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The
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges was taught by Dr. James Modlish
Judges
11:1-12:7
The
Story of Jephthah
Introduction:
Even
as Judges is a picture of the Laodicean church doing its
own thing most of the time, Jephthah is a representative
of the Laodicean Christian's struggle with the flesh and
the Spirit (Gal. 5:16,17).
Remember,
chapter 10 deals with Israel trying to make up their mind
how committed they wanted to be to the things of the
Lord. When they finally get serious, they recognize they
need someone to lead them.
I. Jephthah
- the son of the flesh (11:1-3)
Jephthah,
the son of a harlot, is rejected by his half-brothers
because of the inheritance issue. Someone who is strong
in the flesh usually has no trouble collecting an
audience or following. The flesh can be very crafty in
imitating the work of the Spirit.
II. The
exaltation of the flesh (11:4-11)
When
in trouble, people who are walking in the flesh will
naturally gravitate to the strengths of the flesh for
solutions.
Israel was
quite aware of the prowess of Jephthah and appealed to
him rather than look to a spiritual solution (Rom.
8:5).
The flesh
has a great desire to run our lives (vs. 9) (Rom. 6:16);
all it waits for is our permission.
III. The
rehearsal of history (11:12-28)
A.
It's interesting to remember that Judges is a picture of
the Laodicean church age, and during that time there is a
great controversy about who the real estate of the Middle
East really belongs to. This is an accurate picture of
the region today.
B.
Jephthah presents correct representation of history that
can be compared with the facts in Numbers and
Deuteronomy.
C.
The flesh doesn't always lie, cheat or manipulate; it
just waits to be in charge.
IV. The
reversal of events (11:29-33)
A.
Jephthah to this point has been a picture of the flesh,
but the Spirit of God actually enters into the picture
(vs. 29) and leads Jephthah to a great victory.
B.
The larger question may be "how did the Spirit get into
the equation?" Jephthah had just rehearsed a great deal
of Bible to the enemy. That's exactly what Jesus did when
He faced the adversary. (Jn. 6:63)
C.
Until we receive our incorruptible bodies, the flesh will
always be lurking in the shadows dying to say or do some
stupid thing that makes us look spiritual. (1 Sam. 15:22;
Rom. 7:24,25)
V. Are there
any other options? (11:34-40)
A.
Why didn't Jephthah fall on his face before God like
Hezekiah did, confess his foolishness and get God's real
direction? Could it be that his desire to look like the
hero was even more powerful that his love for his only
daughter? (Rom. 7:21)
B. The
virgin daughter probably types the 144,000 virgin
witnesses in the Tribulation that lose their lives for
their testimony. (Rev. 7:14; 14:3-5)
VI. The
arrival of the knot heads (12:1-7)
A.
Ephraim was given an invitation to join the fight and
declined and then got a burr under the saddle when they
couldn't participate in the victory. How many Christians
don't want to get in the fight, but want to attend the
party.
B.
Many Shemites have trouble pronouncing "b's" (vs. 6). The
Japanese are notorious for the problem; consequently,
invading American forces in World War II often used the
word blood for a password. It's still the password into
heaven! (1 Jn. 1:7)
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Judges
13-14
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