- Judges 12 Daily DEVO They said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. Judges 12:6 – Congratulations men of Israel, you killed 42,000 men of your enemy….which was another tribe of Israel. Don’t mistake your brethren for your enemy. Our true enemy has a special way of making it seem like the people we are to draw close to are the very ones that we should keep away. Make sure you’re looking over those deceptions and seeing who really is the one that we should be pushing away. Your enemy is not another person, your enemy is Satan. Stop throwing attacks of any kind at people, especially if they are another Christian. We should be building each other up, not tearing down. Seek out today how you may have been focusing your attacks on the wrong enemy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 592
- Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” Judges 12:4 – I have a note in my Bible I apparently wrote a while ago that told me to compare this passage to Judges 8:1-3. There we see Ephraim once again coming to the judge at that time asking why they weren’t invited to the battle. In chapter 8 the judge listens and reacts calmly and Ephraim does the mostly the same. As a result the tension was calmed and everyone left at peace. Here though the opposite happens. As a result of how everyone reacted, we see thousands slaughtered. How you choose to react and respond to the frustrations of others can either led to life or death. You can even push someone away from wanting Jesus or attract them to Him. Choose to listen well, respond thoughtfully, and react as Jesus would. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1795
- The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. Judges 12:1-2 – Jephthah had won the victory over his enemies, yet when home the tribe of Ephraim confronted him and complained that they weren’t invited to help with the battle. Yet, as we see here, they were invited but refused to help. Ephraim refused to offer aid in battle when asked, but when the battle was through, they complained they weren’t invited to the battle. See here the worthlessness and divisiveness of complaining. Tribes were divided, thousands lost their lives, and God was not honored because of complaining. Whether it’s with the Israelites in the wilderness or even amongst Jesus disciples, complaining is never spotlighted as something holy, but always something improper to do that leads to even more sin. Let us instead choose to be grateful for what God has blessed us with rather than being vocal about the things we do not have. For no matter our current situation, God is still a blessing giver, and our lives are deeply blessed by Him. Feel free to bring your desires before the Lord and share those with Him, but don’t exist in a heart of complaint, discontent always with the state of your life. No one, not even you, will be better off existing with a heart of complaint. Choose to thank the Lord even for the smallest of things, and likely you will discover once you begin thanking Him you will never find an end to all the blessings He has poured out into your story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2868
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