All Show and No Go

Aug. 24

Read: Judges 12:1-7

All Show and No Go

“The men of Ephraim were called to arms,…and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you?” (v.1)

Pride and arrogance will always lead to contention, destruction, and in many cases death. This is partly why God is so opposed to the proud; for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) The most heated battles of pride come from within. Matthew Henry says it this way: “No contentions are so bitter as those between brethren or rivals for honor. What need we have to watch and pray against evil tempers!”

You may have noticed a trend forming with the men of Ephraim. This is the second time we have seen them bring up this same complaint against a fellow countryman. They came to Gideon saying the exact same thing. (cf.8:1-3) The men of Ephraim had quite the temper. They were so concerned with being “included” in the battle. Why is that? What is going on in their hearts? Why would they get so “angry” with Gideon and with Jephthah? Was it that they had an intense fear of missing out? Ancient F.O.M.O. ? Jephthah pushes back to reveal the true heart of the matter. Where Gideon was driven by his insecurity to plead with the men of Ephraim. Jephthah was having none of it… he pushes back and reveals the heart of the matter!

Notice how the men were “called to arms”. (v.1) The got all suited up and ready to go… so it would LOOK LIKE they were willing to fight. Then they come and accuse Jephthah. They put on a show. “Why didn’t you call us to come and help fight? Why did you leave us out?” (v.1) I imagine they made their accusations LOUDLY so that they could save face… so they could keep up the illusion of “honor”. Jephthah calls them out point blank: “I DID call you… and you didn’t come!” (v.2) Ephraim has a lot of guts to show up after the fight, all geared up, complaining about being left out when in reality they show up late to the battle and the fighting is done! This is no conspiracy against Ephraim! They want to share in the victory and not in the battle. They want the glory of winning without suffering any losses. They want to APPEAR as honorable, but the truth is that the “hung Jephthah out to dry”… left him hangin’ when he needed them the most! Jephthah knew this and countered their posturing with the truth - as well as a fair question: “now you come here and pick a fight with me!?!” If anything, Jephthah could have been understandably mad that they didn’t have his back… but he didn’t roll into their town and pick a fight!

The “straw that breaks the camel’s back” comes in Ephraim’s response: “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” (v.4) So often this is how arrogance responds to the truth, by pushing it out and saying it has no place… by alienating the ones bringing the truth. Ephraim attacks the Gileadites and says they have “no place” in the midst of the people of God! This is how arrogance responds to truth, by insulting those who cary the truth and writing them off… pushing them out… seeking to attack them. In the end, the men of Ephraim are struck down! Pride and arrogance is destroyed by the truth… both figuratively and literally in this case. The temper and pride of the men of Ephraim who had a track record of picking fights with their fellow countrymen led to their destruction… to their death! (v.6) This was no small thing. 42,000. That is the number of men killed. Holy Cow! We see one final warning here: pride, arrogance, and a hot temper is not something that is “rare”… in fact it is widespread. I believe - in part - it spread among the men of Ephraim… this way of thinking and being. I think it can “spread” to us as well. While everyone is scurrying about, making sure that Covid 19 doesn’t spread… maybe we should also worry about the spread of hot tempers, arrogance, pride, and infighting!

May we, as the people of God, seek peace. Blessed are the peacemakers. Pride WILL BE destroyed - one day or another… God is OPPOSED to it therefore its destruction is imminent. Are we the sort of people who dress to look the part, but only do so for “show”? Do we show up AFTER the battle…after all the “hard work”… and then complain that we were left out and not given a chance to participate? Can we handle it if someone else gets the “win”? When people call out to us, do we have their back or do we leave them hanging? Ephraim, as a people, had already received a disproportionate blessing. (cf. Gen. 48:8-22) Yet their hearts were not satisfied…They felt like they deserved more. The prideful and arrogant hunger for honor and the praise of others will never be satisfied, and more often than not ends with our own destruction. May God GRACIOUSLY rescue us from ourselves and our arrogant hearts and give us grateful hearts that bring peace not death. Love you guys. - JDP