We Turn to You Again - Judges 11:8

In the book of Judges we learned how, “it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob. And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not you hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are you come unto me now when you are in distress?”, and in chapter eleven and verse eight of Judges, we learn how,“the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to you now” where we read,

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

The verse reads, “And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to you now, that you may go with us, …” The writer began with the words, “and the elders of Gilead” which means “and the aged and men” “said unto Jephthah” or ”uttered, declared and proclaimed to Jephthah whose name means ‘he opens’”, “therefore we turn again to you now” which means “wherefore, then and for this cause we, the elders of Gilead, return to you, Jephthah, at this time”, “that you may go with us” or “so you, Jephthah, might proceed forward and depart alongside and accompanying us, the elders of Gilead”. The writer shared how the “elders of Gilead” told “Jephthah” that they returned to him so he would accompany them. 

The verse continues, “and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” The writer added the words, “and fight against” which means “and wage war and battle in opposition to” “the children of Ammon” or “the offspring and progeny belonging to Ammon whose name means ’tribal’ and was a people dwelling in Transjordan descended from Lot through Ben-ammi”, “and be our head” which means “and exist as our, the elders and people of Gilead’s, chief, chieftain, choicest and best” “over all the inhabitants of Gilead” or “over each, every, the whole and everyone of the people who live, dwell and abide within Gilead whose name means ‘rocky region’ and was a mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon; sometimes called 'Mount Gilead' or the 'land of Gilead' or just 'Gilead'. Divided into north and south Gilead”. The writer shared how the “elders of Gilead” told “Jephthah” that he would accompany them so they could wage war in opposition to the offspring belonging to “Ammon” and he would serve as their choice leader above every one of the people who dwell within “Gilead”. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how the “elders of Gilead” continued to beseech “Jephthah” to accompany them to wage war in opposition to the offspring of “Ammon”. Their promise to “Jephthah” is that he would not only be their ruler, but also the leader of all the people within “Gilead”. Evidently “Jephthah” had skills and abilities that the “elders of Gilead” thought were necessary to wage war in opposition to “Ammon”, and they needed him to help them. God gives gifts and abilities to people, and He will use those gifts in His Kingdom when we yield to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we submit to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and teach us to use the gifts He has given us in keeping with His purpose, timing and will. (See Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

Next time we learn how Jephthah asked if, “the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance”.