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Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:21:43 +0000
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- -- Saturday, 8/14/10 -- INSULT FOR INSULT -- Judges 12:1-6 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/8f4a041ceb88d086
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Topic: -- Saturday, 8/14/10 -- INSULT FOR INSULT -- Judges 12:1-6
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/8f4a041ceb88d086
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From: "J.R. & Bonnie Ricks" <j-r-and-bonnie@dogwoodministries.org>
Date: Aug 13 02:16PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/msg/95d90e4af3d733a2
Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of
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INSULT FOR INSULT -- Judges 12:1-6 NIV
The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon and said
to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go
with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head."
Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with
the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their hands.
When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and crossed
over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over them. Now
why have you come up today to fight me?"
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." 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," they said, "All right, say
'Shibboleth.' "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.
Once again in Israel, pettiness and jealousy took control. The men of
Ephraim were angry because they claimed Jephthah hadn't invited them to join
in the battle. Jephthah was angry because he said he had invited the
Ephraimites, but they hadn't joined in. Armed and dangerous, they stood
shouting threats at each other. The miscalculation that Ephraim made was
that they banked on Jephthah's past record. They knew he usually spoke
first and acted later... much later. What they didn't count on was his
swift revenge for their bad attitude. Not long after that, 42,000 of them
were dead.
Ephraim and Jephthah both were acting on the principle of returning an
insult for an insult. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Do unto
others before they do unto you. Don't get mad; get even. And look what
happened. Forty-two thousand people died.
Take a look at your life. If someone does something bad to you, what do you
do? Get back at them? Do everything you can to make them miserable? Take
revenge? After all, that's what the world runs on, isn't it? That's
certainly what makes good box-office, isn't it? And it's what keeps the
Soaps running year after year. It's what fills our nightly news and fills
our books. And it's also what fills our divorce courts.
Jesus says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
(Matthew 5:44 NIV) He says, "Do not resist an evil person. If someone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:39
NIV) Jesus tells us to return a blessing for an insult.
If someone says something to hurt you, do something nice for him. If
someone injures you, help her in some way. If someone creates a problem in
your life, solve one in his. And in all of these cases, pray for the other
person. Remember, vengeance belongs to God, not to you. Your job is to
love others, no matter how you feel about it and whether you like them or
not.
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Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j-r@dogwoodministries.org
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