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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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TOLA, JAIR
(FOURTH PERIOD) AND GOD’S UNEXPECTED ANSWER Judges 10:1-16,
10/016/13 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert
I. THE RULE OF TOLA (10:1-2) A. Tola and Jair are minor judges in the book
of Judges. Very little was recorded about any of the minor judges (cf. Jdg
3:31; 12:8-15). These two judges were raised up after the death of Abimelech. B. [1] Tola, and his father (Puah), were
named after the sons of Issachar (Ge 46:13). “Tola” (tola) means worm
or scarlet. The connection between the two is the scarlet dye obtained from
certain larva (Aramaic, kermes - crimson). The name can represent both decay or luxury. The reference that Tola arose to
“save” (yasha) Israel, usually refers to military deliverance (cf. Jdg
3:31). No opposition was mentioned, but the context may suggest chaos and
violence from the disastrous rule of Abimelech. He apparently ruled in
Shamir, an unknown town in the hills of Ephraim, perhaps northwest of
Shechem. C. [2] He judged and ruled in other affairs
for Israel for 23 yrs. After that, he died and was buried in Shamir. II. THE RULE OF JAIR (10:3-5) A. [3] After Tola, Jair the Gileadite arose
as the next judge over Israel. He was from the hills of Gilead, which run
east, and parallel of the Jordan River. We are told that he ruled 22 yrs. B. [4] Jair had thirty sons who rode on
thirty donkeys, depicting Jair with wealth and nobility. They possessed and
ruled thirty cities in the land of Gilead called Havvoth-jair. Havvoth-jair
was a group of thirty cities, the last of a group of sixty cities that had
been captured n Bashan by Jair, son of Segub, great, great grandson of
Manasseh (Nu 32:39-41; 1Ch 2:22-23). C. [5] Jair died and was buried in a city
name Kamon, southeast of the Sea of Galilee III. BEGINNING OF A NEW CYCLE (FIFTH PERIOD)
(10:6-9) A. [6] The infamous words were repeated, “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight
of the LORD.” In spite of numerous deliverances and
returns, Israel did not wholeheartedly follow the Lord and began to serve
other gods. Here we have the most extensive description of Israel’s idolatry
in Judges, as well as the last. 1. Israel continued to follow the Canaanite
gods “Baals and Ashtaroth” (cf. Jdg 2:11-13; 10:6).
Baal was the Canaanite storm god, possibly Hadad, son of Dagon, god of rain
and agriculture. Ashtareth, often linked with Baal, denotes the leading
female moon-goddess, known for fertility, love, and war. 2. Israel served the gods of “Aram”
(Syrian). This included the gods Hadad or Rimmon (2Ki 5:18; Zec
12:11), storm god responsible for beneficial
rains for the crops or the destructive storms with hurricanes. 3. Israel served the gods of “Sidon”
(Phoenician). This included the Phoenician Baal and Asherah
(cf. Jdg 6:25ff; 1Ki 15:13; 16:31-33;
18:19). 4. Israel served the gods of “Moab.” Their
chief god was Chemosh (cf. Jdg 11:24; Nu 21:29; 1Ki 11:7, 33; 2Ki
23:13). 5. Israel served the gods of the “sons of
Ammon.” They served Milcom or Molech (1Ki 11:5, 7, 33; 2Ki
23:13; Zec 1:5) 6. Israel served the gods of “Philistines.”
Their leading deity would have been Dagon (cf. Jdg 16:23; 1Sa 5:2-7;
1Ch 10:10). 7. Israel willfully forsook the Lord and
refused to serve Him. B. [7] As had been the case numerous times
before, Israel’s sin and idolatry provoked the anger of the Lord against them
(Jdg 2:12, 14, 20; 3:8; 10:7). As the Lord promised, He “sold” them into the
hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites as He had done with the Armeans (Jdg
3:8) and the Canaanites (Jdg 4:2). In other words, He did not keep His
protection on Israel and allowed Israel’s enemies to grow stronger. C. [8] Israel’s enemies not only oppressed
them, but they “shattered” (“afflicted” - raatz - to shatter) and “crushed”
(ratsats - crush or break in pieces, same word used for Abimelech’s skull,
Jdg 9:53) them. This continued for 18 yrs. for those Jews who were beyond
the Jordan in Gilead in the land of the Amorites. D. [9] While this was going on in Gilead, the
sons of Ammon crossed over to the west side of the Jordan to fight against
the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was greatly “distressed” (tsarar
- compressed, bound, and distressed, cf. Jdg 2:15). IV. ISRAEL’S CRY TO THE LORD (10) A. [10] With no place left for aid, Israel
looked up and called upon the Lord for deliverance. They confessed that they
had “sinned” (chata - miss the mark cf. Grk. hamartia) against the
Lord. They admitted forsaking the Lord and serving Baal. Israel’s predictable
cycle continued. V. GOD’S UNEXPECTED ANSWER (11-14) A. [11-12] However, what was not expected was
the Lord’s reply to the cry of His people. The Lord had put up with Israel
long enough. The Lord had been on this miserable cycle too many times. So, He
called to Israel’s remembrance the times when He delivered them from their
enemies. He had delivered them from the Egyptians
(Ex 7-12), the Amorites (Nu 21:25), the sons of Ammon (Jdg 3:13), and the
Philistines (Jdg 3:31), Sidonians (Though no previous record of defeat in OT,
Sidonians may have aided Canaanites, Jdg 4:1-3), the Amalekites (Ex 17:8-16;
Jdg 3:13; 6:3) and the Maonites (possibly the Midianites - Jdg 6:3; Israel
defeats Maonites at a later date 1Ch 4:41; 2Ch 20:1; 26:7) B. [13] Since Israel repeatedly forsook the
Lord and served other gods, therefore the Lord would “no longer deliver them”
(lit. “I will not add (yasaph - add or do again) any more deliverances
to you”). C. [14] God’s reply was that Israel should
cry out to the gods they had chosen over Him. In divine irony, God chides
Israel to let these other gods deliver them in their distress. Of course, no
other gods exist and therefore cannot help them. It appears that at this moment
Israel realized their sinfulness. VI. THE GOODNESS AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD (15-16) A. [15] Israel appeared to have received
God’s message. They again acknowledged that they had sinned. They were even
ready to accept any other discipline from the Lord (“do to us whatever seems good to You”). Their only dire (“please” na - pray now ) request
was that God deliver them that day. B. [16] Israel even showed signs of
repentance by putting away their foreign gods and began serving the Lord. In
a remarkable statement revealing the compassion of the Lord toward His
people, the Lord could not bear their misery any longer. An idiom that
literally means “his soul (nephesh -
soul) became short (qatsar - to be short”) as he watched them
suffer. As much as he could not bear their idolatry, he could not bear their
repentant cries for help. As a result, the Lord would raise
up another deliverer by the name of Jephthah (Jdg 11:1). VII. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Enemies from the Lord - Since the
Lord is sovereign, He sovereignly uses those who would be enemies in our
lives. This would include enemies who have no relationship with God and have
no interest in what is right, fair, or in our best interest. Though this may
seem unfair to the believer, the Lord will allow enemies in our life to
correct sinful attitudes and behavior. Often our enemies are the first to
notice things that annoy them as well as God. The remedy is not to fight the
enemy or even first reconcile with the enemy (Mt 5:44; Ro 12:19-21), but to
make sure our ways are pleasing to the Lord. When our ways please the Lord,
he makes even our enemies to be at peace with us (Pr 16:7). B. Exhausting the Lord’s Patience -
Though a true believer will never be separated from the love of Christ (Ro
8:38-39), he may exhaust the Lord’s patience and incur major discipline and
consequences in this life (1Co 11:30). It could be a continual besetting sin
or a succession of sins that lead to a major failure. It could apply to
continual unbiblical and ungodly attitudes such as pride, bitterness. The
remedy is to: 1. Lay all sin aside (He 12:1). 2. Understand heavenly discipline conforms
us to holiness (He 12:10-11). 3. Commit to strengthening our spiritual
lives (He 12:12-13). 4. Guarding ourselves from prideful, bitter,
or unbiblical attitudes (He 12:14-17). C. The Compassion of the Lord - Not in
contradiction to the last point, but with the understanding that, the Lord is
compassionate to those who cry for help (He 4:16). The Lord is forgiving to
those who humbly confess their sin (Ex 34:6-7; 1Jn 1:9). No matter where we
are in our Christian lives, the Lord will meet us, forgive us, develop us,
and use us if we confess our sin and repent. If not, there is a possibility
that we will exhaust God’s patience. |
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