Today we begin Judges Chapter 10.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James Version, click HERE.
So right off the bat in rapid fire succession we’re introduced to 2 of the 5 so-called minor Judges Tola and Ya’ir.
The detail we’re provided is scant.
In Tola’s case, we’re told he saved Israel and ruled as a Judge for 23 years.
And that’s about it.
But there is one interesting point about Tola.
Although he was from the tribe of Issachar, for some reason he lived in the hills of Ephraim.
In other words, he didn’t live in the territory God had assigned to Issachar.
This shouldn’t surprise us because Issachar only controlled and occupied a few scraps of territory in their assigned area.
Translation: They weren’t able to successfully dislodge the Canaanites who were living there.
So what did the Issacharites do instead?
They did what all the other weaker tribes did.
They spread themselves out and shared territory with some of the other tribes.
What’s also interesting is that Tola arose and battled for Israel in the same general area where the evil Avimelech had been active.
Does this mean Tola’s activities were connected to the aftermath of Avimelech’s death by a millstone?
Possibly but I can’t say for sure.
Let’s move on to talk about Ya’ir for a minute.
The information we’re given about him is also scarce.
He’s only identified as being from Gilead and we’re given zero information about his family origins.
Some folks say he hailed from the tribe of Manessah because Gilead was located in the region that 1/2 of Manessah had inherited on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
But again, that’s speculation…which leads me to another important point.
We’ve gotta be careful when identifying the tribal identities and geographical origins of Bible characters at this point in Scripture history.
Why?
Because a ton of intermarriage among the tribes had already taken place.
And not only that, a lot of cross border movement in between the tribal territories had also occurred.
This wouldn’t be any different than someone born and raised in Minnesota who has been living in California for the past 20 years saying he’s a Californian.
Scripturally speaking, saying one was from Ephraim could have meant one of two things.
It could’ve meant he was from the tribe of Ephraim OR…
…that his family was now living in Ephraim (although originally from a different tribe).
The truth is if one lives in a given area surrounded by a certain group of people long enough, over time one comes to identify him or herself with that region and the people who live there.
And spiritually speaking, isn’t that kind of the same thing with us?
No matter where we may live in the world, through our faith in the Jewish Messiah, have we not been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel?
Let’s take me for example.
Even though I’m not ethnically Hebrew (as far as I know), not verbally fluent in Hebrew (though I’m studying a little everyday), and have only visited the Holy Land for a 2-week period a couple of years ago (a life-changing experience!), I don’t consider my identity nor my real home to be rooted here in Tokyo, Japan where I’m living now nor in St. Paul, Minnesota where I was born and raised.
As Yeshua said “You are in this world but not of this world”.
And even the Lord said to Israel in Leviticus 25:23…“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers“.
So that’s your big takeaway for today.
Too many people attach their self-esteem and worth as a human being to their racial identity, what language they speak and where they’re from.
You see all this nonsense about white power this and black power that.
And even in the Messianic Congregations, I’ve encountered a lot of folks who harbored some kind of inferiority complex because they weren’t of Jewish blood.
I was one of them.
A long time ago before I became secure in my identity in God, I used to lie about being Jewish.
It was a lie totally rooted in insecurity and a bunch of BS issues I was having about my identity.
And the fact that I’m biracial (half-European and half-Japanese) didn’t help me at the time.
I also noticed that even those who did have some Jewish blood in them seemed to take some kind of perverse and arrogant pride in that fact.
The funniest example was one dude I knew whose father’s mother’s grandmother was Jewish.
Or maybe it was his father’s father who was Jewish.
I can’t remember the exact details now but my point is the guy was only one-quarter or one-eighth Jewish by genealogy and because of only that 25% or 12.5% Jewish blood in him, he pranced around like he was King David in his prime or something.
Like what happened to the other 75% or 80% of that guy’s being?
Did he consider those portion of his genes to be like gentile trash or something?
And actually, I found out he was only one-quarter or one eighth Jewish from his 100% gentile mother when she visited the congregation I was attending at the time.
Originally, he told me and everyone else he was fully one-half Jewish from his father’s side.
Anyways, I digress.
My whole point is looking back, I sense that he too was operating from a place of insecurity and wanting to be seen as Jewish as possible by everyone in the congregation.
One-half, one-quarter or even one-eighth Jewish…
Whatever man!
In hindsight, I laugh now.
Because the insecurities we humans harbor over our fleshly identities is so ridiculous and trivial.
I’m telling you from God’s perspective, none of that matters if you deny Him and disobey His commandments.
As we saw in our study of Judges Chapter 9, the Shechemites who Avimelech and his men slaughtered were a combination of BOTH disobedient Hebrews and heathen Canaanites.
As far as the Lord was concerned, the whole lot of them could have been a bunch of uncircumcised scoundrels.
So that’s my point man.
Know where your true identity lies.
A person who is secure in his or her identity in the Lord ain’t gonna attach their human worth and self-esteem to their ethnic bloodlines anyway.
It doesn’t matter if you’re one-millionth Jewish or 1000% percent Jewish wearing a red cape with a big J on it.
I respect and love BOTH as brothers and sisters in Messiah.
And will deny and separate from both who deny the Lord and His Holy Commandments.
Bottomline, if who you are is not rooted in the image of God (which is how you were created), then it’s rooted in shifting sand molecules.
Over and out.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there male and female,
for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.“
-Galatians 3:28
“So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers.
On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with
God’s people and members of God’s family.”
-Ephesians 2:19
“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
and circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
-Romans 2:29
Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading!