Judges 12:1-15
Prayer: Father, we know that unless you build our house, we labor in vain. Unless you guard our cities, no amount of security can keep us safe. So please teach us the wisdom of Christ, to build our houses and cities in obedience to His Word. And we ask for that now with this Word, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Building Christian community is one of the hardest things we are engaged in. The relative progress we have made in this venture is one of the greatest signs of God’s blessing. Only the Holy Spirit can knit people like us together.
But it also requires great wisdom, constant vigilance, and addressing sin. Bitterness and envy are not little sins that can be ignored. They are cancers that destroy families and churches and nations.
The Text: “And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire…” (Judges 12:1-15)
Summary of the Text
This is now the second time the tribe of Ephraim has objected to God’s deliverance (cf. Judges 8:1), and here they march on Gilead, threatening to murder Jephthah, who has just delivered them from Ammon (Judges 12:1). Jephthah answers the accusation plainly, pointing to the Lord’s deliverance, but Ephraim is not appeased this time and Jephthah is forced to go to war with them (Judges 12:2-4). As Gilead routed Ephraim, there was a great slaughter at the Jordan River, especially of those who could not pronounce the word “Shibboleth” (Judges 12:5-6). And Jephthah judged Israel six years (Judges 12:7).
What follows is a list of three more judges: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (Judges 12:8-15). Ibzan and Abdon are both remembered for their prolific offspring and apparently political marriages and growing royal influence (Judges 12:8-10, 13-15).
Brother Conflict
This is a civil war between tribes of Israel, but Gilead is a region and family within the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 26:29), which makes Ephraim and Manasseh’s conflict even closer: Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph. Remember that when Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, he crossed his hands, blessing Ephraim (the younger) with the greater blessing of the first born (Gen 48:13-20).
Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh had settled on the east side of the Jordan at the beginning of the conquest (Num. 32, Dt. 3:13). And immediately following the conquest there was a skirmish between the east and west tribes when the east Jordan tribes built a memorial altar and the west Jordan tribes were worried it was an idolatrous shrine (Joshus 22).
While that confrontation initially seemed clean and praiseworthy, perhaps it didn’t settle well or indicated brewing trouble, particularly on the side of Ephraim.
Envy & Strife
James says that the root of human conflict is envy: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:1-2). The very first brother-conflict was rooted in Cain’s envy of his brother Abel and resulted in murder (Gen. 4:5-7). The root cause of conflict is desire, but it is an angry desire that despises how God has distributed His gifts and assumes that God does not have good for you.
Ephraim had the greater blessing, but it doesn’t appear to have gone well. And while Manasseh had the lesser blessing, their families initially had more land (and perhaps flocks) and seemed to be in somewhat better shape spiritually. Notice that: God can offer a greater blessing that is less materially, but the guy with more can handle it better. Gratitude is the key difference.
One of the great lessons of history and scripture is that you are most tempted to envy those most similar to yourself – because you assume that since that other person is so similar to yourself, you ought to have what they have. And given the story, we have plenty of fodder to suspect the same thing here. Ephraim was envious and insecure, rather than grateful and joyful.
James also says that bitter envy has a way of masquerading as “wisdom,” but it is actually earthly, sensual, and devilish (Js. 3:14-15). Envy can masquerade as an intense desire for unity or peace. One time there was a woman who brought flowers to put out on the tables at a church potluck, after a few months of this, another woman confronted her for trying to one-up all the other women. Of course, it would be possible for a woman to be competitive in that way, but in this case, it was the woman doing the confronting who was not in a good place – but it was framed as wisdom, as caring about unity and peace.
We do work for unity, but faithfulness is more important (1 Corinthians). Paul embodies this point when he urges the Corinthians not to be fleshly in their allegiances, but then he proceeds to confront the Corinthains for their sins. Fleshly wisdom might say it isn’t the moment to bring up all those problems in Corinth, but true wisdom says it is. Fleshly wisdom might say better stop bringing those flowers to the potluck, but the wisdom from above says you better stop the bitter envy. The same logic would say that Abel should cool it with his sacrifices, but God said that Cain needed to cool it with his bitter envy.
On Shibboleth
“Shibboleth” means “flowing stream” and was probably a convenient word to use at the fords of the Jordan River. But this scene is loaded with significance. Remember, the Jordan is where Joshua initially led the people across on dry ground to begin the conquest of Canaan – the sign of God’s great blessing on Israel after Moses has died (Josh. 3). But now it is a scene of judgment on Israel. Ephraim has begun acting like Canaanites, and so they are getting slaughtered like Canaanites. What should have been a place of unity became a testing point.
In particular, the test was over the pronunciation of a word, which by itself is not necessarily a moral point, but it may suggest that Ephraim was developing its own culture distinct from the rest of Israel. Different accents and dialects develop naturally over time, but we always want organic development while pursuing Christ, not differences merely for the sake of being different. This is particularly tempting for young people: do not let resentment or insecurity drive your desire for newness. Godly ambition wants new blessings because God is good, but ungodly ambition wants to appear new simply to be distinguished from the old folks, the boomers, your parents. But that’s like buying pre-ripped jeans. It’s fake. Your goal should be to imitate the godliness of your parents and teachers, and wherever you determine to do something different, it should be because you are convinced faithfulness to Jesus requires it.
While the word “Shibboleth” has come to mean something arbitrary that people might divide over (and we should certainly not do that), the context implies that this was a sign of divisions far more significant.
Conclusion: Different Kinds of Wisdom
While this story is an indication of the continued decline of Israel, it also illustrates what faithfulness must do during eras of decline. We must do our duty. Parents must correct children. Churches must practice discipline. Civil magistrates must punish criminals. When someone throws a fit, it can be tempting to cater to the fit for the sake of peace and unity — because it can seem like we have bigger things to think about. Everyone starts walking on eggshells because you don’t want to upset so-and-so. But that is a form of emotional blackmail.
There is always a temptation to rely on the flesh – on what seems strong and impressive to us (1 Cor. 1:25). And sometimes that is the appearance of strength, unity, and peace. In this passage we have a string of judges, with two of them remembered for cultivating what looks like pagan strength and wisdom. We may not put our confidence in seventy donkeys but maybe it is kids, a house, a car, a job, or just feeling proud about being at church.
But Jesus says that if you have your gift at the altar and remember your brother has something against you, first be reconciled to your brother, then offer your gift (Mt. 5:23-24). Sometimes you need to address sin at the most inopportune times: shopping, guests for dinner, at church.
When our kids were little, my wife knew that if there was a significant act of disobedience or fit at the grocery store, she would leave the cart in the aisle and walk out to get home to take care of the kids. She could call me at work if she needed back up, and I would drop everything and come home.
Sometimes the bump happens right as you have guests coming over. Some couples have worked out hand signs for “please forgive me/I forgive you.” You might need to simply excuse yourself quickly and make things right in the back room. You will likely need to discipline the kids when guests are over. You will likely need to discipline the kids at church.
And remember that fellowship is not merely a lack of explosions. Men, you are required by God to know the state of your household, the state of your wife’s heart and the hearts of your children. You may not assume everything is fine simply because she is not mad today. You are required to study your wife. Know her and love her and her children.
Love covers a multitude of sins, and love confronts sin (Lev. 19:17-18, Prov. 10:12). And this requires wisdom from above. In general, you cover sins of random thoughtlessness (forgetfulness, mild/momentary rudeness); you must confront sins that are festering (bad attitudes, lies, wrath, disruptive). But always make sure that your attitude is not the main problem. First take the log out of your own eye (are you angry? Bitter? Resentful? Envious?). Christ died first. He who had no sin, laid His life down first. And so this is the pattern. You die first. My life for yours. This means confessing your own sin first, acknowledging how you have contributed to the problem first, but laying your life down also means being willing to address the problem.
This is the wisdom of the Cross.
Closing Prayer: Father, please grant us this wisdom from Your Spirit. Give us the mind of Christ that sees the difference between sin to cover and sin that must be confronted. Please continue to build our community into a truly fruitful Christian city. We ask for this in the name of the One who purchased all the nations with His blood
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