80 Years of Peace



Judges 3:26-31
 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. 31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an ox goad, and he also saved Israel.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Walk softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” It is a threatening life philosophy because underlying these words is the promise of violence if things don’t go the way of the stick bearer. While Ehud didn’t say these words (that we know of) this idea did seems to play out as he became the leader of Israel. His resounding defeat of the Moabites becomes the stuff of legends and God’s people are left in peace for his 80 years of leadership. That’s impressive. One must also assume that during this time the people also remained loyal to the Lord for He would not have tolerated their defection to other gods just because Ehud was their leader.

My mind is captured by the idea of 80 years of peace. When I think back over the history that is just the last 200 years, there has not been 80 consecutive years of peace. Even with the “big stick” of nuclear weapons we have not been given 80 years of peace. Jesus is not a “big stick” but He is a strong tower, a sure defense, and our stronghold. We get to run to Him whenever we are attacked or afraid. He grants to us His peace and it is ours without cost. When we are afraid, it’s not because He has cast us aside or left us to our enemies. No, it is because we have launched out on our own or chosen to follow other gods.

Dear Lord, we know that You alone provide the peace that passes understanding. Our lives are complicated on a personal level and on a cultural level. No matter where we look, there is no peace. So draw our eyes off of the world and even off of ourselves and help us to seek Your face. Only as we attempt to gaze into Your eyes are we going to find a place of peace. Come Lord Jesus, be our peace. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more