Me Too! Me Too!

Judges 12:1 - The 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."

Why would you want to kill someone who had just saved you from a common enemy? Did the Ephraimites just want to share in the glory of the victory? Did they not even consider what it might have cost them?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

The Lord Speaks

Judges 10:10-16 - Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals."

The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"

But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer.

I wonder if God spoke to a prophet or priest who in turn relayed the message to the people or if he spoke in the hearing of many people at once. Did he take on human form and speak "man to man," so to speak? Did he speak to a prophet in a dream? How many Israelites actually heard the message firsthand? Who spoke the words of complaint and of begging for help?

Even though God was tough on them because of their wicked disobedience in serving other gods, it's comforting to know that even God could only take so much abuse aimed at his chosen people and eventually came to their aid.

So it was then, so it is now.

When we wander off to serve other "gods" (or no gods at all), when God sees how much trouble we've gotten ourselves into, he still is willing to come to the aid of those who change and put their trust in him, and in his Son, Jesus. You'd be hard put to act as wickedly as some of those Israelites did, but even if you've been worse, God doesn't change and is ever so willing and pleased to have you back in his fold.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Zebah and Zalmunna

Judges 8:21 - Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.' " So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.

Was that really a dare? Did they think Gideon would back down? Pretty silly of them.

Why is it mentioned that Gideon took the ornaments off the camels' necks? Was there some special significance to that action?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Jether

Judges 8:18-20 - Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"
"Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince."

Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

If Jether was only a boy, I wonder why he was there with his father, Gideon, just after a battle. Had he participated in some way in the battle? It doesn't look like he killed anyone in battle or he probably wouldn't have been afraid to do so at this time.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Succoth and Peniel

Judges 8:4-9 - Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"

Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."

From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Succoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."

I wonder why these cities wouldn't help Gideon. Why were they so selfish? Were they too poor?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Gideon the Barley Loaf

Judges 7:13-14 - Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed."

His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands."

I wonder what else Gideon had done to make his name known to the Midianites. Somehow word got around that he was the new leader and one to be feared.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

The Oak in Ophrah

Judges 6:11 - The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

Was there only 1 oak tree in Ophrah? Were oaks rare in those days? Are they rare in Israel today? Was it the largest oak in the area?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Deborah and Barak Sing

Judges 5:1 - On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song....

I wonder if someone wrote the song for them. Or did they collaborate on the lyrics and/or music? Did they sing in unison? In parts? Antiphonally? To each other? Was it extemporaneous or planned? Ex corde or written down?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Shamgar

Judges 3:31 - After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Why? How? Where? When? How long? Why bother? Is that all?

Don't sweat the details, I guess.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Keys

Judges 3:24-25 - After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

I wonder who first invented keys and locks. I wonder if these key-lock combinations resemble any of those we have today.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Adoni-Bezek

Judges 1:7 - Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

Assuming Adoni-Bezek wasn't exaggerating, I wonder who the 70 kings were. Were they from the 70 closest city-kingdoms to Bezek? Did they include more than one generation of rulers? Were some of them from far away?

Did Adoni-Bezek have 70 kingdoms under his control all at once? How many people did he rule at the height of his power and influence? Was he famous enough to be mentioned in other histories?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Replicating the Altar

Joshua 22:9-34 - So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. With him they sent ten of the chief men, one for each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.

When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: "The whole assembly of the LORD says: 'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the LORD and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the LORD! And are you now turning away from the LORD ?
" 'If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the LORD's land, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the LORD our God. When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.' "

Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: "The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day. If we have built our own altar to turn away from the LORD and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD himself call us to account.

"No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the LORD.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.

"That is why we said, 'Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.' On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD.'

"And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.'

"Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle."

When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, "Today we know that the LORD is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the LORD in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the LORD's hand."

Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.

And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God.

I wonder who told the Israelite leaders about the construction of the altar replica.

It sounds like the altar was built on the west side of the Jordan -- "on the Israelite side." I wonder why the 2.5 tribes didn't built it on their side -- the east side. Wouldn't that have been a better location to point to for the generations to come?

I'm surprised whenever I read this at how the Jordan is considered a major obstacle. It's as if a country or people can't exist on both sides at once and still be considered united. I understand that there were no bridges, but still....

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Half of Manasseh

Joshua 13:6-7 - Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.

I wonder how they decided which of the people of Manasseh settled on the east side of the Jordan River with Reuben and Gad and which people crossed the river to settle in their allotted land on the west side.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Stop the Sun

Joshua 10:12-14 - On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
"O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."

So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!

It would seem, based on what science tells us today, that it was the Earth that actually stopped rotating for about a day. That would have given the perceived effect of the sun stopping "in the middle of the sky."

The Moon also would have stopped revolving around the Earth for the same period of time.

I wonder if these were the only 2 heavenly bodies that God put the brakes on. Did he actually stop the whole universe for a day?

I wonder if there are any other accounts of this day in other cultures' histories (besides the Book of Jashar). Halfway around the world it would have been night for the same length of time. As amazing as the extra daylight was in the one hemisphere, I imagine it would have been at least as terrifying in the other.

If only the Earth and Moon were affected, I wonder if God used some "natural" occurrence -- like the passing of another large heavenly body -- to bring about the delay in the motion of the Earth and Moon. It almost seems more likely that he just told everything to "freeze" for a day.