Day 89: When We Use Leadership and God’s Gifts for Ourselves

Today we read Judges 13-16 and Psalm 146 and 147. This is not a child’s tale, while I used to think so when I recall what I learned about Samson. We learn about a man who is given a unique role in Israel and the gift of strength, but instead of using this strength to lead, he uses it for pleasure and revenge. The book of Judges is a tragedy yet it has Messianic hope, delivered time and time again, when God raised up a deliverer at His people’s cry for help. This story reminds us of the cycle of revenge which always escalates and it does not end. Revenge cannot articulate goals besides get even or teach a lesson but what does it mean to get even and is a lesson actually taught is never clear, revenge is a desire that does not have clarity for when it is quenched, this is what makes it particularly dangerous, it is circular. Revenge sells the myth that a situation can be fixed or redeemed with violence, but redemption can never come through violence, it does not bring peace or restoration. Only love can bring redemption and only God’s love can bring the life shifting sustainable type of redemption.

Resource:

Solomon, Marty and Billings, Bret (2017) The Redemption Cycle, Episode 36. BEMA Discipleship Podcast https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/36 

Dr. Mackie, Tim and Collins, Jon. Judges Summary, Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/judges/ 

 

Credits:

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.