the

Arnhem to the Jepak, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably. Jephthah sent back

messengers to the Ammonite king saying, this is what Jephthah says, Israel did not take the land

of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came out of Egypt, Israel went through the

wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying,

give us permission to go through your country, but the king of Edom would not listen.

They also sent to the king of Moab and he refused, so Israel stayed in Kadesh.

Next, they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab,

passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab and camped on the other side of Arnhem.

They did not enter the territory of Moab from the arm and was its border. This is all a little

historical recap here. Then Israel sent messengers to Sion, king of the Ammonites,

who ruled in Heshban and said to him, let us pass through your country to our own place.

Sion, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops

and encamped at Jeaz and fought with Israel. Then the Lord God of Israel gave Sion and his

whole army into Israel's hands and they defeated them. Israel took over

all the land and the Ammonites who lived in the country, capturing all of it from the Arnhem

to the Jabakh and from the desert to Jordan. Now, since the Lord God of Israel has driven

the Ammonites out before his people of Israel, what right have you to take it over?

Will you not take what your God, will you not take what your God, Chemosh, gives you?

Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. Are you any better than Bawak,

son of Zippur, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with him?

For 300 years, Israel occupied Heshban, Aror and the surrounding sediments and all the towns of Arnhem.

Why didn't you retake them during that time? I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong

by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the

Israelites and the Ammonites. The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message

Jephthah sent. That was quite a message that he sent to his, through his messenger, right?

So, I don't know how he memorized all that, but that's a lot to take in.

So, before fighting, Jephthah attempts diplomacy with the king, and the Ammonite king claims

Israel. Well, you guys stole this during Exodus. So, what we see here is that there's more to Jephthah

than just his fighting prowess, right? He's more than just an outcast. He is a learned man. I mean,

he knows his history. So, there's three arguments that he presents to the king. He says,

one, Israel didn't steal Armin's land. During the accident, Israel avoided conflict with Edom and

Moab, but when King Sion of the Ammonites refused Israel's passage and attacked them,

Israel defeated him and took his territory, not Ammon's. So, let's qualify that a little

bit because I had to look into that. So, Israel didn't conquer Ammon. They defeated the Ammonites

after they were attacked by them, but Ammon was under the authority and in the territory

of the Ammonites. So, it just kind of became the spoils of war. Do you understand that? So,

he's claiming, the Ammon king is claiming basically that you stole it and just kind of

took it and he's saying, no, it was conquered. So, the second point that Jephthah is making is God

gave this land to us. So, Jephthah argues that the Lord delivered the Ammonites into Israel's

giving Israel a legitimate claim to the territory. And then his last point was,

come on guys, Israel has possessed this land for 300 years. If the land truly belonged to you,

why hadn't you challenged this before, for three centuries? So, there's probably more happening

in here than what's being revealed in here. So, there was probably other things going on with

the king that's kind of forcing this. We don't have all the details here in this chapter,

but I'm sure that they're there. The other little nuance that I really liked

in that passage toward the end is when Jephthah refers to the Lord as the judge.

So, this is kind of the concept that he is, and this is a theme that we've been following

all throughout the Old Testament study here is that God establishes justice. God is a just

God. So, he's saying, we're going to put this in the hands of the judge, the just God,

who's going to render his decision. So, he's appealing to God as the ultimate authority in all of this.

So, the day comes, 29 through 33. So, then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah.

He crossed Gilead and passed through the mitzpah of Gilead. And from there,

he advanced against the Ammonites, and Jephthah made a vow to the Lord.

If you give me the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house

to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will

sacrifice it as a burnt offering. Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them

into his hands. He devastated 20 towns from Ahor to the vicinity of Minath, as far as Abel,

Keramont, thus Israel subdued Ammon. So, this is the climax of the chapter here. So,

this is the turning point of things. The Spirit of the Lord was on Jephthah, and he advances,

and God gives him victory. God's Spirit empowers him in this role to deliver, and the victory is

explicitly attributed to the Lord, and he wins. And then, in the midst of all of this,

Jephthah makes this vow that changes everything. So, he promises that if God grants him victory,

whatever comes out of his house to meet him will belong to the Lord, and it will be sacrificed

as a burnt offering. So, this is really a troubling verse. One, we know from our

studies that vowels are taken very, very serious in these ancient times. They're a serious commitment,

and they are regulated by God's law. Numbers 30 verse 2 says, vowels are not to be treated

lightly. Deuteronomy 23, 21 through 23, says voluntary vowels created obligations. Leviticus

27, 1 through 8 says certain vowels involving persons could be addressed through prescribed

valuation. So, the critical question was, was Jephthah, was he trusting God's promise,

or was he trying to bargain with God at some point on something that was already pre-determined?

So, God already had said that I'm going to deliver it, or was he kind of, you know,

says the Spirit of the Lord was on him. Was he kind of riding this spiritual high and just kind of

saying something that's just rolling off? You know, have you ever been caught up in a moment

where you just kind of take it too far? No, never. I don't want to interrupt you. We never have,

of course. There are so many things that could be at play here, but I think an important thing

to distinguish is that, you know, when God anoints us or empowers us or puts his Spirit on us

for something in particular, or a certain mission or some type of act if we're praying for someone

and God's Spirit just comes heavy, heavy on it, it doesn't mean that every subsequent situation

is going to be God's anointing on us and that level of Spirit, or even God approved for that

fact. You know, I mean, we, you know, all throughout Scripture and really all throughout

society we see, you know, misuse of spiritual authority or anointing, you know, that God has put

on places. I mean, Saul, David, Samson, you know, I mean, even Moses, you know, who was, you know,

saw the face of God, you know, and was so anointed and so Spirit-led had moments where,

you know, he was just out of sync with God. Solomon, you know, for sure, who was gifted with this

anointing of wisdom, yet he made disastrous spiritual compromises and really bad, bad decisions.

You know, Uzziah, God, helped him become powerful, but he eventually overstepped the authority

that God had given him. So, Spirit, again, spiritual empowerment and personal wisdom

are not the same thing and they all think, kind of, go in different ways, but Scripture,

the text here never tells us that this vow was prompted by the Spirit. It does not say that.

I mean, you could, if you're glossing through it, you can make the assumption,

oh, he was full of the Spirit and then he made this vow. Well, that's just not how it's laid out.

So, it's an important nuance because God had already empowered him to win, okay? He didn't

need to bargain for another divine positioning. So, God's calling for us and God's Spirit on us

and God's anointing in times is not a license to do whatever we want. We have to be subjected to God.

34 to 40. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mitzpah, who should come out to meet him,

but his daughter? Dancing to the sound of timbrels. She was an only child, except for her,

he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, oh no,

my daughter, you have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord

that cannot break. My father, she replied, you have given your word to the Lord

due to me, just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you and your enemies,

the Ammonites. But grant me this one request, she said, give me two months to roam hills

and weep with my friends because I will never marry. You may go, he said, and he let her go

for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.

After the two months, she returned to her father and he did as he had vowed, and she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition that each year the young women of Israel go out

for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah, the Gilead.

So, Jephthah returns home victorious and his daughter meets him and it's like,

what was I thinking? The joy turns into immediate grief and

she accepts the seriousness of this. Imagine that conversation, you know?

I mean, imagine having that conversation with your daughter. It's like,

sorry, but I did this vow thing. And then she's just like, hey, dad, I get it. All right.

I don't think any of my daughters, either of my daughters, would be on board with that.

And the chapter closes with this troubling account of Jephthah carrying out the vow

and the Israelite women annually commemorating. So, I'm like, immediately, you know,

did Jephthah actually sacrifice his daughter? So, this is a debated scripture. I think it's great

to debate scripture. I think there's a place and a time in something like this where you can look at

interpretation. One would be the literal sacrifice where Jephthah offered his daughter as a burnt

offering, like he said he was doing, just as he vowed. Arguments would include, you know, okay,

a burnt offering as described, you know, that is what it is. And interpretation, too, is okay,

was it a lifelong dedication? Because Jephthah's dedicated his daughter to a lifelong service and

perpetual virginity, so she never could marry. So, was that what it was? You know, there's

emphasis throughout this text here that we just read in reference to the virginity and her never

marrying. So, you know, the literal sacrifice is what's most widely accepted. But, you know,

I also have to question in that from a scriptural perspective because Deuteronomy 1231, God explicitly

prohibits the burning of children and sacrifices. So, you know, did God allow Jephthah to go

break his own rules? I don't know. Ecclesiastes 5.2-6 warns against these rash promises. 1 Samuel

15.22 reminds us that obedience matters more than sacrifice. So, you know,

again, many times there are things we just don't know, okay, so we don't really know what it is.

But I think regardless of what the outcome was back then, you know, it was a really bad,

really bad decision for Jephthah to make that statement. And, you know, it gives us pause,

you know, to say, hey, our words mean things, first of all. You know, when we make a statement like

that and when we make a vow like that, especially to God, when we make it in haste and, you know,

we've all made promises, you know, to one another or even to God, you know, at points. And

it's a challenging thing to read. But regardless of the interpretation, you know, I think that

there's lessons to be learned in this. So, a couple of points here. You know, another

surprising part of this story of Jephthah is that he's named among the heroes of faith

in Hebrews 11.32 alongside Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, and Samuel. So,

why is Jephthah listed among the heroes of faith?

Let's read on. You know, one of the keys to understanding, you know, what the author

of Hebrews is saying, he's celebrating faith of these people, not their perfection. So,

nowhere is he saying that all these heroes of faith are perfect. It's just that they stepped out.

So, Jephthah trusted God. He trusted him to deliver Israel. So, despite the opposition,

despite the odds, Jephthah acknowledged that the victory belonged completely to God and he

trusted in God. You know, and God used an imperfect man for his purpose, just like he used

David, just like he used Samson, just like he used Gideon. These were all people who had

tremendous flaws that God chose to use. So, faith does not eliminate necessary the consequences of

bad decisions, but it also doesn't prohibit God from using you in a powerful way. So,

wrapping this up,

it's a great story of contrast. You know, you've got a rejected son who becomes the deliverer

of Israel. He's an outcast that demonstrates, you know, extraordinary knowledge of God

and understands the power of God. He's a spirit empowered warrior who wins a decisive victory,

but a reckless vow brings tragedy into his home. You know, it reminds all of us,

you know, that God accomplishes great things. This is, again, a reoccurring story, a reoccurring theme

throughout Scripture that God accomplishes great things through imperfect people, through average

everyday people. But being used by God does not exempt us from the consequences of our decisions.

So, you know, Jephthah knew enough about God to win the battle, but the story, it challenges us,

you know, that we need to be constantly in that, in the spirit, in tune with God,

and not being reckless with what we say. You know, so he was rejected and cast out

from his family, and he becomes this capable leader. He was restored,

called to deliver Israel. He was empowered by God who granted him victory,

but there was a tragic and reckless vow that overshattered his success, you know. And, you know,

for all of us, this should give us, again, and remind us that, you know, God wants all of us,

as imperfect as we are, to play a part in his story, with all of our imperfections, with all of our

stuff that we screw up on a daily basis, with all of our misunderstandings of him, with

the whole package. He doesn't say, hey, Jamie, get your act together, and then you can

play a part in this story. He brings me into the fold with him, and he's constantly

refining me and changing me through these experiences, and he's doing that to all of that.

And, you know, I didn't read ahead. Maybe we'll read about how Jephthah was, you know, learned

through all of this, and it changed something, something in him, and said, you know, I need to

stay in that spirit instead of getting caught up in it and kind of going off on my own.

We don't know. So, I kind of went a little longer. Maybe we won't break down into groups,

but maybe we'll just do some Q&A here. How does that sound? Yeah. It was a lot,

so I went a little longer. Sorry. Questions. I mean, does it raise anything as we were going

through the text, did anything jump out and say, well, that didn't make sense, and I'll do my best

to try to answer. I can't guarantee I will be able to answer it. Or is there anything that kind

of spoke to you that you can relate to in this text? Anything that jumped out that didn't seem

right? Anything I messed up?

I think I always can relate a little bit to Jephthah. Like, when they kick him out, and all

of a sudden they want him in that position that, you know, we were overlooked, we were

just having a word or two of this, you know, like shopping around or something. I'm like,

I'll tell you, I'll give you a really good deal. Like, I don't know, okay, I'm all something

for you back, but a week later. Do you still have that? So, now they're realizing that,

you know, what they thought they were going to get somewhere else, they actually need me.

Right. So, that's how I connect with that part of us.

And in all honesty, when that happens, a lot of times on the inside, I'm going,

you know, I knew they'd be back. And on the outside, I'm, you know, I'm just kind of,

yeah, yeah, it's all good. And, you know, I think to have that, you know, I want to be able to have

that true, you know, spirit of humility, saying that, okay, yeah, this is something that God,

you know, brought back around. And that's hard sometimes because there's pride within us.

Even if we're not showing on the outside, sometimes we just have that little nugget

of pride in there that just gives us a little self-satisfaction that, yeah,

glad they came back. So, that's a good point, Chris. Anybody else?

Sure you are. You're Jewish.

Well,

Yeah, I mean, that's a, man, that's a, that's a big question, Orl. And I would say that,

you know, that I honestly, I felt the same way at a point about, you know, the warfare in the Bible.

In fact, I used to say, you know, I have such a hard time relating to the God of the Old Testament

because he doesn't feel like the Jesus that I know and the loving God that I feel like I have

a relationship with. And I think the more I began to understand, you know, in concepts,

in context of what was happening, it kind of changed our perspective. Like a lot of times,

at the heart of these warfares is, you know, God cleaning out things that are so

perverse and so immoral that there's no way of redeeming what was there. And God is saying,

we just have to wipe it out and start from scratch. And that's a hard concept to understand.

But when you really get into studying some of these tribes, they were beyond evil. You know,

children, sacrifice, the kind of most perverse sexual practices and bestiality and the kind of

things that just, you know, makes a grown man blush just to even talk about. You know,

and God was trying to cleanse that and remove all of that. And honestly, the warfare was prolonged

for so long because of Israel's unwillingness to follow God's exact instructions. He would say,

go in and take care of all of this, and they would leave a remnant. And that remnant would

come back to do it. So it all comes back to mankind not following God's orders. So is there

a point in time when the warfare really changes? And that would be most likely when they were

taken over by Babylon. You know, so when Babylon came in and basically just took them over,

they really didn't have the ability to do war against anyone. And I think that the real

changing point in the history was Jesus. You know, when Jesus came and basically was

trying to teach the Jews, this is the full meaning of all of this. This is the fulfillment

of all of this. And there was things that were symbolic in the history here and in the laws

and all of these things, but you're missing the big picture. The big picture is, you know,

what this really means. And, you know, loving God and loving others is what He

distilled it down to. So I don't know if that was a... I probably didn't fully answer

your question, but I'm trying.

Right. Yep. Great point. Great point. Andrew.

I just like the whole purpose of all this evil, I guess, eventually

are part of the same. So that's probably where the majority of violence kind of stopped. But

still, even after that in Rome, Rome took over, there was still violence that happened in

Rome, but when the gospel came, that's when the real... Like America wouldn't be possible,

you know what I'm saying, without the costumes or whatever. Right. We live in a country that

we don't sacrifice our dollars. Right.

But, you know, the real question Arnold is isn't when did it stop, but the real question is when

is it going to stop? And, you know, even Constantine was the first to weaponize

Christianity and, you know, it took its form then, you know, in the crusades and all along,

and you look at, you know, the wars and the murder and things that happened in the name of Christ

and Jesus never, ever, ever condoned that ever. And it must break his heart to see that.

So I think it's a... Mankind gravitates towards violence and warfare and will,

you know, we have a tendency of perverting, you know, just about anything in the name of God's...

You're talking about the Israelites. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. And then he has used that example, you know,

was, you know, a few weeks ago or months, you know, with Gideon, you know, where, you know,

Gideon's thinking that, okay, you know, I'm going to be taking 10,000 men up against 130,000 men.

And in his own mind, he's thinking that this is going to be a fight. But in God's plan,

it was never intended to be a fight. It was going to be, I'm going to give you the battle,

but they're going to kind of turn on themselves. So in our minds, we think of something the way it

should be, but in God's mind, there's something completely different going on.

You know, it stands out to me as a fact that God is willing to use us in spite of our

tendencies to throw it all away. Because as Jesus said, he said, you have to depend on me because

you have nothing. You have to do it through me. You have to allow my spirit to do it through you.

Otherwise, yeah, you could fall down. But he doesn't have any expectations for us through

otherwise, unless we are spinning a violin again. So I think a real challenge for us

just to remember, even with the spiritual gifts we've given, they have to be used

with his guidance and with his power to throw us. We can go off the rails any time

and misuse them. When I'm careful, we just have to stay focused on him.

And that was God's whole message with Gideon, right? He said, if you have 30,000 men

against 130, you can still possibly take credit for those odds. Even if you have 10,

you still might be able to take some credit. But if you have 300, you're not taking any credit for

that. All the glory goes to God. And we can apply that same type of thinking

to us from a spiritual perspective is that there's a lot we can do on our own.

Even here with what I love about the Jebthas is that he really did, right from the beginning,

have that faith that God was going to deliver this. And he really trusted in that. So when we

think of the things that are in our sphere of influence and things that we do in our work and

in our family and just the stuff that we even do here at church, how much of it do we really

try to do on our own and in our own strength just because we can, right? Instead of saying relying

completely on and trusting completely in God and really seeking him as we're going through the

process of, okay, is God's spirit, is his anointing on me as I'm doing this? Am I following in this

path? Any other thoughts? Yeah. Yeah. Again, there's a lot of subjectivity there. I mean,

it's so easy. Having been there, I know it's easy to get caught up in a moment.

Doesn't make us any less committed to God when we have those moments because we all have those

moments where we just like, yeah, let's keep going with this. Yeah. How many times have we

seen that when God moves in revivals or things like that where God is doing something just special

in a moment and man just tries to keep that ball rolling. And it just becomes so obvious that God's

not in it at some point, but yet we're trying to keep that thing going. We're all guilty of it.

And I think the redeeming piece of that is that he is mentioned in the whole faith there. So

his defining moment shouldn't be that mistake that he made in the vow. That's not his defining moment.

I was going to say, I loved in the book of Hebrews,

faith because it's not women's but their sins. Right. And it's like all about God's grace.

It just proves to us that it's all Jesus and it's same with our lives. Our sins are not going

to be remembered. Yeah. And isn't that awesome? Because so often we're so hard on ourselves

that we judge ourselves by these poor decisions and these what we would call defining moments.

And God just doesn't see it that way. I mean, he's up there saying, just move on. It's like,

I don't even remember it, you know, anymore.

An emotional moment in that. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We've all been kind of caught up in

those moments. Yeah. And I think, you know, it's something for us to look at and learn from,

but again, not in a judgmental way where we say that this, you know, what a dumb thing to do,

because we've all done it in some way, shape or form. So, all right.

Yeah, let's pray.

God, we thank you for your grace and your mercy and your love for us, God. And we thank you, Lord,

that we are not defined by our failures. We're not defined by our missteps,

Lord, and the mistakes that we make and just the things that we do out of our imperfection,

Lord. But we know that we are your children. We are your beloveds. And that is how we are

defined. And that's how you see us, Lord. You see us, Lord, through what your Son Jesus did.

You see us through the shed blood from the cross and the resurrection power. And you see us,

you see our full potential, God. You see the best version of us that we could be, the version that

you have planned and designed from the beginning. And that's what you see. And our time here on

Earth is just a process where you are transforming us, God, into that. And we thank you for that.

We thank you for every learning opportunity. We thank you for these stories, Lord, in Scripture

that help us to see clearer the path you have for us, Lord, and to see clearer the grace

that you want to extend further and further and further to us, Lord. We give you all the praise and

glory tonight, God. And we just pray, Lord, that you give us practical opportunities this week to

apply some of this in our lives and with others, Lord. We pray for opportunities to be able to

share your kingdom this week, Lord. And we pray for opportunities to be able to minister

to those in need, God, who need your spirit and need your grace, Lord. And we thank you, Lord,

for salvation, Lord. We thank you, Lord, that you brought us into your kingdom, God. We thank you,

Lord, that you are continually refining us, Lord, and drawing us closer to you, Lord. We pray

that you be with us, God, as we travel home tonight, Lord, and for the rest of this

week. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and

discuss His word. Don't forget to join us for Worship Lives Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

Eastern on YouTube. Be blessed and have a great day.