Judges: Faithful God — Broken People:

Once upon a time there were two merchants who were bitter rivals. Their stores were across from each other, and they spied on the other endlessly, each tracking the other’s business. Each storekeeper was more concerned about the customers who entered the store of his rival than he was about servicing his own customers. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers. He told the man that he could have one wish, but there was a condition to the wish: His rival would receive double what he requested. Rather than bear the though of having his rival twice as happy, twice as healthy, or twice as rich, he said to the angel: “Strike me blind in one eye.”

When pride is coupled with envy, the mixture is self-destructive. The Ephraimites had a difficult time enduring the success of someone else. They were unable to bear having their Israelite brothers enjoy freedom from Ammonite oppression, even though Jephthah’s victory benefitted them as well. Rather than “rejoice with those who rejoice,” they chose to challenge the champion — with calamitous consequences.

I. EPHRAIM’S DEADLY SIN: PRIDE AND ENVY

1. Israel’s twelve tribes were named for Jacob’s children or, in the case of Ephraim (and Manasseh), his grandchildren

Manasseh), his grandchildren

a. Ephraim was born in Egypt to Joseph's wife, Asenath

b. Joseph named his second-born son “Ephraim” because “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering”

in the land of my suffering”

2. when Jacob gave his blessing to his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh, he chose to bless the younger Ephraim first, despite Joseph’s protests

bless the younger Ephraim first, despite Joseph’s protests

a. in doing so, Jacob noted that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh

b. numerically, that was never so

3. when the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan we see this coming true

a. the territory of Ephraim contained the early centers of Israelite religion — Shechem and Shiloh (Shiloh being were the Ark of the Covenant resided)

and Shiloh (Shiloh being were the Ark of the Covenant resided)

b. describes them as a tribe of warriors and valiant fighters

1) Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim

2) in the Song of Deborah the tribe is commended as among the first to respond to the summons to arms ()

the summons to arms ()

c. the Jewish Talmud — a collection of Jewish commentaries — describes Ephraim himself as modest and generous

himself as modest and generous

1) his descendants would not remain that way

d. in Deuteronomy the tribe of Ephraim is portrayed as domineering, haughty, discontented, and jealous

discontented, and jealous

A. EPHRAIM’S SINS

1. Jephthah has won a great victory over the Ammonites with the help of the Lord

a. during the battle, the Ammonites are routed, Israel subdues Ammon, and devastates the heart of the Ammonite kingdom by destroying 20 towns and cities

devastates the heart of the Ammonite kingdom by destroying 20 towns and cities

2. you would think that all of Israel would rejoice at the defeat of the Ammonite kingdom — a people who had been a thorn in their side for 18 years

— a people who had been a thorn in their side for 18 years

a. you would be wrong

3. in Judges, chapter 12 we have the story of the Ephraimites whose pride gets the best of them

of them

a. if you remember, we saw something very similar back to the story of Gideon

“Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they criticized him sharply.” (, NIV84)

1) you gotta wonder about folks who are always ticked off about not being part of the fight

the fight

b. as with Gideon the Ephraimites go whining to Jephthah complaining that he did not involve them in the battle against the Ammonites

involve them in the battle against the Ammonites

1) we can only assume they’re upset because it means that they missed out on gathering the “spoils of war”

gathering the “spoils of war”

2) they are so embittered that they threatened to burn Jephthah’s house down around his head

around his head

3) which makes me wonder ... can we add greed to Ephraimites pride and envy?

4. the Ephraimites expected their egos to be stroked, soothed, and mollified

a. that’s not going to happen

II. JEPHTHAH’S DEADLY SIN: WRATH

1. Jephthah’s response is terse () —

“Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”” (, NIV84)

a. translation: “I called you to be part of Israel’s defense, but you ignored me. When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took the Army that I had, confronted the Ammonites, and defeated them with the help of the Lord. Now why are you so ticked off about that?”

saw that you wouldn’t help, I took the Army that I had, confronted the Ammonites, and defeated them with the help of the Lord. Now why are you so ticked off about that?”

2. the result is carnage

a. the Ephraimites, their pride and envy getting the best of them, will not back down

b. Jephthah, his anger boiling over, also will not back down

“Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” 6 they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’ ” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.” (, NIV84)

c. 42,000 Ephraimites are killed, almost wiping out the entire tribe

III. APPLICATION

1. I have discovered in my own walk of faith, that one of the ironies of the Christian life, is that the closer I come to Christ the more sinful I become

that the closer I come to Christ the more sinful I become

a. that doesn’t mean that I’m picking up “new sins” or “sinning more” as I grow older

b. it does mean that the increasing glory of Christ in me continually reveals how truly dark is the indelible stain of sin in my soul

What I call an accident; God calls an abomination.

dark is the indelible stain of sin in my soul • What I call an accident; God calls an abomination.

What I call a blunder; God calls a blot.

• What I call a blunder; God calls a blot.

What I call a defect; God calls depravity.

• What I call a defect; God calls depravity.

• What I call an error; God calls enmity.

What I call an error; God calls enmity.

What I call an infirmity; God call iniquity.

• What I call an infirmity; God call iniquity.

What I call a liberty; God calls lawlessness.

• What I call a liberty; God calls lawlessness.

What I call a mistake; God calls malicious.

• What I call a mistake; God calls malicious.

• What I call a weakness; God calls wickedness.

What I call a weakness; God calls wickedness.

2. the human capacity for self-delusion is nearly limitless

a. the Scripture say we are all sinners, and we don't mind being called "sinners" as long as the sins are "nameless" and "faceless"

long as the sins are "nameless" and "faceless"

b. when we actually begin giving names to our sins — pride, envy, sloth, lust, wrath, greed — it is as though we are confronted by muggers in the back alley of our souls

greed — it is as though we are confronted by muggers in the back alley of our souls

3. in AD 590 Pope Gregory I penned a list of sins that he believed were especially offensive

offensive

a. he believed them to be transgressions which are fatal to spiritual progress

b. they include: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth

c. at least three of these are on display for us in these verses, and we learn that when sin is not checked that it can, literally, become deadly

sin is not checked that it can, literally, become deadly

A. PRIDE IS THE GREAT SIN AND THE ROOT OF ALL OTHER SINS

ILLUS. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. It was through pride that man fell from grace and lost paradise. It is pride that keeps lost folks lost. Pride is the only disease that everyone around you suffers from except yourself.

fell from grace and lost paradise. It is pride that keeps lost folks lost. Pride is the only disease that everyone around you suffers from except yourself.

1. there are few other sins so thoroughly condemned in the Scriptures as is the sin of pride

pride

a. it's opposite virtue is humility and needs to be cultivated in the believer's life

2. the pride which scriptures so thoroughly condemns we call ‘Hubris'

ILLUS. The source of our word hubris is interesting. The Greeks referred to the Rocks of Gibralter as the Hubrī . Beyond them were monsters, and sea serpents and the edge of the world. To sail past them was "tempting the gods" — or hubris. It was a sign of arrogance.

Gibralter as the Hubrī . Beyond them were monsters, and sea serpents and the edge of the world. To sail past them was "tempting the gods" — or hubris. It was a sign of arrogance.

a. hubris is an overbearing pride that leads to presumption and arrogance and a swagger in one's walk

swagger in one's walk

1) it’s what we see in the Ephraimites as the confront, first Gideon, and then Jephthah ... “We’re the greatest warriors among the Twelve Tribes! How dare you not call us to be a part of the fight?”

Jephthah ... “We’re the greatest warriors among the Twelve Tribes! How dare you not call us to be a part of the fight?”

b. this is hubris, a smug, vain, and overbearing ego that leads to a pompous and haughty attitude

haughty attitude

1) more of us have it than we are willing to admit

c. we loath it when we see it in someone else but thoroughly doubt that we are ever guilty of it ourselves

guilty of it ourselves

d. lets be honest with ourselves this evening, what person here today doesn't covet the front of the line, the back of the church, and the center of attention?

the front of the line, the back of the church, and the center of attention?

3. this kind of pride welled up in Lucifer's heart and made him attempt to set his throne on high in proud independence of God

on high in proud independence of God

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! ... You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (, NIV)

heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (, NIV)

a. pride was Lucifer's undoing and the prime means by which he brings about the undoing of men and women still

undoing of men and women still

b. pride always seeks to replace God's will with I will

4. as Satan sought to lure Adam and Eve into disobedience to God, the Devil appealed to Adam and Eve's pride

Adam and Eve's pride

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals ... He said to the woman ... God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (, , NIV)

... God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (, , NIV)

a. he offered them the chance to be like God and in their arrogance they presumed they could be

they could be

b. the result is that man's nature—your personality and my personality—is infected with a vice called pride

with a vice called pride

ILLUS. C.H. Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher of the 19th century, said, "The deomon of pride was born with us; and will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature, that, till we are laid in our coffins, we shall never hear the last of it."

deomon of pride was born with us; and will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature, that, till we are laid in our coffins, we shall never hear the last of it."

5. the early Church Fathers called pride "a tumor of the soul" — a tumor that has metastasized to every other area of life, and is as dangerous to the soul as cancer untreated is to the body

metastasized to every other area of life, and is as dangerous to the soul as cancer untreated is to the body

a. pride metastasized among the Ephraimites and it lead to the sins of envy and greed

b. in we are told "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

a fall."

1) the word pride literally means swelling excellence

6. as believers we must never be proud of race, or face, or place

B. PRIDE CONVINCES US THAT WE DESERVE ALL THAT WE HAVE

1. hubris is the pride of not letting God be God and is the sin that will send all lost people into eternity without God

into eternity without God

ILLUS. Augustine says in his work, The City of God that everyone in the world belongs to one of two cities: the City of God, which consists of “all who love God to the despising of self,” or the City of the World, populated by those who “love self to the despising of God.”

one of two cities: the City of God, which consists of “all who love God to the despising of self,” or the City of the World, populated by those who “love self to the despising of God.”

a. there are two kinds of people who will stand before the Lord in the end

1) those who say to God, Thy will be done

2) and those to whom God will say, Thy will be done

2. pride is the greatest sin because it is the living heart of all sins

a. pride say to God My will be done

b. pride is not just an unattractive character flaw

1) pride is heinous sin that is at the heart of the spiritual cancer that affects mankind

mankind

ILLUS. When Muhammad Ali was in his prime he was a proud and haughty man. One time, as he was about to take off on an airplane flight, the stewardess reminded him to fasten his seat belt. He came back brashly, "Superman don't need no seat belt." The stewardess quickly came back, "Superman don't need no airplane, either." Ali fastened his belt.

One time, as he was about to take off on an airplane flight, the stewardess reminded him to fasten his seat belt. He came back brashly, "Superman don't need no seat belt." The stewardess quickly came back, "Superman don't need no airplane, either." Ali fastened his belt.

3. lost men are just like this

a. the proud man says, “I don’t need God.”

b. but you do!

4. but believers, if we are not careful, can be proud, too

C. CHRISTIANS MUST CULTIVATE HUMILITY

1. how do we cultivate such an attitude?

a. by being grateful to anyone and everyone

1) a grateful heart is seldom a proud heart

b. by repenting of pride and begging forgiveness of God for the sin of pride

c. by living in daily obedience to Christ and asking God for a spirit of humility

“ . . . If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” KJV

cross daily, and follow me.” KJV

ILLUS. Pride is a plant that doesn’t grow well in the shadow of the cross!

1) your prayer needs to be: “Lord make me humble, and when I am humble, don’t let me know it!”

let me know it!”

Have you dealt a death-blow to pride by repenting of your sin and receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?

As a believer, are you cultivating humility in your life or has your pride led you to believe that you are indispensable to your company, or your family, or your church?

When a company takes over another company, there is often a sign placed outside the premises announcing, Under New Management.

No sign so accurately summarizes what takes place in Christian conversion. When Christ takes over a life, that life is literally under new management. Is God managing your pride?

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