Bible Voyagers: Disciple's Journey

God can raise up *anyone* to bless and serve Him, regardless of background or personal history. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute who was ostracized from his mixed family because of his heritage. He ran away from home and fell-in with "worthless fellows", and he struggled to faithfully follow God. But Jephthah was a great leader and a cunning warrior who gained the admiration of the Israelites and the blessings of God, who raised him up to deliver Israel from her enemies. 

Gideon achieved complete victory over the Midianites because he was faithful to God and followed God's commands. But with victory in-hand, not only did Gideon fail to worship God for the miracles He had provided, Gideon continued to pursue his enemies to exact complete vengeance and kill anyone who got in his way. And once his enemies were dead -- with peace and security around him -- Gideon fell away from God into a cycle of sin and idolatry.How many times have we reaped the miraculous benefits of prayer only to forget God, assign His intervention to chance (or our own power), or worst of all go back to our sinful ways because we no longer need God? 

Gideon perfectly represented Israel's judges: He was a humble farmer who was plucked from obscurity by God to become a mighty warrior and lead the Israelites into battle to deliver them from the crushing oppression of the Midianites. At first, Gideon questioned God's messenger to understand why his people were suffering if God truly loved them. "Didn't the Lord being us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian!" When the Lord answered "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand", Gideon responded by asking for "signs" for God to prove Himself. 

3400 years ago, in an age of overwhelming male dominance and control, one of the most remarkable women in world history was the undisputed leader of God's Chosen People. Deborah was smart, strong, brave and righteous. She was a prophet and a judge who held court under the "Palm of Deborah" and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. When she ordered her male army commander to attack their violent enemy and free their people from the yoke of oppression, he flatly refused to go into battle without her! In response, she famously said “Certainly I will go with you...But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman!”

Following the remarkable success of Joshua's initial conquest of Canaan (the "Promised Land"), the Israelites descend into repeating cycles of moral and spiritual decline. The troubles of God's "Chosen People" are the result of disobeying God, disobeying leaders, idolatry, religious apathy, and intermarriage with wicked Canaanites who didn't share the Israelite's religious beliefs. In response to Israel's spiritual apathy and religious apostasy, God gave the Israelites over to be oppressed by their regional neighbors.The cycle of decline includes: 1) God's people depart from God, 2) God allows Israel's neighbors to oppress them, 3) The Israelites return to God and plead for Him to save them, and 4) God raises-up Judges (often military leaders) to deliver the Israelites from their enemies. This cycle is repeated numerous times, and God's Judges are often portrayed as flawed leaders who vacillate between acts of faithful righteousness and terrible acts of sin...much like the rest of us… 

In the last days of the Bronze Age, in a tiny strip of land that was the crossroads of western civilization, nestled among the crumbling remains of the world's mightiest empires, a group of people who worshipped a single all-powerful God who referred to His children as the "chosen ones" began to take control of a region they called the "promised land" and organized themselves into one of the most influential civilizations in human history. They were called Israelites...the Sons of Abraham.This is the story of twelve loose-knit tribes who continually struggled to faithfully follow God, and repeatedly called-out for deliverance from their hostile neighbors.The authors of Judges created a narrative that emphasized the pitfalls of Israel's leadership vacuum and the moral decay that results from spiritual aimlessness. For the authors of Judges, only one solution would solve their social and religious problems: establishing a religious monarchy and crowning an Israelite king. 

In his closing chapters, Paul highlights his apostleship to the Gentiles and expresses his wish to visit Rome. 

It's human nature to look down upon those who are different or perceived to be "less capable" than ourselves. In the First Century, the blossoming Christian church was a great melting pot of people from very different backgrounds including diverse cultures, socioeconomic strata, and most importantly varying levels of Christian knowledge and faith. Many of the new converts were once orthodox Jewish believers. This melting pot caused great rifts in the church between Gentiles who shunned the Mosaic laws (primarily the food laws and belief in honoring the Sabbath) and devout Jews who staunchly believed in upholding their cultural and religious laws. Paul makes very clear that many issues in the Christian church are matters of personal belief and opinion. It's important to honor God in our own way, but just as importantly, we can't let our own personal opinions and beliefs cause us to judge other Christians.

Jews of the First Century were seeking a religious military leader who would finally overthrow their Roman oppressors through a bloody armed rebellion and establish a king who would vanquish the enemies of God forever. Jesus of Nazareth, in contrast, never supported violence or open military conflict against the government. In fact, Jesus' "rebellion" was only against the hypocritical and erroneous *teachings* of the Jewish leaders of his time; Jesus never supported open conflict with the Jewish elite or Rome. Ironically, Jesus' message caused great divisions within the Jewish community and even led to widespread riots that caused the Jews to be briefly expelled from Rome in 49 AD. Worried these events could quickly spiral out of control, Paul commanded Christians to submit to government authorities and give Rome no reason to fear/attack them: Christians should pay their taxes, respect their leaders, and clearly show the government that they were NOT a threat. 

Christianity is virtually unique among world religions in the doctrine of loving our enemies. Paul emphatically calls upon Christians to pray for those who harm us, help those who hate us, and NEVER seek revenge. Loving our enemies not only demonstrates God's unending merciful love to others...it helps US find true inner peace through actively giving grace and mercy to others.