Judges 6. 1-10
Judges 6. 1-10. (and Hebrews 11. 29-34.)
God had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, into a new land where there were enemy people all around. But God had helped them take control of the land. He has used a series of women and men. Joshua who led the people into their new land. Rahab the Canaanite prostitute who hid some Israelite spies in her house. Ehud who assassinated the hugely overweight king Eglon of Moab, then locked the dead king in his room and escaped leaving his dagger in the king's fat belly. Shamgar who killed a thousand men with a donkey's jawbone. Deborah and Barak who fought the army of the Canaanite alliance, led by King Jabin from Hazor, up in the north country. Deborah was a prophet, and it was she who summoned Barak to lead God’s people into battle. When he says, “I’ll go, but only if you go with me”, Deborah said “I’ll go with you, but the decisive blow will be dealt by a woman not by you.” Jabin the Canaanite’s general was a guy called Sisera, and when Barak’s army beat the Canaanite army, Sisera escaped. He happened to come to the tent belonging to a woman called Jael, tired and thirsty. She gave him a drink of milk, allowed him to fall asleep, then hammered a tent peg into his temple and killed him. That is the background to today’s reading. What does it tell us?
Firstly, in all of that, God was victorious, fighting for his people.
Secondly, over and again, there was a cycle or sine wave of disobedience and idolatry (false
gods), judgement defeat and humiliation, challenge, repentance and renewal as God raised up a new faith-filled leader, followed by rescue and prosperity. Then they got careless, and the whole process began all over again. It’s one of the themes in the book of Judges.
So here they are in Chapter 6, at the bottom of the cycle. The Nadir, the low point. It seems like Israel never learned the lesson... Perhaps they didn't even notice the pattern. Definitely they didn't seem able to draw much encouragement from their history. Certainly they were so quick to fall back into the behaviour of their neighbours in the land....
Time passes – and we forget the lessons we have learned!
I wonder if there are patterns that we are blinded to? If we ask why the church in the West is struggling, when the answers to some of these questions ought to be staring us in the face. If we too easily blend into to lifestyle and values of our world. Are Christians any better than the rest of society? Does the church think like the true Family of God, or like something secular, a cross between a trade union and a business, that has to maintain its customer base? Just asking.
This time the people-group that cause the problem are the Midianites. There are thousands of
them. They are nomadic, and they are used to raiding the tribes round about Israel. When they arrive, they come with their cattle, who graze the land bare. And they come with a new secret weapon; the latest military technology: camels. This is the first record of camels being used in warfare, and the speed, range, flexibility, endurance and sheer size of these beasts must have been frightening and overwhelming. This was "Shock and awe" tactics at work.
Now, did God send the Midianites? I believe they coming anyway. Manasseh is kind of north-central Israel. The Canaanite tribes in the North (kin Jabin and general Sisera’s lot) formed a kind of buffer-state, and when they were defeated so soundly (by Barak), it left the Valley of Jezreel as an open path for the Midianites to use. So they were coming anyway. But God gave Israel into their hands. Changes in our world are constant. Secularism was “coming anyway”; it doesn’t need to defeat us unless we are at the wrong, low point on the curve.
So, the people of Israel, in their promised land, supposedly laying claim to all that God had due them, were for seven years reduced to living in dens and caves... Embarrassed, humiliated, struggling to survive. It’s almost a parable of the state of the Church in Scotland and other parts of the Western world. (As I was preparing this, I happened to take a phone call from someone looking for a toddler group... But part of our embarrassment is we no longer have one.)
Prayer
The people, we are told, were "brought very low." And when they were brought low enough, they "Called out to the Lord". It's that simple. But how low do we have to get? My fear is that as a Church we will simply say "That was nice" and carry on. We have these prayer-cards. Use them! Your Pastors and Leadership Team need your prayers. Your neighbours need your prayers. The children and young people in the church need your prayers. The families in the church need your prayers. The not-yet-Christian husbands, sons and daughters we share our lives with, need your prayers.
God answers.
And here's the amazing thing... God answers. He always does. That shouldn't amaze us. But what should amaze us is this…
God answers immediately. “When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian…” he may not answer exactly as we want, or expect. Or even exactly as we ask. But he answers as soon as we ask!
God answers by sending a completely unknown prophet. We don't even have this guy's name to put in the Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11. So you feel unknown, insignificant. But you could be the prophet that speaks the word that starts the revival.
This prophet tells the story of Israel: from their escape from Egypt onwards, it has been a story of God at work, and his people not listening to him. The sine curve we saw earlier. In fact, not keeping their side of the Covenant God had made with them. And there the prophecy ends. But the people know what to do. Their Covenant was already there; they just needed to come back to keeping it.
People of Promise
And we are under a New Covenant with God, too. Like the Old Covenant it is a Vassal
Covenant, given by the stronger party, not negotiated between equals. And like the Old it involves sacrifice. This New Covenant is sealed with the Blood of Jesus. We are reminded of that every item we share bread and wine around a table. “This is the New Covenant in my blood.”
This new Covenant:-
makes us a new community, with a new relationship with God, and a new commission.
is about grace not law,: faith not works, and Spirit not flesh.
is final and eschatological. It is the Last Covenant, and brings the triumph of the Kingdom.
We break the New Covenant when we choose law – legalism – instead of Grace; works instead of faith or flesh instead of Spirit. When we choose individualism over community, religion over relationship, maintenance over mission, or convenience over commission. When we choose this world over the next, or our rule over God's.
Hearing God's word, coming back to him, is part of his answer. Always, part of God's answer is a challenge: it is a call to repentance. It is a call to us to act. It is a call to be faithful to the New Covenant. To choose grace, faith, and the Spirit; to belong to one another. To show God’s love in the world.
So if you’re challenged today about the state of your Church, you know what to do. Notice the pattern.. Pray. Hear God’s voice. Come back to the New Covenant. Choose grace, faith, The Spirit instead of legalism and human resources. The new Covenant is already there. We just need to keep it.
© Gilmour Lilly January 2018
