Judges 12 - Careful of the battles you engage in

Setting – Ephraim confronted Jephthah about not engaging them in the battle to the point of war, but Ephraim was defeated.

Content
– Ephraim confronted Jephthah about not engaging them in the war. Jephthah reminded the Ephramnites about them not helping him with the Ammonites (v. 2) "I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand”. Jephthah was victorious and 42,000 men of Ephraim fell.
Jephthah judged Israel for 6-years. Ibzan from Bethlehem judged for 7-years. Elon from Zebulun judged for 10-years. Abdon a Pirathonite (v. 14), “He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years.”

Application – Be careful of the battles you fight. I know that I want to win all circumstances. Even the little things can consume one in their efforts to overcome the situation. Not all of these circumstances or situations are worth going to battle for. This doesn’t mean you ignore it, but we need to consider the effort put into resolving the situation. The idea is to avoid making mountains out of moles hills.
We need to bring to the Lord all things, big and small, asking for wisdom, direction and insight into how to handle it. In all things, we want to the outcome to give God honor.

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