King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Saturday. April 02, 2022
Chapters: Judges 8-9
Study: The Haughty Spirit
Hello My Friend,
At my new job, we can move up really quickly in our position, every six months we take tests that actually register and certify us with the state. And while, thank God, we do not counsel anyone in regards to treating their symptoms, we can be comforting to them, which is what we all need sometimes. I thank God all day long for putting me in this job, and swear, apart from working until ten o’clock at night, and my mistake not to include Friday’s off when I had that opportunity, it is the perfect job, no selling, no time limits on calls, just taking care of the patient to our ability. I asked God to make sure that I do not become boastful as I work up the ladder and to make sure that I do not forget that it is all Him. Pride will always lead to the biggest fall that we could ever fall into, [Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18]
That word haughty means; having a high opinion of one’s self, with some contempt for others; lofty and arrogant. Now, we all need to have a little bit of pride in us, not the self willed conceded type of pride that leads us to believe that we are irreplaceable and no one can touch us, including God. What I am talking about and God actually wants us to do is make an effort to do the work that He calls us to do with honor. For instance, if you had a job cleaning a bathroom, no one wants to clean a bathroom, but it needs to be done. Instead of just cleaning what you need to, get in there and do the best job that you can. Your bosses will thank you for it, and you may just get promoted faster. The one thing you never want to do is start becoming haughty as you do get promoted, keep yourself humble, [A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. – Proverbs 29:23]
As we continue in the reading of Judges, it continues with the battle that Gideon led Israel on against the Midianites. Gideon and the three hundred men with them were on hot pursuit to capture and kill the two kings. The men were quite tired and in desperate need of water and food, they passed through two towns, who wanted nothing to do with them because they were looking for the kings.
[And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. – Judges 8:4-8]
[Therefore when the LORD hath delivered] These men were saying, “Are you so foolish, to think with three hundred faint and weary soldiers that you will conquer and destroy the host of fifteen thousand men?” Well, Gideon knew that God would be the one to deliver these kings into their hands, and when he did, he is coming back with a vengeance. And Gideon did too, he not only captured the kings, he brought them back with him to both of these towns, proving to them that it was God, and then killed the kings himself.
[Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure. And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks. – Judges 8:10-11,15-17,21]
[for as the man is, so is his strength.] These kings were saying, “If you want us dead, then be a man and do it yourself.” The world loves to intimidate us, to test us to see if we are going to face them by our faith or run in fear. They think we talk all big and bad, but are not capable of fighting them with the assumption that Christians are weak. Does God want us to fight and kill the enemy? In some cases, yes, and that is what the military is for. In most cases, God wants us to use our words to fight them, rather, God’s Words, [Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:11-12]
We cannot avoid work, even the blind and wheelchair bound have opportunities to work, God does not limit our abilities, just gives us different ways in which to achieve them. Our goal is not to work our way up to be the best of the best for our own glory, rather to enter in that rest in the glory of Christ, which we have waiting for us on the other side of this life. This is why Jesus said, [And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. – Matthew 24:12-13]. If we let pride overtake us to the point that we are giving ourselves the glory for our success, that is when we would become haughty in our spirit and risk losing everything. Now, Israel desperately wanted a king to rule over them, so, when Gideon led his army of three hundred men to victory, they urged him to become their king.
[Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.- Judges 8:22-23,28-31]
[the LORD shall rule over you.] Gideon reminded them that God was their ruler. We may have kings, queens, or presidents ruling over our nations, but God never intended for a man or woman to be in charge of His people. One may think that it is the governments duty to provide for and protect its people, but it is not, God will provide for and protect us as long as we are faithful to Him. While we are to obey the law of the land since we do have these people who’s only job is to make sure that we are all treated fairly, they do not rule over us because we belong to God, [Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8]
Do you realize just how much God protects His faithful from? Even the ones who are not faithful? We are surrounded by evil, not only by what the devils minions attempt, but our enemies as well. What we may think are hardships, or in my case, financial obligations that I cannot pay right now, God sees as opportunities. You see, because He wants us to put our trust in Him, and not our governments, He is going to test us a little bit. Except for the golden ephod that caused problems, he was humble and his faith and actions actually led Israel to be in peace for forty years. That was all about to change when he died.
[And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side: Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel. – Judges 8:33-35]
[Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal,] Do you want to see how terrible they were to Gideon’s family? Well, Gideon must have loved women for him to have seventy wives, and one grave mistake, a concubine, which is a common law wife. They had a son, Abimelech, and he was by far humble.
[And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. – Judges 9:1-5]
[notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left;] Did you ever notice that evil people think that they can get rid of all of God’s people? They are the ones who are haughty and make the grave mistake of thinking that they can supersede God. Now, we may not understand why God did not intervene when sixty-nine other lives were taken, but we can understand that God’s ways and thoughts truly are higher than our own. Everything that God places in our lives, or even allows the devil to afflict us with is not necessarily His will for us rather an opportunity to rise up through Him, [The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? – Luke 13:14-16]
This is where it was really becoming apparent that the people of Israel did not care to have God rule over them, they wanted a king, and only one that would benefit them. Well, Jotham showed up and he had a message for Abimelech, and the men of Shechem who had a hand in killing his brothers, but he did it in a subtle way.
[Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. – Judges 9:16-20]
[if ye have done truly and sincerely,] He wanted to let them know that if they were sincere in the reason behind killing them, then they would be justified, but if they were not, then they would answer to God. This is kind of like being innocent until proven guilty, even if the person was guilty, they were still presumed innocent until proven guilty by the law. Well, the law is God, regardless of whether or not we accept that, and it might have taken three years, but God was about to get vengeance on Abimelech and the men of Shechem for the death of Gideon’s sons, and he was going to use the devil to get them to fight with each other to do it. First, He stirred up a man named Gaal to encourage the people to remove Abimelech from being king, and when Abimelech heard about it, he overtook Gaal and his men.
[Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. – Judges 9:23,28-29,39-40]
[Then God sent an evil spirit] The evil spirit was the devil himself. God will also use him as a means to bring the evil spirits of jealousy, treachery, and discord, between the wicked. This is why God does not have to lift one finger on the wicked, they will always fight and devour each other. And now, it was Abimelech’s turn to get what he deserved for what he had done to his brothers.
[And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull. Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. – Judges 9:45,50-53,56-57]
[Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech,] The word rendered means; Returned; paid back;. Let me tell you, there is not one soul that receives Christ as their Saviour that Jesus does not fight for or get vengeance on. The life of a true God fearing Christian is one that comes with a lot of persecution, but we must not let that discourage us, we must hold on to our faith because God will render the wickedness of our enemy in His time, [But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: – Romans 2:5-7]
Today’s Prayer: God, It truly is amazing that You have not sent Your Son already as the world is becoming so dark and wicked. However, You are patient in that not one soul who believes in Your Son should perish, and until that time You have Your faithful witnesses here to keep spreading the Gospel. Lord, You know that there is evil all around us, and that Your people are being persecuted more than ever, we are tired, faint, and worn out, but we keep going, pursuing the enemy so that we can lead as many as we can to Your Son. Lead us and guide us, put Your hedge of protection around us, give us Your strength to stand by our faith, and let us boldly proclaim Christ, and not be intimidated by the evil out to stop us. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
Read Today’s Bible Reading: http://kingjamesbible.imfollowingjesus.com/
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/readytofollowJesus/
Copyright © 2022 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.