April 3rd

Judges 9:22-11:28

God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father, Gideon, by murdering his seventy brothers” (9:5, 56). Abimelech was badly injured when a millstone fell on his head; then, he had his armor bearer stab him with his sword. You also read how “God punished the men of Shechem for all their evil” (9:57).

After all of this, the Israelites abandoned the Lord, returned to their worship of Baal and Ashtoreth and did evil in the sight of God. This time, He handed them over to the Ammonites, who vowed revenge for Israel “stealing” their land when they came up from Egypt 300 years earlier. The people turned to a great warrior named Jephthah to save them (11:1-10). He would become the next judge of Israel.

In some ways, Jephthah was a picture of Christ. There was disdain surrounding his birth and he was an outcast of sorts, rejected by the community. But, when the people got into trouble, they called on him to be their savior. However, Jephthah wanted to be more than just their “savior.” He also wanted to be their ruler or lord. We will see these types of Christ-connections with several of the judges.

I thought Jephthah did two things that were admirable. First, when the King of the Ammonites explained his reason for attacking the Israelites, he claimed that they had stolen his land (three centuries earlier). Of course, the King’s claim was bogus, and Jephthah, who knew the true story, set him straight. Because Jephthah knew his history, he was able to catch the enemy in a lie (Deuteronomy 2, 3).

Our spiritual enemy is a master at historical revisionism. He is constantly at work revising what really happened. He skews the facts, rewrites the past, and perverts the truth in order to undermine the people and purposes of God. It began in Eden, when the serpent said to Eve, “Did God say...?” He still twists the facts of history in his favor, revising them for his purposes. We must not let him get away with it! We must do what Jephthah did and know what God has done in our past, so that we can remind our enemy in the present. Otherwise he will steal from us what is not rightfully his.

The second thing I found admirable about Jephthah was his confidence in the Lord. He called out the Ammonite god Chemosh (11:24) and challenged him, knowing that he did not exist, and put the matter into the Lord’s hands, who is the Judge of all. May we exhibit this kind of confidence, not in ourselves, but in the ability of the Lord to defend His own people and purposes.

Daily Reflection

Does the enemy ever bring up your past in order to steal your present peace, joy, confidence, or victory? How so? How do you respond?

When the enemy brings up your past, set him straight by reminding him of this truth — Christ has made all things new! Do not let the enemy steal your present with his lies about the past. Be confident in the Lord your God!

BiAY.org | Day 93 — 272 Days to Go