Question #10

First, my response to question #9:

I've never had a lot of material things in my life, so I've learned to get along without much. But that doesn't mean that I don't covet more stuff, or that I don't get cranky when I lose what I have. I'm pretty unhappy if I can't have Internet access when I want it. In the larger picture, I'm pretty wealthy and haven't really been tested, so I'm not sure how I would react if God were to reduce what I had by the 98.6 % that Gideon's army was reduced (22,000 to 300).

I do know that I have found myself complaining to God lately about the lack of numbers of people around me, e.g. at worship or at special events. It is hard to continue to be faithful to what God calls me to do when I don't see the results reflected in some tangible way. But perhaps the victories that we are meant to achieve are not the kind that we can measure numerically.

Now for today's question:

Question #10 Gideon attacked using surprise and panic. When have you used fear as a weapon?

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Question #9

First, my response to question #8:

Almost every time I don't feel like doing something that I am praying about I pretty much say to God, "make me." Or more likely, "do I really have to? Can't it wait? Can't someone else do it?" I don't generally seek signs, but I do tend to do a bit of weaseling with God. Usually, if I do notice a sign it is because I've already been ignoring it, so it is something like, "Oh, you mean that wet fleece meant that I was supposed to do what you said?"


Now for today's question:

Question #9 Gideon had his army reduced to a shadow of its former self. How much is enough for you? Can you trust God if you have less?

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Question #8

First, my response to question #7:

One thing that the book of Judges shows us is the development of sanctioned religious architecture. Eventually, the Hebrews distinguished themselves from the nature religions by building the temple to replace the natural sites such as holy mountains (although the temple was built on a mountain) and trees, etc. The Asherah pole that Gideon cut down was actually a stylized tree (remember that Deborah sat under a particular tree).

While there may be a fine line at times between worshiping the Creator and worshiping the creation, I find myself longing to be in the wild for my personal worship. There are many places where I have had important spiritual experiences and they take on special meaning. Of course, many of them are church sanctuaries...but some of them are nature sanctuaries. I guess the bottom line for me is that I require very little structure (physical or otherwise) for my religious practice.

Now for today's question:

Question #8 Gideon basically said to God, “best two out of three” by asking for a second sign with the fleece. Name your “fleece.”

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Question #7

First, my response to question #6:

The commenter on the questioned assumed correctly what I probably should have clarified: by "another god" I intended that which distracts us from God. I think there is a little bit of Gideon, the unsure, in all of us. The question, "what if I'm wrong?" can be both a humbling corrective as well as a tremendous roadblock. We don't see a lot of evidence that Gideon served Baal, but his service to YHWH is certainly tentative. Sometimes I find myself trapped between an urge to take a bold stance and the desire not to rock the boat. I'm pretty sure that the most effective way I have "served another god" is in my silence, protecting what I have and don't want to lose. And this is nothing as noble as "losing everything" or becoming a martyr for my faith. It is usually status and comfort that are at stake. Status, power and comfort can make pretty compelling "gods."

Now for today's question:

Question #7 Gideon lived in a time before the building of the temple and worship took place in a variety of settings, some perhaps not clearly for YHWH, since they may have also served Baal. What do you need in terms of structure for your own worship?

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Question #6

First, my response to question #5:

I can't say that following God has taken me away from my family and its traditions, since we are all Christians. On the other hand, I learned and believed Evangelical theology growing up. I did reject that school of thought years ago when I couldn't reconcile it with what my heart was saying. Actually, it was the practice of justifying killing in the name of God (as seen in the book of Judges) that caused me to finally reject the primary doctrine of Evangelicalism, the inerrancy of scripture.

That radical shift felt like I had no place to stand at the time. Sure, it was just an existential experience, but a pretty powerful one for me. Over time as I built up a strong enough alternative to support my belief system I found the urge to fight my former views to be strong. Finding ways to affirm the best of my former views has not always been easy, but it is a healthy journey I find myself on.

Now for today's question:

Question #6 Gideon, aka Jerubaal, either called on the foreign god, Baal, to contend against him or for him. When have you been likewise unclear or ambivalent (intentionally or otherwise) in your struggle against another “god?”

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Question #5

First, my response to question #4:

I did a paper in seminary on the expression "and the land had rest" in Judges. I had hoped that it was an expression related to Sabbath practice. I couldn't prove my hyphothesis, discovering instead that its likely meaning is simply that there was a period without warfare and conflict.

In my lifetime there have been very few years that have passed without my nation being at war at some point somewhere around the globe. A period of peace is a very precious thing. The absence of inter-personal conflict in my own life is a precious gift that I need to learn to treasure more, since it is in valuing it that I am inspired to create it all the more.

Now for today's question:

Question #5 Gideon had to reject his family traditions (6:25-27). What has serving God cost you?

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Gideon

This week we have the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael next in the text, but the empty man we will consider is Gideon. So if you are reading the entire book of Judges, read chapters 4-8. If you just want to read the shorter passage that will be the focus of the sermon next Sunday, read the passage here

Gideon shows a consistent yellow streak - he is hiding from the Midianites by threshing his grain in the winepress, he destroys the shrine of Baal at night, he tests the message he hears from God by requiring signs on multiple nights...you catch my drift. God's response to Gideon is make his task more difficult, primarily by reducing the size of his army, thus requiring more trust in God from a man who seems distrusting by nature.

Then there is the odd issue of his name. By all normal conventions of the ancient world, a name like Jerubaal would be translated as "may Baal contend for me" not "may Baal contend against me." Thus, the person named Jerubaal would be expected to be a devotee of Baal, not an enemy. Perhaps we are expected to doubt the loyalties of Gideon, it would seem to fit his character after all.

Question #4

First, my response to question #3:

The Israelites needed deliverance from the oppression of foreign powers, that is what the Judges provided. That is not a problem we face in America today regardless of the worst threat of terrorism. No, the deliverance that I long for is from our oppression of ourselves. I would hope that if God were to send a deliverer that he or she would overthrow the power of "the market" and replace our "corporate overlords" with people of compassion that put people before profits.

Now for today's question:

Queston #4 What would "the land having rest" look like in your life?

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Question #3

OK, first my response to question #2.

In the Judges "formula," the people cry out because they are being oppressed. Now, it is important to note that they brought it on themselves. This is a hard and dangerous theology, believing that suffering is a result of sin. It is a theology rejected by Jesus, who said that the blindness of the man at the pool of Siloam was not the result of anyone's sin (neither his nor his parents') but was specifically to reveal the glory of God through his healing. The comments you posted yesterday (thank you again) remind us that bad things happen to good people. So we all cry out to God on occasion.

For me, one of the most dramatic times was the same one Paul alluded to. Molly's short life touched all of us in ways that some much longer lives seldom do, making saying "goodby" to her all the harder. The day I baptized her, I understood that the reason for it was a fear that she might not ever leave the hospital and be able to get baptized in the church. As I left her hospital room, I cried out to God, "don't ever make me do that again!"

Now for today's question:

Queston #3 If God were to raise up a deliverer for you, what would that look like? Who might that be?

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Question #2

Before posting the next question, as promised, I will give my answer to yesterday's question.

The pivotal word in question #1 is "evil." That is a strong word to say the least. I could waffle on this one and say that I've done bad things that weren't evil, but then there is that last phrase, "in the sight of God." Merciful as God is, God doesn't lower standards so much as forgiving us when we fall short. So, yes, I surely have done evil. The people in Judges consistently "do what is evil" by turning to other gods. When I think for just a second about all the excuses I use to keep from doing what is good and what I know I should, I realize that there is a pantheon of lesser gods that get a portion of my attention.

Now for today's question:

Question #2 When have you needed to cry out to God?

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Question #1

Now we begin the Lenten discipline of the forty questions.

Question #1 What have you (we) done that which is evil in the sight of God?

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Ehud

As we start Lent with Ash Wednesday, we will begin a journey through the book of Judges examing the "heroes" whom we will come to know as empty men.

The first week's empty man is Ehud, the left-handed warrior who defeated Eglon the Moabite. He is a true warrior hero, saving the Israelites from the oppressor. Still, the intent of the book of Judges is to point beyond the time of the judges to something better (the collector of these stories probably intended to suggest that kingship was preferable). So, a general question for all of the stories is "how could this situation have been better?"

Read the passage here

The story of Ehud gives us the model of the "perfect" Judge with the complete cycle of the typical story demonstrated. The cycle of all the judge stories includes (though some are incomplete):

1. The people turn away from YHWH (divine name of God)
2. YHWH allows an enemy to oppress them
3. The people cry out to YHWH
4. YHWH responds by raising up a deliverer (i.e. the "judge")
5. The hero delivers the people
   
6. The land has rest (meaning rest from warfare/strife)

Sometimes the deliverer doesn't do a very good or complete job and the land has little or no rest. The formula is not always obvious or complete, but in this early story it is clear.

If you want to see my journal commentary on the text and stories of Judges, click here