Judges 12 Bible Study (Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim/Ibzan Elon & Abdon) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Amen. Meet me in your Bibles, please, in the book of Judges, chapter 12. So most of the church was here. That's good, because this chapter is just a continuation of the man that we studied last week. And we unpacked last week one of the darkest chapters in the book of judges, and arguably one of the most disturbing scenes in the entire And after analyzing both sides of the argument of whether or not this man Jephthah actually sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering, we came to the conclusion that it actually did happen.

It wasn't metaphorical. It wasn't spiritual. It was literal, which breaks our hearts for many reasons. And it was encouraging after the Bible study to hear people's comments about this study and how it intrigued them to see the principles behind it. But, at the same time, there were two common questions that kept servicing.

And, I wanna address those questions to provide even greater clarity on that situation before we move on into this chapter. Here is one of them. If the vow was for his daughter to be actually sacrificed, then how could it be that God would give this man a victory like he did? You understand the question. Right?

Look back at Judges 11 verse 31, and notice that this is when he makes this negotiation with God, only for it to be followed in verse 32. So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. Now, we think to ourselves, God, wouldn't you have at least rebuked him? Wouldn't you have stepped into the scene and be like, this is an unlawful thing that you asked of me? Or wouldn't you have at least not made him succeed so that he can return to you and get clarification for why the battle did not come into his hand?

These are vital questions. These are important questions. Does anybody have a potential answer to why the Lord would give victory? Why would God allow this? It was his will.

It was his will? Sure. It was his will. God did it. It says, the Lord gave victory into his hand.

But let's be even more specific. What was his desire out of this? Perhaps to teach him the seriousness of foolish vows. That's another good point as well, to teach him the seriousness of foolish vows. Okay.

Did you hear that? If I may reword it, but you got it. I believe the answer is this, is that despite the foolish vow that Jeff made, God wanted to bring deliverance to his nation. God wanted to bring a miracle for his people, and we have reason to believe that this is why he answered Jephthah's cry, is because he's done this before. God has done this before.

So we remember the story of the wilderness where Moses is leader of the nation of Israel, and on many occasions, Moses was a vessel that brought about practical needs for the people that were wandering in a desert. And after a a time of great wandering where the people were physically thirsty, not the first time, but the second time, God told Moses to do what? To the rock. He did that the first time. What was the second time?

Speak. Moses, I want you to tell the rock to yield up water, and the people will receive what they need in this moment. Now in Numbers 20 verse 11, we get Moses' response to God's command. And you know the story very well, that Moses lifted up his hand, he didn't speak. What did he do?

He hit the rock twice. And here's the amazing part. You read verse 10, you realize that the equation was clear. You speak to the rock, water will come out. Moses doesn't listen to the equation.

He does it his own way out of his own frustration. And what happens? What happens? We would think that because he struck it, that nothing would happen. That God did not provide the miracle.

But what does happen? Verse 11 tells us, water came out abundantly. Water came out abundantly, and who drank? The congregation drank and their livestock. God, why would you answer disobedience?

Because God had someone in view here. There was a people, there was a nation that was actually thirsting and in his mercy, here's a lesson from this picture, God was willing to use an imperfect vessel to perform his will for the sole purpose of blessing his people. And God will do that today. Does that mean he will bless the disobedient vessel? No.

What do we learn about this incident later on in numbers? Who doesn't go to the promised land because of this? Moses. So we can't think for a moment, Oh, I can live in disobedience and God will still answer my prayers. That's a terrible way of viewing this text.

No. If you're in a leadership position like Jephthah and Moses were, even if you're walking in disobedience Here's a second lesson from this. Even if you choose to walk in disobedience, God might still use you to bless people, not necessarily to bless you. Think about this. This is a terrifying thing.

This is an encouraging thing, number one, because God is exceedingly merciful. Here's where it's terrible. That God was willing to use a man who clearly was in rebellion. Meaning what? You blessing people with your ministry or your gifting is not the indicator that you're walking right with God.

That's why there can be people in worship teams that are living in adultery, and people can still cry when they sing. That's why preachers can get up there for years living in secret sin, and people still be blessed by their messages, only for a scandal to come out. People wonder where they really say that Listen. God knows, but here's one thing, that maybe even what they brought about was true, and you were blessed by it, doesn't negate the fact that it was a true blessing from God, even from a vessel that was not clean before God. Think about that.

Happened with Moses, happened with Jephthah. So I hope that answers the first question. Here is the second question. Now, if Jephthah had made an unlawful vow, did he have the opportunity to break that promise if he had figured out that it was wrong? So we read here that he made this vow, God brings about victory, and would it be possible that between this battle scene and him going home, it dawned on him, oh, yeah.

God doesn't want human sacrifices. Many use this, this story, to hammer the point that if you're gonna make a vow to God, you're gonna keep it no matter what. There is a principle there, but I don't think this story is the best one to use to drive that point. Why? Because God doesn't expect you to keep a promise where you are bound to committing further sin because of that promise.

So if a person comes up to me and says, brother, guess what? I I told God that if I were to get a promotion by his grace, that I would divorce my wife as a result, and I'm gonna fulfill that promise, I'd be like, what bible are you reading? And which God did you pray to? Because God doesn't want you to further disobedience, to continue or commit greater sin just because it's in the form of a promise. He's not a vending machine.

God has standards. And so we have to understand this, if Jephthah had made this promise, which he did, and then said to himself, Lord, I'm gonna break this promise, there would have been license. And that's not mere opinion. If there's a place to turn to, turn to Leviticus chapter five. And I want you to see something in Leviticus chapter five, where there is a specific law that deals with this issue, and this is the beauty of the totality of the word of God.

In verse four of Leviticus chapter five, notice this, if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear and it is hidden from him, When he comes to know it and he realizes his guilt in any of these Now let's just stop there. So notice here, this is a law that deals with something with that you do with your lips. If you make a rash promise, if you make an oath to God, and it is hidden from you what's hidden from you? That it is one, either impossible to fulfill, or it was unlawful to make in the first place, then there is a way out. There is a legal way.

It's not This idea that just because you made a promise to God, what you're gonna pay for even though you're gonna commit greater sin, that's not right according to this. Why? Look at verse five. What was supposed to be done? When he realizes his guilt, so the the guilt there is making a thoughtless promise or negotiation with God.

God, I'm gonna go to battle. Give me victory and I'll sacrifice my daughter and the author. That is a guilty thing in itself. For you to do that is a crime to even consider that God would approve of such a thing. Does that make sense?

So what is he supposed to do? He confesses the sin. This was a wrong oath. This was a wrong vow. What is he supposed to do?

Verse six tells us. He shall bring to the Lord, as a compensation for the sin that he had committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. So let's just replay the scenario with Jephthah. He wins the battle, he made a promise that he would sacrifice his daughter.

If it was revealed to him, it was no longer hidden to him, and he he knew now the guilt in just negotiating this settlement with God, then he could have done what? Instead of sacrificing his daughter, he could have made a sin offering, and we would never have chapter 11. It would have been a whole different thing. And not just that, he would had a lineage, because he cut off his lineage because of his sacrifice. What does this do in light of our last week's study?

It reinforces the truth that Jephthah, as much as he was knowledgeable about the history of Israel coming into the promised land, he did not know how God received worship. He was ignorant in the arena of the sacrificial system, and it proved. And just the fact that he even offered such a thing, and the fact that he didn't even know that he can break that vow and receive atonement for him because it was rash. And so here's the answer, could Jephthah have reversed his promise according to this text? Yes.

Yes. But because of his ignorance, and because there is ignorance, deception came in, clouded his judgment, and adopted the idea, because of his neighboring nations, that you could make sacrifices like this to God. He made a terrible mistake that he can never reverse. That he can never change. Now, hopefully those answers help.

But now, we're gonna continue in chapter 12 to unpack further Jetha, and his character, and his calling. So we read in verse one. The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed Azaphan, 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. You've been with us for these past few weeks.

And right from verse one of chapter 12, you should be arrested by similarity, because we've seen this before. Where have we seen this? Where have we seen this? Where have we seen this tribe make such a similar comment in the past? Anybody know?

Gideon. Go back to Judges eight and look at verse one of Judges eight. This is after Gideon's victory. And what are we told? Would you know it?

And the men of Ephraim said to him, what is this that you have done to us? Not to call us when you went to fight against Midian, and they accused him fiercely. Bible's trying to highlight something to us, guys. The Holy Spirit wants us to see the character of this tribe, because now we are seeing a pattern. They're displaying a kind of reputation.

And what if Ibrahim is proving is that they were a people that craved the spotlight. They were those that wanted a slice of the praise that men receive when they do great exploits for God. And these men were agitated because they felt like they were robbed of the opportunity not to exalt God, but to be exalted. And so they begin to now turn on this man and begin to threaten him. Now, what's the point of this?

You and I are supposed to read this and see just how pathetic and childish it is. That's why it's written in there. For you and I to see how low it looks when a person or a people are dominated by pride. When they're dominated by conceit, and arrogance, and envy, and jealousy. But notice something else.

Now here's bible study, so we're going bible. I want you to compare judges eight one in your bibles, and flip over to judges twelve one. Tell me a difference. Show me a difference between Judges eight one and Judges twelve one, and when you see it, you can announce it. Same question, but what do you see that's different?

Anybody catch it yet? Somebody's nodding their head. What is it? Yes. Did you see it?

Did you hear it? In judges eight, this tribe accused Gideon fiercely. In judges 12, they threatened to burn his house down. What's happening here? Something is intensifying.

And this is the lesson. When you don't deal with the pride in your heart, and arrogance is abiding in your spirit unchallenged, it will grow to be more destructive for yourself and for others. Do you understand? When you have arrogance in your heart, envy in your heart, jealousy in your heart, because your pride is assaulted, it will become more destructive for the relationships around you, and for your own life. And for your own life.

This is what we're we're seeing here. They went from accusing, to now threatening physically to actually kill a man. We'll burn your house down. Woah. Woah.

Woah. Woah. Woah. And we think this is extreme, but let me tell you this, because of people's pride, they burned down ministries. They burned every relationship, at least a godly one that they had.

They burned businesses. They burned their future down because of that pride. You know, the new King James puts it this way in Proverbs twenty eight twenty five. Listen to this. You don't have to turn there.

He who is proud in heart stirs up strife. He was proud in his heart stirs up strife. You know what that means? A person that has pride is a troublemaker. What you and I are gonna discover in chapter 12 is that there's about to be a civil war.

And you're gonna hear at least four reasons to why there are civil wars in God's house. And here's one of them. Arrogance, jealousy, insecurities, are familiar causes for conflict in Christ's church. Nothing will turn a people against another person or people more than self centeredness. Because when a person is so motivated to elevate themselves, they will bring down others if they stand in their way.

And pride does not just create wars between the saints. You ready for this? If pride continues on its destructive path, destroying churches, dividing people, causing leaders to have heartache, then who else is gonna step on the scene to do war? Guess who? Tell me.

God? God. He gives grace to the humble, but what does he do with the proud? He opposes them. You know the Greek word for oppose is a military term?

It's to set up rank. It's to actually call your troops ready to go to war, and that's a Greek word used for oppose, when James says that God opposes the proud. What was the threat here? Hey, Jephthah. Because you didn't call us, we're ready to put a TNT to your house while you're having dinner to blow you to smithereens.

We're bringing your house down. You wanna hear what God's word says about the proud? Listen to this, in Proverbs fifteen twenty five. I want you to see it in your bibles. You're gonna see it up there.

What does God do with the proud? They said, we're gonna burn your house down. Look what God says about those who have a conceited spirit. The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow's boundaries. So you wanna you wanna burn down the ministry because you didn't get the spotlight.

Or you you wanna tear down others because you yourself were not uplifted in the way you wanted to be uplifted. Guess what? Continue that long enough. We'll not only make war between the saints, God will come in and deal with you directly. What a terrifying scripture.

So they're saying, we're gonna deal with your house, and God says, I'll deal with yours afterwards. I don't mind Satan opposing me. I don't mind Christians opposing me. I don't mind family opposing me. I don't mind the government opposing me.

I don't mind the police opposing me. There's one person I mind opposing me. The Lord himself. Because if I'm on his side and he's on my side, it doesn't matter who stands against me. But if he is against me, it doesn't matter who's on my side.

Put all the armies of the earth, read Revelation 19 and see how that turns out. All the armies with their advanced technologies and their soldiers by the millions, and God comes not with a nuke. He doesn't come with anything but his breath, and they all blow up in smithereens. I think I wanna be on his side. And so, pride.

You wanna know a reason for civil wars in the church? That kind of a spirit that rests in a person's bosom and doesn't go on, doesn't go on challenge, is not brought before God so that he can uproot it. So what happens? We read here, verse two. 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. And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me? He's like, Hey. God brought the victory.

Are you failing to see that this is God glorifying himself through this? And two, why are you coming against me when it's the Lord who is the one that brought about this glorious thing? But here's the problem. When somebody is so riddled with pride, they don't care if God gets glory. They want glory.

They want praise. They can't look at another ministry and celebrate that souls are being won because they want their church to have souls won. So that they can have more people in their church, and they can have a bigger offering. When you look at a gifted person that sings and a person has pride, instead of celebrating that God has deposited such a gift to edify the church, they are angry because they think they're better and they believe they need that chance. Whatever it is, a person that has this kind of a heart cannot see God being exalted, cannot praise God for it.

And Jephthah reminds him of something. He says, oh, by the way, I did call you. Now what's amazing is because we see Ephraim approach Gideon and Jephthah the same way, we have this false understanding perhaps that Jephthah is gonna answer the same way Gideon did. Remember how Gideon answered? He was like, hey, nobody's like you guys.

Oh, look, we did this small thing, you guys have done this. And he just appeases them, and he gives them what they wanna hear, and he's he just kind of pets their ego. Jeff, that wouldn't have it. And it is true that oftentimes, a slow answer does turn away wrath, but there are other times where you and I have to head on confront a brother or sister sin or sinful attitude, lest they continue in that pattern. Here's the problem, Jephthah does confront it but he goes too far.

He goes too far, and we're gonna find that out in a moment. But I want you to see this. He calls them, and if this is true, we have no reason to believe that it's not true, even though it's not a recorded incident. Then the the other question is, why in the world didn't they answer? Like, you're you're proving to be angry because you weren't invited, apparently.

Jeff is reminding you, no, no, no, no. I did invite you. And so we think to ourselves, then what's going on here? And here's a conclusion that we can make. These people were not really interested in serving God's people.

They were interested in one thing, sharing in the glory. And they were agitated when they were not sharing in the praise. Whether they were afraid to go to war, or whether they didn't believe that Jephthah can actually bring about this victory, it is not sure. But one thing is certain about this tribe, they were chronic complainers. Chronic complainers.

So if you invited them, they would have found a reason to complain. If you didn't invite them, they would still be bold enough to confront you about it. It's like, damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Now, do we think for a moment that this kind of an attitude was only reserved for this time in history amongst God's people? Or is that a is that a heart posture that's alive in many congregations today?

I'm seeing a lot of heads nod. What's the point? It's an attitude that makes a person always feel like a victim. This is the kind of heart posture that always makes you feel like you're a victim, when there is no basis for such a criticism. If you want the spotlight on you, if it's your world and we're all living in it, you're always gonna feel like a victim.

It's an attitude that sees spiritual leadership and good hearted servants of God as enemies, because they seem to be standing in the way of what you want. It's an attitude that won't give unless they are rewarded with some kind of a thing that will satisfy their carnal itch. That's what this is about. This isn't about them having an opportunity to serve the Lord. This is about them not having their pride satisfied.

And Jephthah is calling them out for it. He's like, I invited you. Why didn't you come? You thought, what? You didn't want to do the dirty work?

You you thought this wasn't gonna actually happen. So why are you complaining? It's a good question. We might admire this man's boldness, but here's the issue. He allows himself to go to the other extreme where he shows no mercy whatsoever.

How do we know that? Compare Jephthah's response to this tribe, to how he deals with the Ammonites, who are his actual enemies. You ready? Let's go to judges 11. Let's do a recap.

Look at verse 12. This is after Jephthah was recruited as a leader for the nation, and the first thing that he does, he's diplomatic, and he wants to to to bring peace before there is a sword. Look what he does in verse 12. Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, and said, what do you have against me that you have come to me to fight against my land? In verse 13, the enemy answers.

They answer with a false basis for them setting up their troops against the Israelites. And then what is what is Jephthah do? Look what he does in verse 14. In verse 14, we are told, Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the ammonites, and begins to explain, hoping that after the second time, the people of the ammonites would hear it, and then retreat, and not seek war. What does he do with his own brethren?

We read go to Judges 12, that they come, they threaten him. Verse two and three, as we just read, he answers them. Now look at what he does. After he answers them in verse four, then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. Do you see what's happening?

Jephthah did not even wait for an answer from them. He was willing to do it with the Ammonites. He's willing to be patient, and slow, and understanding, but when it came to his own brothers, he did not even give them a chance to clarify, and he's ready to slaughter them. What a terrifying picture of how believers are willing to treat their own no better or even worse than they would the world. Not that we should treat the world with anything less than love, but the scriptures demand that we treat our own with a higher priority than anybody else in this world.

And if you look at it in the opposite spectrum, how true is it that extension of kindness, forgiveness, acts of sacrifice, and love in a practical way, are so common from non believers, and so foreign or inconsistent from believers. I've heard it more than once, and we should never hear it once in our lifetime. But it breaks my heart when I hear somebody who's either a baby Christian or not a Christian at all, that will condemn the integrity of a professing Christian, only to go further and compare that professing Christian with a non believer who has greater character and integrity. That should never be the case. That should never be the case.

Where a non believer, unregenerate person can display apparent fruits of the Holy Spirit in greater ways than professing Christian? How can that be? How can the world be more sacrificing in laying down their lives for practical needs, and the church isn't? So what we're seeing here is a failure of a man to live up to the call of uniting the brethren. He's willing to deal with the the world differently, but when it comes to his own, he he can't spare.

He he can't forgive. He can't be as patient. And we are in danger of doing the same thing today. So what happens? He gathers an army.

He's ready to go to war with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim. Now look at this verse four. Because they said, you are fugitives of Ephraim, eugiladites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh. Now, so far, you have heard at least two things. Two reasons why.

There are divisions, there are split relationships, there's heartache between believers in the church. Number one, because somebody has pride. Somebody's selfish. They have their own ambitions, and they want to bulldoze over everybody and everything, so they can have what they want. That's gonna cause problems.

Number two, because like Jephthah, we are unwilling to make peace a priority, because we are so offended and gripped by somebody's lack of love, that we what do we do? Return lack of love. But here's a third reason. The Holy Spirit. We've just seen those two reasons, but the Holy Spirit now, he wants to highlight the main reason why this civil war breaks out.

He's about to show the main motivation for bloodshed in Israel with Israelites. It's because of three words, because they said. Ephraim said to Jephthah, who is from the tribe of the people of Gilead, and they said, as you're fugitives, like you you guys are criminals. And because of that offensive word, the Holy Spirit says, this is why war breaks out. Let me ask you, how many times have there been wars in the church because someone said?

There are people who don't come to services because someone said something and they're gonna show up to the same service, but because they said it, I'm not gonna show up and worship God. Because someone said something, I'm not gonna come to this church anymore. Because someone said something, whenever they set at one table, I'm gonna set the opposite table. Do do you see what I'm saying? And here's what we have to learn from this.

That apparently, Gilead was so offended, like, this is the main reason. Threat to burn down my house, that was a serious thing, but when you call us fugitives, you're calling our people, our you're calling us that? Take up your sword and may the best men win. So how do we evade that? Because listen, if you live long enough as a Christian, you're gonna realize that Christians talk.

There's no license for that. That's not God's will, but it's the reality. People are gonna say things about you. Do you wanna know how you can guarantee that people will speak about you more and more in your Christian journey? I can give you a guarantee.

If you want to invite it in your life, do this. Stand up for God's word no matter what. Stand on your convictions more than tradition. Stand on God's wisdom more than man's wisdom, and watch how the comments will come a flood. So what are you gonna do?

Are you gonna fight with every person that says something about you? And you'd be amazed to know how things get around, guys. Things get around. There's a proverb there in Ecclesiastes. It says, be careful what you say in your heart, for a bird might hear you in your room and take what you said to the king.

You know what that means? You'd be shocked to know that your little private conversation, how it's gonna become public very fast and very quick. And so, you will hear things, people will speak against you, people will comment on you, people will criticize you. What are you gonna do? Have a civil war every single time?

Confront every single person? Come to the leadership, they're saying this about me, now they're saying this. Now, there is a time to confront it, but it requires discretion and wisdom in order for the sake of your own sanity and peace and fruitfulness, where you have to learn how to do this one simple thing that the bible teaches, overlook an offense. Overlook an offense. The scriptures teaches us in so many occasions.

I want you to see this in Ecclesiastes seven twenty one. If you don't believe that this is a wise thing, Solomon, that wise king, in his book of Ecclesiastes, says this in verse 21 of Ecclesiastes seven. Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Don't be one of those people that continually investigate to wonder what people think about you, and if they think you're spiritual, and if they like your personality. You keep that digging and you'll realize that not everybody likes you.

Not everybody thinks you're the best preacher. You have one person that thinks you're like the next Charles Spurgeon, you have another person that says, I don't know why he yells so much. Don't go around digging and figure out what do people think about me, because you're gonna find out some disappointing things. And here's the reality. If you wanna guarantee heaviness, depression, fear, anxiety, a slavish mentality, take to heart everything somebody says to you or about you.

And so there is a call as believers to not even have to confront every single person that might have said something about you, even if it was sinful. There is great wisdom in saying, oh, somebody said so and so about me. Oh, it's okay. And move on. If you don't learn how to do that, you're gonna add grief to your life.

You're gonna add grief and faithfulness to God as it become a difficult and joyless experience. And just in case you are one of those people that are hypersensitive, and unless everybody on earth loves you, or at least on on the minimum thinks you're an okay person, and you can't stand the idea of somebody having something against you. Now if you've done something, you should seek to correct it. You should, even with your critics, examine yourself to say, hey, maybe they have something right. Even your worst critics might be a blessing in disguise.

Understood? But if you are one of those people that, oh, I need to live that everybody would sing my praises, here's what he says in the next verse to humble you in that thought process. Look at verse 22. Your heart knows God's about to blow the cover on you. Your heart knows that many times you have cursed others.

So before you become so sensitive and so holy because somebody said some thoughtless careless thing about you, realize that in your own heart you have criticized many. Haven't you? And so the Lord is saying here, if you have any motivation to just move on, and stop living this way, realize that if your heart had volume, you said a lot of things about other people. So move on. Very humbling, isn't it?

It's freeing as well. This chapter would have looked much different if the Gileadites had applied this principle. You guys are fugitives. Okay. See you?

Like, that's it. I'm not gonna fight about this. I'm a fugitive. What's your deal? We told you the situation, we clarified the scenario, you didn't buy it.

We're not gonna fight about this. I'm not gonna give you a hint of my attention. I'm gonna continue to obey God. Proverbs 17 verse 14. The beginning of a strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

Picture with me a giant dam. You know those structures that hold back a body of water, but those structures are high as buildings? Now with this giant dam, I want you to see a small little town that's just a few miles away. What do you have? Here's the picture.

A hole that's leaking water out of this dam. And it seems small, you know in your heart that this isn't a good thing for a dam, and so you think, yeah, I I could give attention to this immediately, but what is the potential danger if I don't? And here's the potential danger. That as that hole is greater aggravated or ignored, it can crack, and it could create a tsunami of flood that would be catastrophic for that little town. Is it not?

And that is the picture this proverb gives about strife in community that's undealt with. That if you know somebody's saying something and there's agitation, extinguish the thing. Don't fuel it. Don't add to it, less other people will pay for it. It's amazing that we think that this is just, like, you would be amazed to know how much in the scriptures, not just in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, but even in the New Testament is given to this, for the sake of avoiding civil wars amongst God's people.

Do you want an example? Look at Philippians four verse two. It's an amazing verse because it's so simple, so practical. We read over because we want something filled with meat. Here's something to consider and to chew on.

Look what Paul says to the Philippian church. He doesn't speak to them generally. Now he hones into two women in the church in Philippians four two. And he says, I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. And then he moves on with his teaching.

Do you see what he's saying here? He speaks to two people that he knows of this church that are having some kind of a disagreement, and he doesn't take sides. He says, quit it. Enough. Stop ignoring each other when you come to church.

Stop giving each other dirty looks. Stop thinking that you're always right and you're always holy. Stop thinking that your answer is the only answer, find an agreement or agree to disagree on the matter, and move on. Why? Because even from something as small as this, a civil war can break out.

Don't believe me? What happens? What happens when there are two people that have a disagreement with one another? Well, you let that thing live long enough, and people start taking sides. Right?

Oh, you wouldn't believe what you ought to say to me. I said this, and she didn't agree with me. Oh, no way. And then now you have another person in your army. And then, Yodia is saying something else to another group of people and they're joining her.

And so what do you have? You have two different platoons within the church that are giving each other dirty looks, that are not willing to fellowship with each other, that have these unjustified reasons to condemn them in their hearts. And Paul says, okay, there's a crack in the dam, we're not gonna make this into a flood, quit it. That'd be a good message, wouldn't it? Quit it?

A title for a message, at least. And so one other reason for unnecessary bloodshed in God's holy nation is this right here. Not being able to overlook a word or an offense. You know what the scripture says? You want another one to really boost you in this area?

Look at Proverbs nineteen eleven. I love this scripture. I love this scripture. He says here, good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. It's his glory.

Like, you wanna know what God considers glorious in a man's life? Praiseworthy, majestic, beautiful, spellbounding? When a Christian is offended, his reputation is assaulted, he's attacked verbally, and he goes, oh, okay, and moves on. God deems that glorious. We think it's glorious to confront every single person with everything that they say.

God says, no. With wisdom and discretion, there is a time to confront, especially when there's a pattern or a habit that's creating rumors and division. But there are times when people just say things, they pop a thing, and you're just like, whatever. And you just move on with life. God says, glorious.

Glorious. Now we come back to chapter 12. And we're about to read something really, really interesting. It's so unique and is pregnant with practical truths. And and is pregnant with practical truths.

So they go to war because they said. Now look at verse five. And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against Daphramites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, let me go over. The men of Gilead said to him, are you an Ephraimite?

When he said, no. Then they said to him, then say Shebaaleth. And he said, Sibboleth. For he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized them, slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan.

At that time, 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. So Ephraim the tribe of Ephraim realized that they were losing this battle. So they're ready to head home. But the only crosswalk, the only border is to cross through the Jordan River, and Gilead thought ahead of them, and they go and they set up a roadblock. And not only do they set up a roadblock, knowing that these men of Ephraim might change their outfits, and their brothers in blood so they even look similar, they they wanted to create a password.

And not a password in the way you think when you get on your phone, but a password that would reveal their identity. And this would be the password. Because they knew that they were of a specific tribe, just like in Middle Eastern culture, you have Arabs from different countries and they they say different words differently. Their dialect or their accent reveals from where they're from. You can discover where a person is in The Middle East from, just based on their accent.

Correct? I'm seeing people nod their heads. This is the same principle. And this is what they knew about the tribe of Ephraim. They could not pronounce, They couldn't they couldn't use the word, they couldn't put the word s and h beside each other.

So they came up with the word shibboleth, which is not an invented word, it means stream. And they said, okay, this is what we're gonna do. They're they're clearly retreating and going back home. Let's set up roadblock, and let's ask them if they can say shibboleth. And if they can't, we'll kill them.

And so what would you have? You would have a person from this tribe approach, and they put their weapons away so they look like normal civilians, and they're having this dialogue. You know, we just came to cross the Jordan to visit some extended family, and said, oh, great. Where are you from? Oh, and they would give a different tribe, and they said, you're not from the tribe of Ephraim?

Oh, no, no, no. Then say Shiblet. And this person nervously goes, Sibboleth. He goes, nice try. Take him, kill him.

42,000 men died. 42,000 men died because of a word that could not be said correctly. You think that is ridiculous? And I'm here to tell you that many civil wars are happening in churches today because of modern shibboleths. And what do I mean?

Was being able to pronounce shibboleth of great importance in life? No. And I argue today that in the church, there are Christians turning against one another, and even dividing assemblies on matters that are non essential. Warring over traditional differences, and battling over personal beliefs that hold no importance. Little to no importance in the life of the church.

Modern day shibboleths. In God's holy nation, which the church is called in the New Testament, you have people that are unnecessarily being placed in different tribes because of shibboleths. Do you think the new testament church had this issue? We have this idea we say to ourselves, we need to go back to the book of acts. We need to be the church of the book of acts.

And I say, amen, but up to chapter five, please. Because you get to chapter five, and guess what? If you showed up to late If you showed up late to church in chapter five, in the New Testament church, you know what you would have found out in the fellowship time? How was service? How was Peter's sermon?

Oh, it was powerful. Yeah, what else happened? Somebody died. Who killed him? The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit. Oh, and his wife. We forgot. His wife also died. We carry them out.

We bear them. We had a funeral for them. We had a funeral for them. Wow we had a funeral for them. Wow.

Then you move on and you see that there are, in Acts chapter six, tension and frustration because people feel ignored. And so if you're going to ask that we become the church of the New Testament and the early church, Ask God for the point where it goes to chapter five. The new testament church had problems from the beginning. From its infancy, there were issues. And one of the issues in Romans was this idea, this principle of Shabbalath.

Non essential things that are killing Christians, dividing relationships, fracturing fellowship. Romans 14 verse one, look what Paul says to this church. As for the one who is weak in faith, when the Bible says in this context, somebody who's weak in faith, it's not somebody who doesn't believe enough. It's not somebody who doesn't have enough faith necessarily. It's somebody who their conscience is weak, and they don't understand the full freedom that they have in Christ.

That's what it means to be weak in faith in this context. So Paul says, if there's somebody who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. Don't get into debates, don't sit down for hours, and butt heads over issues that are not essential in the scriptures. I'm not even talking about doctrinal things, I'm talking about things that matter and pertain to your conscience. And what was it in Paul's day in Romans?

Look at verse two. This is what they were debating and having opinions over. One person believes that he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. So you had a group of people in this church that thought it was unspiritual to eat meat. Because in that day meat was sacrificed to idols, and they thought, how could you actually have a meal where this is dedicated to a false god?

And you have the the stronger in faith that go, these idols don't mean anything. And my conscience isn't bothering me. God is the true God. We can eat this. And then war would break out because of that.

And Paul says, Hey, it's not worth it to have these debates and these fights over non essential issues. One says, Shibleth, the other one says, Shibleth. You're still brothers of the same people. And then later on, he goes on to say in the same chapter in verse five, that there are some who esteem one day over the other. There are some who realize that some days in the year are more recognized to to celebrate a truth about God in the scriptures.

And And there there's someone say, no, no, no, no. Those are pagan related, and those are old covenant things maybe. We don't want anything to do with that. Okay. Well, you can still fellowship.

You don't have to kill each other. And so what do you have today? You would be shocked to know I'm talking about church splits over the most ridiculous, unusual, strange debates. We should be wearing suits with ties in church, not suits without ties. I'm not joking.

You think I'm joking, I'm not joking. How many leadership meetings have been made because three of the leaders want gray carpet, and four of the leaders want whatever else color in the church. We need to wear this kind of a color for our choir, and some people say, no, we wanna look like this because we wanna look good up there. And so what you have is people slaughtering each other, wasting time, wasting resources, wasting energy on these issues, and there are so many of them. It's really a matter of legalism.

It comes down to it. Legalism. Where people are more legalistic, and they try to take their personal convictions and make them a church law. And that's what we get from this shibboleth scene. But consider the broader principle about this whole thing.

When a man would come and say, shibboleth or sibboleth, consider this, that this tactic teaches us that how you speak can play a major role on revealing who you really are. I'm not talking about dialects, I'm not talking about accents. I'm talking about the affection, the passion, the priority of the abundance of your heart, which reveals what's really a treasure in your heart. I've learned in life that it doesn't matter how a person dresses up, it doesn't matter how much they come to church, listen, it doesn't even matter if they serve in a particular ministry. You will learn a lot about a person and where they stand with Christ when you ask them about the word of God.

When you ask them about the Lord. When you ask them about their relationship with Christ, so much and so little time can be revealed. So much and so little time, and it can't be faked. You know what I'm saying? It can't be faked.

Everybody has a realness detector almost, unless you're very very clouded in your discernment, which a lot of people are. People mix up what a true man or woman of God looks like, because they confuse gifting with God's hand on somebody's life. And so because they said it a different way, it revealed who they really were. And to an extent, we can't make this an extreme thing, but it is true that so much of a person's relationship with God can be known in just the way they talk. And just like it can't be falsified, just like it can't be you can't deceive people too much with it.

In the same manner that they couldn't deceive the Gileadites by trying to say a different way. They could not they they were bound to the reality of their nature and what they were familiar with. So when you go up to a person and and you take this point that I'm saying right here and you say, in order to show people that I really love the Lord, I better start talking. King James. Order to show people that I really love the Lord, I better start talking.

Greatest. It's like, okay, that didn't last very long. You blew your cover. It's like Peter and John, when they were confronted by the Pharisees, the conclusion that these Pharisees came to was that these men had been with Jesus. And you can't fake being a person that's close to Jesus unless you do one thing and that's be with Jesus.

And so maybe this illustration that is very common in evangelical circles will help as we close in a moment. Picture with me a banquet that is full, filled with people, a specific event. And at this event, what do you have? You have an invited guest who is known for his oratory skills. I mean, he can move you, no matter what kind of piece you gave him.

He was hired so that he can come on the scene and present poetry, and different ancient text, and he would display such strength and volume and eloquence that would grip your attention every time you heard him. And so this man by the end of his skit before this banquet, opens up to the audience an invitation. Does anybody have a piece that they would like for me to recite? And an old man slowly stands up, and he he lifts his hand, and this gifted speaker points at him and says, Yes sir. And this man says, Would you be able to recite the twenty third Psalm?

And this talented speaker, this order, this gifted communicator said, absolutely. I've done it many times before, but on one condition. I will share the twenty third Psalm, but when I finish, you must come up and share the same Psalm. And the old man nodded his head in agreement and sat down. And so, he has the crowd's attention and this order begins to now speak out the twenty third Psalm, that so many, even the unregenerate are familiar with.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And he goes line after line, line after line, line after line, and when he completes the psalm, the entire crowd stands up in an uproar and they clap their hands, moved by this man's ability and skills. And after it quieted down and people took their seats, this communicator invited the old man up, and this man in his frailty comes up the stage, and this this invited speaker helps him up, and he gets out of the platform, and this old man comes up with a shaky voice because of his frailty and begins to recite the twenty third Psalm. And when he does, there wasn't any ooze, there wasn't any ahs, It was complete silence. And the only thing that you can hear in that room were people sniffling and wiping away their tears.

At the end of the event, a man approached that gifted order that took up most of the time and entertained his guests, and he inquired why it was that when he recited the twenty third Psalm, there was a different response than when that old man had got on up there, and shared the very same Psalm. And that speaker put his hand on his chin, and not after much thought, answers this man in the following way. He said, sir, I know Psalm 23, but that man knows the shepherd. And that makes all the difference. Do you know the Bible?

Or do you know the God of the bible? Makes all the difference. I've come to learn that even when I hear a man preach from a text that oftentimes gives the same points because they're just so obvious, and another person speak from the same text with the same points almost verbatim, two different impacts. Why? You can't judge every time somebody moves you, it doesn't move you whether they know God or not.

But it does provide some kind of a litmus test, isn't it? You just know when somebody walks with God. And you know when somebody, as much as they can recite, as much as they can memorize, as much as they might show up at church, it's not the same. Shibboleth. Sibboleth.

When I heard that illustration for the first time, it almost brought me to my knees. It almost brought me to my knees because I thought to myself, Lord, I don't wanna live my life. I don't care if people recognize it or not. I don't care if people think I'm this or that. I could care less.

But for a person to be able to live in such a manner where he has a fragrance, That's not the goal of spending time with the Lord or knowing the Lord. It's just a it's just a reaction. It's just a consequence of it. But oh, God, I don't want to preach sermons that would impress people and move people to a certain extent. I don't care if I don't know you.

What does it matter to come up here and preach twice a week and feed people, if I myself do not feast at your table, it makes all the difference. And I hope what you just heard plucked your heartstrings, So you yourself would make a commitment to say, Lord, I don't wanna just know your truths. I wanna know the truth, the person who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That's available to you, just like it was for that old man. Don't settle with impressing people with your gift.

Don't settle with moving people with your talents. Don't settle for you just being a blessing to people. Know him. Know him. Let me put it this way.

When you know him, it makes you making Him known so much more effective. So much more contagious. So much more gripping and powerful. You can't get that at a seminary by the way. You can't get that at a Bible college.

The Bible colleges aren't careful. They'll just produce cookie cutter ministers. Know him, and he will make himself known. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for such a precious study in this chapter.

Lord, we see the theme, and we realize that it's a lesson for us. We don't want to be the reason for civil wars in our churches. We ask that you would help us be a man or a woman that strives to live peaceably with awe. And And we pray that if we were to be known for anything, if our identity was to be revealed before any one, what they would discover is a heart completely surrendered and satisfied and crised. And so surrendered and satisfied in Christ.

Lord, help us not pursue a vain spirituality. Help us not pursue a fake holiness. But Lord, bring us back to the simplicity of this whole thing. And teach us how to commune with you. Teach us how to know you intimately.

Teach us that you're not just a subject to be studied, but a person to be known. Teach us that it is through studying that we know you, but it should create worship and not just a bigger mind that would impress others. Help us not, Lord, create wars over silly, unimportant things. About you, but even sharing the illustration that I've read before, that I've heard before, every time it causes me to just pause and just speak to the Lord. Just wherever you're seated before we move on with the program, just talk to the Lord saying, Lord, I wanna know this shepherd.

I don't wanna know just the promises or the lines of that Psalm. I wanna know Him. I wanna be familiar with His fragrance. I wanna be familiar with His garments brushing over me because He walks so close to me. Maybe some of you have lost that closeness.

You're just on program mode. You've lost the pursuit. He's a shepherd. He leads you back to Him. Just come back to Him.

Lord, teach me the simplicity of devotion to You. Teach me that You're not looking for this or that You're looking for my heart. You're looking for my worship when no man sees my worship. You're looking for my spontaneous praise when others would be distracted by other things. Yes.

You know, when I first got saved, I would talk to people, obviously, that profess to be believers. And sometimes people would say certain things about their relationship with the Lord, and it just made me question so much. I didn't understand it. For example, I've heard on more more than one occasion somebody come up and be like, yeah, Jesus is my homeboy. Like, you know, after all these years, I I'm thinking about it.

That's not what they're saying around the throne. The closer you come to God's presence, who is on his throne, the more you'll realize his holiness. You don't talk casual like that about Jesus. He's not your homeboy. He's holy.

And even the Pharisees in their day that had so much knowledge, had so much memorized, when they would teach, the people would hear it. But then when this man, Jesus, comes on the scene, and he taught the very same things, from the same book, at least. Yes, he brought in, obviously, truths that the father want him to bring for the new covenant, but he would teach from the very same scriptures. And what would what would you see so often in those gospels? His audience saying to one another, this one speaks with authority.

This one speaks with authority, power, not like the Pharisees. They're dry and dead. But this man, when he speaks, it touches our hearts. Who is closer to the father but Jesus? Something permeates out of you the closer you walk with Him.

It's effortless. It's powerful, and it's a measure of His grace. Let's just determine 2021. God, I don't wanna just know truths. Like that man, I wanna know I wanna know the person behind these truths for myself.

Father, we ask that that would be true for every person in this place. We're not satisfied with our gifts again. We're not satisfied with our opportunities. We're not satisfied with even a parent's success. We wanna know You.

We wanna really know You. May that be our pursuit and our aim in this life. May You guide us into that and the joys that are found within. Lord, we ask that You would continue to keep this sanctuary open, for so much is revealed through it, and we need revelation in this confusing age. We surrender our hearts to you afresh in this bible study.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Amen. Amen.