B.E.S.T. Shabbat

"Now Jephthah the  Gileadite  was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah."   Jdg 11:1 (NASB) Click here to listen to " The Issue of Legitimacy " Legitimacy has been a challenge for many people. Feelings of the shame that comes from illegitimacy can affect the way we see ourselves and our claim on the victories in our lives.  What is legitimacy really all about ?  With respect to our   birth,  legitimacy is de termined  by  the marriage  covenant  of the parents .   When a child is conceived  in a marriage covenant, as a boundary generated by the pledges of 2 individuals and through them two lineages , the child is celebrated as the legitimate fruit of that covenant. So, what happens when a child is birthed outside of the boundaries of covenant?   This is often named as an illegitimate child. In this  chapter we will look at such a person, a hero ...

27 Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. (Judges 8:27 (NASB)) Click here to listen to " Gideon Final " One of the most difficult things to do is live in victory. We shared over the past few chapters how Gideon rose to his calling, put away his father’s idols, and through his faith in God freed Israel from the Midianite oppression. We saw also how God worked an unorthodox miracle to deliver Israel through the blast of the shofar and the shout. 16 He divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. 17 He said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For the LORD and for Gi...

32Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.” (Judges 6:32 (NKJV)) Click here to listen to " Gideon Part 3 " Last chapter, we looked at the tearing down by Gideon of the altar of Baal Peor and the Asherah pole, the idols of the Midianites. This was a declaration of war in the heavenlies against the attempts to appease the gods of the enemies of God and the Israelites. The response is immediate: 33Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. (Judges 6:33 (NKJV) When the gauntlet is thrown by Gideon, by destroying the altar of Baal Peor and the Asherah pole, The followers are threatened at an existential level. This is hard for us to understand in our era of dissolving national identities. The closest thing we have to the heart attitudes of those who worship and an idol is our modern-day racial identi...

"The LORD looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?""   Jdg 6:14 (NASB) Click here to listen to " Gideon: Tear Down the Idols " The Midianites used their overwhelming numbers to devastate the Children of Israel by destroying their crops, livestock, and their provision.  God responds to the numerical advantage by increasing His Presence in the equation. One person with God is always a majority. Turn with me to Judges 6:10-12 "and I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me."'" Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with ...

"The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior."" Jdg 6:12 Click here to listen to " Gideon - Part 1 " In these prophetic times, people are gradually losing confidence in their security. Our next judge Gideon deals with the scenario of an attack on our livelihood. What we often do not realize is that an attack on our faith is an attack on our livelihood. In the case of Gideon, the Midianites were raiding and destroying the crops and livestock of Israel. For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them. So, they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they cam...

"The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera.” (Jdg 5:20 NASB) Click here to listen to " The War in the Heavens " We have been looking at Justice in these unjust times. We have looked at four Judges in Israel and how their characteristics exemplify aspects that are part of justice from God’s perspective. This chapter I want to take a step back and look at a bigger perspective before we move on to our fifth judge, Gideon. The foundation text for today is Judges 5, which is called the Song of Deborah. Recalling Deborah, she is the fire prophetess who brings God’s Word in a way that defeats the enemies of Israel and God strategically in such a manner that there is a shift in the heavenlies. Let’s look at the big picture. The Apostle Paul lets us know that all conflicts are not with human agencies.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darknes...