Judges

Judges Chapter 12

Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim

• Judges 12:1  And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. 

Instead of rejoicing that Jephthah got victory and won the battle, Ephraim gets mad and wants war even to the burning of his house down. So hard to understand this type of pride. This group of men prefer to sacrifice the lives of their own people by starting a war over trivial things is puzzling. However, we see some today that want to sacrifice those in the military over things that are puzzling also. I can understand defending one's own country but just over trivial things or to rob another country of their resources seems to be wrong. The leaders that do these things usually send someone else's kids while keeping their kids safe.

• Judges 12:2  And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. 
• 3  And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? 

Jephthah shouldn't have had to speak in his own defense here but he did. However, he wasn't going to put up with this, but was ready to fight. Jealousy and pride seems to be the motive for the men of Ephriam here but to want war and destroy Jephthah is puzzling indeed. He did ask for help it seems but was refused according to verse 2 of this chapter.

• Judges 12:4  Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. 
• 5  And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
• 6  Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. 

So many died for what? Wars produce such wasted lives. All because the leader of Ephraim thought he had a cause to fight against Jephthah. How stupid. When are people of the earth going to recognize the value of lives and also the eternal souls of the inhabitants of the earth? From the little babies in the womb to the elderly. They are so precious and have value.

• Judges 12:7  And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. 

He only had six more years after this battle to live. He might have had sadness because of his former vow he made before involving his only child. Offering her up to the Lord if he won the battle surely caused him a lot of grief.

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

• Judges 12:8  And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 
• 9  And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 
• 10  Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem. 

There is another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun which some believe is where Ibzan was from but according to Josephus (A Jewish historian), Ibzan was from the tribe of Judah so some believe he was from that Bethlehem. No matter which is true nothing bad or good is said about him and during his time there seem to have been peace between him and other countries. He sure had a lot of kids. 60 it seems. He judged seven years, one year longer than Jephthah. He probably lived a long time considering the number of children he had.

• Judges 12:11  And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 
• 12  And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. 

Nothing else is said about this man so we can probably assume that they had peace and no trouble at this time because he judged Israel 10 with no incident of trouble reported.

• Judges 12:13  And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 
• 14  And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 
• 15  And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites. 

With all the trouble they had with the men of Ephraim, I was surprised to see one of them become a judge in Israel. This seems to be just before Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord as we shall see in the next chapter. Again and again I see the great need to train up our children in the ways of God so that they don't revert back to doing what is right in their own eyes instead of what is right in God's eyes. We need God always. DC

Judges Chapter 13