Daily Devotional from Judges 12—Verse 7Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.Jephthah had humble beginnings, but was still used mightily by God. Yesterday, we read about his humble beginnings. And today, we read about how the Lord continued to bless him as a warrior.Maybe you’ve come from humble beginnings yourself. You doubt that G...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 11—Verse 36 (HCSB)Then she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites.”This story is perplexing. After leading the Israelites in multiple victories, Jephthah celebrates by making a foolish vow to God. Why is it not surprising that his only child is the first to ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 10—Verses 12-14The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”It’s a scary thought that God could aba...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 9--Verse 56Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.This whole chapter is messed up. Everyone throwing their weight around, acting all macho and arrogant, acting in anger, treachery and deceit, murdering brothers and rejoicing in the crime. Messed up.Abimelech began his story hungry for power, contro...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 8—Verses 33-34aAs soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side…Oh Gideon. Such a sad example of a lukewarm life. God chose him to deliver Israel. But he had a very hard...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 7–Verse 2The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand…Wait, what? Too many? Don’t you mean too few?No, Gideon. I said too many. You have too many soldiers. When you win this victory (and you will win), I don’t want you thinking that you won because of the size of your army. Therefore, I’m going to shrink your unit of 32,000 men down to...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 6--Verse 15How can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.And in verse 16, God doesn’t even argue with Gideon. He says, “Yeah, but I will be with you!” Isn’t that just like God? He votes for the least likely to do some of the greatest things. If you don’t feel like you measure up, you might just be in the perf...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 5—Selection from verses 3-12“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing. I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel…To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord…“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break out in a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam.”Like Deborah...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 4--Verse 9And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”God tends to use unexpected things for His glory. Not only was Jael a woman, she was not a warrior or an Israelite; her husband was actually an enemy of Israel.It’s easy to assume certain ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 3--Verse 9But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them…Israel disobeyed.God punished using enemies.Israel cried out to God for help.God sent a savior (judge) who punished the enemies.Repeat.Repeat again.You would think Israel would have learned their lesson. But how many times have we done ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 2--Verse 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.God warned them, and God keeps His word. Could you imagine if he wasn’t true to His word? Without any accountability for their actions, the Israelites would probably lose faith in God rather ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 1—Verse 2The LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”Does anyone else get chills when “The LORD said” comes across their page? I can imagine a deep, rich, booming voice that shakes the earth with its magnificence, glory, and authority. How powerful is our God! Take Judges 1 for example. He brought about victory after victory for the ...  Read More