Sun.’s Devo - Prepare the Way

Read: Judges 11:1-12:15; John 1:1-28; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 14:13-14 Israel was threatened by the coming attack of the Ammonites. They wanted their land back that Israel had been given by God when they came to Canaan with Moses. The leaders of Gilead promised that whoever would lead the attack would be made the ruler over Gilead. The problem was that they had no strong warrior to lead then. *** Previously, there had been a man that would have been perfect for the part. He had been the son of a concubine who had been driven away by the sons and fled to Tob where he had a formed a band of rebels. His name was Jephthah. ***They came to Jephthah to ask him to lead their attack and promised to make him their ruler. When he realized they were serious he agreed to do it. They made him their ruler and he sent a message to the king of Ammon asking him why they were attacking them. The king explained how they stole their land 300 years ago and they wanted it back. Jephthah replied that they didn’t steal their land, God gave them their land because they wouldn’t let them pass through peacefully. They needed to take up their matter with their god Chemesh, who didn’t defend them then. *** The king of Ammon didn’t ’t pay any attention to his explanation so Jephthah went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh gatherng an army to fight the Ammonites. Jephthah foolishly vowed that if the Lord gave him victory, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house when he returned. God did give him a great victory and when he returned home, his only daughter was the one who came out of his house first. He was distressed but she told him he had to keep his vow. She asked for two months to go into the mountains and mourn her virginity. He allowed her to do so then offered her up as a sacrifice to the Lord. *** Once again, the men of Ephraim got upset because no one had invited them to the war. Jephthah said he did and they refused to come. The conflict ended in a battle against Ephraim and Jephthah won. They set up a station so that when an Ephraimite wanted to cross the Jordan into their land they could stop him. They would ask them to say the word Shibboleth. The Ephraimites had a speech impediment that kept them from being able to pronounce it right, so they ended up killing 42,000 Ephraimites trying to cross into their land. *** Jephthah ruled only 6 years and died. Ibzan judged Israel next. He caused his family to grow by making his 30 sons and 30 daughters marry outside their clan bringing more people into his family. He ruled for 7 years. *** The next judge, Elon judged for 10 years, then Hillel ruled. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who all rode on donkeys. Riding on donkeys was a sign of kingship. Jesus rode in the womb on a donkey and then again into Jerusalem as our coming king. *** John is the Genesis of the New Testament. It goes back to the very beginning and explains that Jesus was there with God creating the world with God. He was the light that God declared “Let there be.” John the Baptist was sent to prepare men’s hearts to receive the light that had come to earth and would soon stand before them as a testimony of all God had said in his Word. *** When John the Baptist came on the scene talking about the coming Messiah, the priests and leaders of the Temple sent ambassadors to ask John who he was. He told them that he was not the Messiah or Elijah, but just a voice proclaiming to clear the way for the Lord’s coming. They asked him how he had the authority to baptize and he told them he was only baptizing with water but one would come whose sandals he was not worthy to unloose. *** Lord, thank you for brave warriors of the faith that have risen throughout history to lead the people into war. Thank you for our spiritual leaders today who are not afraid to stand against the evil of our day. May we support them with prayer and any other way you lead us. Thank you for victory.