WHAT WAS THE CURSE OF JOTHAM? Jotham was the only surviving son of the 70 sons of Gideon. Their half-brother, Abimelech, was born to a concubine of Gideon, who was from the city of Shechem. After Gideon’s death, Abimelech conspired with the inhabitants of Shechem to overthrow Gideon’s sons, and so he murdered all of
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SHECHEM’S SIN Jotham was the only surviving son of Gideon. All of his brothers had been murdered by their half-brother, Abimelech and Jotham had barely escaped with his life. Abimelech had conspired with his mother’s family who lived in the town of Shechem. Afterwards, the citizens of Shechem made him their king.
GIDEON’S 300 AND THAT OF LEONIDAS Centuries before the celebrated Spartan 300 fought the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC, Gideon’s 300 won a victory over the Midianites in 1210 BC. Gideon and his 300 men were chosen by God to defeat the marauding Midianites and bring peace to Israel for the next 40 years.
WHOM GOD SENDS, GOD STRENGTHENS The Lord told Gideon to go with the strength he had to rescue Israel from the marauding Midianites. But Gideon replied that he was far from being strong, he was the least in his family and from the weakest tribe in Manasseh. Yet God sent him. God often chooses
JESUS EXPLAINS AND PROVES THE RESURRECTION! The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection and only accepted the five books of Moses, came to Jesus presenting a case that they thought would make the idea of the resurrection seem ridiculous. However, Christ’s response made their doubt seem ridiculous instead. After dismissing their multiple wives premise in only
JESUS ANSWERS AN UNANSWERABLE QUESTION The Jewish leaders sent spies to entrap Jesus with what they thought was an unanswerable question. They asked Jesus, “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They had carefully crafted the politically charged question, so that if he answered in the positive, he would offend
THE NECESSITY OF CHILDLIKE FAITH After Jesus rebuked his disciples for preventing parents from bringing their children to Jesus, he gave this spiritual principle concerning the kingdom of God. Those who would desire entrance into the kingdom must first receive it “like a child.” These questions arise: How does a child receive the kingdom?
People are often heard saying, “If I had more, I’d start giving, but I’m just too broke to give right now.” Yet, Jesus taught that faithfulness in large things begins with faithfulness in little things. Stop waiting for a better job, more money, a bigger house, or a nicer car before you start being faithful
HOW DO YOU MEASURE LIFE? How do you measure life? Jesus warned the man who asked him to act as judge in settling his father’s estate that such things were not so important. Too many families have been divided over the disposition of their parents belongings. How sad that a time of mourning is further
THE SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT WAS CHRIST According to the inscription, Psalm 78 was written by the Levite priest, prophet, poet and singer, Asaph, who was appointed chief of the worship leaders by King David (1 Chron. 16:5). In Psalm 78, the Lord inspired Asaph to write an account of the “lessons of the past,” so