July 1st, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

As we journey through Judges, please keep in mind that this book has a lot of detail that all fits together into a big picture – you have to sort of hold on to these things simultaneously in your mind to “get it.” We started looking at the point of Judges in Take Me To Your Leader Part One and Part Two, so if you missed those you  might want to go brush up.  As we begin looking at the judges themselves, keep the four step cycle in mind that we discussed yesterday – it will repeat time and time again!

1. The people sin and fall into idolatry
2. They are oppressed by their enemies
3. They call out to God in distress
4. He raises up a judge to deliver them from their enemies

Then the judge dies and they repeat step one – only worse than before.

Other things to think about as we work through the book:

• Progress from one story to the next, or what changes take place?
• How does each story make you feel? This book is supposed to evoke an affective response.
• How does the treatment of women and the roles they take in each story relate to the main theme?

The first “judge” or “deliverer” we encounter is Othniel. His story is short and sweet, and gets that four-step pattern going:

(1) The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
(2) The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.
(3) But when they cried out to the LORD,
(4) he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Judges 3:7-11

Not much to say here, except that I think it is interesting that Caleb’s younger brother is the first deliverer raised up. This was one faith-ful family. Now, on to Ehud.

1. Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD…
2. and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. (3:12)
3. Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD…
4. and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. (3:15)

The left-handers are not forgotten. :) His handedness really does play into this story – you’ll have to read it yourself to know that I am unfortunately not embellishing. Ehud goes to Eglon (who the text points out is a rather large man) supposedly to bring him tribute money from Israel. He asks to speak to him privately, and when they are all alone, he stabs Eglon with his sword – the guards had frisked him upon entry but had checked the wrong side, not knowing that he was left-handed. The story gets really pleasant here with a description of how the entire sword sank into his belly and the fat closed around the handle. Ew.

So, how does this story make you feel? I think it is rather disgusting, almost crude – it would definitely appeal to junior high boys! The other questions don’t really apply yet as we haven’t gone through enough to see progress and there aren’t any women specifically mentioned in this account.

As always, I really do encourage you to read Judges in your Bible as we move through these posts. I don’t like not ending with a personal application, as I usually do… but again, I think we need to cover a lot of ground in Judges before we fully see the point, and then that will be the time for some application. And wow – does Judges have some sobering application for us today.

June 29th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

Picture from http://www.travelmania.com

While I am preparing for She Speaks, I thought we would take a “field trip” back through some old posts for the next few weeks.  I decided to repost our series on the book of Judges because this book is so eerily applicable to our day.   I pray this “mini-series” will be an encouragement and challenge to you as we walk through this fascinating book together!

If you have never read through the book of Judges, or haven’t done so in a while, this book will probably surprise you. Nay, shock you. If someone decided to make a movie based on Judges, I’m pretty sure none of us would go see it. The stories in this book go from bad to worse to horrifying.

So, this brings up a question: Why is this in the Bible to begin with? If you haven’t read these Bible study posts from the beginning, I encourage you to take a minute to read “So Why do we Have the Bible?“. Remember that narratives in Scripture are not given to us to be moral guides, IE: “Samson slept with a prostitute, so it must be OK.” Clearly, this violates the rest of Scripture. It’s actually hard to find a story in Judges that doesn’t violate the clear commands in the rest of Scripture!

To figure out what is happening in this book, we need to look back at the end of Joshua. In You Can’t Add God to Your Pantheon, we looked at the people’s response, or lack thereof, to Joshua’s final plea to abandon the foreign gods among them and commit themselves to serving God alone. They were very enthusiastic about serving God, but seemed to be missing a major piece: throw out the foreign gods! Right there they have set themselves up for major spiritual failure which is vividly illustrated in the book of Judges.

There is another element of Joshua’s address that we need to look at, as well. Remember that as they enter the land, the entire army of Israel has wiped out the major coalitions of Canaanites, but as each tribe entered their own territories allotted to them by God they were to finish “mop up” operations and completely wipe out the Canaanites.

First, read Joshua 23:5-13. The people had been told to drive the people out of the land. Why? The Canaanite culture was wicked and polytheistic. The Israelites’ possession of the land was more than just God giving the land to His people; He was also wiping out a stronghold of sin and idolatry. Joshua clearly warned them what would happen if they failed to do this and had association with the people of Canaan:

“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you. (Joshua 23:12-13)

Now, quickly scan through Judges chapter 1:

The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor.

Judges 1:19-21, 27-35

The mop-up operations were a giant failure. Why do you think they couldn’t drive the Canaanites out?  Do you think God had commanded them to do something impossible… or did this display a lack of faith?

Tomorrow we’ll discuss more… and give a better understanding of what we’ll be looking for through the book of Judges.

September 10th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

There’s been a lot of uproar lately about President Barack Obama. My own political opinions aside, I am deeply concerned about the way believers are handling their political differences. My friends, we must Fear God and honor the King. This is where belief in God’s sovereignty gets real – consider carefully how we speak and act. “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” [This was originally published on January 20, 2009.]

Last week we started our study of 1st and 2nd Samuel with a look at Hannah and then at Hannah’s prayer, which provides the framework for the rest of the books.

Today, in light of the inauguration, it seemed appropriate to pause on that and discuss the “if, then…” applications of all of this.

True understanding of the sovereignty of God over rulers, as discussed in our look at Hannah’s prayer, raises the topic of the “S” word – Submission. (In God’s timing, we discussed the discipline of submission in our ABF on Sunday!) Submission seems to be an uncomfortable word across the board – I remember vividly teaching a section on submission when I was a high school Bible teacher, watching the older students squirm in their seats as I asked them about submission to things like speed limits or school rules that they disagreed with. I daily watch my young daughter wrestle with the inherent rebellion in her soul – at almost three years old she hates to submit. Throw out the word submission in any women’s Bible study and you get eyes cast down at their shoes, looks of angst, internal tension. Add to our innate hatred of submission as human beings the ingrained understanding of the right of independence as Americans, that “conquer the world” mentality, and the pop culture ideal that all authority is meant to be mocked, and what we’ve got is a big mess.

It seems appropriate to spend some time looking at Romans 13:1-2.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Submission, no doubt, is much harder when you disagree with your authorities. Any child, wife, employee, etc. clearly understands that. I do not agree with Barack Obama. I did not vote for him, I do not like his political views. Nevertheless, I have been clearly commanded in Scripture to submit to his authority and give him the respect he is due as the president of our country. On what grounds? He has been put in that position by God Himself. If God is truly sovereign, if God is my ultimate King, and He has placed this human being in power over me… rebellion against this human leader is rebellion against God. Period. [Obviously there's always the caveat of "unless you're commanded to do something directly against the Word of God... I'm assuming we all understand that.]

1 Peter 2:12-17 further elaborates on this issue:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

It’s interesting to me that Peter’s argument for submission to authorities revolves around the public testimony of the believers and the glory of God. Although I agree that as citizens of the United States of America Christians have the privilege and responsibility to engage in the political arena, I fear that in many ways our well-intentioned efforts to fight for the good have turned into fights against people. Whether real or simply perceived, Christians are seen as arrogant, ignorant, prejudiced, partisan, hateful… the list could go on. How does Peter instruct these believers to “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men”? By doing good. By submission to authorities. By showing proper respect for everyone.

So, let’s get practical. What does it mean to fear God and honor the king? I’m sure you could add volumes to this, but this is just a teaser to get our thoughts going. Showing honor is more than obedience. Showing honor to Barack Obama is more than me paying my taxes and living as a law-abiding citizen. (although, it certainly does mean that.) Honor for someone comes out in my attitudes and in my words. Am I honoring the president of our country if I slander him, repeat fallacious statements, or seek to incite others against him personally? Clearly, no. This is not unfounded reverence for him or blind acceptance of what he does. I can disagree strongly and still honor him in the way I discuss the way my views vary with his. However, a true fear of God and understanding of His sovereignty necessitates that I respect the leaders placed over me in my life.

Truthfully, this is much more convicting on a local level for me. There are leaders in my daily life that I strongly, hotly disagree with. I may feel at times that I am being treated unjustly. As I interact in these situations and even seek to address these deep issues, it must, MUST be done in a respectful way. For if God is sovereign, it is no accident that they are over me.

So, whatever your feelings were as you watched or listened to the inauguration today, remember this: We serve a sovereign God who sets kings up and takes them down, and nothing is out of His control. Barack Obama is officially our president, and it’s time to live out our faith in authenticity before those with whom we disagree.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4

*Picture from wikipedia.org

May 28th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Last week in the post Little Fools in Aldi, we started to look at how disciplining our children is more than just a practical way to go about our day without losing our sanity; it really is a life and death issue!

Sometimes when I hear people discussing discipline, it seems like there is a general assumption in our culture that good, loving parents (or teachers, for that matter) don’t discipline their children. Loving discipline has somehow been equated with abuse. I once saw a celebrity mom on a talk show asking for help on how to get her three year old daughter to stop drinking bottles! They were giving her very practical advice, and also talking about the damage her extreme coddling was having in her daughter. Even though she had asked for help, she really dug in her heels and resisted! Why? The bottles made her daughter “happy” – why would she take them away?

Most people may not have a three year old drinking out of bottles, but there are plenty of foolish parents out their allowing their children to self-destruct out of apparent “love” for their child and not wanting to make their child “unhappy.” What does the book of Proverbs have to say about that?

He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Proverbs 13:24

Hates! That is a strong word! Why would lack of discipline be equated with hate? Check out Proverbs 19:18:

Discipline your son, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to his death.

Remember, discipline is a life and death issue! Failure to discipline is equated with hate, because the overly permissive parent is being a willing party to their child’s self destruction and spiritual rebellion! Proverbs 23:13-14 touches on this point, as well -

Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Punish him with the rod
and save his soul from death.

Perhaps we should pause here and distinguish between discipline and punishment.

If my child does something wrong, punishment means they have to pay for their wrongdoing. They have broken a rule, and the goal of punishment is to make them pay for their action in some way. Webster defines punishment as suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution; a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure. Punishment without discipline can turn ugly, because the parent has nothing in mind other than causing the child to experience suffering or loss in retribution for their actions – the ultimate welfare of the child is not the parent’s goal.

Discipline, however, has an entirely different focus. Disciplining my children is not simply causing them to suffer for their bad choices – discipline is really discipleship! Look at Webster’s definition for discipline: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. Do you see the difference? If I discipline my children rather than simply punish them, my goal is not to make them pay, but rather to form their character.

Punishment and discipline might look very similar – when my children choose to do certain behaviors, certain things are their punishment – it is what they have earned. However, a parent who seeks to discipline will have a different goal for the punishment – the goal is not for the child’s suffering but rather, for the child’s ultimate good – for the forming of their character.

What type of character formation are we looking for?

As I look through Proverbs, I see some important themes that are central to wisdom, and also central to disciplining our children! If we are parents seeking to disciple our children and teach them the way of wisdom in the fear of the Lord, it seems to me that these are main areas of focus for our discipline. In upcoming weeks, I would like to give time to address each of these topics in a specific post, and give practical discipline strategies for training our children in wisdom. Being limited in experience and perspective, I would love, LOVE for you to email me with practical teaching/ discipling/ disciplining ideas you have for any or all of the following.

• Controlling the tongue (using wise speech, remaining silent, refraining from slander and gossip, etc.)
• Controlling anger, not stirring up division and quarrelling
• Diligent work
• Honesty – transparency, no duplicity or intent to deceive
• Helping the poor, showing kindness and mercy
• Humility – not being wise in our own eyes, not seeking to publicly praise ourselves
• Choosing good companions
• Maintaining sexual integrity
• Seeking to acquire knowledge
• Receiving counsel and correction from those who are wise

So, please chew on that for a while and share your wisdom with me – I will gladly share it with others!