Category Archives: Judges

Confess, Cover, and Correct

Posted on July 31, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Sin is like a net – it can “catch” us in its grip, and drown us in death. If a brother or sister is “caught in any transgression”, we are to lead them back to a right relationship with God through the proper application of God’s Word. We are not, as the Pharisees often did, become self righteous and overbearing.. We are to be humble. If someone’s sin is DIRECTLY against you as a believer, Jesus gave us steps to repair the breach. He said:

Matthew 18:15-17 (ESV) If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

We usually do this in the reverse. If we are sinned against, we get on the phone and telegraph it throughout the Church, never speaking to the accused. But the accused cannot be corrected if that person is not informed. We must TELL them what they did wrong. We are not to allow sin to run rampant through the Church, effecting the fellowship of the believers. This is what happened in the Church of Corinth. Paul told them to address it because it was destroying the Church.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

The Apostle told the Church to… Continue reading →

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Who Is The Boss?

Posted on July 25, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Judges 19:30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

Last week we studied the horror that occurred at Gibeah, how homosexual crowds attacked a Levite Priest’s party in an attempt to “know” that Priest. The end result of this sad encounter is that the Levite’s Concubine was molested, raped, and murdered while the men of the family hid behind a locked door. The Levite afterward dismembered the Concubine, and sent the twelve parts to each tribe of Israel. What happened shocked the nation. We are told “no such deed {was} done nor seen” in Israel from the time it was freed from Egypt to that moment. The period of the Judges spans 400 years from the rise of Moses as Israel’s leader to the end of the period. So for 400 years Israel had never seen a thing so shocking and horrid.

But WHAT was shocking to Israel? Was it the open and aggressive homosexuality in Gibeah, the murder of the Concubine, or the fact that a Priest even had a Concubine in the first place?

The reason that Israel got to this horrible place is mentioned four times in the Book of Judges:

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel …

Judges 19:1 … it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel …

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes…. Continue reading →

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Gibea, Gomorrah & Sodom

Posted on July 19, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 19. An ancient preacher named Miguel Molinos stated:

“There are two kinds of darkness, an unhappy darkness and a happy darkness. The {unhappy} darkness is that which arises from sin. … The second type of darkness is darkness which the Lord allows within our inward part in order to establish and settle virtue …”

When I thought about that statement, I thought about what our Lord Jesus told us. Jesus said,

Matthew 16:24-25 If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When we who love the Lord follow our Jesus, we climb Mount Sinai up steep walls and loose rock, shifting sand. We find our God on Mount Moriah, and are told to willingly give up our Isaac on an altar we build there. We are called to walk the Via Dolorosa – the dusty path our Lord Jesus carried His Cross – as the crowds around us mock and jeer and toss stones. We are called to go “outside the camp and bear the reproach He bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Christians are not called to a life of compromise, pleasing the world around us. We are to stand in the shadow of our God, knowing that the darkness is but brief, and that our God watches over “those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This is why the Scripture tells us who are saved:

James 1:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Your faith will be tested as you go through this life. Is your faith genuine? Trials will prove your faith, or trials will disprove your faith…. Continue reading →

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Man Made Religion, Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

If I “feel” it’s okay, then why should anyone care?

I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the “Titan Sub”, which suffered a catastrophic implosion during its voyage to the shipwreck Titanic. The Titan likely imploded an hour and 45 minutes from its launch. What likely caused the problem? I quote:

“Experts have questioned the use of titanium and carbon fiber for deep diving, as they have different properties. Titanium is elastic and can adapt to ranges of stresses and pressures without permanent strain on the material. Carbon fiber on the other hand is stiffer and non-elastic, often prone to cracking.”

The CEO of the company who died in the implosion fired an engineer who questioned his use of titanium and carbon fiber. Mixing the two would prove to lead to no good. As humans, we love to push the envelope, thinking that we can overcome regardless as to how foolish our actions are. Sometimes there is no recovery.

Just as the engineers created a submarine destined to implode, last week we were introduced to a pioneer in false religion called Micah. Micah and his mother made a “do it yourself” religion, complete with his own store bought “priest”. What could possibly go wrong?… Continue reading →

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Man Made Religion

Posted on July 3, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

What Happens When The Leadership Of The Nation
Is No Longer God Appointed?

In Judges chapters 17-21 we see what happens to a nation when ALL of its Godly leaders are removed. Though Eli and Samuel are judges, they are not in the picture until 1 Samuel. Samson was the last God appointed judge in Israel in the Book of Judges. Those who rise next have nothing to do with God.

This should be a cautionary tale for America. In 2024 we will once more prayerfully vote for our elected representatives. I say PRAYERFULLY because your leadership matters. The leadership of the nation matters. The leadership of our businesses matters. The leadership of our communities, our homes, they all matter.

Chapter 17 begins with a man named “Micah” (his name means “one who is like God”) stealing 1100 shekels of silver from his mother. When she curses the thief, he returns the silver. On confessing that he is the thief (which is a violation of the 5th commandment – Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and mother”) the mother confesses that she was saving the silver… Continue reading →

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Sin Blinds, Binds, and Grinds

Posted on June 6, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

People today think that what God says is “sin” is nothing at all. In fact, some demand the right to sin. We have become so enamored of sexual sin in America that the month of June is “Pride Month”. The first “Pride March” was held on June 28, 1970 in New York City. We have decided to be “Proud” of what God has said is against nature (Romans 1:18-27), a natural result of unrestrained idolatry.

Samson was the twelveth Judge of Israel mentioned in the Book of Judges. Two other Judges, Eli and Samuel, are discussed in 1 Samuel. The Judges were to save Israel from their enemies and to lead them toward obedience to God. As Judges go, Samson was the strongest – but he was probably one of the most disobedient to God. Though a Nazarite from birth (Judges 13:5) from Danite parents, Samson toyed with sexual sin and disobedience. Though Samson is held up as a man of faith in the New Testament:

Hebrews 11:32 (ESV) And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

Samson took his faith in God for granted. He did not stay true to his Nazarite vows. Christians are to stay true to their vows before God. The day you were saved, you were “set apart” to serve God, not yourself. The Apostle Paul warns the Church:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified…. Continue reading →

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The Strange Case Of Samson, Part 2

Posted on May 28, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Last week we saw Samson – a Nazarite from his mother’s womb (Judges 13:5) – infuriated because he lost a bet with a number of Philistines. His Philistine wife was threatened with being burned with fire (Judges 14:15) if she did not betray Samson’s trust and get the answer to the riddle he had given them. Samson’s wife wept before Samson and declared “you don’t love me” until he told her the answer to the riddle. Once she heard it, she told the Philistines – causing Samson to go home to his father (Judges 14:19).

Anything Without God Leads To Misery

Though Samson was supposed to be a Nazarite, dedicated to the service of God, he was a very poor Nazarite at best. Samson was absolutely NOT a good example of how a husband should treat his wife. Our Lord Jesus said of marriage:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus was quoting from Genesis 2:24, and I am certain that Samson had seen that portion of Scripture. Yet he, in anger, left his wife. His first error in judgment was marrying outside of the faith. The Scripture says:… Continue reading →

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The Strange Case Of Samson Pt 1

Posted on May 23, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Judges 13:8-10 Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. 9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

Last week we saw that God sent His Angel to the wife of Manoah to tell her she would have a child. Her child was to be special. The Angel told her that her child would be a “a Nazarite (see Numbers 6:2-8) unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). Israel has failed God 11 times, so this time God will hold Israel into Philistine judgment for 40 years – similar to what God did with the first generation of Israel under Moses. Samson would start the process of freeing Israel from the Philistines. Another “Nazarite unto God from the womb” Samuel would continue the process. Then King David would take over, and the Philistines would be subdued. The Soniclight Commentary notes:

“The Philistines continued to frustrate the Israelites until David subjugated them early in his reign (1004 B.C.; 2 Samuel 5:17-25). However, the Philistines continued to oppose the Israelites until the Babylonian Captivity removed both people groups from the land (Isaiah 14:29-32; Jeremiah 47; Ezekiel 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8). The “land of the Philistines” became known as “Philistia.”… Continue reading →

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Five Judges

Posted on May 16, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

As we studied last week, Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, and a man who would not be defeated. Jephthah, though thrown out of his home by jealous brothers, would follow faith in God and become a “mighty man of valor”. Jephthah would be approached by the elders of Gilead – the same ones who cast him out of his family home – and by faith become the eighth legitimate Judge of Israel.

Jephthah would lead the armies of Israel to fight against and defeat the Ammonites. Jephthah would allow faithlessness and doubt to cause him to approach God with a foolish vow. This is what unbelievers do with God. “God, if you’ll give me this, or do that, I’ll do this or that”.

God does not expect us to bargain with Him, but to walk with Him. We are to fear our God, not the world!

Jephthah promised to offer up a “burnt sacrifice” of the first thing that greeted him if God gave him success in defeating the Ammonites. God never responded to the vow – but Jephthah decided he would keep his word. When he returned from battle, his only daughter greeted him. Following a two month sabbatical Jephthah offered up his only daughter to God as a spiritual burnt offering. She died childless, and Jephthah would die, closing out his line. Such are the rewards of stepping outside of God’s will. The Bible says:… Continue reading →

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Judge Jephthah

Posted on May 8, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

Jephthah was the eighth legitimate judge of Israel. Whereas Gideon was a frightened man hiding near a grape press when God called him, Jephthah was a “mighty man of valor” who overcame great obstacles in his life.

Jephthah Did Not Let Abuse Define His Life

Judges 11:1-2 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.

The name “Jephthah” (Hebrew yip̄tāḥ, pronounced yif-tawkh’) means “he opens”. He is called “Jephthah the Gileadite” because his daddy was Gilead, a branch of the Tribe of Manasseh. The two half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together formed the HOUSE of Joseph (of the coat of many colors, the young man sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers). Joseph would grow up – despite all the adversity in his family – to be second hand to the King of Egypt, and the savior of Israel. … Continue reading →

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