Digging in Deeper – Page 147

Digging in Deeper: Judges 20:27-28

August 10, 2018August 7, 2018Leave a comment

“And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phineas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, ‘Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?’ And the Lord said, ‘Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The people were surely confused by now. They felt they were doing their righteous duty by punishing the people of Benjamin militarily for not condemning the terrible acts of the evil men of Gibeah, but also for refusing to turn them over so the rest of the nation could hold only them accountable. Their refusal amounted to a defense of their actions which essentially made the whole tribe guilty of them. But now, even after seeking the Lord together for direction twice and feeling assured of His presence to guide them, they had lost in battle against the Benjaminites twice…badly. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 16:4

August 8, 2018August 7, 2018Leave a comment

“After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Sometimes God works through our strengths. Sometimes our weaknesses. In Samson’s case, the latter was most definitely the case. Samson has many weaknesses, but his near total inability to choose wisely when it came to women was very near the top of the list. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 6:7-10

August 3, 2018July 27, 2018Leave a comment

“When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed my voice.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The people of Israel were hurting and broken and desperate. They were starving. The Midianites were taking everything. They were keeping them weak and unable to mount any kind of a meaningful resistance to their reign of terror. The Israelites were but a couple of generations into the land God had provided for them and it looked like he had abandoned them to this enemy for good. Now, the reality was that it had only been like this for a few years, but when you’re trapped in misery, a few years can seem like a lifetime. They did the only thing they could: Scrape together a meager survival and cry out to the Lord. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 2:10

August 1, 2018July 27, 2018Leave a comment

“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The most important verse in all of the Old Testament as far as Judaism is concerned is Deuteronomy 6:4. It is called the Shema, the Hebrew command “listen,” because that’s the first word. It goes like this: Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 2:4

July 27, 2018July 26, 2018Leave a comment

“As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you remember a time as a kid when you were misbehaving, knew it, but weren’t doing anything about it? You just kept right on down that path figuring that you’d deal with the consequences when that time came. And eventually, the time did indeed come. Your parent or teacher or some other authority finally caught you and sat you down and basically said, “You’ve had your fun, but what were you thinking? Now it’s time to pay the Piper.” Read the rest…