Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Reflections on Judges 12


    Judges 12 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. The men of the Ephraim tribe got together an army and went across the Jordan River to Zaphon to meet with Jephthah. They said, "Why did you go to war with the Ammonites without asking us to help? Just for that, we're going to burn down your house with you inside!"
  2. "But I did ask for your help," Jephthah answered. "That was back when the people of Gilead and I were having trouble with the Ammonites, and you wouldn't do a thing to help us.
  3. So when we realized you weren't coming, we risked our lives and attacked the Ammonites. And the LORD let us defeat them. There's no reason for you to come here today to attack me."
  4. But the men from Ephraim said, "You people of Gilead are nothing more than refugees from Ephraim. You even live on land that belongs to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh." So Jephthah called together the army of Gilead, then they attacked and defeated the army from Ephraim.
  5. The army of Gilead also posted guards at all the places where the soldiers from Ephraim could cross the Jordan River to return to their own land. Whenever one of the men from Ephraim would try to cross the river, the guards would say, "Are you from Ephraim?" "No," the man would answer, "I'm not from Ephraim."
  6. The guards would then tell them to say "Shiboleth," because they knew that people of Ephraim could say "Sibboleth," but not "Shiboleth." If the man said "Sibboleth," the guards would grab him and kill him right there. Altogether, forty-two thousand men from Ephraim were killed in the battle and at the Jordan.
  7. Jephthah was a leader of Israel for six years, before he died and was buried in his hometown Mizpah in Gilead.
  8. Ibzan, the next leader of Israel, came from Bethlehem.
  9. He had thirty daughters and thirty sons, and he let them all marry outside his clan. Ibzan was a leader for seven years,
  10. before he died and was buried in Bethlehem.
  11. Elon from the Zebulun tribe was the next leader of Israel. He was a leader for ten years,
  12. before he died and was buried in Aijalon that belonged to the Zebulun tribe.
  13. Abdon the son of Hillel was the next leader of Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, and each one of them had his own donkey. Abdon was a leader for eight years, before he died and was buried in his hometown of Pirathon, which is located in the part of the hill country of Ephraim where Amalekites used to live.
  14. (SEE 12:13)
  15. (SEE 12:13)

    On the heels of Jephthah's victory over the Ammonites a similar encounter occurred with the Ephraimites that had occured with Gideon. The Ephraimites angrily confronted him because he had not invited them to cross the Jordan with him to fight the Ammonites. The two episodes depict the Ephraimites as a bunch of hotheadeds. Jephthah, however, was not as diplomatic with them as Gideon had been, exchanging insults with them, and so their armies fought and Ephraim lost, losing 42,000 men, a rather high price to pay for jealousy.

    Thus far, Israel's possession of her promised land has not been too glorious. Due to her unfaithfulness to God she had been under the oppression of other nations at least as much, if not more, than she had enjoyed peace. How much better off was she than when she was in Egypt? Now she was fighting and destroying her own people, something that didn't happen in Egypt.

    Jephthah served as judge for six years. Though this account of him in Judges 11 & 12 does not depict him as a highly godly man, it is interesting that he is listed in Hebrews chapter 11 among the hereos of faith. The qualifying factor must have been his vow to the Lord, "Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: "If You will hand over the Ammonites to me . . . ,"  (11:30) thus placing his faith in God for victory over the Ammonites.

    Chapter 12 concludes with mention of three minor judges, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. We learn little else about these men beyond the length of time they served as judge.

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