“Go on!…say Shibboleth!”

[Read Judges 12:1-7]
Here we see the Ephraimites doing what they do best.

• From this (and other) example(s), what does this tell us about their character?
• How did Gideon deal with this same situation?
• Given what we’ve seen of Jephthah so far, how would we expect him to deal with this situation?
• Here we see Israel fighting against Israel. What could this tell us?
• What’s the deal with this “magic word” Shibboleth?
• One phrase is missing from the Israelite’s battle. What is it? What could this mean?

Verse 7, along with Hebrews 11:32-34, tells us our final information about Jephthah.

• What is it?
• what could it mean?

[Read Judges 12:8-15]

Following straight on from Jephthah, we see Ibzan.

• What does Ibzan do to secure peace between tribes?
• How?
• Remembering our previous study on the Significance of Insignificance. What final thoughts can we grasp from the end of this chapter?

[Activity]

It’s interesting to see just how and why God uses these different Judges in different ways… Othniel, after rebuking was given purpose. Ehud gives us God’s method and through his left-handedness shows us God’s unexpected/unorthodox deliverance. God shows us through Deborah and Barak, His requirement is for straightforward obedience. Through Gideon He shows His principle is to use weakness as strength. These Judge’s methods/skills/abilities speak to us about who God is. So what about Jephthah?

• What/How does his story reflect things about God?