Daily Devotional from Judges 18--Verses 19b-20“Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. As we read through Judges, we consistently hear 'In those days there was no king in Israel.' Everyone did what was righ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 17—Verse 13Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."Micah, a man who stole from his mother, a man who worshiped idols, a man who ordained his own son as a priest, and finally a man who found a Levite who would live in his house and become his priest says “I know that the Lord will prosper me.”Why? Micah was directly...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 16—Verse 28Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”Samson was not very faithful to God while he judged Israel. He was rash and quick to head into relationships he shouldn’t have been in. His love for Delilah blinded him from seeing ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 15—Verses 18-19And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord andsaid, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand ofyour servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into thehands of the uncircumcised?” And God split open the hollowplace that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And whenhe drank, his spirit returned, and he revived.Samson knew God w...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 14—Verse 6, 9Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him…Out of all the things that happened in this chapter, the most remarkable were preceded by the Spirit of the LORD rushing upon Samson. That’s a principle we can take from this chapter–where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is strength, power, and miracles that would not be possible without him. When the Spirit rus...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 13--Verses 17-19And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife ...  Read More

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