Scripture Text: Judges 10:1-Judges 12:15
Memory Verse: “And the children of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.’ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:15-16
Introduction:
Tola, who lived in the mountains of Ephraim of the tribe of Issachar, judged Israel for twenty-three years. The next judge was Jair, a Gileadite, who ruled for twenty-two years over Israel.
Again, we find the dreary account of how the children of Israel forsook the Lord and turned to idolatry. Israel was powerless before the Philistines and the Ammonites because they abandoned the worship of the one true God and served the gods of these heathen. When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, he at first refused their pleas. But when they continued to pray and after they put away their idols, God listened to their cry. Their misery called forth His mercy.
The man of the hour was Jephthah. He is a Gileadite, the son of a harlot, who had been rejected by his own countrymen. He had wandered off to the land of Tob, where he became the leader of a band of desperadoes or outlaws. The elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to lead the armies of Israel against the Ammonites. When the king of Ammon refused to withdraw his claim to the land, Jephthah prepared for war. Before going into battle, Jephthah made a rash vow that he would devote to the Lord whatever first came out of his doors to him if he returned home victorious. The Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites, and as he returned to his house his daughter came out to meet him. Jephthah therefore offered her to the Lord. Jephthah gave his daughter to be a perpetual virgin in the service of God. The idea of perpetual virginity is strongly supported by Judges 11:37-39.
Ibzan judged Israel for seven years. He was a native of Bethlehem who had thirty sons. Elon was of the tribe of Zebulun. His work as judge lasted for ten years. Abdon the son of Hillel came from the city of Pirathon in the mountains of the Amalekites, in the land of Ephraim. He judged Israel for eight years.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- Is anger a sin if it is directed toward evil and wickedness? (Judges 10:1-14; Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 3:5; Roman 1:18; Hebrews 1:9)
- The Israelites justly deserved the suffering they were undergoing. Christians today deserve punishment for their sins as well. What was God’s compassionate solution for all sinners. (Judges 10:15-18; Ezekiel 6:9; Hosea 11:7-9; Romans 3:23; 6:23; John 3:16)
- God takes some of the most unlikely people and uses them in a mighty way. Explain this from the life of Jephthah. (Judges 11:1-11; Psalms 139:13-19)
- Jephthah offered his daughter to the Lord. One view is that he killed her and offered her as a burnt offering to the Lord. The other common view is that Jephthah gave his daughter to be a perpetual virgin in the service of the Lord. What is your viewpoint? (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22)
Applying the Word
The men of Ephraim were jealous of Jephthah’s victory, complaining that they had not been allowed to share in it. Jephthah reminded them that he had appealed to them in vain for help. The Ephraimites mocked Jephthah’s people. The tongue is a small part of the body but can affect the masses. Explain. (Judges 12:1-4; James 3:5; Proverbs 17:14)