Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 92, and we are reading from Judges 9, 10, and 11. They're three long chapters with some really Well, as all of Judges, is just an intense, intense book. It is PG 13. It gets worse. Knowing that we've had the first eight chapters of the Book of Judges, it gets worse. Every chapter is worse than the one before. Just keep that in mind if you have people that you want to maybe, I don't know, if you want to edit a little bit of what you expose people to when it comes to the word of God, it is still the word of God, but it is also a hard word, and it gets harder and harder through the Book of Judges. We're also reading a happy story, and that is Ruth Chapter 4.

We're concluding the story of Ruth today. We're also praying Psalm 137. As always, the Bible translation that I am using is the revised standard version, the second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. Hopefully, you can get yours at ascensionpress. Com or at amazon. Com or wherever you find Bibles. Also, you can download your free Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress. Com/bibleinayyear. You also can subscribe to the podcast app and rate it and comment on it if you want in your podcast app. That is all the announcements today. Once again, Judges 9, 10, and 11, Ruth Chapter 4, and pray in Psalm 137. The Book of Judges Chapter 9. Abimelech tries to establish a monarchy. Now Abimelech, the son of Drubabel, went to Shechem to his mother's kinsman and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, which is better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Drubabel rule over you, or that one rule over you? Or that one rule over you. Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

And his mother's kinsman spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the men of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, 'He is our brother. ' And they gave him 70 pieces of silver out of the house of Baalbarit, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers, the sons of Jrubabel, 70 men, upon one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jrubabel, was left, for he hid himself. And all the citizens of Shechem came together, and all bet Milo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem. Jotham's Parable of the Trees, Vine, and Bramble. When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, 'Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ' The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Rain over us. ' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness by which gods and men are honored and go to sway over the trees?

' And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come, you, and rain over us. ' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness 'I good fruit, and go to sway over the trees? ' And the trees said to the vine, 'Come, you, and reign over us. ' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine, which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees? ' Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come, you, and reign over us. ' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. ' Now, therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubabel and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved, for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Midian, and you have I have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, 70 men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid servant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman.

If you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubabel and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and bet Milo, and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and from Bet Milo, and devour Abimelech. ' And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beir, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech, his brother. The downfall of Abimelech. Abimelech ruled over Israel Three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the 70 sons of Jrubabel might come and their blood be laid upon Abimelech, their brother who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers. And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way, and it was told Abimelech. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, moved into Shechem with his kinsmen, and the men of Shechem put confidence in him.

And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards, and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their God, and ate, and drank, and reviled Abimelech. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech? And who are we of Shechem that we should serve him? Did not the son of Drubabel and Zebel, his officer, serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him? Would that this people were under my hand, then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, 'Increase your army and come out. ' When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ibed, his anger was kindled, and he sent messengers to Abimelech at Aroma, saying, 'Behold, Gaal, the son of Ibed, And his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. Now, therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields. Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city, and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers.

And Abimelech and all the men that were with him rose up by night and laid wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the men that were with him rose up from the ambush. And when Gaal saw the men, he said to Zeebel, 'Look, men are coming down from the mountain tops. ' And Zeebel said to him, 'You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. ' Gaal spoke again and said, 'Look, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the diviner's oak. ' Then Zeebel said to him, 'Where is your mouth now? ' You who said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? ' 'Are not these the men whom you despised? ' 'Go out now and fight with them. ' And Gaal went out at the head of the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt at Aroma, and Zibal drove out Gaal and his kinsmen so that they could not live on at Shechem.

On the following day, the men went out into the fields, and Abimelech was told. He took his men and divided them into three companies and laid weight in the fields. And he looked and saw the men coming out of the city, and he rose against them and slew them. Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and slew them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and killed the people that were in it, and he raised the city and sowed it with salt. When all the people of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of Elberit. Abimelech was told that all the people of the tower of Shechem were gathered together, and Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon. He and all the men that were with him, and Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men that were with him, 'What you have seen me do, make hast to do as I have done.

' So every one of the people cut down his bundle, and following Abimelech, put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women. Then Abimelech went to Thebes, and encamped against Thebes, and took it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the people of the city fled to it, all the men and women, and shut themselves in it. And they went to the roof of the tower, and Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, 'Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, 'a woman killed him. ' And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his home. Thus, God repaid the crime of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his 70 brothers.

And God also made all the wickedness of the men of Shechem fall back upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerusalem. Abel. Chapter 10, Tola and Jair. After Abimelech, there arose to deliver Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issahar, and he lived at Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. And he judged Israel 23 years. Then he died and was buried at Shemir. After him rose Jair, the Gileadite, who judged Israel 22 years. And he had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys. And they had 30 cities called Havoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died, and was buried in Qammon. Oppression by the Philistines and Ammonites. And the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and serve the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the children of Israel that year.

For 18 years, they oppressed all the sons of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was sorely distressed. And the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, 'We have sinned against you because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals. And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, 'Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Ammonites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sedonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore, I will deliver you no more. Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your distress. And the sons of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to you. Only deliver us, we beg you this day. ' So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord.

And he became indignant over the misery of Israel. Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped at Gilead, and the sons of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, 'Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. ' Chapter 11, Jephtha. Now, Jephtha, the Gileadite, was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. Gilead was the father of Jephtha, and Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they thrust Jephda out and said to him, 'You shall not inherit in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. ' Then Jephda fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob. And Wurthus fellows collected round Jephda and went raiding with him. After a time, the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephda from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephtha, 'Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the Ammonites.

' But Jephtha said to the elders of Gilead, 'Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble? ' And the elders of Gilead said to Jephtha, 'That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 'Jephtha said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head. And the elders of Gilead said to Jephtha, The Lord will be witnessed between us. We will surely do as you say. So Jephtha went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over And Jephtha spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizbah. Then Jephtha sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, 'What have you against me that you have come to me to fight against my land? And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephda, Because Israel, on coming from Egypt, took away my land from the Arnon to the Jebach and to the Jordan.

Now, therefore, restore it peaceably. And Jephda sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites and said to him, Thus says Jephda Noah. Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, 'Let us pass, we beg, through your land, but the king of Edom would not listen. ' And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. Israel then sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Hechban, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we beg, through your land to our country. But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jaha'z and fought with Israel.

And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country. And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbak, and from the wilderness to the Jordan. So then, the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel. And are you to take possession of them? Will you not possess what Shemash, your God, gives you to possess? And all that the Lord, our God, has dispossessed before us, we will possess. Now, are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? While Israel dwelled in Heshban and its villages, and in Erewer in its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnan, 300 years, why did you not recover them within that time? I, therefore, have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the sons of Israel and the people of Ammon.

But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephtha, which he sent to him. Jephtha's Vow. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephtha, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from the Mizpah of Gilead, he passed on to the Ammonites. And Jephtha made a vow to the Lord and said, If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me when I 'I will return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord's. I will offer him up for a burnt offering. ' So Jephtha crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Arouher to the neighborhood of Minith, 20 cities, and as far as Abel Keremim, with a very great slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued before the sons of Israel. Jephtha's daughter. Then Jephtha came to his home at Mispa, and behold, His daughter came out to meet him with timbrals and with dances. She was his only child. Beside her, he had neither son nor daughter.

And when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, you have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me, for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow. And she said to him, My Father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me, according to what has gone forth from your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites. And she said to her father, Let this one thing be done for me. Let me alone two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. And he said, 'Go. ' And he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made. She had never known a man. And it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in the year.

The Book of Ruth, Chapter 4: The marriage of Boaz and Ruth. And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the next of kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, 'turn aside, friend, sit down here, ' And he turned aside and sat down. And he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, 'sit down here. ' So they sat down. Then he said to the next of kin, 'Neomy, who has come back from the country of Moab is selling the parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman, Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, 'Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. ' But if you will not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one beside you to redeem it, and I come after you. And he said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also buying Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of the dead, in order to restore the name of the dead to his inheritance.

Then the next of kin said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it. Now, this was the custom in former times in Israel, concerning redeeming and exchanging. To confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other. And this was the manner of a testing in Israel. So when the next of kin said to Boaz, 'Buy it for yourself, ' he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, 'You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, and that belonged to Kilian and to Malone. Also, Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of Malone, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day. Then, all the people who are at the gate, and all the elders, said, 'We are witnesses. ' May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.

May you prosper in Ephratha and be renowned in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman. The genealogy of David. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without next of kin, and may his name be renowned in Israel. He shall be to you a restoreer of life and a nourrischer of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, 'A son has been born to Naomi. ' They named him Obed, He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now, these are the descendants of Perez. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron, the father of Ram, Ram, the father of Aminnadab, Aminnadab, the father of Nashon.

Nashon, of Salmon, Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, Obed of Jesse, Jesse of David. Someone 137, Lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there, we hung up our liars, for there our captors required of us songs, and our tormenters mirth, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right-hand wither. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. 'Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites, the day of Jerusalem, and how they said, 'Rase it, raise it, down to its foundations. ' 'Oh, daughter of Babylon, you devastator, happy shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us? Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock? Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We give you honor, and we just declare our love for you and our gratitude for who you are and all you have given to us this day and every day.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy spirit. Amen. I know that it has been a long day, a long day of readings and a bunch of stories when it comes to the Book of Judges and even the happy conclusion of the Book of Ruth. But it's a couple of brief things. We began with chapter 9. Remember, Jerubabel, whose name was Gideon as well. Gideon is way easier to say than Jerubabel. I just have to say that right now. Gideon, Jrubabel, had 70 sons, 71 sons, really. And Abimelech decides that he wants to be the king. Now, Gideon had set himself up essentially as the king, and this is one of his downfalls. Then the next group, the next generation, his son Abimelech, did the same thing. Again, one of the things we find is in this Book of Judges, this cycle of God's close to his people. He blesses them. Then they turn away. They turn to other gods. Then tragedy befalls them. They repent, they turn back to the Lord, they call out to him, and God helps them, and they're restored.

We see this a bunch of times, in fact, 12 or 13 times here in the Book of Judges. The story of Abimelech is no different. We have the stories not of heroes, but of protagonists who aren't necessarily all together. For example, the great story, when I say great, I mean just big story of Jephthah. He was the Gileadite, one of the sons of Gilead, who was the son of a harlot, and so he's rejected by his family, but he becomes a mighty warrior, a boy named Sue type situation, right? Where here's a Johnny Cash song where he gets kicked out of the family. Our Johnny Cash version is he's named Sue, and so he gets beat up a lot. It becomes really, really tough. Well, same thing when it comes to Jephtha. He's kicked out of the family, becomes this mighty warrior, becomes basically a bandit. Then when the Ammonites come against the tribe of Gilead, they know who to turn to. They turn to the guy they rejected who became the toughest person on the block. Now, the problem is not that Jephtha led the battle against the Ammonites. Jephtha seems to have done a pretty good job there.

The problem is his vow. And this vow is so problematic that what does Jephtha say? He says, God, if you give me... And he's turning to the God of Israel, which makes no sense because Jephtha knows the truth. He He knows the reality of the God of Israel, that he does not desire human sacrifice. In fact, that he prohibits human sacrifice. And yet Jephtha makes this rash vow where he says, God, if you give me victory, whoever comes out of my door, out of the house, when I come back home, I will sacrifice them to you. Which, again, when I first read this story years and years and years ago, it was so problematic because I was still under the impression that every story in the Bible, if a hero of the Bible does this, it must be somehow okay. I'm trying to bend my mind around, why would be okay? The reality is, in the Book of Judges, we have all of these judges who do one thing okay and another thing very not okay. They have goodness in some areas of strength or of might or of being able to fight, but they are foolish as well.

They're unfaithful as well. And Jephtha is no different. In fact, Jephthah fulfills his vow that he made, this rash vow to the Lord, not because God wanted it. And that's the crazy, dark, and dangerous thing here, is it is possible that Jephtha did the same thing that Israel would later do. There is this God, Molaq. We've heard about him already from the Canaanites. And those who worshiped Molaq would offer up their sons and daughters in sacrifice to Molaq. And here is Jephtha doing the same thing to the God of Israel, which is absolutely prohibited. When the Israelis would have heard the story of Jephth, they would have heard the story of a mighty warrior who had done something incredibly, mightily foolish. One of the things we just recognize for ourselves in this last minute of this podcast today is our need not only to want to make covenant with the Lord, not only to want to make promises to the Lord, but also our need to make wise promises to the Lord, our need to make wise oaths. If we ever get to a place where we make an oath or promise God something that it is consistent and congruent with his character, with who he is, that God does not desire the death of the living, the death of anyone, but desires that all might come to life and have fullness of life.

And so these rash vows that Jeff, that this one rash vow that Jeff had made is not a model for us unless it is a model for us to avoid. So we continue to pray. I'm praying for you, especially on these long days where it's just a lot of words in a lot of minutes. But I'm so grateful for everyone who's on this journey with us. As I said, it's day 92. You guys, we're over three months into this reading the Bible through these 365 days. Man, what a gift, absolute gift. Absolute gift. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.