BRAGADAYJAH 780

BRAGADAYJAH 780

So the priest was happy to be with the children of Dan and decided to depart with them, taking hold of the ephod and the Teraphim.  So the company marched off putting the little ones and the cattle before them.   But when they were a good way off, the men that were around the house of Micah, gathered themselves together, and pursued after, and eventually overtook the children of Dan.  And so the children of Dan asked the men of Micah why they had come after them; and Micah replied and said, “Because you have taken away my gods which I have made, and also my priest which I consecrated; and yet you ask me why I have come chasing after you? But the children of Dan told Micah not to raise his voice among the people lest some angry ones among them set upon him and his household and kill them; and Micah, realizing that they were too strong for him, turned and went back to his house; and the children of Dan continued on their way, taking with them the gods which Micah had made and the priest.   And when eventually the children of Dan came to the city of Laish, and found it secure and peaceful, they smote the inhabitants with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

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BRAGADAYJAH 779

BRAGADAYJAH 779

Danites removed Images out of Micah’s House.

Having received the report of the spies, the Danites set forth with six thousand armed men and they went and pitched near Kirjathjearim in Judah after which the name of the place was called Mahanehdan. And they marched from there to mount Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. And having arrived there, the five spies who were with them asked them whether they were aware that there were in the house an ephod and teraphim, and graven and molten images?  And whether they knew what they had to do.  So they proceeded and arrived at the house of the Levite and of Micah and saluted him. And the six hundred men positioned themselves at the gate of Micah’s house while the five spies went inside the house and removed the ephod and the teraphim and the graven and molten images out of the house and also took the priest out of the house and placed him by the gate while they removed the articles from Micah’s house.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 778

BRAGADFAYJAH 778

Report of the Five Men

Then the five men departed and began their journey. And when they came to La’ish they saw that the people there that they lived carelessly, the way the Zidonians lived, quietly and securely, having no Magistrate in the land to deal with any matter that should arise among them; yet they kept themselves to themselves and had no dealings with the Zidonians. Then the five spies returned to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol and they were asked what they had seen and what was their report? And the spies said, “Arise let us go up against them for we have seen the land and it very good; let us not stand still. Let us make haste and go and possess the land; for when we go we shall come to a people secure, and to a large land; for God has given it into your hands.  It is a place where there is no lack of any good thing in the land.

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BRAGADAYJAH 777

BRAGADAYJAH 777

In those Days there was no King In Israel

As in those days there was no king in Israel, and at that time the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for as of that time, all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent from their coast five brave men from Zorah and from Eshtaol to spy out the land and to search it; and in their search they ended up at the house of Micah. And while there they heard the voice of the young man, the Levite, whom Micah had made priest; so they question him and asked him who brought him there and what he was doing there. And the priest explained to them his story, and told them how he came to be there, and how Micah had dealt with him. And they told the priest to enquire of God whether the way they were going would be prosperous or not. And the priest told them to go in peace as the Lord would guide them on their way. And so, the five men departed and went on their way.

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Free the Marine Sergeant

Personally, I think the free world should come together to protest, with a view to freeing, the marine sergeant who has been to my mind improperly convicted and imprisoned for murder. It is one thing for those who have never faced the nerve racking experience of being in a snake pit fighting against an implacable and tenacious enemy, to condemn the action of a soldier who has, but quite another to be actually there, where every second could be your last. Taliban fighters are not normal soldiers who should be afforded the facility and courtesy of the Geneva convention; and that said, I think that those who hold court over actions such as that which took place on the field of conflict should take their seats there, and there reach their verdicts.
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BRAGADAYJAH 775

BRAGADAYJAH 776

Micah consecrated a Levite, Priest in his Household.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-Judah of the tribe of Judah who was a Levite and he lived there. But after a while he left Bethlehem-Judah in search of a place to settle, and he eventually came to mount Ephraim and ended up at the house of Micah. And Micah asked him from whence he came, and the man replied and said he was a Levite from Bethlehem-Judah, and he was in search of a place to reside. And so Micah invited the stranger to dwell with him and to be unto him a father and a priest, and offered him a yearly income of ten shekels of silver as well as clothing and food; and the Levite agreed. And the Levite was content to dwell with Micah and Micah was unto him as a son. And Micah consecrated the Levite, and he became a priest in the house of Micah; and Micah then declared that he was then convinced that the Lord would be good to him, because he had a priest in his household.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 775

BRAGADAYJAH 775

Void After the death of Samson

After the death of Samson, there was no further leader and there was a period when everyone did what seemed right in his own eyes. First there was a man called Micah of mount Ephraim. And one day he confessed to his mother that he had stolen from her the eleven hundred shekels of silver that were missing. Apparently his mother had pronounced a curse over the taking of her silver; but when she found out that it was her son who had taken it, she told her son that she had wholly dedicated it unto the Lord; but now she said, “I will give it to you to make a graven image and a molten image.”  But her son restored the silver to her and she took a part of it and had made for her son, a graven image and a molten which were then placed in the house of her son Micah. Besides Micah had a house of gods and he made an ephod and teraphim and consecrated one of his sons a priest. And in those days there was no king in Israel, so every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 774

BRAGADAYJAH 774

Samson Killed more at his death than he did in his Life

So there was Samson, in shackles, blinded, humiliated and degraded being led by the hand by a little boy.  And Samson asked the boy to let him rest a little against the pillars of the house wherein he was being held. Now at that time the house was filled with men and women and the lords of the Philistines not including the more than three thousand men and women that sat on the roof of the building, in order that they might behold the spectacle of Samson been made sport of. And Samson called upon the Lord and said, “O Lord, remember me; I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and upon which it was borne up, and said “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So all the dead which he slew at his death, were more than those he slew in his life.  Then Samson’s brethren and all the house of his father went down and took him and carried him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial place of his father Manoah, Samson having judged Israel twenty years. 

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BRAGADAYJAH 773

BRAGADAYJAH 773

Samson Betrayed Himself

At long last Delilah got Samson to reveal his secret to her; and she rendered him helpless to defend himself against the Philistines, because God was no longer with him to fight for him. The truth is Delilah did not betray Samson; Samson betrayed himself; for his secret was so securely locked away, the thief could not break in and steal until he opened the door to his secret. So the Philistines took Samson and plucked out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and made a spectacle of him.  They bound him with bands of brass, and made him grind in the prison house. In the meantime, Samson’s hair began to grow back; but his strength did not return; and in course of time, the lords of the Philistines held a large gathering to offer unto their god Dagon a sacrifice for delivering Samson into their hands; for they boasted that it was their god who had delivered Samson into their hands. And when the people saw Samson they rejoiced greatly and praised their god for they proclaimed that their god had delivered into their hands, the enemy, Samson, who had slayed many of them as well as their country. And they asked for Samson to be brought out so that they may make sport of him as he was tied between the pillars of the temple of the house where they were.

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BRAGADAYJAH 772

BRAGADAYJAH 772

Delilah Gets Her Wish

After days of constant urging and pleading, Samson gave in and told Delilah, “There has never come a razor on my head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb.  If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me; and I shall become weak like any other man.” And as soon as Delilah saw that Samson had spoken to her from the heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines and told them, to come this last time; for surely Samson had revealed to her the innermost secret of his heart. So the lords of the Philistines came to Delilah and paid her off. After that, Delilah lulled Samson into falling asleep on her lap, and then got a man to come in while he was asleep and shave off the seven locks on his head.  Then she herself started to beat up on Samson and even she was stronger than he; and so she shouted for the last time, “The Philistines are upon thee Samson;” and this time he awoke out of his sleep, he thought to himself that he would go out as before and shake himself and gather his strength; but he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

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BRAGADAYJAH 771

BRAGADAYJAH 771

Samson Fooled Again

Was Samson a fool? One might with justification say that perhaps a person who allows himself to be fooled over and over again, especially by the same person, pulling the same trick may be indeed a fool. I have often heard people criticize a character in a play by saying, “he/she is so silly!” ignoring the fact the actor is playing a roll, and following a script as directed by the director. And so it is in so many of our Bible stories, we tend to forget that the director/script writer is none other than the Creator Himself. When like in a movie He picks actors for the part, He already knows their innermost character, strengths and weaknesses.  In the case of Samson, God already knew his human frailties, but used him to show His, (God’s own) power and dominion over all the earth.

So to continue with the story of Samson and Delilah. Having tried three times and failed she turned on the tears and the wronged spouse façade. “How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me wherein your great strength lies.”  And so she continued day in day out until at last Samson caved in. Who says a wily old ant can’t remove a rubber three plant?
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BRAGADAYJAH 769

BRAGADAYJAH 769

Delilah tries to learn Samson’s Secret

Having made her pact with the Philistines, Delilah asked Samson to tell her the secret of his great strength, and how he may be bound to make him weak. And Samson said to her, that if he was bound with seven green strips of bark that had never been dried, then he would be as weak as any other man. So Delilah told the Philistines what she was told and they brought her the green bark requested, and hid themselves in her chamber while she bound Samson. As soon as she had bound him, she shouted and said, “The Philistines are coming Samson,” and he immediately broke his binding as though they were mere thread, and so his secret remained hidden. But Delilah was not finished, she cried to Samson and complained that he had mocked her, and told her lies and insisted that he told her the truth about the secret of his strength. So Samson told her that if he was bound with new rope that was never before used, then he would be weak as other men. And having told her this second time, she bound him a second time and shouted for the Philistines to come; and once again, Samson was able to break out of his bonds and save himself.  

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The Strongest Man

Who was the Strongest Man?

I am certain that if I conducted a quiz about the strongest man ever, especially among Christians, Samson would get the vote. When I was a little boy I used to hear a calypso, “Ever since the world began, Samson was the strongest man,” and I am sure even today many would say, Samson was the strongest man ever. Yet on examination of the Biblical facts, one may easily discover that Samson was a weakling in reality; weak in character; weak mentally and morally weak.  Time and again he fell for the wiles of a woman, and not only a woman, but women of no reputation. However when we examine even his greatest feats, we find that each time, it was the Spirit of God that came upon him, giving him the strength, enabling and empowering him. And so I suggest without the superintendent Holy Spirit of God Samson was a weakling, indeed no stronger than any other man; as indeed it is written, “Without God, we can do nothing.”

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BRAGADAYJAH 768

BRAGADAYJAH 768

Samson, the Harlot of Gaza and Delilah.

Samson went down to Gaza and saw there a harlot and decided to spend the night with her. And the Philistines heard of it and surrounded the house in the night and waited quietly having surrounded the house, planning to kill him in the morning. But Samson rose at midnight and took the doors of the gate of the city, including the posts upon his shoulders, with him and went to the top of the hill that is opposite Hebron and escaped the Philistines. And after that, Samson fell for a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the Lords of the Philistines contacted her and made a deal with her that each of them would give her eleven hundred pieces of silver if she would entice Samson into telling her the secret of his strength that they may be able to bind and afflict him, she of course revealing the secret to them. 

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BRAGADAYJAH 767

BRAGADAYJAH 767

Samson In the hands of the Philistines

Having been delivered to them, the Philistines railed and shouted threats and insults at Samson intending to humiliate and frighten him preliminary to killing him.  But then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he tore himself free of the cords binding him as if they were mere threads burnt away by fire. Freeing himself, Samson found the jawbone of a dead ass, and using it, he slayed a thousand Philistine soldiers. And Samson proclaimed, “With the jawbone of an ass heaps upon heaps with the jaw of an ass I have slain a thousand men.” And it happened that when he was finished speaking, that he threw away the jawbone out of his hand and called the place Ramath-lehi. And after that he was very thirsty and he called upon the Lord, and the Lord gave him water out of the discarded jaw bone and he called the name of the place Enhakkore which is a place in Lehi. And Samson judged Israel during the days of the Philistine twenty years.      

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BRAGADAYJAH 766

BRAGADAYJAH 766

The Philistines planned to capture Samson

Because of what Samson did to the Philistines, they gathered themselves against him, with the expressed intention of binding him and doing to him as he had done unto them. Then three thousand of the men of Judah went unto Samson where he was on the rock Elam, and asked Samson whether or not he was aware that the Philistines were their ruler, and questioned him regarding what he had done unto the Philistines; but Samson replied and told them he had done unto him as they had done unto him.  And the men of Judah told Samson that they were there to bind him and deliver him to the Philistines.  Therefore Samson told them to swear that they would not themselves kill him once he allowed them to bind him; and they swore to him that they would bind him fast and deliver him to the Philistines, but that they would not themselves try to kill him; so allowed himself to be bound with two new strong cords and taken to the Philistines.

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BRAGADAYJAH 765

BRAGADAYJAH 765

Samson sought to be re-united

It came to pass that after a good while had passed, Samson returned unto his wife with a present for her; but on arrival, her father barred him from entering her chamber, and gave the explanation that he had given her to someone else, as given the passage of time, he thought that Samson hated her, and had abandoned her forever.  The father told Samson that he had another daughter even prettier than her sister, and invited Samson to take her instead. Samson did not accede, but turned away and caught three hundred foxes and tied their tails together, and set them on fire and drove them through the standing cornfields of the Philistines, burning the corn and everything in its wake. When the Philistines enquired who had done the damage, they were told it was Sampson because he was angry that his wife’s father had taken her, and had given her to one of her companions; so the Philistines went and burnt Samson’s wife and her father with fire. But Sampson sought revenge against the Philistines because they had killed his wife and so he attacked them and slaughter them with a great slaughter, and thereafter, he went and dwelt on a high place, the top of a rock called Etam. It may be noted that this place called E’tam may well have been a naturally fortified place, a place where it was not safe to go to, since it was inhabited by wild beasts; a place only the fearless would dare to inhabit. 

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BRAGADAYJAH 764

BRAGADAYJAH 764

Samson Betrayed By His Wife

Some may say Samson’s wife betrayed him, but others may see in the threat by the young men to burn her and her father’s house to be extenuating circumstances which would render her action aimed at saving herself and her father rather than downright betrayal.  That fact notwithstanding, she used her charm on her husband, using not least of all the “you do not love me or you would not,” strategy to get her husband to cave in to her subterfuge. Sampson, of course did not give in to his wife’s charm at first.  “I have not told my secret to my father or my mother,” Samson told his wife. “So what makes you think I would tell it to you?” So when the “You do not really love me,” stratagem did not work, Sampson’s wife put on the sorrowful wife face and it worked.  After she wept and wept over the period of seven days, Sampson gave in and told his wife his secret and she of course told to the young men her people.

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BRAGADAYJAH 763

BRAGADAYJAH 763

At Samson’s feast, there were thirty young men, and Samson decided to play a little game with them; so he spoke them a riddle, and said he to them. “If you can solve this riddle in seven days, I will give each of you a new shirt and a change of garment; but if you cannot solve the riddle each of you will give me one shirt and a change of garment. It was an expensive challenge; for if Samson lost he would pay out thirty shirts and thirty garments; but equally if he won he would have clothes to last him a long time.  Samson was of course quite certain the young men would not have been able to solve the riddle within seven days or at all.  So the young men accepted Samson’s challenge and agreed saying, “Tell us the riddle.” And he said unto them “Out of the eater came forth meat; and out of the strong came forth sweetness. Time went by and none of the men had any clue as to the meaning of the riddle, so in desperation they turned to Samson’s wife on the seventh day.  

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YELLOW, BLACK, OR WHITE

YELLOW, BLACK, White.

Whether you are yellow, black or white, and if you are hung up on colour, you want to read WAR OF THE WORLDS, By Prince John Chaber. An easy read, one day or less, and it will greatly enlighten and UNCOLOUR your thinking.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 762

BRAGADAYJAH 762

Samson Returns to Take the Woman

Having spoken with the Philistine woman and she having pleased him, Samson returned home.  But after a while he decided that he was going to go down and take her; but as he was on his way he came across  the carcass of the lion he had slain on his earlier journey; and lo and behold there was a swarm of bees in the carcass and there, in the carcass was honey. So he took of the honey and went on his way eating it; and he met his father and his mother and gave them some of the honey, and they ate it, he not telling them where the honey came from. So Samson’s father spoke to the woman, and to celebrate as was the custom at the time, Samson gathered his young friends together and held a feast.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 761

Samson on the Move

As a young man Samson went down to a place called Timnath and there he saw a Philistine woman and fell in love with her at first sight. So he went home and told his mother and father about this very beautiful woman whom he had seen, and told his parents to get her for him as he wanted to make her his wife. His father and his mother of course did not approve.  They pointed out that there were plenty of Israelitish women just as beautiful if not more so, why then they asked Samson this foreign uncircumcised woman? But Samson insisted that he wanted her and no other. Even so Samson’s mother and father did not know and did not think that it was the very hand of God on Samson directing him to get involved with the Philistines; that he may carry out His purpose for Samson in dealing with the Philistines, who during that time had dominion over Israel. So he went down to Timnath, his father and his mother with him. And as he approached the vineyard of Timnath, a young lion attacked him; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he took hold of the lion and tore it apart as though it were a young kid; but of this he told not his parents. And Samson went and spoke to the woman and she pleased him even more.

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BRAGADAYJAH 760

BRAGADAYJAH 760

After the angel ascended out of view of Manoah riding on the flame, Manoah proclaimed that it was really a revelation from God himself; so he panicked and told his wife now they had seen God face to face that they would die; (for no man can see God and live!)  But Manoah’s wife reasoned not so, pointing out that if it was God’s intention to kill them, he would not have accepted their burnt offering; on the other hand his wife added, why would God bring us this wonderful news concerning the birth of a son, since she was barren to wit. In any event neither of them died and Manoah’s wife did indeed bare a son and called his name Samson and he grew and the Lord blessed him. It may seem strange that the Scripture described the personage that first appeared to Manoah’s wife and later to both she and her husband as an angel, and that Manoah should then proclaim they had seen God face to face. The explanation is that there have been several such encounters in the Bible which we name a theophany, a word used to describe a manifestation of God in human form, and conceived by the human senses. It was used in the Old Testament to describe a visible appearance of God. In Gen. 12: 7-9, when God appeared unto Abraham; Gen. 18: 1-33 in the form of the two angels; Gen. 32: 22-30 when it was said Jacob wrestled with God. But such appearances are sometimes seen more as Christophonies, ascribed rather to the pre-incarnate appearances of Christ.

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BRAGADAYJAH 759

BRAGADAYJAH 759

The angel of the Lord having given Manoah the confirmation he sought, he invited the angel to remain and have dinner with them; for Manoah did not know he was actually speaking to an angel of the Lord; so the angel told him that he would not sit and eat with him, but that instead of dining with him he should use the bread and meat to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord his name explaining that they would want to do honour to him when the event he had decreed would have come to pass. And the angel replied by asking Manoah why he wanted to know his name pointing out that his name was secret. So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And in the flame of the offering, Manoah and his wife beheld the angel ascend up into heaven, and they saw him no more; thus did Manoah know he had spoken to an angel of the LORD.

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BRAGADAYJAH 758

BRAGADAYJAH 758

So then Manoah’s wife went and told her husband all what the angel of the Lord said to her. “A man of God,” she said, “came to me, and his countenance was like an angel of God, very terrible, but I did not ask him his name or where he came from; but I just knew he was an angel of God. He told me I shall have a son, and I should not drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing during pregnancy, as the child shall be a Nazarite unto God throughout his life.” So Manoah prayed to God and asked him to send the man of God again to repeat the message so that they, he and his wife, would know how to raise up the child.  And God heard Manoah’s prayer and sent an angel again to Manoah’s wife who being alone at the time, ran and got her husband; who when he arrived asked the man whether he was the one who had spoken to his wife; and having been told he was, Manoah asked him to let the thing come to pass that they may know how to take care of the child; and the angel once again cautioned as before that the woman should not drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing as he had commanded her the first time.      

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BRAGADAYJAH 758

BRAGADAYJAH 758

So then Manoah’s wife went and told her husband all what the angel of the Lord said to her. “A man of God,” she said, “came to me, and his countenance was like an angel of God, very terrible, but I did not ask him his name or where he came from; but I just knew he was an angel of God. He told me I shall have a son, and I should not drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing during pregnancy, as the child shall be a Nazarite unto God throughout his life.” So Manoah prayed to God and asked him to send the man of God again to repeat the message so that they, he and his wife, would know how to raise up the child.  And God heard Manoah’s prayer and sent an angel again to Manoah’s wife who being alone at the time, ran and got her husband; who when he arrived asked the man whether he was the one who had spoken to his wife; and having been told he was, Manoah asked him to let the thing come to pass that they may know how to take care of the child; and the angel once again cautioned as before that the woman should not drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing as he had commanded her the first time.      

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BRAGADAYJAH 757

BRAGADAYJAH 757

Between Jephthah and the three kings who followed him, Ibzan, Elon and Abdon, they reigned over Israel thirty one years; but as soon as the last judge died, Israel again fell away from God and He delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoah and his wife was barren and bore no children. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman and said to her, “Behold now thou art barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and have a son. Now therefore, beware I urge you, drink not wine nor strong drink and eat not any unclean thing. For lo you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.    

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BRAGADAYJAH 756

BRAGADAYJAH 756

Jephthah Dies after Judging Israel.

And after judging Israel for six years, Jephthah died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. And after Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. And Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem. And after Ibzan, Elon a Zebulonite judged Israel for ten years. And Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulon.  And after Elon, Abdon the son Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel; and he had forty sons and thirty nephews, and they rode seventy ass colts; and Abdon judged Israel eight years, and he died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.     

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BRAGADAYJAH 755

BRAGADAYJAH 755

Jephthah having subdued the Ammonites, the men of Ephraim gathered together and confronted Jephthah and asked him why he had not called them to go with him in the fight against the Ammonites. And in the process they threatened to burn Jephthah’s house with fire. And Jephthah replied and told them that at the time when he and the children of Israel were under threat from the Ammonites, he did call on the men of Ephraim for help, but they did not respond by helping him. In fact, he told them when he saw that he could get no help from them, he took his life in his hands and ventured forth against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into his hands, so why he asked the men of Ephraim are you now come to fight against me?  So Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, fought against, and smote the Ephraimites because they said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and the Manassites. And the Ephraimites took the passage of the Jordan, thus cutting off the Ephraimites from escaping; and it was so that when an Ephraimite who was escaping came that way pretending to be a Gileadite, he would be asked to pronounce a certain word, Shibboleth, which due to a defect in aspiration he could not pronounce properly, but called it Sibboleth, which revealed that he was in fact an Ephraimite, and resulted in him being slain. And there fell on that day, on the field of battle and on the banks of the Jordan, forty two thousand Ephraimites.   

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BRAGADAYJAH 754

BRAGADAYJAH 754

Jephthah’s Daughter

Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said that if the Lord gave him victory over the children of Ammon, then whatever came out of his house to greet him on his return shall be the Lord’s; and he would offer it up as a burnt offering.  And so it happened that when he returned from conquest of the children of Ammon, it was his only and beloved virgin daughter that came out to meet him. Having allowed her at her request to go up and down the mountain to “Bewail her virginity,” Jephthah then did unto her as he had vowed. The first question then is what did Jephthah contemplate as the most likely thing to come to greet him on his return?  What thing that is, he thought would be brought out to meet him? It is advanced that he did not anticipate a person, least of all his very own daughter. Jephthah would have known that God does not sanction, indeed prohibit, human sacrifices in the form of burnt offerings. Where it was mandated that the first of the womb was the Lord’s, God’s word provided that whether it be male or female it be redeemed, and a price set for such redemption. It is most possible that Jephthah thought he would have been showered with gifts on his return, and it is that gift, or those gifts, he anticipated offering to the Lord as a burnt offering.  In the premises, therefore, it is postulated that Jephthah declared his daughter a perpetual virgin dedicated to the service of the Lord; she never married, and as the context clearly indicates she had anticipation of marriage. So the yearly ritual also suggests that what was thereafter mourned was the fact that she never married; for “her father did unto her according to his vow which he had vowed and she knew no man.” In conclusion, it is not likely that Jephthah offered his daughter as a burnt offering upon the altar as God does not accept human sacrifices.

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BRAGADAYJAH 753

BRAGADAYJAH 753

What a sad encounter that was for Jephthah! When he saw his own daughter, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas my daughter, you have brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back.” And she said unto him, “my father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which has proceeds out of thy mouth; for as much as the LORD has taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountain and bewail my virginity I and my fellows. So he allowed her to go for two months upon the mountain and bewail her virginity; and after that he did with her as he had vowed. And she knew no man, and it became a yearly custom in Israel for the maidens to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter
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BRAGADAYJAH 753

What a sad encounter that was for Jephthah! When he saw his own daughter, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas my daughter, you have brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back.” And she said unto him, “my father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which has proceeds out of thy mouth; for as much as the LORD has taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountain and bewail my virginity I and my fellows. So he allowed her to go for two months upon the mountain and bewail her virginity; and after that he did with her as he had vowed. And she knew no man, and it became a yearly custom in Israel for the maidens to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter

A Word for Today

A Word for Today

What is Man?

The Psalmist David proclaimed, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visits him. For thou has made him a little lower than the angels and has crowned him with glory and honour. Thou has made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou has put all things under his feet.”

What a classical description of who man is.  It outlines what we may call the Creative Chasm.  God, the angels, man and the beasts of the field. Man in other words has a direct linkage, nay, lineage to God.

The Book of Genesis tells us that man was made in God’s image, that is to say, man was made to reflect God, and one of man’s God given attributes is intelligence, reason. In other words man is a rational being, and so it is understood that knowledge of God is by rational intuition.

Accordingly, the irrational man does not and cannot know God. He lacks the rational intuition that lights his path that leads to God; and walking in the dark he stumbles and falls. He is like a man groping in the dark with no oil in his lamp, or, assuming there is some oil, has not the wit nor the means to strike a match.

King Solomon says, to summarize the entire matter, “fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”

A noted philosopher tells us not to be misologists, that is to say, haters of reason; for he says, “Let us not let into our hearts, gentlemen, the idea that there is no soundness in reason, but know that we ourselves are not yet sound, and strive like men for reason.”

Your Creator, not I say, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” To know God, you must be the rational created being that God made you to be. The animals know not God, beings irrational being like irrational men.

Finally the Word says, “He that comes to God must come believing that God is, and is a rewarder of all those who diligently seek Him.” Again it is speaking here about the rational man.

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BRAGADAYJAH 752

BRAGADAYJAH 752

The Spirit of the Lord Attended Jephthah

At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah and he passed over Gilead and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.  And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said, “If thou shall without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands then it shall be that whatever comes forth out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace, from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lord’s, and I shall offer it up for a burnt offering.  So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer unto Minnith, even twenty cities and unto the plain of the vineyards with a very great slaughter, so that the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. And Jephthah came to his house and lo and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tumbrels and with dances and she was his only child having beside her neither sons nor daughters.

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BRAGADAYJAH 752

BRAGADAYJAH 751

Jephthah Continued

“And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. And Israel possessed all the coasts of the Amorites from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan. So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel, so should you now possess it? Do you not possess that which Chemosh your god give you to possess?  So whomsoever the Lord our God drives out from before us, their lands shall we possess. And so now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel or did he ever fight against them? While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along the coasts of Arnon three hundred years?  Why therefore did you not recover them all that time?  Therefore I have not sinned against you, said Jephthah; but you are doing me wrong to come and war against me.  Therefore the Lord our God will this day judge between Israel and the children of Ammon.”

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BRAGADAYJAH 750

BRAGADAYJAH 750

Jephthah’s Case

Well yesterday was set forth what may be designated a lawyer’s theologian’s rationalization of the respective cases of Jephthah and the Ammonite and Moabite kings.  But now let us look at how Jephthah presented and justified his claim for possession. It is a long statement of claim, so we will have to view it in instalments. Said Jephthah, “Israel took not away the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon. But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness, unto the red sea, and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, Let us pass we pray thee through your land; but the king of Edom would not permit us; and similarly we asked the king of Moab and he refused, and Israel abode in Kadesh. And they went along through the wilderness and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the seaside of the land of Moab, and pitched their tent on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab; for Arnon was the border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said unto him, Let us pass we pray thee through thy land into my place. But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast, and gathered all his troops together at Jahaz and fought against Israel. 

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