The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 13 Listen: (3:44) Read: 1 Peter 5 Listen: (2:11)

Scripture Focus: Judges 13:21-24

21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”
24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.

Reflection: The Hero’s Parents

By Erin Newton

Samson is the Rapunzel of the Old Testament—at least relating to his luscious locks of hair. No one really thinks about his parents, perhaps we are all accustomed to granting his success as a gift from God (and his failure to the hands of his lover).

In the Bible, miraculous children are destined by God for specific purposes. The purpose of Abraham’s promised child (Isaac) was tied to the covenant already given by God. “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12). Zechariah’s promised child (John) would “bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 2). Manoah’s promised child (Samson) is to “take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

We often look at the joy that erupts at the news of a barren womb made fruitful. It is miraculous. But when Manoah prays to God, I can only imagine the element of shock—not because he was now going to be a father but that he was going to be tasked with raising a divinely appointed child. That would terrify me.

I’m glad Samson had both his father and his mother and that we get to see how both react. Manoah needs a little more reassurance. He tries to get the angel’s name as if that would grant him some sort of power or good luck. He delays the angel, trying to win favor by making an impromptu offering. And he is shocked when the offering billows up to heaven revealing their guest was divine.

Samson’s mother, though nameless here, has the steady demeanor of not freaking out. She meets the angel, receives the miraculous promise, and then rushes home admitting that she might have forgotten to get all the details. And when they realize the guest that was in their presence was the angel of the Lord, she has the logic and wisdom to reassure her husband that God does not promise blessing and then haphazardly kill you when he meets with you.

Once again, Judges gives us a glimpse of people having typical reactions to a very supernatural event. They are also imperfect in their faith and perhaps in their ability to raise this son (see chapter 14). But God knows this will happen. He calls them, meets with them, and continues to uphold his promises—even when they freak out.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him. — Psalm 103.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: It’s in the Bible

“Well, it’s right there in the Bible, so it must not be a sin. But it sure does seem like an awful dirty trick…” — Rich Mullins

It’s In The Bible

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Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 12 Listen: (2:21) Read: 1 Peter 4 Listen: (2:50)

Scripture Focus: Judges 12.4-6

4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” 6 they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’ ” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

Photo Information: Our photo today is of a visitor to the memorial complex for victims of the Armenian Genocide which occured in 1915-1916. It is often called the first genocide of the 20th century and is the event which caused the term to be created.

Reflection: Weaponized Shibboleths

By John Tillman

Ephraim was Manasseh’s closest fellow tribe. They were Joseph’s sons. Jacob had reversed their birth order when he blessed them, placing Ephraim, the younger son, over Manasseh, the first born. (Genesis 48.14-20) It’s possible this old controversy kept some inter-tribal hostility simmering in the background.

After Jephthah’s victory, Ephraim showed up indignant at being left out and threatened Jephthah. A similar conflict happened between Ephraim and Gideon after his victory. Gideon defused Ephraim with diplomacy and self-deprecation. (Judges 8.1-3) Jephthah’s prideful hostility sparked the confrontation, blowing it up into civil war.

Ephraim called Gilead (a sub-clan of Manasseh) “renegades.” Other translations render this, “fugitives” or “survivors.” Jephthah knew the pain of exile and this insult must have stung. Jephthah’s anger wasn’t satisfied with winning the argument or the battle. He became genocidal.

Jephthah, like many judges and biblical leaders, started out a sympathetic underdog, accomplished something beneficial, but then “went wrong” in tragic ways. This civil war between brother tribes shows the depths of darkness, chaos, and violence Jephthah succumbed to.

Jephthah’s forces defeated Ephraim and took control of the border, blocking Ephraim’s only escape. Then they strictly policed the border, using Ephraim’s regional accent to sort friend from foe and continue their genocidal slaughter. From this passage, “Shibboleth” has become a word meaning a group identity marker. Typically shibboleths are used to exclude, and in Jephthah’s case, to kill.

However, markers of identity can be positive. In a famous episode of The West Wing, titled “Shibboleth,” a group of Chinese Christian refugees seek asylum in the United States. President Bartlett must evaluate both the group’s claim to be Christians and their asylum claim, the group’s spokesperson says to him, “Faith is the true…Shibboleth.”

Like Manasseh and Ephraim, we should be brothers. We should not be dividing and conquering our family of faith or our communities. And yet… We have simmering hostility instead of hospitality and factiousness instead of fraternity. We vaunt superiority and denigrate servanthood. We celebrate domination and are suspicious of democratic cooperation. Civil wars begin with factions such as this.

To avoid the dark path of Jephthah, we need gentle answers that turn away wrath and leaders who turn down the temperature of conflicts. Instead of weaponizing Shibboleths against brothers, sisters, and citizens, we should dissolve factions based on hatred and unite around the love scripture commands. (Leviticus 19.18, 34; Deuteronomy 10.19; Matthew 22.35-40; John 13.34-35, 15.12; 1 Corinthians 16.14; 1 Peter 4.8)

Leaders who weaponize Shibboleths should be resisted.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another that everyone will recognize you as my disciples.” — John 13.34-35

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Marks of Leadership — Selflessness

Tests of leadership are almost always connected to selflessness.

Marks of Leadership — Selflessness

Read more: Abimelek, Caesar, and Jesus

Believers today who feel a religious compunction to political violence are serving an idolatrous, man-made religion, not Jesus.

Abimelek, Caesar, and Jesus

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 11.12-40 Listen: (5:53)   Read: 1 Peter 3 Listen: (3:30)

Scripture Focus: Judges 11.23-24, 30-31

23 “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess.

30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

Reflection: Allowing Injustice to Save Face

By John Tillman

Before going to war, Jephthah asked the king of Ammon why he was attacking them. Ammon’s king responded with “alternate facts” and manufactured historical claims that he lost land to Israel that he never possessed.

Jephthah corrected the record. Israel held the land for 300 years and Ammon never possessed the land. Jephathah claimed the land was given by God. As part of this argument, Jephthah reasoned, “Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you?” (v 24) This argument has a hint of theological trash-talking “Can your god take what our God gave us?” Jephthah’s attempt at diplomacy was short-lived and he informed the king of Ammon that the result of the battle would be up to Yahweh.

Jephthah was correct about history and that the battle was theological. But he was wrong about Yahweh.

In W.W. Jacob’s story, The Monkey’s Paw, a cursed monkey’s paw fulfills wishes through a mysterious and malicious power. For example, when a family wishes to pay off their mortgage, their son dies in a factory accident and the factory pays the family the wished-for amount.

If Jephthah wanted to make a sacrifice of thanksgiving after his victory, scripture clearly described how. None of scripture’s sacrifices resemble Jephthah’s vow. Jephthah contrasted Yahweh with Chemosh, but then treated God as if he was a transactional, deal-making Canaanite deity. He treated Yahweh like a monkey’s paw. Jephthah’s vow was to his pride, not God. He saved face rather than his daughter.

When we make rash vows to God or promises on his behalf, we fall for Jephthah’s error. God did not then and does not now demand dramatic vows or sacrifices. That’s how the world works, not how God works.

Those who rule over us, tell us a false history—they own us and we owe them. They expect vows of loyalty for blessings. God corrects the record. The sacrifices God requires from us are a broken spirit and a contrite heart, not extravagant promises. The obedience God requires is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, not to proudly swear and boast, refuse to be merciful, and allow injustice to save face.

God is not a monkey’s paw god who extracts a price from us for blessings. God has paid the price through Jesus. He has disarmed the powers and set us free. Every blessing we need is ours in him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Whom have I in heaven but you? And having you I desire nothing upon earth. — Psalm 73.25

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Timbrels to Tears

May this remind us that our faith is not a formula, nor is faithfulness a series of divine negotiations that we can manipulate…

Timbrels to Tears — Readers’ Choice

Read more: Rulers with Borrowed Scepters

Jesus is the king we are waiting for—every other ruler is using a borrowed scepter.

Rulers with Borrowed Scepters

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 8 Listen: (5:08) Read: Titus 3 Listen: (2:05)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Judges 9 Listen: (8:22) Read: 1 Peter 1 Listen: (3:53)
Read: Judges 10-11.11 Listen: (7:11) Read: 1 Peter 2 Listen: (3:48)

Scripture Focus: Judges 8.27-31

27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. 29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.

Reflection: Underdogs Gone Wrong

By John Tillman

Leaders called and used by God often “go wrong,” yet biblical authors rarely feel obligated to point it out. They expect us to notice.

Gideon started as a relatable, reluctant, outcast with “underdog vibes.” By the end, Gideon acts like a tyrant, even though he refuses to be crowned king. Let’s compare Gideon’s beginnings to his later actions.

Gideon’s nickname, “Jerub-Baal,” described his opposition to the community’s idolatry. But soon Gideon used plunder to create a golden ephod, leading his family and Israel to sinful worship.

Gideon hesitated to go to war without God’s double-confirmation. But after tasting a little victory, he obsessively tracked down two kings to take revenge for his brothers’ deaths and took revenge on anyone who hesitated to help him.

Gideon hiding in the winepress didn’t seem “mighty” or “valorous.” (Judges 6.11-12 NKJV) By the end, violent warlords recognized Gideon as their kind of “prince” and his vengeful bloodlust frightened his son.

At the end of the story, Gideon, the likeable underdog has become a vicious, lustful, revenge-obsessed wolf. Gideon, the opponent of idols, led Israel right back to idolatry instead of the God who saved them. Gideon is so likable in the beginning, it’s easy to miss when the lines are crossed from victim to anti-hero to villain.

At what point did Gideon “go wrong?”

God disappears from the story after confusing the armies, causing them to kill each other. Following this, Gideon doesn’t consult God and neither God nor the narrator gives approval or disapproval to Gideon’s actions. This could be the moment Gideon starts to go wrong, but I wouldn’t be dogmatic about it.

Gideon’s darkest moments were driven by the pain and anger of losing his brothers. His tainted legacy was set in motion by his lust for women and power.

Pinpointing Gideon’s errors might be an interesting intellectual exercise, but we need to turn our attention to ourselves. Like Gideon, lusts, pain, anger, and bitterness can be the undoing of our own lives or the lives of our leaders and peers.

It is extraordinarily difficult to notice someone you love and respect is “going wrong” and speak up to correct them. The only thing harder might be to notice when we, ourselves, are going wrong. We need the Holy Spirit to aid us.

It’s okay to be an underdog, but don’t let bitterness transform you to a wolf.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you, one which frames evil into law?
They conspire against the life of the just and condemn the innocent to death.
But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my trust.
He will turn their wickedness back upon them and destroy them in their own malice; the Lord our God will destroy them. — Psalm 94.20-23

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Embracing Uncertainty

Gideon cannot escape his insecurity…Our repetitive pleas to God to help our uncertainty is not a sign of diminishing faith.

Embracing Uncertainty

Read more: The King We Want

We want a king, we say
A conqueror, triumphant
Crush our enemies who slight us
Crush the governments above us

The King We Want

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 7 Listen: (4:39) Read: Titus 2 Listen: (2:01)

Scripture Focus: Judges 7.19-22

19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.

Reflection: Swords for the Lord?

By John Tillman

The Spartans had 300 defenders. The Alamo had less than 300. Gideon had 300 fighters. The similarities, however, end there. The differences are very important.

“This is Sparta!” became a catchphrase and meme following the film 300. The film depicted the Spartan’s battle at Thermopylae as a catalytic event inspiring Greece to resist the Persian invasion.

“Remember the Alamo!” echoes in Texans’ hearts. Depictions include the 1960 film starring John Wayne and 2004’s starring Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton. The Alamo is portrayed as a heroic battle that delayed and significantly reduced Santa Anna’s forces, contributing to his defeat.

The glory of Sparta and the Alamo goes to the defenders for being so few and so brave and for sacrificing so much. Now…just imagine if they had won! We already have films and songs celebrating them. If they’d won, they’d be practically godlike.

God had no intention of making Gideon or his fighters into glorious heroes. He had the exact opposite purpose. God sent home 31,700 fighters so that it would be impossible for 300 to claim victory by their own strength.

Israel’s war cry was “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon,” however, Gideon’s fighters weren’t holding swords when they said it. Each had a trumpet in one hand and a torch in the other. The people holding swords were the enemy. The Midianites had just changed guards, so two shifts of sword-wielding soldiers saw the torches and heard the trumpets and shouts.

The “swords for the Lord” that routed the Midianites were the ones in their own hands. God threw them into confusion so that they fought and killed each other while Gideon and his men watched and chased down those who fled.

There are many times when believers are called to bravery in the face of violence. We are often called to take our stand against innumerable or unconquerable foes saying, “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (Acts 5.29) But, like Gideon’s forces, we rarely (if ever) draw the sword. The sword is for the Lord, not for us.

Christians win battles by shining the light of truth, sounding the trumpet of the gospel, and praising the God who calls all to his mercy and grace.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

You, O Lord, shall give strength to your people; the Lord shall give his people that blessing of peace. — Psalm 29.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: In the Face of the Impossible

Every hero and heroine of the Bible does more than he would have thought it possible to do, from Gideon, to Esther, to Mary.”

In the Face of the Impossible

Read more: Of Pride and The Sword

In scripture the sword is not inanimate. The sword is hungry, with an appetite to devour individuals, races, nations, kings, and empires.

Of Pride and The Sword