Author: Calleen Hough

Children of a king

Even though we may know most of what happened in our parents’ lives, we usually know less about our grandparents’ lives and very little about our great grandparents because they were not around to tell us about it. Imagine if you knew the details of your ancestors lives that lived hundreds of years ago. The Old Testament of the Bible contains the history of what happened in the lives of the Israelites thousands of years ago. There are detailed accounts of how they came to live in the land we know as Israel and the names of their family members have become well known to millions of people around the world.

More people know the names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob than probably any other names of individuals that have ever lived because the details of their lives are recorded in the Bible. One of the advantages of knowing the history of your ancestors is being able to know where you fit into their story and how your life will be impacting the lives of relatives that are yet to be born. Some of the things you do may not seem important now, but they could literally be changing the course of history for many years to come.

A key event in the life of Jacob was when he wrestled with God at Penuel the night before he was reunited with his brother Esau. It was at Penuel that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and he received a special blessing; “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen 32:28).

I’m pretty sure Gideon knew the significance of Penuel and chose to beat down the tower there to honor his great, great, great…grandfather Jacob. The interesting thing about Gideon’s stand at Penuel is that the victory he won after his arrival there seemed to be a turning point for him. His behavior was much more bold and courageous, perhaps as a tribute to or maybe even a result of Jacob’s blessing. In all, Gideon’s 300 soldiers defeated 135,000 Midianites. There is no way to account for the result except for divine intervention. The battle cry that was shouted as they entered the Midianite camp was “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon” (Judges 7:18).

When Gideon’s conquest was completed, he confronted two kings of Midian named Zebah and Zalmunna. These two kings were directly responsible for the death of Gideon’s brothers who had probably fought against the Midianites in a previous war. The description of the men reveals that Gideon’s appearance had been transformed by his acts of courage. He was no longer the man who threshed wheat by the wine press to hide from the Midianites, but a leader, someone they respected. “Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, as thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king” (Judges 8:18).

A few good men

Most adults understand what it means to be under the influence of alcohol. It affects your judgment, your ability to function, what you say and do. Fear can have the same affect and when you are afraid it could be said that you are under the influence of fear.

Fear is a powerful emotion because it is hard to control and can make you do things you wouldn’t normally do. It can also stop you from doing things that you want to do, no matter how important they are to you.

Fear can be a strategic advantage to an enemy. I believe fear is the number one way the devil takes advantage of Christians and is used frequently to stop us from making progress in our walk with Christ. When we are under the influence of fear, we are like soldiers that are shaking in their boots, we can’t hear the commands of God and are looking for an escape route rather than concentrating on the battle plan.

When Gideon was given the assignment to engage the Midianites in warfare, the first thing God told him to do was weed out all the soldiers that were afraid to fight. Gideon’s troops were reduced from 22,000 to 10,000 after they were told, “Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead” (Judges 7:3). But, God didn’t stop there. The affect of fear can sometimes be subtle, we may not even be aware that we are under its influence. So, God used another method to determine who could be relied on in battle and who would most likely run if the going got tough.

So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself…And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you. (Judges 7:5-7)

God’s change agent

The primary responsibility of a change agent is to upset the status quo. A lot of times, bad practices are no more than superstitions that have become embedded in the culture. It worked once and so it became a lucky charm or a secret ritual that everyone followed and eventually relied on to get a certain outcome. I think the most superstitious people I have seen are athletes, especially in professional sports.

I don’t know much about pagan worship, but I believe it is mostly superstitions and rituals that have become a way of life and can be compared to going to church every week and expecting to become a better person because you do it consistently. Idol worshippers are very religious people, they don’t really care what they have to do as long as their worship brings about the desired result.

Gideon’s first assignment as God’s change agent was to “Take they father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath and cut down the grove that is by it. And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down” (Judges 6:25-26). This would definitely be perceived as an act of rebellion against his father and an offence to all the Baal worshippers in the area. Gideon knew his life would be in danger if he did what the LORD asked him to.

“Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night:” (Judges 6:27). Gideon was not a brave man or should I say a bold man. It took courage to do what the LORD asked him to, but he wasn’t ready to throw caution to the wind and publicly antagonize the enemies of God.

Gideon most likely feared his father’s household because they were numerous and strong. Gideon’s father may have been a leader in the town of Ophrah and because of his wealth was an example to others of how to get ahead in life. It’s possible that Joash was only faking his worship of Baal in order to gain an advantage with the Midianites. When the men of the city demanded that Joash turn his son over to them so that they could kill him, Joash responded, “if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar” (Judges 6:31).

Why me?

If you have ever thought, why me?, relative to God’s blessings in your life, you are probably a recipient of grace and can think of yourself as one of God’s chosen people. The word translated grace in Judges 6:17, chên (khane) means kindness or favor. In English, to show grace to someone would be equivalent to saying I like you or I love you.

A better way to understand grace is to put it in the context of the phrase in which it usually occurs, “grace in thy sight” (Judges 6:17). Looking at it this way, it is clear that it has something to do with God watching over his children. One of the characteristics of being in love is that you can’t take your eyes off the person, whenever he walks into the room, you immediately notice him and in a room full of people, he is the one that you pay attention to. To have grace in God’s sight means that he is paying special attention to you and is constantly watching you to make sure you are okay.

There are few people in the Old Testament of the Bible that received grace in God’s sight. Along with Noah and Abraham, Gideon is recorded as a recipient of God’s favor. Grace is neither earned or deserved, it is merely a result of the fact that God wants to bless people and looks for opportunities to do so. I sometimes wonder if I had anything at all to do with becoming a member of God’s family and the only thing I have been able to come up with to explain it is that I was a complete failure and had no hope of ever changing.

When the LORD looked upon Gideon and said, “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites” (Judges 6:14), Gideon’s response was “my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). Gideon did not understand why God would want to use him and felt he was the least qualified person to lead God’s people to victory, but God’s grace was all he really needed and it was obviously enough because it says when the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said to him, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12).

The word translated valour, chayil (khah´ yil) refers to power that is obtained through position, such as those that are a part of the upper class of society, or through wealth. Gideon’s recognition and acknowledgement that his family had no money and he was in the lowest position in the family indicates that he was a recipient of grace, there is no other way the angel’s statement could have been true. It is no wonder Gideon asked for a sign that God’s grace was really his, something he could rely on, it was truly unbelievable that he would lead the Israelites to victory against the Midianites.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Because we don’t see the spiritual warfare going on around us, we may forget or don’t realize that it is going on. Satan is described in the Bible as the ruler of this world. Everyone is under the power of Satan until and unless they confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Spiritual warfare is the battle that is constantly being fought over the hearts and minds of those who live on Earth. It is unfortunate that most people are unaware of it and especially tragic that the unsaved have no idea that Satan is in control of their lives.

Victory is difficult to celebrate in spiritual warfare because you can’t always tell the extent to which the enemy has been defeated. It says in Luke 15:10 about salvation that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” And in1 Peter 3:23 speaking of Jesus it says, “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” Before Jesus came into the world, there was no victory over sin and Satan reigned over the whole Earth, except in the Promised Land. Israel was God’s country and his dominion over the land was exempt from Satan’s sovereignty. So why was there and is there still constant warfare in the land of Israel?

When the Israelites settled in Canaan, they disobeyed God by not driving out al the inhabitants of the land. If they had, the Promised Land would have become a no man’s land to Satan because he was not allowed to touch God’s people. It was the influence of the Canaanites and the worship of their gods that caused the Israelites to betray God and act like they had when they lived in Egypt.

The battle with the Canaanites by the waters of Megiddo when God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan (Judges 4:23) was a sort of preview of coming attractions. In Revelation 16:16 it refers to a place called Armegeddon (mount Megiddo) where the final battle between God and Satan will be fought. Judges 6:20-24 give us insight into the way the battle lines will be drawn. All the heavenly host will be drawn together to take their final stand and on Earth there will be a call to fight, but not everyone will answer.

Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD against the mighty. Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. (Judges 5:23-24)

Does it really matter?

I’ve heard it said many times that Good is no respecter of persons. I have to admit I’m not really sure I know what that means, but I know I’ve sometimes wondered why God uses certain people. I think the truth of the matter is that God can use anyone and therefore, he uses anyone that is willing to obey him and doesn’t care who gets the credit.

Deborah is a perfect example of someone that God used that did not have the right qualifications for the job, but was willing to step in and do what God told her to. Deborah was a judge which means that she was equal to Moses in her capacity to decree punishment when the children of Israel broke God’s commandments. She was not a priest, but she was a prophetess which means that God spoke to her directly and revealed his will to her during the time that she was appointed to judge Israel.

And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kadesh-Naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor…And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. (Judges 4: 6-8)

Along with David and Samson, Barak is listed as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 where it says of them:

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11: 33-34)

Although it was Barak’s faith that got Israel the victory, it was Deborah’s authority that Barak relied on before he entered the battle. So why did Deborah do it? Why did she go with Barak and enable him to become the hero?

And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisea into the hand of a woman. (Judges 4:9)

Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, ended up killing the captain of the host of the Canaanite army by driving a tent peg through his temples while he was sleeping. Does it really matter who drove the tent peg through Sisera’s temples? In God’s eyes, no, he can use a man, a woman, or even a child to accomplish his will and in the case of Jael, he used the wife of one of Sisera’s allies to get the job done. But, I think it mattered to Deborah and even though God is not a respecter of persons, he does respect women and will respond to their petitions just as eagerly as he does the petitions of a man.

Relax, take it easy

I’m not really sure what the Israelites’ lifestyle was like during the time they were settling in the land of Canaan, but I imagine it was a little like when I go camping with my family. We like to tent camp, so we are pretty much out in the open spaces of the campground most of the time. There is little privacy and it is difficult not to get in each other’s way or interact with the campers around us because we are all sharing the common areas. Therefore, most everything happens in public including our emotional upsets and the tension that may develop between us.

A couple of years ago, we had a big family blow out on one of our camping trips and it resulted in so much tension that the trip was cut short because we couldn’t deal with the public airing of our dirty laundry so to speak and wanted to go back to the safety of our homes where we had four walls to contain things.

Camping among the inhabitants of Canaan had to be challenging for the Israelites. Their presence was a constant reminder that war was inevitable and their track record of annihilating their enemies left no doubt that they intended to conquer every nation within the territory that God had given them to possess. When it says “the land had rest’ (Judges 3:11, 30), during the interim periods of their engagement in warfare, it means there was a period of time when the atmosphere was peaceful, a time when the people were able to relax and take it easy.

When I was growing up, it seemed like our home was always filled with tension, at least it was when one or more of my parents were there. My mom and dad fought constantly and my dad who was an alcoholic had a tendency toward violence. Aside from the fear that was always present in my life, I had a problem with not being able to relax. I was always on the alert for my dad being triggered or my mom having a bad day at work. There was never any relief, even when I was sleeping. I was often awakened by shouts and screams and witnessed my dad beating up my mom on more than one occasion.

For the past 3 1/2 years, I have been living alone and have begun to enjoy the benefit of being able to relax whenever I am at home. I think the rest that came to the land after conflicts were resolved was God’s way of showing the Israelites what things would have been like if they had obeyed him and driven the occupants of the Promised Land out. The 40 years of rest may have been a type of compensation for the 40 years they spent in the wilderness or it may have been how long it took the Israelites to forget that peace and prosperity are a whole lot better than being unequally yoked to someone that believes a marriage license gives him or her the right to treat you like a sex object.

You can go your own way

Being strong can be a Catch 22 of sorts because it’s both a help and a hindrance when it comes to walking with the Lord. To be effective as Christians, we must learn to depend on the Lord, but we must also be able to stand on our own two feet and not cower when we are attacked by our enemy the devil.

The Lord knows our weaknesses and does not expect us to do everything right. In fact, he plans for us to make mistakes and will always be able to account for the choices we make when it comes to accomplishing his will in our lives.

So then, does it really matter if we choose to go to the left instead of the right when we come to a crossroad in our life? Yes, if you would like to avoid some of the pain and suffering you experience in your life. Some people like to travel the hard road and enjoy having challenges on a regular basis. Other people like to take things easy and become discouraged when things get too difficult. Although I hate to admit it, I seem to be one of those people that can’t stand the easy life. If I’m not facing a challenge, I think there is something wrong with me. Getting into trouble is not second nature to me, it’s the only way I know how to handle things. I guess you could say I’m just naturally rebellious and believe me, I know a lot about pain and suffering.

“And it came to pass, when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out” (Judges 1:28). The word strong here is probably referring to moral strength or courage, but because the Israelites were disobeying God by not driving out their enemies, you could say they were a little to strong, maybe even cocky or as my grandmother used to say, getting a little too big for their own britches. They thought they could handle being the task masters for a change and wanted to make slaves of the Canaanites the way they had been in Egypt. It was a bad decision, one they would regret eventually, but I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time and can relate to their desire to turn the tables and try to even the score.

The most prominent role God has in the universe is creator. It is of course a critical role because if he hadn’t been able to create things, then our world wouldn’t exist and there would be no life as we know it today. I think the role of creator overshadows most of God’s other roles, but by far the role that does not get the attention it deserves is fixer or re-creator. I believe God loves to fix things and that may be why he designed man with a sin nature.

In Joshua 5:9 there is recorded a significant milestone in the development of the nation of Israel that may not seem important unless you look at it from the perspective of fixing a problem. The problem was that after spending hundreds of years in Egypt and becoming slaves to Pharaoh, the Israelites had developed an attitude of reproach toward themselves, they knew that things weren’t right, but they felt helpless and unable to change because they has spent so much time living in a dysfunctional state.

It is natural to feel reproach when things are not right in our lives and because we are created in God’s image, we have a tendency to try and fix things when we feel reproach, but we do not have the same ability God does to make things right. It is like a five year old child that wants to make his own breakfast. When the toast gets burned, he tries to scrape the black stuff off, but it just doesn’t taste right after being burned. In Joshua 5:9 it says, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled the reproach of Egypt from off you.” The use of the words rolled away indicate there is some kind of process involved in removing their reproach, but it doesn’t make sense that God would literally roll away their reproach, so he must be speaking figuratively and is using terminology that will trigger their understanding of what has happened to them. What I believe the LORD was alluding to here was the Israelites reproach being like a large stone that needs to be rolled off the opening of a cistern so that fresh water can be accessed.

Cisterns were very common during the time when the Israelites were settling in Canaan. It was standard practice to cover the cisterns with large stones that made it difficult to access the water because it was a valuable commodity and in high demand in areas where there was not much rainfall. As in the instance when Jacob rolled the stone from the well’s mouth so that Rachel could water her father’s flock, it was “a feat of unusual strength for one man, because the stone was large” (Note on Gen 29:10, KJV). When an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to confront the Israelites, he reminds them that God had done his part by bringing them out of Egypt into the Promised Land, but they had not done their part, which was to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, “but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have you done this?” (Judges 2:2).

After I became a Christian, God cleansed me of all my sins an through the blood of Jesus Christ made me perfectly righteous and pure in his sight. All the bad things that had happened in my life up to that point were wiped away from his memory and I had a clean slate in regards to my right standing with him. But, the things that had happened were not wiped from my memory. In fact, it seemed like all the bad things I had done and that had been done to me were more prominent in my memory and I was suddenly aware of what a wretched sinner I was. So, instead of starting a new life and believing that God wanted to bless me, I compromised and got pregnant when I was not married.

“They ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way” (Judges 2:19). The word translated stubborn in Judges 2:19 is derived from the word qâshâh (kaw – shaw´) which means to be dense, tough or severe. “This word marks the restlessness, impatience, petulance, and irritability with which Pharaoh’s course of action was characterized while he was resisting the urgent appeals of both Moses and his own people” (7185). After entering the Promised Land, the Israelites began to act like Pharaoh. As they had once been abused and forced into slave labor, they began to do the same thing to their enemies in Canaan.

I’m not sure why victims take on the characteristics of their abusers, but I think it may be a sort of coping mechanism that helps them to function during times of stress. Because I was raped at a young age, I never had a chance to experience normal sexual behavior. Whenever I was in a situation where I felt someone was attracted to me sexually, my defenses would be triggered and I would immediately take on the role of the aggressor so that I didn’t feel vulnerable and overcome by fear.

When I got married, I was not able to respond to my husband the way a woman normally would. Our sex life was completely dysfunctional and it was one of the reasons our marriage failed. I really feel that the reason I didn’t change in this area after I became a Christian is because I was stubborn. I was harboring resentment over being raped and thought my behavior was justified. Now that I have been divorced almost 13 years, I can see that I was only hurting myself by being stubborn and wish that I had been able to overcome my fear and recover from the abuse I experienced.

One of the key principles that is emphasized throughout the Bible is sowing and reaping. When we continue in our “own doings” for long periods of time, we will eventually receive a return for our labor and from my own experience I can say the result is not worth the effort.

Choose this day

A crossroad is a place where we must choose the pathway we will follow. In practical terms, it is a choice to go our own way or to follow the Lord, but there is more to it than that. Ultimately, what is decided when we come to a crossroad in our life is will we reach our destination, the place God planned for us to live our life or will we end up in the wilderness where our life will remain on hold and our destiny unfulfilled until we see that we have made a mistake and want to start over again.

The Israelites gathered in Shechem to renew their covenant with God because it was a crossroad for them. Hundreds of years before they entered the Promised Land and took possession of land, “Jacob came to Shalom, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan…And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent…And he erected there an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel” (Gen 33:18-20).

Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for Jacob and his family in Shechem. After purchasing the parcel of land, it says, “And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and defiled her” (Gen 34:1-2).

The contrasting events of Jacob settling in the land of Canaan and his daughter Dinah being raped illustrate perfectly the dilemma of a crossroad. A choice had to be made. Would Jacob stay in Canaan and continue to worship the LORD at the altar he had erected or would he do as he had every other time he had gotten into trouble, run for his life?

The choice is the same for everyone and if you haven’t come to this crossroad in your life yet, you will eventually. Joshua puts the choice to the Israelites this way:

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24: 14-15)

I still love you

If you have your eyes closed, how close does someone have to be for you to sense his presence? I cannot see God, but there are times when I can feel his presence. Part of what affects my awareness of someone’s presence is my feelings toward that person. In particular, fear and love have a strong baring on whether or not I will be affected when someone gets close to me.

In Joshua’s final address to Israel, he reminds the people that they must remain close to God, “But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day” (Joshua 23:8) and warns them against letting their affection toward God diminish because they are living among foreigners. “Take good heed therefore unto your selves, that ye love the LORD your God, else if you do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you” (Joshua 23: 11-12).

The word translated cleave, dâbaq (daw – bak′) means to keep close and is the same word that is used in Genesis 2:24 where it says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.” It appears there is a connection between love and cleaving to someone because Joshua tells the Israelites to love the LORD and cleave to him rather than the foreigners that are living among them.

When my love for the Lord is strong, it seems like I am more aware of his presence. It’s as if the stirring of my heart tells me he is near. The only way I can control my emotions when I am in love with someone is to either constantly be with that person or to try and not think about him at all. The feeling of love is very powerful and it tends to be an all or nothing emotion in that you can turn it on and off, but you cannot regulate its strength or duration. The thing I have learned about keeping my love for the Lord strong is to never turn it off. It is much easier to stay in love than it is to fall back in love after you have stopped loving someone.