Right Thinking About God

Prayer

Bad Ideas, Bad Consequences

As we’ve talked about as we’ve gone through the book of Judges, our current stop in our journey through the story of the Old Testament, there are two main themes we’ve covered. The first, of course, is our rinse and repeat cycle of the unfaithfulness of Israelites - their sin, oppression, repentance, deliverance and peace. The second, as we’ve touched on, is the progression of behavior of both the Israelites and the judges, their leaders, getting worse and worse, we’ll see more of that this morning.

Primary reason that it keeps getting worse is that even in the times that they embrace Yahweh, they fail to be faithful to him, to live as God commands, because they have false views of him. They’ve been so immersed in worship of false gods, that they confuse who God is with their false gods, they see the Lord in the same way they see these other gods.

That’s particularly evident in the story we’re going to look at this morning, the story of Jephthah, which takes place in Judges 10-12.

We’ll pick up the story in Judges 10 where the cycle begins again, with the Israelites doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. But this time we get a little more of the sordid details, the list of all the gods they have turned to, Judges 10:6-7, They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, he became angry with them.

Out of God’s anger, he oppresses them through some of the neighboring nations, the Philistines (which we’ll see next when we get to the story of Samson) and the Ammonites, Israel’s enemy in the story here. The Ammonites are oppressing the Israelites in the east, in the Transjordan, in an area known as Gilead, and even across the Jordan, into the area where the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim are.

So they cry out to the Lord, acknowledging their idolatry. But we get a twist here, God pushes back. Listen to this, Judges 10:11-14, The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? 13 But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

God’s response - you’ve been so enamored with these other gods, cry out to them, let them save you. But the Israelites are desperate, so they plead with God again, Judges 10:15-16: But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” 16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

Such a beautiful statement on the heart of God, his mercy, his compassion, “he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.” God can’t stand it. He loves his people too much. He is so bound to them. He is moved to action, to save them, to (once again) deliver them out of their oppression. These are the things we should be paying close attention to, in order to know God, to know who he is.

At the end of chapter 10, we see the armies gathered for battle, the Ammonites in Gilead and the Israelites in Mizpah. But the Israelites face a challenge - they have no clear leader. Who will lead them in battle?

In Judges 11, we discover who that the leader is, a Gileadite by the name of Jephthah, who is described as a mighty warrior. We learn here that Jephthah is the black sheep of his family, his mother was a prostitute, while his brothers were all born to their father’s wife. And they didn’t want to share their inheritance with him, so they drove him away.

He ends up being what one commentator has described as a mafia thug, vs. 3, So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him. But the Gileadites are desperate and he’s a mighty warrior, so they come to him asking him to lead them in battle.

But Jephthah wants more than that, he wants to lead them, to rule over them. And he knows he has them over a barrel, so they agree to let him rule over you.

Jephthah tries initially to negotiate with the Ammonite king, which goes nowhere. So to war they go. But before he goes to battle, Jephthah makes an oath, an oath that will come back to haunt him, vv. 29-31, Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Notice in this story that God is not the one raising up Jephthah to deliver his people - the Gileadites choose him. But we do see God here pouring out his Spirit on Jephthah, his presence and power with him as he goes to fight against the Ammonites.

But before he goes, Jephthah makes this deal with God, vowing that if God gives the Ammonites into his hands, then whoever (or the word may be translated as “whatever”), so whoever or whatever comes out of his house when he returns in triumph over the Ammonites, he will offer as a burnt sacrifice.

Jephthah does indeed go on to a great victory, destroying twenty towns of the Ammonites. But then, we have Jephthah’s tragic return, vv. 34-35, When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

So it’s his daughter, his only child, who comes out of his house, dancing, rejoicing - she’s celebrating his great victory. Jephthah is devastated - and here’s the really tragic part, he thinks he is obligated to keep his vow to the Lord, that God would actually want him to sacrifice his child to him.

The daughter agrees that he must keep his word to the Lord, so she asks for two months to go and mourn with her friends, as she will never marry. Which she then does. Vs. 39, After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. He sacrifices his very own daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord.

There’s one final aspect of Jephthah’s story that’s important to share - another intertribal conflict arises, again with the Ephraimites (if you remember from last week, they confronted Gideon for not including them - not sure what their problem is, but they seem to be paranoid about being left out).

Which is exactly what they confront Jephthah on, challenging him on why he didn’t call them to join him in the fight against the Ammonites. They don’t just challenge him, they threaten him - “We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”

Jephthah defends himself - I did call you, you didn’t come. Then war breaks out between them and Jephthah and his fellow Gileadites win. They capture the fords of the Jordan River - in doing so, they control who can cross over the Jordan, as this was the only place to do it.

Just to show you how ugly it’s gotten among the tribes of Israel (as if that wasn’t enough), Jephthah creates a test for any man seeking to cross the fords, they have to say, “Shibboleth.” Apparently, the Ephraimites couldn’t pronounce it properly, they would say, “Sibboleth.” And if they said, “Sibboleth,” they would kill him (and rightly so, if you can’t pronounce Shibboleth, you ought to be put to death!). Catch this, 42,000 thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time. Good to see God’s people getting along so well.

Importance of Right Thinking about God

Story of Jephthah is a great example of why, even as the Israelites continue their way through the “rinse and repeat” cycle of unfaithfulness, it gets worse and worse. Here’s why - because the more and more they kept turning to all the false gods of the neighboring nations, those peoples they did not drive out as God had commanded them, the more and more the false views of those gods impacted their view of who the one true God was.

We saw the list way back in Judges 10:6, Yahweh essentially became just another god among many, Indistinguishable.

Because of this, they begin to act toward the Lord in the same way they would toward other gods. They lived as if the character of God and what he commanded of them were not significantly different from Baal or Ashtoreth or Dagon or Chemosh.

Which is why they became increasingly violent even amongst their fellow Israelites - they weren’t honoring each other as God’s holy people, set apart by God, blessed by him in order to be a blessing to all the other nations.

Instead, it was all about what was in it for them - Ephraimites had an attitude of superiority, referring to Jephthah and his Gileadites as renegades, not real Israelites. Their fear of missing out on the spoils of victory (instead of trusting God, who he calls, who and how he chooses to bless people, his provisions).

Likewise, Jephthah’s only way to resolve the conflict is violence. He goes to war, fighting against his fellow Israelites, the Ephraimites, then proceeds to continue to kill those who attempt to cross the Jordan River by the thousands.

But perhaps the most telling is what happens with his daughter as a result of the vow that he makes before the battle.

First of all, it’s unclear what in the world he was thinking when he made that vow - who or what he thought would be coming out of his house upon his return. Clearly not his daughter. His wife? A servant? One of his animals?

But the most important aspect is why he made the vow in the first place - it reveals wrong thinking about who the Lord God is. Notice that Jephthah’s vow is a conditional one, it’s a negotiation with God, a deal. Lord, if you give the Ammonites into my hands, then I will make this sacrifice.

Jephthah is treating the Lord as just another false god, one you have to bargain with - if you do this for me, then I’ll do this. A god you have to appease, negotiate with in order to get what you want, for him to behave in a way that helps you.

Jephthah doesn’t know the Lord, doesn’t get who he is. Rather than being a god we bargain with, we are to trust him, trust that he is who he says he is, “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.” That he pours out blessings - to the faithful and the unfaithful. He is the faithful one - faithful to his people and faithful to the covenant he made with them.

As if God would want Jephthah to follow through on such a rash, foolish vow - to sacrifice his own child. But Jephthah is afraid of displeasing God by breaking his word - ironically, tragically, he displeases God by the misguided sacrifice of his daughter.

All because he did not understand or appreciate the nature of who our God truly is. So important - not just for Jephthah, but for us as well.

Last week we talked about the importance of being enthralled with Jesus, that key to breaking the cycle of sin, of moving toward greater obedience to Jesus, is to be enthralled with Jesus, desire him above all. But just as important is knowing who Jesus is, embracing his way of thinking, having the mind of Christ.

Brilliant quote of AW Tozer, shared with this before, “What comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Because how you think - and especially how you think about God, is going to drive your behavior.

A number of us when through the Apprentice of Jesus series written by James Bryan Smith. He writes that the key to change, to grow to become like Jesus, involves a number of things, among them engaging in new practices (spiritual disciples), reflection and dialogue with others who are on the same path (community of faith, Spiritual Formation Group), all of that under the leading of the Holy Spirit (we’ll be talking about that more soon). But in addition to all of these, our focus this morning, is changing the stories in our minds.

James Bryan Smith puts it this way, “If we adopt Jesus’ narratives about God, we will know God properly and right actions will follow. And the opposite is true. We change not by mustering up willpower but by changing the way we think, which will also involve changing our actions (spiritual disciplines) and our social environment (community of faith).”

Why it’s so essential that we look to Jesus and his teachings and how he lives so we can learn to think rightly about who God is. The narratives that Jesus lived by, the stories that informed him, those are the ones we want to embrace.

We all have stories, narratives that we’ve embraced through our lifetime, ways of thinking that have shaped us - in many ways that we’re not even aware of, because they are so natural to us (assume everything thinks that way, just the way you think about things).

Family narratives, the stories, the lessons, the wisdom, that were inculcated in you through your family, especially through your parents - what’s right and wrong, how you deal with money, your sense of identity.

Then there are the cultural narratives - what we learn because of where we grew up. American culture, regional culture, etc. What’s important, what are the values held in our culture. What success looks like (the American dream).

Religious narratives - things we picked up by going to church, what was shared from the pulpit, classroom, culture at large. These may - or may not - reflect the narratives of Jesus.

And it’s helpful to be aware of these things, to examine what we think - and hold them up against the way Jesus thinks, narratives he lived by and what he taught. Let me offer you some examples so you have an idea of what I’m talking about:

Now it’s typically not as extreme as what Jephthah believed about God, but we can embrace shades of it. There’s an underlying belief that we have an agreement with God, if I live rightly and am generally a good person, then my life will go well. I - and those I love - will not experience serious health. No tragic loss. If we hold this view, and we believe we’ve held up our end of the bargain, we will struggle greatly with suffering, especially the why of suffering. Why, God (this wasn’t the deal!).

Another false religious view that’s permeated our culture (it’s very American), Moralistic Therpeutic Deism, MTD. The basic idea is that God is distant, not really involved in my life, and the central goal of life is to happy and feel good. You attain that by being morally good. If you’re generally a good person, you go to heaven. God is not here as judge and savior, but as a source of comfort and guidance.

Another false belief today is what Carl Trueman describes as individual expressionism - only you know who you truly are. You define yourself - not anyone else (including God). So the best person to follow - you. Follow your heart. Don’t let anyone tell you no. (every graduation speech).

One that’s particularly convicting for me, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6, don’t worry about what you eat, what you will wear. Now, I don’t wake up fretting over my clothing for the day. But I’ve come to realize that I don’t live in the assurance of the Father and his provision (like Jesus did). I give far too much thought about managing our finances - there’s a worry there. But Jesus says, “don’t worry” - For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will given to you as well.

I hold that example out to show that likely, our false views are not that blatant, but they’re mixed in, we hold to shades of them (that was probably true of Jephthah as well). But we want to be people who embrace the narratives of Jesus fully.

Spiritual Disciplines

Be attentive to what Jesus teaches, what he says about the Father, how we are to live our lives. (Through Our time of teaching, Spiritual Formation Group, your own Scripture reading - read through one of the Gospels). Examine it. How does what you believe line up with that?

As you come to realize there’s something about Jesus’ teachings that you haven’t embraced, not your natural way of thinking - incorporate a habit that will help you embrace the teaching (Matthew 6:33 is a daily verse for me). Confess when you realize you are still holding to the old narrative, remind yourself of the truth.

John Stonestreet: Ideas have consequences, bad ideas have victims (tragically true of this story). Reverse is true, good ideas, right thinking about God, leads to fullness of life Jesus came to give.