Judges 12

Judges 12 seems to have more relational conflict with Jephthah.  This time, the Ephraimites are ticked at him for going to battle against the Ammonites without them.  

They were mad for not being invited to a war.  That is a foreign concept to me.  Their rebuttal was to burn down Jephthah’s house on top of him.  A battle erupts between the two and 42,000 men were killed.

The next seven verses briefly mention three judges that spanned over twenty-five years.  Nothing is mentioned except the number of sons each of them had.  No accomplishments.  No leadership.  Nothing that brought glory to God.

There are really only two things that come to mind from this chapter.

Be careful with your words.  Our mouths can get us into trouble very quickly.  At the time of writing, President Biden’s inauguration was yesterday.  Our country has been divided for most of the past twelve months and I see Christians leading the way in the division.  Not many situations surprise me, but I recently told Bridget that I was surprised about our friends and acquaintances that are feeding the division through social media.  My heart breaks over the careless words coming from my brothers and sisters in Christ.  My heart breaks over how recklessly we are sending people further form the cross of Jesus Christ. 

Fight for a cause worth fighting for.  From the information we have, the last three judges of chapter 12 fought for nothing. They didn’t influence other people.  They coasted through life without getting mad at the right things.  Be a person who allows Jesus to break your heart with what breaks his heart.  Be a person who get mad when other people are not honored – for any reason.  Be a person who seeks to bring honor, glory and blessing to Jesus Christ.  Be a person who makes a difference for the kingdom of God.

Be a person that pursue the mission of God with everything you have.  When we are that person, I believe our words will be transformed to shape our mission.