Judges 8: Gideon captures and slays the kings of Midian- Zebah and Zalmunna. He leads the people into idolatry by making a golden ephod. Gideon has seventy sons, including Abimelech, the son of his concubine. After Gideon dies, “the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god” (8:33). The cycle of idolatry-deliverance-idolatry continues on. Israel’s leaders, rather than delivering them from their wickedness, actually lead them into even greater wickedness. Sinful human judges cannot save the people from the problem of sin and its consequences. Judges 8 cries out for a greater judge, one who can break the power of our idolatrous hearts
Jeremiah 21: King Zedekiah sends Jeremiah to inquire of Passhur the son of Malciah and Zephaniah the priest whether the Lord will deliver Judah from Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah instructs Passhur and Zephaniah to tell King Zedekiah that Jerusalem will be destroyed and the King and his family taken into captivity- “Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion” (v. 7).
Mark 7- Jesus continues to experience opposition from the Pharisees. The unbelief of the Pharisees is set in contrast to the faith of the Syro-Phoneician woman. Jesus is reconstituting the people of God. His mercy extends to all nations.
Acts 12: Herod Agrippa (the grandson of Herod the Great) kills James the brother of John with the sword and has Peter arrested. The church prays for Peter and an angel of the Lord frees him from prison. After being freed, he meets with the church and describes to them how the Lord brought him out of prison. Herod Agrippa is struck down by an angel of the Lord “because he did not give God the glory” (12:3). We learn from Acts 13 that those who serve and depend upon the Lord are truly blessed, even when killed or imprisoned for the sake of Christ. On the other hand, those who magnify themselves in the sight of men will be judged by God. His wrath and curse abides upon them. Key verse: “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last” (12:23).
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