Tagged: Bible Study

“Whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord. I shall offer him up as a holocaust.” –Judges 11:31 In our secular humanistic society, we are rather ignorant concerning spiritual power. Many ancient peoples were in some ways more advanced than we are in regard to spiritual realities. Jephthah knew what few people in our society realize: that there was exceptional power in taking a vow to offer a human sacrifice (see Jgs 11:30-31). When he took this vow, he defeated the Ammonites in...

“Must I give up…?” –Judges 9:9, 11, 13 In Jotham’s story, three trees were asked to lead the other trees (Jgs 9:8ff). All three trees declined to serve because they would have had to give up what was most precious about themselves. Jotham’s story teaches us that: Love, leadership, and service mean sacrifice. The Lord calls us to sacrifice not only little things but the most important aspects of our lives – indeed, our very selves. A refusal to sacrifice hurts others greatly and will eventually destroy us. “Whoever would save his life will lose it” (Lk 9:24). Jesus was...

“The last shall come first.” –Matthew 19:30 The Israelites were oppressed externally by the nation of Midian, and internally by their own idolatry. Joash the Abiezrite, father of Gideon, had built an altar to an idol (Jgs 6:25), as well as a sacred pole used in idol worship. God called the fearful Gideon to deliver Israel from Midianite oppression (Jgs 6:14). When Gideon assembled a large army, God told him, “You have too many soldiers with you for Me to deliver Midian into [your] power” (Jgs 7:2). So God told Gideon to send the fearful men home, which reduced the...

“If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” –Matthew 19:17 All people, including atheists, do what God wants much of the time, but that doesn’t mean all people obey God. Even the most rebellious children often do what their parents want, but that doesn’t mean they’re obeying their parents. Doing the right thing because it benefits us is different than doing the right thing in obedience to the Lord. The Israelites at the time of the Judges did what God wanted, but didn’t have hearts for obedience. They proved this by their relapse into wicked conduct after each...

“Be filled with the Spirit.” –Ephesians 5:18 At our Baptisms, we became the temples of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18; see also Acts 2:4). Paul taught that those filled with the Holy Spirit do the following four things. They: address “one another in psalms and hymns and inspired songs” (Eph 5:19), “sing praise to the Lord” (Eph 5:19) in their hearts, “give thanks to God the Father always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20), and “submit to one another out of fear of...