What I Noticed Today (Judges 12-14)
Judges 12
It seems the men of Ephraim could never be happy with someone else’s victory. They came out against Gideon (Judges 8), and now they are coming out against Jephthah.
In verses 1-7, Jephthah explained that he had called on the Ephraimites to help, but they did not respond, so he went into battle without them.
- The Lord had given Jephthah victory over the Ammonites.
- Jephthah gathered his army, fought, and defeated the Ephraimites.
- The Ephraimites started a civil war against their Gideonite brothers, and the result was 42,000 Ephraimites died.
- Jephthah judged Israel 6 years, and then he died and was buried in the land of Gilead.
Closing Judges 12, in verses 8-13, is the brief account of three judges that followed Jephthah:
- Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel 7 years. He allowed his 30 sons to intermarry with foreigners. He gave his 30 daughters in marriage to men outside their tribe. He died and was buried in Bethlehem.
- Elon from Zebulun judged Israel 10 years. He died and was buried in Zebulun.
- Abdon from Pirathon judged Israel 8 years. He died and was buried in Pirathon in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Judges 13-16
Sampson delivers the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines.
Judges 13
Judges 13 records Israel once again doing what was evil in the sight of God, so he handed them over to the Philistines for 40 years.
Note: This is the seventh and last time this reference to the people of Israel doing evil in the sight of God occurs (Judges 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 8:33-35, 10:6, 13:1).
In verses 2-25, an angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah from Zorah and his wife saying that the child they would bear would be a Nazarite from birth and he would begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson (which means “sunny”) was born, and the Lord blessed him, and the spirit of God was with him.
- She was not to drink wine or beer or eat anything unclean.
- She was not to cut the boy's hair because he was to be a Nazarite from birth.
Note: A Nazarite was someone who made a vow to abstain from any strong drink, to avoid eating or touching any unclean thing, and not to cut their hair during the period of the vow.
- Manoah sacrificed a young goat, and a grain offering to the Lord and the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame from the altar.
Note: It was not until the Angel ascended in the flames of the altar that Manoah realized the person he had been talking to was an Angel of the Lord.
- Manoah's wife gave birth to Sampson. The spirit of the Lord was upon him and blessed him as he grew up.
Judges 14
But, as we see in Judges 14, Samson had a weakness for foreign women.
- Sampson saw a Philistine woman in the town of Timnah and asked his parents to get her for him as a wife.
Note: Timnah was only about six miles west of Zorah the town where Sampson lived.
- Sampson’s parents tried to dissuade him from marrying a Philistine woman since this intermarriage was prohibited (Deuteronomy 7:3).
- He insisted and his parents relented.
Note: Verse 8, “After some time he returned to get her.” Sampson was returning for the wedding after the engagement period. Verse 9, Sampson defiled himself by taking honey from the carcass of the lion. As a Nazarite, he was to avoid all dead animals. He gave some of the honey to his parents and didn’t tell them where it came from so he defiled them as well. Verse 10, Sampson defiled his Nazarite vow again when he hosted a drinking party for the Philistines (the word for “feast” comes from the word “to drink”).
- During the course of the 7-day wedding feast, his fiancé nagged him for the answer to the riddle he proposed to the Philistines until he finally relented, gave her the answer to the riddle, and she betrayed him.
- The Spirit of the Lord came upon Sampson, and he ended up killing 30 Philistines.
- His father-in-law gave his fiancé to another man.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- Samson was blessed by God with His spirit and separated at birth for a special purpose - to save the people of Israel from their oppressors and restore their relationship to God. His parents were devout believers, but it didn't take long as an adult for Samson to fall into sin.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
