{"id":27562,"date":"2023-08-17T22:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-11_28-40-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-08-01T23:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T06:05:11","slug":"judges-12_1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/judges-12_1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Password?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judges 12:1-15 \u00a0 <\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 12:1-15.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 12:1-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0 In the book of Judges so far, the Ephraimites come across repeatedly as complainers.\u00a0 When Gideon defeated the Midianites, the Ephraimites complained as to why they did not participate more (Judges 8:1).\u00a0 When Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, the Ephraimites complained as to why Jephthah didn\u2019t involve them (Judges 12:1).\u00a0 They even call Jephthah and the Gileadites \u201cnothing but half-breeds and rejects from Ephraim and Manasseh\u201d (Judges 12:4, MSG).\u00a0 The Ephraimites would pay for their complaining and trash talking, as Jephthah decides to attack the Ephraimites.<\/p>\n

When we speak with complaining and abrasive words, we\u2019re asking for a fight.\u00a0 Instead, may we speak with gentleness and tact so as to avoid unnecessary trouble for ourselves and others.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judges 12:5-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.'” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0 Pronouncing \u201cShibboleth\u201d correctly was the password that Jephthah and the Gileadites used to make sure that no undercover Ephraimite would get past them, since Ephraimites had trouble pronouncing \u201cSh\u201d and would say \u201cSibboleth\u201d instead.\u00a0\u00a0Just as pronouncing one word meant the difference between life and death for the Ephraimites, so one word means the difference between life and death for us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That word is Jesus.<\/strong>\u00a0 Romans 10:9-10 says, \u201cif you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.\u00a0 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, including saying \u201cShibboleth\u201d, whether a person is able to say \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d has nothing to do with your cultural accent and everything to do with the condition of your heart.<\/p>\n

On the day that we stand before God, hoping to cross from earth to heaven, God will ask us what name we trust in order to cross over.\u00a0 If our answer is Jesus, God will mercifully let us in.\u00a0 If our answer is any other name then we\u2019ll locked out.\u00a0 For \u201cthere is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.\u201d (Acts 4:12)<\/p>\n

Judges 12:7-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in Gilead.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Ibzan died, and was buried in Bethlehem.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Elon died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-15:\u00a0 These verses list three judges that led Israel after Jephthah: Ibzan (v8-10), Elon (v11-12), and Abdon (v14-15).\u00a0 Abdon\u2019s sons and grandsons rode on donkeys (v14).\u00a0 I wonder if Elon\u2019s rode Teslas?\u00a0 In any event, notice that though Jephthah\u2019s reign only lasted 6 years and was shorter than the reigns of Ibzan, Elon and Abdon, the book of Judges gives Jephthah\u2019s story a much lengthier treatment.\u00a0 In the book of Judges we learn quite a bit about Jephthah\u2019s background, his victories and failures, his strengths and weaknesses, and as a result we are able to benefit more from Jephthah\u2019s life than the other judges about whom there are much fewer details.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a lesson here?\u00a0\u00a0If you want the generations after you to benefit from the stories and experiences of your life, don\u2019t be afraid to share them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Don\u2019t just share your success stories and strengths.\u00a0 Share your failures and weaknesses as well.\u00a0 You will help the next generations coming after you more by being open about your life than being silent.\u00a0 As we like to say at THRIVE, let\u2019s live out loud.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that when it comes to crossing from here to eternity, You give us the one word, the one name, that means life for us.\u00a0 Jesus, thank You for our password to heaven.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Judges 12:1-15.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Judges 12:1-4 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.”<\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0 In the book of Judges so far, the Ephraimites come across repeatedly as complainers.\u00a0 When Gideon defeated the Midianites, the Ephraimites complained as to why they did not participate more (Judges 8:1).\u00a0 When Jephthah defeated the Ammonites, the Ephraimites complained as to why Jephthah didn\u2019t involve them (Judges 12:1).\u00a0 They even call Jephthah and the Gileadites \u201cnothing but half-breeds and rejects from Ephraim and Manasseh\u201d (Judges 12:4, MSG).\u00a0 The Ephraimites would pay for their complaining and trash talking, as Jephthah decides to attack the Ephraimites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27562"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27565,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27562\/revisions\/27565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}