The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 12:3,
"I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites,
and the Lord gave me the victory over them."
In his answer to the Ephraimite complaint as to why he fought the
Ammonites without their help, Jephthah reveals a great mystery about
how God works in our world at times. God decided to deliver Israel
from their enemies, the Ammonites, and did so through Jephthah. I see
three elements to Jephthah's observation that interest me.
The first observation I see is that Jehpthah made a personal decision
to act in order to do what God wanted to accomplish. It was an
exercise of his will, a choice he made himself, and at great danger,
"I took my life in my hands and...". However, as a second observation,
Jephthah next recognizes it was the Lord who brought him the victory
over the Ammonites. He didn't take credit for the achievement of it
but pointed to God as the one who provided the victory, "and the Lord
gave me the victory over them."
It is a third observation that is the great mystery for me of how the
Lord often works in our world. In an effort that brings heaven and
earth together at a point, an intersecting of God and man to
accomplish that which God chooses to accomplish, in singleness of
effort, Jephthah fights and the Lord gives the victory. It is
accomplished as a co-effort. Not to say the two were any kind of
co-equal partners at all. It was God's agenda, it was God who brought
the victory. But Jephthah played his part as God provided it to him.
Did God need Jephthah? Not at all. Ask the folks at Sodom and
Gomorrah. God doesn't need anyone to do any thing he may desire to
accomplish, but at times he chooses to do so. This is what I find as a
great mystery: at times God works in concert with man to achieve what
he desires. The whole concept of prophesy is premised upon this
collaborative effort of God working through man. Apostolic ministry
was carried out this way and continues on today through the church.
Evangelism, the primary objective of God's agenda for our day is
accomplished precisely this way.
Possibly one of the most fascinating of collaborative efforts between
God and men is the production of the written Scriptures. Notice how
Peter says the Scriptures came about, "Above all, you must understand
that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own
interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man,
but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
2 Peter 1:20-21. Men spoke from God as they were "carried" along by
the Holy Spirit!
Fascinating, isn't it?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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