← Don't Miss This Study
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- [00:00]
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Hi, there. Welcome to Don't Miss this, a scripture study podcast with Dave Butler and Grace Freeman.
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Each week, we point out things in the scriptures that we love and think you don't want to miss.
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Thanks for listening. Oh, hello. I'm David Butler.
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And I'm Grace Freeman.
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Welcome to Don't Miss this. You guys, I missed. When you said our scripture, we used.
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We used to have some lines, we used to have an intro, and now here we are. It's fine, you guys.
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We're so happy that you're here. If you're new. We just go through the scriptures bit by bit every week, and our goal is that everyone just loves the scriptures altogether, all of us, and loves the God of scripture. Just. We love Jesus. We just love it. We just love it. We hope that you.
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I just were thinking you were calling him the God. And what I love about him is that. Do you know that Trenton, that's my fiance's name, he always does that to things. The blank.
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Oh, I'm the God.
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He just adds the. He just adds the. All the time. And so then when he said that,
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I said, oh, just reminded you of him. And speaking of Trenton and Grace getting married in this month of May, if you sense some bitterness in this episode, it's because Grace half promised several months ago that if. If she moved to New York. She moved to New York, I would babysit her jukebox for the time that she lived there. And she is now audaciously breaking that promise, renting a U Haul, carrying it up nine flights of stairs just to not give me the jukebox. That's. That's how I feel. That's how I feel.
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So if you can sense the anger here, you know where it's coming from. I would like you to know that the only reason we're getting U Haul
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is for the jukebox, which I'm going to tell Trenton how much it costs.
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So it's fine.
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He's going to. He's going to look at the budget and then.
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Don't worry, we'll still do the podcast even though I'm going to New York.
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Don't worry. There's airplanes, everyone.
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It's a win, win, win for me. And it's a lose for mostly David.
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Me. Yeah, for the. I lose. I lost a friend.
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If anyone knows. If anyone knows, someone's selling a jukebox.
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No, don't. We're. No, no, no. I want people to bully you and send mean DMs. Okay, y', all, today we're in The Book of Judges. This is such a great book. I.
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It's a sleeper book. People don't know.
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Okay, if I were before you read it again, to get ready for this, and I've made you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, what number would you have given?
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I'm just gonna, like, no offense, a three. It would have been a three for me. Like, I just don't know much about it. Like, scriptures, a couple points. Okay. You've read it before?
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No. I knew there were stories in here I loved and I fell in love all over again.
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It's really good.
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I. It really.
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It's going to be better than you expected.
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It has a terrible name. No one wants to read a book called Judges.
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Yeah, it feels like we're going to court and I have no business being in there, so I just can't do that.
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But, you know, maybe we should introduce this word. Our word a week is judge, which. Yeah, it'll make you sad until you go through this lesson. Listen to the Hebrew words of judge, which are on the poster. To govern, to avenge, to contend, to defend, to plead, to reason, and to rule. This book is all about deliverers, is what it is. A judge in, in the context of the Old Testament, is a deliverer, someone that God sends. In fact, the name of this lesson on. On the. Come, follow me. Like, whatever that book is or the Internet, the Lord raised up a deliverer. That's what the whole. That's what the whole point of this book is, is that God sends rescuers every time there's a problem. God. Sen. Rescuer. And I think what I like first about the Book of Judges is a lot of times in the Old Testament we talk, the problems for the children of Israel come from the outside. And this is a book that emphasizes when problems come from the inside, when it's your own dumb fault, you've caused your own issues. And we've seen that before. We saw it with Jacob. But we get to see the character of God over and over again in this book, how he responds when you are the problem. When you're the one who knew better and you're the one who rebelled and you're the one who turned your back on him. This is a great book to show us. This is how God responds to his rebel kids. Okay. To his. Which maybe is why it speaks to me. It might be why it's a 9.8.
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And it's good for you to remember the word judge is different because then if all of a sudd and you're like, I'm the rebel kid and he's giving me a judge.
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No, no, it's a delivery.
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You have to change it because then you're going to love it extra.
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Yeah. Okay. Here's what you have that's fun. For this section you've got. I'm bringing the old timeline out. Okay. We added. I forgot this piece from last time. The 12 that went with last week's lesson that you're adding on. What this represents is the 12 tribes which you saw there. It looks similar to this up here. The 12 tribes finally got their land last time. They finally got into the promised land. These promises that were made back here with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And they had to wait for all through this, all through Egypt and all through the wandering, they finally got them and now they're here in this land. And this book of judges is just a description of when they got in. So the other fun thing, two other fun things you have, we have two tippins for this week. One is going to be this. That is called the cycle of faithfulness that you're. It's. It's just the. It's the cycles that people go through in. In their lives of forgetting God, things falling apart, crying for help, God listening when he really shouldn't, sending deliverance to you and then finding rest again. And if you're a reader of the Book of Mormon, you might be familiar with something called the Pride cycle. And we just like to call it the cycle of faithfulness. Just a little more optimistic just to say, listen, we all go through this and the Book of Judges, they're going to go again and again and again and again over generations, over years. But it's a description of me. You know, there are times when there are seasons where I'm forgetting the Lord. There's seasons of rebellion, there's seasons of deliverance or season of repentance, or seasons of rest. There are seasons of deliverance. And I don't just do it. I didn't just go through that one time, but again multiple times a day, maybe or a year or whatever. So that you're gonna put that in and you're gonna watch for that and see that over and over again throughout it. And I just love seeing how God responds to our up and down in faithfulness. We are all over the board. I'm all over the board in my faithfulness. And look how God responds. So this will be a reminder of that lesson. You can slide in there and watch for it in each of the chapters. The other tippin is going to be a list of the. Of some of the. Some of the deliverers. Judges, remember, that means delivers, that you'll find the verses that go with them and then a little bit about their story in there. These are the ones that we're gonna highlight today. These are the same ones you'll find in your journal. So open up your journal. Open up, Judges, and let's look at the verses. Ready?
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Can't wait.
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Okay. All right, Judge, let's start in judges two, where you really see the cycle of faithfulness. It's a good intro for the first time. Yeah, it's a great intro. And it really starts, I guess, you know, in verse 11, where it says, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and did serve Balaam. Let me. Let's say something about Balaam and Asheroth, the groves. These are words that you're going to see throughout this. When they serve Balaam. This is not like they started spending too much time on Netflix or something, or, you know, they stopped going to church or whatever to serve Balaam. There were some pretty nasty worship practices with Balaam and Asherah, like ritual prostitution, the sacrifice of children, like, so we're talking like this. This is not just, I stole a candy bar, you know, from. So when you see God's response to this, just know what's actually going on. Okay, so you see that they. They start, you know, serving Balaam, they choose someone else, something else to give their heart to. And I like looking back a couple verses from 11 back to start in 7 2, 7, where it says, the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel. So you have a comparison 7. They were serving the Lord, not Balaam. Right. Why they start serving Balaam? Skip down to 10. All that generation was gathered unto their fathers, and it says, and there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And I love diagnosing, maybe the problem of why they. Why they chose to serve, why they gave their heart away to another God. And it's because they didn't. They didn't know Him. Right? They did not know the Lord. I remember I talking to my friend's mission president once, and he said to me, I interviewed him when he came in, and he was just kind of a rowdy guy when he came into the mission. And he was like, elder, why are you serving A mission. And he said. The mission president said to me, I'll never forget that. He says, president, because I love the Lord. And he's like, why? And he says, because he saved me. He rescued me. I love him. I love what he did. I'd give anything for him. And I think what you're finding here is the opposite. Right. They didn't know him. And so their heart was won over someplace else.
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And it is interesting. It reminds me back in Exodus 5, when Moses goes to Pharaoh to say, let my people go. And the Pharaoh's like, why would I listen to the Lord? Like, I don't know him. And I do think that a lot of the times we look at people's actions and we judge their actions and we make comments about their actions and what they're doing. And I think a lot of the root of the decisions that we make and the choices that we're making are simply the same as judges and as Exodus 5, that it's just like, wait, I actually really don't know the Lord yet. And so that's why I'm making this choice. That's why I'm saying no. That's why I'm saying yes. That's why I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. It's not because I don't like the rules. It's not because I don't do this. It's not because I. Whatever, fill in the blank. You just don't know the Lord yet. And I think a lot of the times, I think we would treat people a lot better if we entered into those conversations, into those relationships, and we said, oh, you might not know something about the Lord that would change your behavior if you did.
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Yeah. And like you said, nobody likes following rules. Right. Nobody likes following commandments. Yeah, we like following a person. Like, that's the invitation. The invitation is not obey the commandments. The invitation is obey the one who gave them. Because you know him and you know his heart and you know why. And you said a word that's actually my favorite word in 10. And I have it circled in my scripture yet. I like that word. It's so hopeful, right? They didn't know yet the Lord or his or his works or the things that he was willing or had done
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for them, which is exactly how judges should start, you know, because that's what the whole book is going to be.
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Yeah, they didn't know yet. Okay. So if you look at the cycle of faithfulness, it goes on verse 14. The anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And it says, you're going to notice language like this. He delivered them into the hands of the spoilers that spoiled them. And he sold them into the hands of their enemies. When you read the Book of Judges, this is when it makes the Lord the person who's like giving them over or selling them. He didn't actually didn't make a deal with the enemy. It's a poetic way of saying that the Lord stepped out of the picture, that he one of the promises to covenant Israel is protection. And if you don't want it and you turn your back on it, he steps out. And then they're left to face the consequences, you know, of themselves, which is what happens that when they go into bondage. And I love 16, verse 16, the first word, it's not in every story, and I wish it was and it's implied. The first word of 16 is even though that they had done all these evil things. It says in 15, verse 16 starts with a word that I think describes the character of the Lord. Nevertheless, even though they deserved it, even though they turned their back, even though they were the ones, nevertheless, the Lord raised up deliverers, I'm translating, which delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled them. So you see that cry for deliverance. Deliverance and rest. So that's where we put this tip in. And it kind of gives an overview introduction in Judges 2 of that. Then you get into the first story of a judge that's on. On your other tip in Oth Nael. And it starts in seven. Look, you'll see it again. This keeps happening again. And by the end, I hope you kind of are like, oh my gosh, here we go again. You know, and think to yourself, aren't you so happy that God doesn't do that? He's like, oh my gosh, this is try number 18 for you. By the time you get to the end of the book. And I just love seeing the faithfulness of God in this book. No matter how many times we. We drop in our faithfulness, we go through this, there's always going to be that nevertheless moment. That's one of the story after story after story after story with the same pattern just reveals the faithfulness of God and the fact that he's not. Three strikes, you're out.
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It's the theme of this book.
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Yes, yes. Right. That should be. Go to the top of the pages. Okay, so in 3othniel, this story the kids are going to love. It's crazy.
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I would like you to know David was my seminary teacher. And I don't remember a lot of lessons. I probably remember, like, well, I like I wit. It's more about my memory than the lessons.
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Okay, great.
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But I would like it to be known I never forgot this story ever, in the entirety of my life. It is ingrained in my brain. I read this and I remembered where I was sitting in your class when you told it. So just so you know, your kids are gonna listen to this one.
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This is great. All the stories in here are so great. The book of Judge has such great stories. It's boring at all. And can I give this tip now while I'm thinking about it? These are. The book of Judges is very story centered. So another translation of the Bible might be really helpful. NIV or the NLT would be my two suggestions because they read most like modern English. And it will help people understand what's happening, not get caught up in the King James ness enough that if you
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find good translations, I think it would be so fun to like assign each of your kids or like each person that you're studying with and say, you read this story, you read this story. You read this story, you read this story. And then let them tell the story
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after, because they'll get it.
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They'll get it. Like, as long as you give them the capabilities and the tools to understand it, it is a fun enough story to read.
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Yeah. You know what? In our little after church meeting the other week, Elle was like, we were talking about the story of Joseph in Egypt. And Elle said, oh, I actually really like this one because I know it. So I bet.
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Yeah, right.
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I pay attention to this one because I know it is the key. Yes. So another translation could really help kids like scriptures.
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You just have to help them realize they understand it.
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Yeah. What's happening? Right. So first, understand the story. Second, learn the lesson from the story. Right. Okay. So chapter three, the children of the Lord did evil again in the sight of the Lord and they forget the Lord their God, and they served the groves. Therefore, verse 8, the Lord was angry. So when the children cried unto the Lord in verse nine, the Lord raised up a deliverer. And his name in verse nine is Othniel, which means one of two things. Power of the Lord or lion of the Lord. I choose lion. Right. But here is the strength of the Lord that's going to come into their life because they asked for it. And it says that he. This is. This is what happens with this deliverer. Oh, sorry, we're about to get a second delivered. Look how fast they happen. Okay, 11 is the end of Othniel's story, right? That he comes in. And I would think that the lesson of his story really is when you ask for it, the strength of the Lord returns to your life. That's just something great to remember from that little one. Okay, then the next one. This is the one that the kids aren't going to love that one. They'll like the lion, but they'll love this one better. Okay, then 12. And they did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And now Moab is their new enemy who's taken over them. And so what happens? They cry in for help in verse 15. And the Lord raised up a deliverer named Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left handed. Now this is going to be another theme of this book that you want to pay attention to is Benjamin is the smallest tribe of all the tribes. His baby brother, right? And he's left handed, which is untypical. And remember, there's so much symbolism with the right hand being a covenant hand that someone who's left handed is kind of seen as lesser than. There's something. There's something wrong. It's a weakness to be left handed. In fact, you know, my grand. My. My g. My g. My grandma was left handed and she grew up, you know, in the ancient times. And because she was left handed, she grew. She went to school in a private Catholic school. And the nuns, like, would tie her hand. I love nuns, everyone. I'm not downplay, I'm not being mean because it was just culturally seen in the city she lived in. Being left handed is. There's something wrong with being left handed. You need to be right handed.
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Oh my gosh.
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So they would like try and make her, turn her into a right handed person. Isn't that crazy? So imagine, imagine anciently to be left handed, you're like, bro, he's not going to be any help. He's left handed. And he's from Benjamin, for heaven's sake. Right?
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Someone better.
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So. But he is raised up. And here the story starts in 16. He made himself a little dagger and he went in to go see the king of Moab in 17. His name's Eglon. And the only thing you know about Eglon, he's a very fat man. And he went in to pretend he was giving a present to this king and he said, sir, can everybody else leave the room because I have a. I have a message only for the king. And everyone's like, okay, what's a left hander gonna do? So he. So when the king leans forward to like hear the. Hear the secret and get the present, it says verse 21. And Ehud put forward forth his left hand and took the dagger and thrust it into his belly. And the haft also went in verse 22, after the blade. And the fat closed upon the blade so he could not take the dagger out.
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It's a little nasty. It's a little nasty for real.
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It was crazy.
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This isn't even the craziest part.
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You go into the dirt and then it says. And the dirt came out.
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He was so bad he couldn't wash in this little guy.
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I actually feel sad that Ehud lost his favorite knife, you know, because then he has to run and that's. And that's how. And that's how he's conquered. And we didn't need those details.
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No. Whoever wrote it is a story.
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Yeah. To know the faithfulness of God. But we're glad that it's in there.
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You need to give that to like the 13 year old boy. You're gonna love that story.
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Have them read that one. So this story, one of the things I love about this is the fact that God raises up this unexpected deliverer. That is some, you'll see that over and over and over in scripture, over and over in this book. That, that what some considered his weakness actually was his strength. Right. And that's, that's a theme of Paul. My weakness is my strength. And, and just I like that the Lord uses those who don't expect to be chosen or don't expect to be called. And, and, and that's what you see in this one right here. So I just really love, I love seeing that. Right. All throughout this book.
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And it really does feel like it's all throughout this book because the next judge.
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Just the unexpected ones.
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Yeah. It really does feel super unexpected because the next judge that we are going to read about is a girl. And I don't. Maybe it's just because my brain is trained like this, but it does feel surprising to me to like read and be like, oh, okay, a girl hero. That's good. That's good for me. I'm loving her.
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Right. Especially in an ancient text.
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Yes.
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Right.
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Yeah. It is abnormal for scripture and we love every single woman that we learn about. But like it made me like automatically. My heart loved this book so much. And you are going to love this judge. You will love Deborah.
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Can we call them deliverers for the rest of the lesson? Okay, we're gonna do that.
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We're changing.
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And cross out the top where it says judges just call Deliverers Chapter three.
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You'll love it.
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If you're teaching Deliverers chapter four right now.
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It's gonna be so good. And as always, it's gonna start. Verse 3. The children cry out unto the Lord and they know they're in trouble once again. They keep getting in trouble over and over and over for this whole entire book.
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And can I just throw this out, Grace? Yeah, I just have. Even though verse one is talking about how they did bad again, they're gonna. And again might not show up in the deliverance, but I like to just keep circling that word in there again because it's like, I just love that.
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It's like this isn't a one time thing.
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This is what you can expect out of God again and again and again.
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And what you can expect out of mortality.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I think sometimes it's like, okay, I messed up now. I have to do absolutely perfectly. And it's.
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Wait, wait, God knows. Yeah. That you're going to mess up again. Yeah. That you're going to repent again. That he's going to save again.
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Yes.
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It's okay.
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Yeah, we're doing it more and more. Don't worry. There's 20 more chapters. It's going to be fine. And so the children do evil again. And then they call upon the Lord and once again he's going to send a deliverer. And this in verse number four is sweet, sweet Deborah. And you are going to love her. She's perfect to me, okay? I'm obsessed with her. She's everything. The beginning is why I love her already is because you get to verse five and it says this. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah. And what I love the most is that she had a little spot. Okay. She just like knew exactly. Like how much time did she spend at that palm tree that it became her palm tree, like it's titled after her. And I do think there is something to be said about she found a spot for herself and she said, this is where I belong. This is where I'm most me. This is where I can feel and think and ponder. She claimed that spot and people knew where to find her. They said, oh, if I need help, if I need deliverance, I know where to go to be. Like in that the presence of a deliverer, I know where I can go to see her.
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And I just love. Oh, sorry, no, go, keep going. Just the constancy I just think about my mom, you know, I think if I ever need help, I can. Either my parents, I can call them and I can just. I know where to find them, and I know that they'll be available. And I think that you see that with Deborah here, you know where to find her and you know that she's available. Available, yes. Oh, write that next to verse five. Are you going to say anything about verse four?
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You can.
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Were you going to?
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No. Go.
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I love verse four.
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Say.
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Okay. For this reason, two things. And Deborah, a prophetess. Remember, the. A great definition of a prophet or a prophetess in Scripture is one of two things. One, someone who speaks God's words, right? Or another definition is one who has a testimony of the Lord. And I love that that is what she's known by. First she was like, she speaks God's words. She has a testimony of the Lord. And then it has this phrase, the wife of Lapidoth, which you might not like, but you should know in Hebrew, there's two ways to translate that phrase. One, the wife of Lapidoth. Two, the second way you could translate this is a woman with a torch like spirit. I don't know who picked
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on re.
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Edited, right, but this is why you have to edit the name of the book. And right here. But so we're being introduced to her as Deborah, a woman who speaks the words of the Lord, a woman who has a testimony of the Lord, a woman who has a torch like spirit. Like, you love her and you love
- [24:20]
B
that she's a little fiery. And she is. She is going to be a little bit fiery. And so she's there at her little palm tree, doing her thing like she always does, available to whoever needs her, whoever needs to hear the words of God, whoever needs a little fire in their life. And she goes and she thinks. And she's like, you know what? I need to talk to Brooke. So she sends out and she calls him over and he gets here, and this is how you know she's fiery. Because right when he gets there, she's like, did you forget what the Lord said? Like, did the Lord not say, am I mistaken? Or did the Lord tell you that, like, go and like, take this over. Like, we have enemies. Did he not tell you to go? And then even this she says, and did he not say in verse number seven that he's gonna deliver those people into your hands? Did he not say that there is a fight to be fought and that you are going to win? Am I mistaken? Did I mishear? Are you Mistaken. She's like, tell me what's happening. Because I. Like, something's not going the way that we think it's supposed to be going. And he's so cute. And he's just sitting there. And then in verse eight, he's getting this little talking to from this fiery girl at the Palm tree. And then he just says to her, if you will go with me, then I will go. But if you will not go with me, then I will not go. And in one verse, you learn every single thing to know about Deborah that you could ever imagine, knowing that there was something about her. That simply for Barack, he said, I can do anything if you go with me. I am capable of whatever task God has for me as long as I do not go alone, as long as you are there with me. And then, as if it can't get better, verse number nine. And she said, I will surely go with you. That is not a like, oh, if I have time, that's not. If I have. If there's room in my schedule, that's not. If I wake up and I'm feeling good that day, there was no question that she would show up. That was just who she is. I will surely go with you. And I just automatically. We saw the availability of Deborah and the love that she had to give and the willingness she has to help. When you knew that she was gonna be at the Palm tree waiting to help anyone who showed up there, we knew she was available. But this, to me, is a testament of exactly who she was. That when he said, I can't go on my own. I'm too scared. I'm too afraid. There's too much getting in the way. And she didn't even hesitate. She said, yep, I'm there. I will go with you. Wherever you need me to be, I will be by your side. And I think that this story is so captivating because I think we could all sit here and pause, and we could think of the woman who have been Deborahs for us as well, who we have sat at their tables because they have made them available to us, the women that we have said, I cannot do this by myself, so please, can you go with me? And the women that say, I don't even care how busy I am, I will be there. And there's so many that I think of, but I think, like, I have this Aunt Sarah, and there might be no one that lives this better than her. And there's that quote by C.S. lewis that says, like, it's talking about. It's like the one about people dotted the earth. It's like men who have been. It's like talking about the people that have been changed by God. And it's like describing who they are and what they do. And they're saying they're different. The different people, the ones that are, like, living like a disciple. And there's this line that says, you'll wonder, like, how they have so much time to do everything. And quite frankly, they don't, but they do it anyway. And I just paraphrase that. And it is not exactly like that, but you can read it. And he says it better than. But what I love is that who knows if Deborah had time to go with Barack. And quite frankly, she probably didn't, because there were a million other people that probably needed deliverance. And yet there was not a question in her mind that she would show up. And I see that in my aunt that I look at her schedule and I'm like, how do you have time for this? And the truth is, she doesn't. And she goes anyway. And that is remarkable. I wanna grow up to be like that. I want to grow up to be half the woman that Deborah is. I wanna grow up and live the life that my aunt does. I want to grow up into the type of woman that looks and says, I will surely go with you. Wherever you are going, I will be there, too. And so they go.
- [28:48]
A
And can I just say, I just think the world needs more encouragers. And it's such a gift. It's an overlooked gift, I think, for someone to have. Jenny has. Jenny has this gift of steadiness, of encouragement. I. She's passed it on to our girls, all growing up. I mean, all when the girls were growing up, you know, when I was teaching at seminary, I'd go to the games or something, and I was like, jenny, I don't want our girls to be cheerleaders. I want them to be on the soccer team, or I want them to be on. Anyways, against my wishes, against my wishes, my girls were cheerleaders. And I feel so happy Jenny raised cheerleaders, people who, when you're down and out, still cheer you on all the way to the last buzzer or when things are going well, just encourage you. The world needs more people like that. If I were to give any marriage advice to any boy out there, I would say, Mary, an encourager there. In this year. This year, I hit a really low moment where I was so discouraged that I just wanted to quit. And it was Jenny's voice who. Who it became the voice of God to me. And she said, you can't. You can't quit. And I don't know if you were going to go to that verse right there, and I'll save it. You can do that. But just. She reminded me of the promises of God, and she reminded me of the strengths that were in me, and. And I didn't want to keep going, but I could if she would, you know, if she would with me. And I think we're so drawn to an encourager, because Jesus is one. You know, can you just imagine us, like, on the edge of heaven, ready to come to the world and say, I'm too scared. I can't do it. And what if Jesus stood there, like it, like Deborah, and said, what if I go with you? What if we do that whole journey side by side? What if I remind you who you are every day along the way? What if I. You know, what if I'm available? What if. What if you can just count on me no matter what? And this. It's a. This calls to all. It calls to me to be thankful for the encouragers that we have and to want to be one, too.
- [31:17]
B
I am the luckiest because I teach seminary right now, and I get to teach David's daughters, my cheerleaders. And it's so cute that you brought them up, because the other day, I was talking to David's younger daughter and his older daughter Jane's going on a mission, and she's leaving this summer. And I was just talking to Elle, and I was like, how are you feeling? Like, that's so sad to lose your older sister. Like, what's gonna happen? I was like, are you okay? And she looked at me, and she just got a little bit teary in her eyes. And she said, I'm so sad she's gonna be gone, because I know that with Elle, with Jane, I could just do anything. And it made me want to weep. And then I would watch how Elle looks up to Jane. And the reason she does is because Jane has been her encourager for her whole entire life. She has been her Deborah. And. And what I love about this story is that when Barack didn't have enough faith for himself, he found someone who would have enough faith for the both of them. That is what El found. That is what you found in Jenny. That's what I found in my aunt. Someone that when I'm not strong enough on my own, I say, I need you. And they say, I will be strong enough for both of us. And they go it says at the very end of verse nine, and Deborah arose and she went with Baron right in that very, very moment. And then they go to the battle. And there's this one moment in verse 14 when Deborah looks at him and she says, get up. This is time. Don't sit down anymore. Don't wait. Don't hold back. Don't hesitate. Do not doubt anymore. This is the day which the Lord has delivered. This is it. This is your moment. You can do it. And then she says, is not the Lord gone out before you? Is he not here with us? Did he not already win the fight? All Barack needed was a reminder, and he found the person that would give it to him. And then he went and he went down Mount Tabor and 10,000 men after him. An entire army in Barak. But what I love.
- [33:21]
A
Inspired by. But is it what you're going to say? Yes, to steal it. Sorry. No, you.
- [33:26]
B
It's so cute that the only reason there were 10,001 men is because there was one woman that encouraged them to do it. And that is the truth, I think about just life in general, is that usually when you see an army, there's one person behind it that inspired them. Yeah.
- [33:43]
A
You remember when I've said this 800 times on the podcast, but it was a moment for me when Sister Dalton stood up in conference and said, can one faithful girl change the world? Can one faithful boy change the world? And she's. The answer is a resounding yes. And I, I, I jumped on my couch like I was Tom Cruise on Oprah, you know, and I Did you. Are you too young for that moment? Okay, sorry.
- [34:10]
B
I'm loving that. Super.
- [34:14]
A
I was so inspired by it, and I just loved it. And, you know, we'll say the end story in four, because this is another one like the fat dagger story that's about to get good. If you Skip over to 5. 7. I like that Deborah, when they sing this song of victory. That's what chapter five is. And in seven, she calls herself a mother in Israel. That is the title that she wants to give herself.
- [34:37]
B
Oh, it makes me want to weep.
- [34:38]
A
You know, and, and we. The interesting thing is she gives a new definition to mother here because it talked nothing about her bearing children. That's one definition of a mother. But she was like a mother in Israel is a protector and an encourager and a leader. That is what makes a nourish, whatever that word is, a nurturer, whatever, you know, a faith giver, a courage giver that I love that she gives that.
- [35:04]
B
And that's been my fault. Favorite part of Deborah's story, my whole entire life is that one little. And I think it's.
- [35:10]
A
I keep stealing your best lines. Grace, I'm so sorry.
- [35:13]
B
So good. I'm sad. I'm not sad at all. And I think that the reason why is because this is so silly because I'm not even that old. But I. My whole life, all I wanted to be was a mom. And I just kept not getting married all my whole entire life. And then I feel like God time and time again gave me so many opportunities to get to experience the love of a mom. And he would give me the opportunity of teaching seminary. And like, when I see those kids, that feels like my family. And he would. I would like go on these HXP trips and I would get 19 kids to like go across the world and those kids feel like mine. And what I love the most about motherhood is that I think the world put limits on what that word means. And it really breaks my heart because some of the very best mothers I know have never had kids themselves. And some of the mothers that I have had in my life aren't even just my own mom. And that's a shame that the world made us such. So like, so closed minded about motherhood and what that means and even degraded what that looks like to the mom.
- [36:22]
A
And the impact. Yeah, yeah.
- [36:24]
B
And how beautiful that Deborah, a woman who inspired an entire army, who saved a people, said, if I'm known as anything, I want to be known as a mother in Israel, regardless of if we know if she had any children or not. And how true that God's so good at giving us those chances.
- [36:42]
A
Yeah, yeah, okay, that was the sweet part. Now this fun part, it keeps getting crazy. It's just crazy.
- [36:49]
B
The rest, crazy.
- [36:50]
A
One of the promises Deborah makes to Barak to say like, this will be the sign that God was behind this because he is going to deliver the captain of the enemy army through the hands of a woman. And again, remember, this is an ancient text where this is surprising. It's going to be an unexpected deliverance. And the man's name is Sisera. You find in 15 and he starts losing the battle. So he runs away and Barak's chasing after him and he flees, it says in 17, and finds this tent of Yael, the wife of Heber. And he goes in to. She meets him at the door and she says, oh, come on in. Don't fear, you have to worry about me. Come in. And she comes in, it says, she covers him with a mantle that means a little blanket. And he says, can you give me a little water to drink? I'm thirsty. Instead, she opens a bottle of milk. She gives him a drink, and she tucks him in. It says, in 19, and this is crazy. And he said, will you stand at the door of the tent? And if anybody comes looking for me, you say, no, no, there's nobody here. And she's like, yeah, that's great. You just. You just sleep. Sleep peacefully, my little. My little chicken. And then in 21, it says, Yael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, a stake of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand and went softly she tiptoes in and smote the nail into his temples and fastened it into the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary. And then the best line in 21 is, so he died, in case you thought there was a chance going to make it through. And that story is wild. It's wild that.
- [38:34]
B
To be honest, when I read it, I read it in the King James version, and I was like, maybe I'm missing understanding. Like, I was like, maybe it's not as gruesome.
- [38:40]
A
It just is so wild. And, you know, it's interesting. The interesting thing about this story is when we talk about God raises up a deliverer. We've already talked about it with Deborah. We could have said it with the lion of the Lord. These all deliverer store deliverance stories point us to the great deliverance story, the one of Jesus, who God sent when the world was in trouble. And this one, this one so clearly points him that this deliverer defeats sin, defeats the enemy with a nail. And there's something about that, that as a Christian reader of the Old Testament, I see the story of Jesus that in this unexpected way through the. Through the. Through the means of a nail, that the enemy army was defeated. So that's. That's four.
- [39:32]
B
Okay, that's right now, skipping.
- [39:34]
A
Yeah, we're gonna skip y' all the story of Gideon because we're gonna end on Gideon because he might be just top favorite in here. We're gonna jump. Even though they're. I mean, they're close. They're so. I mean, I almost feel bad.
- [39:48]
B
It's okay if he's not your favorite.
- [39:50]
A
Everyone is numbering. Numbering.
- [39:52]
B
Yeah.
- [39:52]
A
But we're gonna do.
- [39:53]
B
I'm having Deborah as my favorite.
- [39:55]
A
Yeah, yeah, we already did the favorite. Okay. We're doing Samson's story first. He's probably the most well known deliverer in the book of Judges. So we're going to do Samson's story starting in chapter 13, and then we're going to end on. We'll end on whatever.
- [40:11]
B
And this is going to. This is going to seem off topic, okay? But I just need you to trust me that it's not.
- [40:16]
A
I will trust.
- [40:17]
B
There's this game that me and my friends like to play.
- [40:21]
A
I cannot waste.
- [40:22]
B
It is called Chat GPT Draft. Okay. Have we done this before? It's on topic, I swear.
- [40:30]
A
Okay, I believe you.
- [40:32]
B
Stick with us, and here's what happens. Okay? This will be. Hey, this is gonna be a fun game for your intro to your lesson. Okay, here's what happens. Here's what we do. We come up with, like, a random topic, and then we all draft a team. Like, it's the NFL draft. And then we tell Chat, here's our team of people that we've drafted, which team's gonna come out on top? And it's for, like, really niche things. So, like, we'll be like, which Disney characters would win in a race? And then we say, like, we all draft Disney characters. Like, we go snake draft. Like, we all get, like, four people. And then, like, we, like, see which one we're gonna win. We do this with any topic that you could ever possibly imagine. Like, it is just which. If we made a team of celebrities for a basketball team, which group of celebrities is gonna win? Okay. Like, you can get creative with these drafts. We come up with as many as you can play for hours. Okay? And our favorite is finding is like, we, like, started doing scripture ones, and we would be like, okay, like, let's think of, like, if there was, like, a fight, like, street fight with all the scripture characters, who's coming out on top? And then we, like, all draft them. And I need you to know that judges has your top choices. Okay? These are top choices.
- [41:40]
A
If you're ever playing drafts, if you're ever playing draft and you listen to this lesson.
- [41:44]
B
This is. I just gave you a hack. I just gave you the hack to Chat GPT traps. And I'm gonna be honest. I, like, I knew the hack before I knew the story, and now I read the story, and I was like, nope. And that makes sense. And this is why Chat loves to choose him in a street fight, is because he is, like, he's a fighter. Okay? That is, like, what you're about to know about him. And what happens is his mom still
- [42:08]
A
would just like to argue that was only 35% on.
- [42:14]
B
Like, I just needed you to know that, like, you Were going.
- [42:18]
A
You were getting to.
- [42:19]
B
I was just getting to that. And I just wanted you to know there's a bonus.
- [42:22]
A
People know about a new game.
- [42:23]
B
Yeah. And that's like a little new game you can play. And the reason I brought it up is because I will be doing that in my seminary class. And that is the honest truth when we do this lesson. So there you go. And what happened is this is a sweet. Mom can't have a baby. And then all of a sudden she does. That is a theme in the Old Testament.
- [42:41]
A
Okay.
- [42:42]
B
And she gets pregnant. And when she finds out that she's having a baby, she realized the potential this baby has. And like, a little angel comes. The angel of the Lord comes and says, listen, just so you know, in verse number five, this will be a deliverer of Israel. This. You are going to have a deliverer as a child. And then it mentions the hair, which you are confused about, which.
- [43:05]
A
Can I pause for just a second and say this? I had. I've never necessarily liked verse five. I mean, I liked verse five, but I just thought about. Because Jane just had her patriarchal blessing a couple of weeks ago, and I just feel like as a parent, I experienced a verse 5. I never made that connection before that when I've sat in my children's blessings, I've heard things that God sees in them that I didn't know. And I kind of think that's cool that here at the beginning of his life, his mom gets to hear this blessing over him of these, you know, these great things that he is gonna do. That's cool.
- [43:45]
B
And it wouldn't have really made sense, which is also sometimes true about, like, the whispers that we get from the Lord. It's like, why does it matter if I never cut my hair? Like that, like, doesn't seem that serious. And then he says, like, don't ever take a razor to his hair. Like, this is gonna be a deliverer. And those two things is what she knew about her baby. And there is one tiny moment that, like, this isn't the most important.
- [44:05]
A
Do you want me to explain the hair part?
- [44:07]
B
Yeah.
- [44:07]
A
Okay.
- [44:07]
B
Well, yeah.
- [44:08]
A
So they take. He says he's going to be a Nazarite in verse five. So there is in ancient Israel something called a Nazarite vow. And it's. If somebody is wanting to have a particular closeness with God, it usually lasted for 30 days, sometimes longer. Samson's unique because it was a vow he was going to take his entire life. But if there is, like, a period in someone's Life when they're like, I need a little bit more closeness with God. They would take what's called a Nazarite vow. And it comes from a word, I think, that means, like, closeness, like the Hebrew word. That's where, you know, just sort of like you would do, like, in Lent or something, like a season of life where you're like, I just. I actually. I'm going to do something a little bit different so that I have a closer connection to God. And the Nazarite vow was to. You don't cut your hair for the length of the vow. You don't have any grapes or anything made from grapes. And you don't have any contact with dead animals or people. Like. And so that was. Those were the conditions of the vow. And so that's why he's not going to cut his hair his entire life.
- [45:12]
B
Okay, see? So now we're getting smart. So now we're getting smart. And one thing, this is, like, a minor part of the story, but I just think it's so sweet, is that when the mom and dad hear this, mom hears this, and then she goes to her husband and she's like, this is what's gonna happen. And the sweet husband is like, we'll get that man back here. Because how are we gonna raise a kid like that? And I just love to think about a mom and a dad that are like, we can't raise a deliverer. What are we gonna do? How's that gonna go? And you, like, see it in verse number eight. That's where it happens. Wait. Let that man that you just sent, like, you just sent that man away. Bring him back and let him teach us what we should do unto the child that will be born. Because, like, we. What are we supposed to do? How do we raise a deliverer? And then she goes, and I love that she ran. Like, she must have all of a sudden realized, like, oh, yeah, like that actually is gonna be important. She runs back, brings him back, and then says, listen, how should we raise the kid? Like, what. What should we do for him? Like, we don't really know. This is our first time. And I do think it's so, so sweet to think about parents raising a kid. And where are you going to learn how to raise deliverers? Where are you going? What are the sources you're going to. To raise a kid that's going to make a difference. And they ran to the Lord. And I, like, have seen, like, my sisters and some of my friends, like, learning how to be a mom. And I am the least qualified person to be a mom ever. Like, I am. Like, that is so out of my reach that it's so easy to go to a million different sources. And I love that they ran to the Lord and they said, teach us how to raise him, because you know things about him that we don't know. You can personally tutor us into how to raise this boy. And he did. The Lord really did. And he's gonna, like, talk him through it, and then he's gonna go through. And even I love that the Lord teaches them how to raise the kid. And then she has the baby in verse 24, and the Lord blessed him. And what more could you wish for for your baby than that? That the Lord would show up and bless him. And then I'm gonna go through these stories really quick because my favorite's at the very end. Okay, everyone. So what's gonna happen is, as Samson grows up, he just starts winning. He's just a winner. And different things start happening, and he just can't help himself. Whatever happens, no matter what tricks are played, no matter what surprises happen, he. He just can't stop winning. And he wins every fight you could ever imagine. There's a million fights. There's like, four probably, but you can go read through them. Okay, and that's gonna be good. And you're gonna love him, but he just keeps on winning. And then he gets married. And when he gets married, everyone wants to beat him. Because, of course, if there's someone that just keeps winning, all it's like, Alabama football team, anyone on earth.
- [47:56]
A
Everyone else becomes a hater.
- [47:57]
B
Yeah, you hate Alabama. Alabama football team, because they just keep winning. I'm sorry. If you're from Alabama, at least you know the reason why we hate you is because you're good. That's helpful. Okay. And is that. That is who Sampson was. He was Alabama football. And everyone wanted to beat him. Everyone wanted to conquer him. And finally what happens is he gets married, and his wife starts kind of, like, scheming against him. And she's like, I'll figure out the secret. Like, I'm gonna know how to, like, defeat him. And he kind of expects this. Which, as you would, if you're him, people have been trying to beat you your entire life. So when they would be like, what's your weakness? Of course you're not dumb enough to tell him. And so she's like, what's your weakness? And then he just lies, and then she tries to trick him, and then he's like, that was actually just a Lie Like, I tricked you. Like, I'm trying to, like, test your loyalty. And she's failing every time. And so he keeps doing it. She just keeps trying to trick him. And then finally, it's just like he's sick of it. And he's like, listen, I'm done with this. I'll tell you what it is. It's my hair. That's what it is. My hair is my closeness with God. That is why I am so strong. And finally it works. And she cuts off his hair while he's sleeping. And then he does get defeated. And it's interesting to me, this story of a judge, because it's not often that you see the deliverers get defeated. And his whole story was about him not being defeated, him being close with God and him being powerful and him being strong and him overcoming things, and everyone's cheering for him, and he's doing so good. And he's the boy that just keeps doing things right until all of a sudden he's not. And you read that in the scriptures that it's all of a sudden that he just stopped doing the good things and his hair gets cut off. And all of a sudden you start realizing this isn't about his hair at all. And in all reality, I think his hair was saying a lot more about his heart than it was about how long his hair grew. Because his heart was growing closer to God his entire life until all of a sudden it wasn't. And he cut off that relationship with God, and he lost the strength and the power that came with it. And it was devastating. And he was defeated. And he did lose all that strength. But then my favorite part.
- [50:13]
A
And can I just throw this in? Because this quote from. I can't even remember where it's from. Everyone. Sorry. He said the superhuman strength of Samson lay not in his uncut hair, but in this. That Jehovah was with him, but Jehovah was with him so long as he kept his Nazarite vow. And I just like what you're teaching. I hear a lot that somebody will say, our covenants give us strength and our covenants give us protection. And I know what people mean, but I think this story helps remind us to say, no. God gives us strength and God gives us protection, and our covenants are what invite him into our story. And maybe someone would say, that's nuance or that's semantics. But I do think that that's important, that it's like, no, the covenants themselves, the vows themselves, don't hold the power God does. But those are the channels of that power. Those are what connect us to him.
- [51:13]
B
And he lived his life living that and growing it and experiencing the strength that he got from living that relationship. Until all of a sudden, one night he didn't. And he let it go. And the strength was lost. And he kind of fell apart. And he gets chained up and he gets taken. And my favorite verse is the weirdest verse in this whole entire story. And it's Judges 16, verse 22, same.
- [51:39]
A
I'm so glad I didn't steal it from you. It's my first non steal.
- [51:42]
B
And then it says this. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. And this is no longer about hair at all. And it's a redemption story, because no matter what, God grew again in his heart. God showed back up. And, yeah, he shaved his hair and he stepped away from God, and he lost that power for a while. But that's not the end of his story, because his hair began to grow again. And I love. I love so deeply that hair does not grow quickly. And it would be so easy for everyone to look at that boy and say, yeah, but you had way more hair before. You had way more hair going, for you had way more good days. You were way stronger then. But that's not what the verse says. His hair began to grow again. And it might have been little, but it was still powerful. Because then what happens is they take Samson, and there's this big crowd, and he's going, and this story is crazy, because all the people are going to watch him fail. And they're like, this is going to be the chance to fail. And then Samson, with his freshly grown hair, calls unto the Lord God and says, remember me. I pray and strengthen me. I pray only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And I just love that even after he lost the relationship, he knew he could go back. He knew he could call upon the Lord again. And he prayed and he prayed. I love that he prays twice. Because I just wonder if in the most humble prayer of all time, he said, I know I messed up, but I still need you. And I think that might be one of God's very favorite prayers. And then he looks and he grabs the two pillars and he says, let me die with the Philistines. And he takes out all of the people and they all crush him. Which is kind of scary and a little bit intense. And this seems like a weird line But I just have to say it because it ends in verse 30. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. And I love that most people could look at him and say, he was at his strongest when he was at his very best. And he was strong then, but once he lost everything and his hair began to grow back, even just a little bit, that is when he was strongest. The strongest was actually after the repentance. And I think it's really easy for us to look at people and say, they ruined their life, they're too far gone, they messed it all up. And even to look at ourselves and say, I messed everything up and I was doing really good and now I'm not, and I messed everything up. And God's plan is all messed up. And how important for us to remember that it's gonna grow back, even if it's slow and small, our relationship with the Lord is gonna grow back. And the growth does not make us weak. It makes us more strong.
- [55:03]
A
Yeah, that was the same impression I had when I read this story and fell in love with it, like all over again times two. Because of those two verses that you shared. That his greatest moment in his life came after his greatest mistake. And we're so prone to think, man, had I not done that, imagine where my life could have gone. But his greatest day came after the mistake. And I think that's so great that the connection can be regrown, that we can. That if you've been gone, if you've cut off all relationship with the Lord in one simple prayer, it begins to grow back and his strength can return. It ought not, but, you know, but it does. And something I love that you might want to put as a footnote or a cross reference here is Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 32. That in Paul's great hall of faith where he lists his favorite heroes and the men and women of great faith from the Old Testament. Samson is mentioned in that list in Hebrews 11:32. And I think it's fantastic that after all of his ups and downs, what God chooses to remember about him is his faithfulness. That is the part of his story that God decides to remember. So easy to remember people by their greatest mistakes. But God sees our faithfulness, even if it's a small part of our story. And I think that's so fantastic.
- [56:35]
B
Oh, see, so we loved it.
- [56:37]
A
We could have ended on that because.
- [56:39]
B
And he's a great pig in the chat. GPT grass.
- [56:43]
A
Win wins. Okay, let's end on this last story. Judges 6 oh, because Gideon, the call of Gideon I love so much. So look. Look at one. Remember this lesson. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, but they're going to call for help again. And he's going to answer because that. Like he did before and like he will do again because we're in the middle of the. Of the. Of the book here. And he's going to call this deliverer. And his name is. His is Gideon. And he is called in verse. First you find that in 11, the angel comes to him while he's at this thresh. He's just doing his work, his threshing wheat, and he's hiding from the Midianites behind the wine press. And the angel comes in 12 and sees something in him that Gideon doesn't see in himself. And he says, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor, you mighty man of strength and bravery. And Gideon starts remembering that, you know, the Lord is good and everything, but. But. But he says, oh, whoa, how am I supposed to save Israel? Because he tells them, you, you will be this deliverer. And he says, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I'm the least. In my father's house. Like, we're. We're not in a super popular tribe and our family is super poor. And in that poor family, in that not super. I'm. I'm like the least of. The least of the least is. Is who I am. I am just. I'm just one man. And then in 16, the Lord says, surely I will be with thee and I will deliver all of Israel as with one man. And he just tells him this, and he's just like, I see this great potential in you. I see this promise in you. I see great gifts in you. And Gideon does like what we all do and starts to kind of doubt himself and doubt those words of the Lord that came to him. And Grace and I were having this conversation just a couple of days ago about how we talk about just if it's right, if it's true, what's spoken to that you will have peace, right? And that you'll have this reassurance from the Lord. Like, I feel like maybe we grew up in church hearing that. And so many people, like, they have doubt and they have anxiety and they have, like, fear about some decision or some choice. And then they say to themselves, well, obviously it's not right, because I'm feeling all of these doubts and all these anxieties and I think Gideon's story is your story because it was still right. And Gideon had fear and doubt and anxiety about it at the same time. Right. And I feel like that's every story that you can find in the Bible. If there's someone listening who says, I am taking my fear and my doubts and my anxiety and taking them as a sign that it must not be right, then I think you ought to maybe rethink that thought, because that happens to everybody. It's right. And he has fear and doubts about himself at the same time. And I think it's so awesome because we can learn a lot about that kind of situation from what Gideon does next. Did you want to say anything about that?
- [60:01]
B
But that's like my. That's like my thing I'm most passionate about in my life right now is that I just want to be like, wait, like, don't let your anxiety make your decision, and don't convince yourself that that's truth. Your anxiety doesn't speak truth. That was not true. That's not how God saw Gideon.
- [60:17]
A
Right?
- [60:17]
B
That was not true about him. And he could have convinced himself it
- [60:20]
A
was by that feeling, by saying like, well, I feel anxious and I feel nervous and I feel unqualified. And it's like, I know those are actually. Yeah, these are actually true. That means. That means God's in it, right? If it's. It means it's bigger than you. If you feel too big for it, it means it is probably God, because everything that he brings into your life is going to be bigger than you, and it's going to be outside of what you think you can do on. On your own. That, in fact, your fear might be evidence that it is God. Right? Because it feels too big for you. So what should I do in a situation like that? I love. Gideon does this in 17. If I have found grace in your sight, will you show me a sign? And I think we got taught in church not to look for signs. And I would say what's happening here is Gideon is trying to learn, trying to discern and trying to learn. Is this actually God speaking to me? Is this really true about me? You know, and I love so many parts about this of what happens next verses in 18, he says to the angel, depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come back. Will you not leave until I get back and can bring my present to you? I love that God is so patient in us trying to figure these things out. First of all, he says, will you not leave until I figure this out? And the Answer is, yeah, let me just, I, I'm okay to wait through this with you. I think that's such an important lesson then. I think it's important that in 19, when Gideon's trying to discern the promises and the voice and the direction of God, in 19, if you read that what he brings is more than a typical offering, he's about to bring an offering to the Lord. But if, you know, if you compare it to the, to the descriptions of the offerings, he's actually bringing more than that. And I think during those times when we're trying to discern an answer or trying to, you know, discern truth or find God's voice in our life, I think it's a time that we're being called to offer a little bit more. And it's interesting that his answer is going to come during a ritual. I think it's important that it's during one of his spiritual rituals that that answer is, is going to come to him. So I think that is an important lesson.
- [62:38]
B
And I will say this because I, within the last year have probably made some of the biggest life altering choices that I've ever made in my entire life. And I was deciding whether to get married. We were trying to figure out if we were going to go to New York. That's my first time that I've ever not lived in the same state as my parents as like, since my mission. Like, that's a big. And there were so many things. And I would talk so often to Trenton and I would say, listen, I just like, I just feel anxious and I just don't know like, where that's coming from. And I was like, and I don't wanna make the wrong choice because of my anxiety. And I don't know if my anxiety's from God or not. And I was like, I don't know how to navigate this. And every single time he gave me the best advice and he said, there is like no better place for you to go right now than the temple. And if you are just like trying to figure out your anxiety, like, that's not gonna give you the clearest mindset. You need to go somewhere where you know that Satan can't get in your mind and in your thoughts in control. Which I'm not saying anxiety is like, I think that's like a really unhealthy mindset also. But like that was really hard for me is to figure out, like, what is God and what's not and what's my anxiety and what's not and what's Satan trying to do to stop me and what's not. And I had no idea what to do. And every single answer that I've gotten within the last year of my life came inside the walls of the temple. And when I was outside of the walls of the temple, my mind would be going crazy and my anxiety would be tornado thoughts and I would be losing it. And every single time I knew if I go to the temple, I can get reassurance. And anytime that I needed it, I would just go for confirmations. I would just go quick. I would just go do initiatories and then go sit in the celestial room, whatever it was. But when I was there, I was reminded of my, like the God's answers to me directly. And God was patient with me. And it didn't stop the anxiety, but it reminded me of God speaking. And I think it's important to realize, like he said, I needed a sign and then he did things to let God speak to him and go expect. If you're an anxious person making a decision, it's okay for you to say, I need something that I can hold on to to that. Like when I'm doubting this decision, I can go back to that moment. I do not think God will hold back in giving you those moments.
- [64:47]
A
Yeah, yeah. And I, I let me just.
- [64:50]
B
Sorry. That was chaos. That was just my.
- [64:53]
A
I loved every part of that. And I want to say this. We're not, we're not talking about clinical anxiety when we use that word.
- [65:00]
B
I was trying to like, figure out how to say that in a good way.
- [65:02]
A
No, no, no, I know. Because we could just use that word. It's like love. You know, you can love green beans and a wife. You know, it's like we. And that word can be used. And I just, I think that's important to be clear that like there, there are some clinical. You know, there is clinical anxiety, there is clinical depression. That. That needs more help than just advice from scriptures, although the advice from scriptures could help anyone on any level. So there's something else that interesting that happens that he has this moment where he. A fire comes, right? And it's a flash of a fire and then it's gone. I'm going to come back to that in just a second. But I think there's something about that, that he has a moment of clarity. And in that moment of clarity, he names the place he's at 24, Jehovah Shalom, which means the Lord is peace. And he does have a moment of peace right but there's anxiousness before the peace and there's anxiousness after the peace. And I think that that's important that we do have peace, but it doesn't mean that the peace is lasting. Yeah, right. It just lasts for just a moment. Right. And then he comes back to his thoughts. And I think we're. Some people maybe have been taught you're either gonna have peace or you're gonna have anxiousness. And in his story, there's both. Right.
- [66:11]
B
And I will say, like, that's something that I have learned within this past year is that I would say, like the majority of my days are like just chaos and so much going on. And when I start to get anxious about the decisions that I'm making, the first thing I do is I don't always re. Experience that peace, but I go back to the moment I felt it.
- [66:33]
A
That's awesome. Such great advice. And I love in 23, when the Lord says this to him, peace be unto you. Fear not, you're not going to die.
- [66:41]
B
No, like that. That's a great line. That needs to be Yalls mission plaque. That needs to be on your mirror.
- [66:47]
A
That needs to be so good. Right? Which means if he's saying that, I know what he's feeling. Yeah, I know what he's feeling. In the presence of the Lord, he's still in the presence of an angel. He's still feeling doubt and anxiousness. And I love that the Lord's like, hey, you're okay. You're not gonna die.
- [67:02]
B
That's the best line.
- [67:02]
A
It's so good. You're not gonna die. Now it gets even better, I think. So then he goes and it says in verse 25 through, he tears down these false altars, which we don't have today, but we kind of do. And I think in this journey of trying to see what God sees in him, him and trying to trust God's impressions and trying to trust God's promises to him, he actually removes things from his life. And I know this is advice, that's age old advice, but it's true. And I. When Grace and I were talking the other day about when people are making decisions and they have a lot of anxiousness and they have a lot of fear and they're, you know, they're trying to go through that. I actually think we live in an age right now where we need to say to people, you probably should not look at social media for at least a week if you're going to be in a, in a decision making mode like that.
- [67:59]
B
Maybe longer.
- [67:59]
A
Yeah. Yeah. That's why I said at least. Right. Like, we. There's just too much research about, you know, that's. Those are our distracting things right now. And. And Gideon takes out the altars, which is going to be taking out, you know, lust. And it's going to be taking out greed from his life, and it's going to be taking out just whatever is going to get in the way of his. Our feelings are so tender, and our emotions are so fragile, and they can be. And our thoughts are so erratic. Like, I think that we just have to, you know, go the extra mile, you know, like he did. And we have to take things out of our life. If there's anything that, like, will pour fuel on the fire of lust and greed and selfishness in my life, it's actually what I see on Netflix, YouTube and. And. And Tik Tok and Instagram.
- [68:48]
B
And let's just say this, like, in just one sentence. This is not.
- [68:51]
A
And I'm not anti.
- [68:52]
B
But. But I just want to be like, why are we letting some random person from halfway across the country determine the biggest choices in our life?
- [69:00]
A
Yeah. Or give you. Or give you advice.
- [69:02]
B
Yeah. Because we're, like, listening to it. And I'm like, oh, yeah, no, that's really true. And then I'm like, you don't even know me.
- [69:06]
A
Yeah, yeah. You have to be like Moana or whatever her name. The name. The parents of Samson. It sounds like that. Not like the Disney. I mean, maybe we can get like that.
- [69:15]
B
I don't think she deleted it.
- [69:16]
A
Yeah, but I just like that he tears those down. Okay. And then there's this one other scene before the grand finale. And it says this in 36, same chapter. And Gideon said unto God, if you really are going to save Israel and be by my hand, as you've said, face to face to me, I'm going to. I need another sign. I'm going to put a fleece of wool on the floor. And if the dew be on the fleece only in the morning and dry everywhere around it, then I'll know that you really are going to save Israel by my hand, like you. Like you promised. So he lays out that fleece, and in the morning, only the fleece has dew, and the rest of the ground is dry. And then he says this. Okay, okay, okay. Sorry. Please don't be mad, 39. But I'm just wondering if. Because sometimes that feels like dew's gonna land on fleece anyways. Right? So maybe I was a fluke this time. If you really are with me, will you make the ground dewy and then the fleece dry tomorrow morning? I love this guy. I love him. He is me. You love that he is like. And I also love that God is so patient and, and, and he's patient with Gideon, trying to learn to trust him. It takes time to, to trust someone with your life. It takes time to trust the grand promises God has spoken over, over you. Takes time to get the courage to follow through with promptings and impressions that are bigger than you. And I love that the scriptures hold this story that gives us permission to take that time and to try and feel through things and think through things. And there's something about this sign that I really appreciate that it's dew. That, like that flash of fire dew is gone by 9am and it seems to say, we have these moments of clarity and we have these moments of answer, and they come gently. And I actually like that dew comes in the quiet of the morning before the craziness of the day, before your doubts get a chance to wake up, that there is this clear moment from God. And I just love that it's showing that his direction and, and his and his voice are quiet. They don't last very long. They are subtle like, like do is, but they're consistent, right? There will be, there will be some consistency there. So that's actually my favorite part of Gideon's story. The end of his story is fantastic. And this might be the story, you know, even better that now he's like, okay, okay, I learned to trust you. And, and, and now God. It's almost like God's turn to say, now let me see if I can trust you. You know, And I just love the knitting of their hearts together in this, in this, all these experiences. So starting in seven, Gideon's army is, you see in the heading, reduced to three. You can see the numbers work through the numbers in here that Gideon's army was already small and the Midianites were huge. And God keeps reducing Gideon's army. He says, if anyone's afraid, tell them to go home. And then the army goes down. And then he says, now go everyone. Have everyone drink out of the river. And whoever kneels down to drink out of the river, they're going to go home. But the people who scoop up the water to their mouth, they get to stay. So he just goes through these where he's just like, I'm gonna take them down to 300 people is what I'm gonna do. And that way you're gonna Know, like, we knew in every other story that God was the one who did. It wasn't your strength. It wasn't your numbers. I want you to have such a small army that it's clear as day that you couldn't have done it without me is what he's gonna do in this story. And then he has him do the craziest thing. He's like, everybody, all 300, go surround the army. Everyone get a trumpet, and everyone get a lantern. And I want you to cover it with, like, a. Like a. I want you to cover the flame with a. Like a pot, is what I want you to do. And on the signal, I want everyone to blow their trumpet. And then I want you to smash that pot and let that fire, like, just kind of, you know, glow. And that's what they did. They surrounded the army, blew the trumpets. 300 verses, like, 25,000. They smashed the pots and the fire. And then the army ended up being, like, so scatterbrained and confused and everything. They ended up, like, destroying themselves. And Gideon's army didn't even do anything. And the battle was won. That's how it was won.
- [73:46]
B
And I just love that God knew he didn't need fighters. He needed believers.
- [73:50]
A
Yeah.
- [73:51]
B
And there's just something to be said about God looking at that situation and saying, I know who you think you need to be right now, but you're forgetting who I am, so drop it all. As long as you believe, you cannot lose.
- [74:05]
A
Yeah. And this just great story to remember and say, compare it to some of the other ones that we've already seen. Joshua won his battle by circling the city, and Gideon wins it with trumpets and lamps. And David's gonna win his with a rock, and Deborah wins hers with a palm tree, you know, like, every. And Samson with a jawbone of an ass. Right. It's like, I like that the deliverance happens in such unique, different ways all throughout this story that it doesn't look the same. The only constant is God in every one of those stories. And he'll win our fights and fight our fights for us and battle for us and be a strength in very, very different ways. It doesn't have to be the same as anybody else in here, but the constants in this are that he's going to use the weak and the unexpected means. And the great deliverance story that this whole book points to is the same that a boy was born to young parents in a barn, and they grew up in this poor. Of the poor of the poor city. And through a nail and a cross and a garden and a tomb, the greatest deliverance story happened. This story of unexpected deliverers points to the great story of the unexpected deliverer and one who's going to show up in unexpected ways in our life also. But he will be the constant. His presence will be the constant. He says, like Deborah said to Barack, I'm. I'm gonna be with you. That's that. That's. That is my promise. You can have strength. You can have courage. You can do this. You're not gonna die. We are going to be together on this. And that's why that book is so good. That's why that book needs more than one week in church. Good thing in seminary you get five days with it. That's better than that. So anything else you want to say? No. Okay. Such a good book. All right, y'. All, we will see you next week. If you want to follow along in everything we're doing, you can find us on Instagram @don'tmissthis study at this week's Grace&rdavebutler.
- [76:22]
B
And if you want to subscribe to the app or get our weekly newsletter, all of the information can be found@don'tmissthisudy.com
- [76:28]
A
See you next week.