Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Leftovers from Refuge Sermon Series (Joshua, Judges and Ruth)

I hope that Soldier Creek members enjoyed walking through these books as much as I enjoyed presenting these sermons. I sometimes wonder if they really are much of an aid to the LTC kids in their activities, but I like to think that maybe something "sticks". Here are some thoughts, facts and FYI material that I chose not to take the time to cover much in the Refuge series.
  • Did you know that an earthquake caused the Jordan River to dry up, allowing the Israelites to cross over? I remember reading on the web the first stories about the area where scholars believe the nation crossed the river in Canaan was prone to earthquakes and temporary shifts in the river. A basic explanation is given in this article. So yes, it is fascinating that in an area where the river historically had temporary natural dams God caused an earthquake that provided a normal, but timely, dry ground crossing of the river!
  •    “So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.” (Joshua 5:3, ESV)  The name of that city literally means "hill of foreskins". Remember that the number of Israelite men may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Yikes!
  • The request of the tribes of Rueben, Gad and Manasseh to stay on the other side of the Jordan, outside of the promised land is astounding to me (Joshua chapter 22.) To arrive at the Jordan and decide that's where they would prefer to stay, outside of the land God led them to through the wilderness, shows very clearly what was coming in the days of the Judges. Its also an example of  "instant gratification", as the tribes saw that it was good grazing land before they even set foot in the land "flowing with milk and honey." We might even speculate that they weren't convinced they would ever be safe in the land that God said He would help them conquer. They were right, the land was never fully subdued due to the people becoming weary of driving out the inhabitants. However, the trans-Jordanian tribes quickly fell away from God. 
  • I love the details of Gideon. His own family basically renames him "Baal will deal with our idiot son" (more accurately, Jerubbaal in Judges 6:32.) In the dream of the Midianite that Gideon overheard, a "barley roll" would be the worst kind of bread possible - basically a poor man's bread. When they understood the bread to represent Gideon, it tells you a lot of what they assumed of him! That said, the next day Gideon does indeed go on a roll!!!
  • Ever notice how much of a problem pride is in Judges, and the rest of the Bible for that matter? The unspoken weakness of many of the Judges and the Israelites was simple pride/arrogance. Gideon was humble enough to reject being made a king, but arrogant enough to think that having 70 sons through concubines and making a graven image to serve God was somehow not going to be a problem (Judges 8:22-35.) Abimelech and Samson are case studies in self-destruction via prideful sin. Several Judges had to deal with cities and tribes that opposed them because they weren't asked to join in a battle against an oppressor, leading to civil wars within the nation. I wonder how many innocent people in time have lost their lives or possessions due to the arrogance of a leader?
  • Samson disobeys and breaks every single tenant of the Nazarite vow (see Numbers 6.) Every...single...one. 
  • The book of Judges presents a condition of Israel as really depressing after Samson. God will still work through a nation and people, but He will allow it to sleep in the bed it makes!

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