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June 12

Reading 1 - Judges 10 & 11

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10 v.4 - The picture here is of delegated judgement. It was the judges that 'rode on white asses' (ch.5:10), so here and in 12:14, we are being told about the activities of the sons of the judges, and their involvement in the service. We hold the same position with regard to the great judge of all. We too will be delegated judges, in our role as kings and priests at the time of the end, just as the disciples were promised this pleasure (Matt.19:28, Luke 22:30) so will we be.1Cor.6:2-3, Rev.2:26-27.
Peter Cresswell
11 v 11 - Despite being the son of an incorrect liaison (v.1), Jephthah's heart was obviously right. All through scripture we see this. It is not our earthly pedigree that wins us God's approval, it is our faith and the state of our heart.
Peter Cresswell

10 v.1-2 - So Tola's 23 years as a judge gets a mere mention. One hopes that our remembrance is not so fleeting.
10 v.9 That Israel were troubled 'greatly distressed' is presented twice in the book of Judges. Whilst the A V is different on these two occasions the Hebrew is the same and the gap in time between the two events shows a long standing judgement from God. [Judges 2:15 here]

11 v.24 The irony here is obvious. If Chemosh was such a powerful God how was it that he had not saved them from the hand of Israel? [Numbers 21:29 here]
11 v.26 So we are three hundred years into the tie of the Judges, that is two thirds of the way through if we accept Paul's comment that the period of the Judges was 450 years. [Acts 13:20] This is the only indication in the book of Judges of a time that we can use to work out how far we are on in the period of the Judges. Interestingly the Ammonites were expected to remember things which had happened over three hundred years ago.
Peter Forbes

10:10-16 Israel's response that they had sinned produced a response that required Israel to review their history and then to call to their false God's for deliverance. This is an indication that God seeks true repentance. Simply saying the words is not good enough.

The issue of Jephthah's daughter has strong echoes of the offering of Isaac.

11:31
return in peace
 Genesis 22:5
11:31
burnt offering
Genesis 22:2
11:34
only (child)
Genesis 22:2
only (son) Same rare Hebrew word
11:37
the mountains
 Genesis 22:2
11:38
upon the mountains
 Genesis 22:2
11:39
she returned
 Genesis 22:5

Peter Forbes

10:6 And so Baal is being served again - so short a time after the work of Gideon.

ch 11 - Developing the parallels between Isaac and Jephthah's daughter. Isaac was a 'burnt offering' - whilst we conclude that he was willing the record in Genesis does not say so. However with respect to Jephthah's daughter we know that she was willing because she says so (11:63). Isaac represented Christ. Jephthah's daughter represents the ecclesia - the bride. We should state our willingness to give our selves - and then do it (Romans 12:1)
Peter Forbes

IN THE EYES OF THE LORD

"Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD" (verse 6) Reading this phrase over and over through the book of Judges, we can tend to almost become immune to it. So now, halfway through the book of Judges is probably a good time to refresh our minds and consider the implications of this statement.

It is a shame that "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD" is preceeded by the word "Again." Didn't Israel learn after the first time, or the second? The sad thing is that Israel shares the same human nature that we share. If this statement was writtten about us it would probably say the same thing: "Again..." We fall into the same sin time and time again. Over and over we reject God and have to turn back to him repentant and pleading for forgiveness. Maybe we do not pray hard enough when it comes to "Lead us not into temptation," or maybe we just refuse to learn from our past mistakes.

There is also another point to note in the evil that Israel did. It was not in their own eyes - it was "evil in the eyes of the LORD" Without comparing ourselves to the Word of God and his standards we will always think we are doing OK. But the standards of God are often much higher than our own and we need to constantly refresh our memories as to what is good and what is evil in his sight.

Let's give ourselves to the LORD and find out what he wants us to do, so that it may be said of us, "Again God's servants did good in the eyes of the LORD."
Robert Prins
REJECTION

It is a very encouraging fact that God often chooses society's outcasts to be his great leaders. It has been the same right from the beginning. Abel was despised by his brother Cain; Joseph was rejected by his brothers; Moses had to flee from Egypt for fear of his life; and here, Jephthah, the son of a prostitute, was rejected by his brothers and family and banished from receiving his inheritance. Yet God has taken all those great men because he saw qualities in them that the people around them could not see. Even Jesus was in the same position. Until he was raised from the dead he was rejected by his brothers, his nation and even his disciples, and yet he was the Son of God, the one man through the whole of history that all the people of the world should have been looking up to.

God looks for different things in people than we do. He did not chose any of Jephthah's pure blooded brothers with their precious inheritance to lead Israel, he chose Jephthah, the reject. When we find ourselves rejected by men for whatever reason, let's make sure that we have our hearts right with God and are accepted by him. Being accepted by God has great rewards.
Robert Prins

Reading 2 - Isaiah 36

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v.18 - The pride and arrogance of this statement is quite outstanding. Fancy daring to suggest that God would not save by comparing him with the gods of the nations, which of course had not saved them. There can hardly be a greater level of blasphemy than to demean the great creator of the universe to the level of comparison with any other god made by sinful men. ch.37:12 Ps.115:2-8, 135:5,6, Jer.10:10-12.
Peter Cresswell
v.18-20 - We see the standard argument of the unbeliever here - the argument presented by him that does not see the great God of Israel as of any greater significance than other humanly revered entities or articles. It is very easy to be thrown by this sort of thing. We do well to obey the instructions of the king as these folk did (v.21) and say nothing.
Peter Cresswell
v.8 The apparent offer of two thousand Horses to Hezekiah is actually a taunt and probably indicates that Hezekiah had less than two thousand fighting men in Jerusalem at the time of the siege.
Peter Forbes
36:1 This answers to 2 Kings 18:14. However the Kings record adds information that the prophet Isaiah does not give us.

So we might put the records together thus

Isaiah
2 Kings
2 Kings 18:13
2 Kings 18:14-16
2 Kings 18:17- 19:38

Peter Forbes

:16 The offer that the Assyrian made that if Israel were to surrender they would eat 'everyone of his fig tree' echoes God's description of the peace in Israel in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 4:25). Whilst Isaiah does not counter the words of the Assyrian the contemporary prophet Micah did (Micah 4:1-5)
Peter Forbes

Reading 3 - 1Peter 2

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v.4-6 - Here we have a greater spiritual aspect of our Zion theme (v.6). Here we have an invitation to follow the example of our master and become stones in this living temple of our God. Remember (Col.3:4) we must be ready to appear with him in glory when he comes. Isa 28:16, Dan.2:34,45, Isa.8:14-15.
Peter Cresswell
v.1 'lay aside' is a powerful Biblical injunction. It is more than a casual putting aside. It is an active dissociation from evil. [Isaiah 2:20 Ezekiel 18:31 Romans 13:12 Ephesians 4:22 Colossians 3:5,8 Hebrews 12:11 here James 1:21]
Peter Forbes
2:3 In quoting Psalm 34:3 'tasted that the Lord is gracious' Peter, by the spirit, is emphasising that believers can know by experience - as David did when he fled from Achish - that God is good. One does not have to speculate about God's care. By reviewing our lives we can know that God has taken care of us.
Peter Forbes
:11 'As strangers and pilgrims' quotes Genesis 23:4. If we are 'Abraham's seed' and share his promises (Galatians 3:27-29) then we should view this life and the things that we posses as transient and not worth worrying about.
Peter Forbes