The Story Week 8

After Joshua the Israelites hop on this really stupid and really familiar roller coaster of serving God, rebelling, praying and repenting, then seeing God’s deliverance. You would think after going through this cycle a few times they would learn. Several times in this chapter we read, “Again Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord” and then something to the effect of “Israel cried out to God and he raised up…”

There are 3 really cool stories in this chapter about the Judges of Israel: Deborah, Gideon and Samson. I want to talk about them in reverse order. All of these people did great things for God. One of them accomplished great things, but in the wrong way and while constantly giving into sin. Another does great things in the right way, but with a lot doubt at the beginning. And another seems to have just done great things.

Samson
Think back to your High School yearbook from your Sr year. Can you remember who was voted most likely to succeed? Samson would have gotten that spot hands down. Samson was set up for success better than just about anyone in the Bible. Each week we’ve talked about God choosing unlikely candidates who come from very messy situations to accomplish his plan. Samson is the exact opposite.
-His birth was announced by the Angel of the Lord.
-He was set apart from birth for God’s purpose.
-His God-given mission in life was to deliver an entire nation from oppression.
-He was raised in a good home with praying parents who loved him.
-He was empowered by the Holy Spirit with super human strength.

The problem is Samson is a world of contradictions in one person. In spite of all these things he had going for him Samson was demanding (he told his parents “I saw a hot chick, now get her for me!”). He had a false sense of entitlement, he was spoiled, compulsive, quick tempered, rash, selfish and arrogant. He was a man of faith with a weakness for women. He was a man of prayer with uncontrollable anger. He was a leader who cared more about his own fulfillment than setting an example. He was a man of God with no common sense.

One of Samson’s major flaws was that he was motivated by getting even. Look at page 115 of The Story. When he really starts fighting against the Philistines it isn’t to liberate his countrymen from their oppression, it’s selfish revenge. He says, “Since you acted like this, I swear I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” A few sentences later he says, “I merely did to them what they did to me.” Samson is the typical childish brat who says, “They started it! I’m just getting even.” Sadly, Samson doesn’t have the corner on this market. We live in a very strange time when being an unmerciful, vengeful, harsh person is celebrated and people wear it like a badge of honor. “Oh, you best had believe I’ll get even. People know not to mess with me. You treat me well and everything will be ok, but if you cross me once it’s on!” Sound familiar?

Another flaw that partially led to Samson’s demise was his incessant need to be in a romantic relationship all the time. I think part of it was due to his over active lustyfulness (it’s a word). I think another part of it was some weird, emotional deficiency in him that made him think he needed a hot chick around him to be complete. I’m no psychologist, but it seems pretty obvious to me that Samson felt incomplete on his own and looked for fulfillment in relationships. Because he felt so incomplete he ran from one unhealthy relationship to another very quickly (Hey, there’s a cute girl, get her for my wife…then Samson went to the house of prostitute…then he stayed in the most dysfunctional relationship in the Bible with Delilah). Surely, nobody here can relate to this, right?

One last flaw I’ll discuss is his arrogance. Samson began thinking he was awesome and he was strong and he could do not wrong and nobody could ever overpower him. He became very arrogant in something God had given him. One of the saddest statements is scripture is found on page 118 of The Story: [Samson] thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know the Lord had left him.
He was so sure of himself and so unaware of God’s presence that he had no idea God had left.

At the end of this story we read that Samson, having been tied up, blinded and put to manual labor, eventually did free Israel from the Philistines’ oppression by pushing over pillars holding up a temple to Dagon. Thousands of Philistines died and Samson’s purpose was realized. BUT!! Did it have to play out like this? Could Samson have fulfilled God’s plan in a way that was quicker, easier and nobler? God used Samson’s flaws; I would rather God use my strengths.

Gideon
Gideon does not have all same things going for him that Samson had. Gideon’s birth is not announced by angels, his conception is not miraculous, nothing is said about his parent being devout, his destiny is not announced while he is a youth, and he does not have super human strength. But even with less obvious potential he turns out to be a much more honorable and effective judge. The only flaw of Gideon’s that we are privy to is that his own insecurity was so deep that he doubted if God could even use him.

When we meet Gideon he is threshing wheat in a wine press. This may not jump out as strange to us, but it is. Wheat threshing normally took place in a big open space, if possible on a large flat rock. They needed space because they would beat the wheat stalks on the ground to loosen everything up, and then throw the wheat up in the air. The wind would blow away the straw and chaff but the heavier wheat kernels would fall back down. Imagine what that process looks like and the elbowroom you would need to do it. Now, this is what a wine press looks like:



But, this is the wine press of a very wealthy family, or possibly even a professional wine producer. This is more like the the wine press Gideon's family would have used:



Ha! Imagine Gideon wadded up in a little ball trying to thresh wheat in the ancient version of a tupperware bowl. Clearly, Gideon is hiding. He doesn’t want the Midianites to steal what little food he has. The story tells us that he is from Manasseh, the tribe with the smallest number of fighting men. Among Manasseh his family is the smallest, and he is the youngest his family. So Gideon is literally weakest of the weakest of the weak. So here’s weak, scared, little Gideon hiding in a stone bowl and the Angel of the Lord shows up. By the way, I love how casual this word picture seems. He plops down and says, “What’s up beast? God’s doing great things huh?”

Now, to save time we’ll go over the speedy version of the story. God tells Gideon he is going to lead Israel to victory over Midian. Gideon is so unsure of himself he asks God for sign after sign to confirm God’s going to do this. This is the infamous “laying out the fleece” story. It takes a while for Gideon to become convinced, but once he does; it’s on. Once he is convinced God is with him he watches as God reduces his army from 32,000 to 300. He attacks 120,000 Midianites with 300 men, they panick and kill most of each other off and then Gideon chases down the kings of Midian and smites them very smitedly.

Gideon turns out to be a beast. But think back to who he was when God first called him a beast. God called him “mighty warrior” when he was hiding and before Gideon fights anyone God changes his name to Jerubaal (contends with Baal). I want you to think about something: what name would you give yourself? How would you describe yourself in a word or small phrase? Maybe it would be something like loser, stupid, will never make a mark, ugly, different, weak, sinful, run of the mill, or something similar. But know this: whatever weaknesses you think define you are the exact opposite of how God defines you.

Deborah
Samson was a leader who had many flaws. Gideon was a leader who just needed a boost in confidence. Deborah seems to just be an all around great leader. I’m not saying she was perfect, but there also weren’t any character flaws so major that they mattered to the story. Instead we are told she was a prophetess and a judge. That means she was the spiritual and political leader of Israel. She must have been on her game. That Israel, a strongly patriarchal culture, followed the spiritual and political advice of a female means she had an amazing connection to God, was incredibly sharp, and very wise. In addition to all this she was incredibly brave, which was a trait men have historically been very possessive of. The text says she sat under a tree, named after her, and the entire nation brought her their problems to solve. This is the type of leader I want to be. Connected to God, wise, respected.

What does this story mean about the use of scripture to justify sexist ideas? We’ve all heard the claim that the Bible is an archaic sexist text. The inclusion of this story dismantles that idea. The other fierce warrior in this story is Jael. She stakes the bad guys face to the ground. Dang. So in every way, this story describes women as heroic, brave, capable and godly. Perdy awesome.

The Story, Chapter 7: Part 2

The major theme in this chapter has to be courage. “Be strong and courageous!” Did anyone notice how often this phrase pops up? It’s said at least 6 times in this one chapter. This is important because not having courage, not trusting, not having faith is why they’ve been wandering around in the desert for 40 years. Now that that’s behind them and they are getting ready to actually engage in God’s plan to obtain the Promise Land they need to be reminded constantly to stay strong, have courage, don’t be afraid, etc. So here they are, just about to cross the Jordan River and looking at the land that will soon be theirs. The problem is it’s already inhabited and the first city they’re going to have to fight to take the land is Jericho. Let’s look at Jericho from a few angles.

Jericho: The Problem
Have you ever been in a situation that scared the pudden’ out of you? Have you ever been in a situation in which you are absolutely positive there’s no chance you’ll come out unscathed? Have you ever gone through something (or maybe you are going through it right now) where the most common thought is “There’s no way I can do this”? This is the situation Israel is in. They are finally ready to go into the land God promised them and Jericho is right in the way. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. Some archaeologists put its origin at 9,000 B.C. The city itself isn’t very big (about 9 acres) and only had a few thousand people, but several things made the city very intimidating. Scripture says Jericho had men of valor. That means even though there weren’t very many, they knew how to fight. It’s possible that the people of Jericho were much bigger than the Israelites. Remember the spies who said there were giants in the land? Lastly, the most intimidating thing about Jericho was the wall. Technically, there were two walls. Jericho was built on a mound, or small hill. At the base of the hill was a wall about 6ft wide and 20ft high. Then 15ft further up the hill was another wall about 15ft wide and at least 30ft high. This is a problem. There’s a reason such a small town has existed for thousands of years. They know how to defend themselves, and everyone knows Jericho cannot be taken.

Jericho: The Plan
The normal means of taking a city like this would be to surround it and starve the people out then invade the city with siege ramps. The normal plan would take 6 months to a year. God’s plan was to take the city in about a week and involved no actual fighting. God’s plan was absolutely ridiculous: Walk around the city quietly once everyday for 6 days, then 7 times on the 7th day blowing horns, and then everyone yell and boom! Roasted. There’s really not much else to say about this. The clear point is…the plan is weird.

Jericho: The Purpose
Why do you think God threw out such a crazy plan for taking the city? Here’s something to think about: Israel had about 2million people with 600thousand in the army. Jericho had about 2 thousand people with maybe 500-600 eligible fighters. Maybe God designed such a ridiculous plan because even when things seem impossible we tend to rely on our own abilities and resources. “Oh no, I need to figure this out, I need to work harder, I need to overcome this, I need to…I need to…” I think God tells Israel to take the city this way to exaggerate the point that God is doing it. This plan requires total dependence on God, zero dependence on their own ability. With this plan the fact that they vastly outnumbered Jericho became pointless and there was no way they could claim credit for the victory. It is a misnomer to say Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, or even to say Israel fought the battle. They didn’t. They were just present when God did all the work.

Here’s another neat thought: the walls crumbling was not the most miraculous thing about this story. God spoke everything into existence, knocking down a wall is clearly nothing to him. The most amazing part of this story is that the Israelites were able to keep their mouths shut for six days. Think about how monumental that fact is. Since the day they left Egypt they have been complaining and doubting God. They cross the Red Sea, then Moses takes too long on the mountain so they complain and make an idol. They’re following a miraculous pillar of fire around in the desert and they complain that God led them out to let them die. God makes miraculous bread fall from sky every day and they complain that they don’t have meat. They get to the edge of the Promise Land and freak out because the people living there are taller than them, and so on and so on. They’ve been complaining and grumbling the entire time in the midst of miracles and divine providence. Now they are told to march around the hot desert every day for a week, and this is somehow supposed to win a huge battle…and they don’t say a word!

You would expect them to be murmuring things quietly to each other like:
-It’s too hot to do this.
-I’m too tired to march all the way around a city.
-Didn’t we just do this yesterday?
-How is this supposed to bring down a city?
-I think we should impeach Joshua.
-Isn’t this breaking the 10 commandments? What about the Sabbath?
But no, for the first time in over 40 years they simply shut up and obey. That trusting obedience was the key in Jericho falling. There was nothing special about the act of marching or playing trumpets or shouting. Hebrews 11:30 points out that it was “by faith the walls of Jericho fell”.

After this Israel goes on to take city after city until they had the land God promised. God continues to tell them over and over to be courageous and not to fear.

What does all this mean to us? When God asks you to do something it is often something bigger than you, and the way he wants you to do certain things is often not what most people would call logical. For example, I have known since high school God wants me to be in ministry. So joining the Marine Corps seemed like the least obvious ministry decision, especially enlisting in the infantry instead of commissioning as a chaplain. I doubted. I wondered if I was making some really wrong decisions and often thought I wasn’t hearing God’s voice correctly. Now that I’m on the backside of it I know that is exactly what God’s plan was.

You need to be reminded often to have courage and have faith. Towards the end of the chapter Joshua recounts everything that has happened in the last few years and issues an in-your-face challenge. He basically says, “Here’s everything God has done for us. Decide if you’re going to serve him whole-heartedly or not. If all this stuff doesn’t seem good enough, then go do whatever you like. But my family is going to serve God.” That is the exact same challenge before us today.