Address—William Hayhoe Jr.
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Uh, good evening. Good evening everyone. We're, we're having some technical difficulties, but uh, we can start with the song anyway, Uh, number 88, number 88.
Oh, blessed.
All right, my.
Name is.
With any friends in Germany and I don't know, we're getting paid.
We are going to make a new one.
And.
Umm.
Everything.
My name.
Luxury. Did you see any color? Do you need anything Umm, I don't know. I don't know if it's bleeding under my eyes and.
Mm-hmm.
Uh-huh. Great.
Morning.
Let's pray.
Our God and Father, we thank you that we can all be here at this camp and spend time in fellowship with other believers and also.
00:05:02
Some time to look into the word of God and get some help and direction we trust and I would just ask for your help for me this evening more to be able to express what's on my heart and pray that it would be what you would have. And we pray that if nothing else, the example of the Lord Jesus.
In the subject that we're going to speak about would speak to our hearts and that we would.
We stirred up to follow after the example that He has left for us in humbleness and meekness in the life that He led down here. And we pray this in a worthy and precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
This evening I'd like to look into the Word of God to.
Look at some instructions and some examples on a subject that has a everyday practical.
Influence in the lives of everyone here, from the very oldest one down to perhaps some of the children who are able to understand a little bit of what we're talking about this evening.
And that subject, anyways, the subject that I'd like to look into the word of God about is taking offense. You can click ahead there, Zach.
This is, uh, a phenomenon that I think in our culture today is a problem of epidemic proportions. In our culture, we are consumed with our rights and what we deserve. And because of that, whenever anything is done that doesn't fit with our interests, people are very quick to take offense and as Christians.
I don't.
The culture around us affects our Christian culture and our Christian communities and our daily lives more than I think we perhaps realize. So to start off with, I made a list of some of the different ways that in our day-to-day language we refer to this subject. So Zach will will click through a few here pretty quickly. You can go ahead there. So this is some different ways we use in language to refer to this one is getting offended.
Taking something personally?
Holding a grudge?
And holding something against someone. I just made this list to hopefully help us all understand what it is that we're talking about. And then next, we'll click through these again pretty quick. Zach, I have an outline of what we're going to look at this evening, so you can go ahead there. But first of all, we're going to look at two characteristics to avoid taking offense as seen in the Lord Jesus.
And then we're going to look at 2 examples in the Word of God.
In people want a man, want a woman, where a wrong was done to them and they did not take offense. Go to #3 there. And then we're gonna look that at the action that can flow out of our heart, that exhibits these inner characteristics that we're gonna look at. And then we're gonna talk briefly about the difference between being hurt and taking offense.
And then at the end of the meeting, we're gonna look at two specific cases relating to this subject, 1 being a case where.
We might take offense not because the wrong is done to us, but because the wrong is done to someone close to us that we care about. And then lastly, we're going to look at a case of offense within families or assemblies.
So the first thing we're going to look at, like I mentioned, is 2 Characteristics to avoid taking offense as seen in the Lord Jesus.
So the first one is humbleness.
I think this word is pretty easy to understand, but I put some thoughts up there on it. First, describe negatively humbleness is the opposite of pride. And then what humbleness really means is it sets others before oneself. It takes a low place. The word loneliness is often used in the New Testament and it's the same word in the original. Umm, in place of humbleness.
So we're gonna look at an example in the Lord Jesus.
Of humbleness. You can go ahead, Zach. And this is in Philippians 2.
I can't speak for all the assemblies represented here, but in all the assemblies that I have spent time in in my life.
This passage in Philippians 2 That we're going to read now is perhaps the most commonly read passage in the breaking of bread on Lord's Day mornings. And there's a good reason for that. There's perhaps no other passage that more beautifully expresses how low the Lord Jesus came for you and for me, and that's why it's read so frequently on Sunday morning. So you'll see up there on the slide that I put versus.
00:10:28
Three to five up there. But before we go read those verses, I'd like to go read the verses that we often read on Lord's Day mornings. We'll read those first. So that starts at Philippians 2 and verse 6.
I'll read the last two words of verse five. Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but may himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself.
And became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. I read those verses so it can be right there, fresh in our minds and hearts.
This expression in the Word of God.
With how low the Lord Jesus will come for you and for me, the very Son of God, the first place in heaven He would leave and come down to this earth and become a servant and go all the way to the cross and suffer.
A shameful, horrible, painful death for you and for me.
And I think any true believer here can read those verses and they mean a lot to us what the Lord Jesus would do for you and for me.
And it's good that we can enjoy that and thinking about the Lord Jesus. But the part that I would like to emphasize this evening is perhaps what, at least for me, we tend to think about a little bit less when we read these verses and that these verses were written specifically as an example for us. So now let's read the part that's up on the slide, verse three to five.
Let nothing be done through strife or Vainglory, but in loneliness of mind. That's humbleness. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And I underline this phrase because this is what I wanted to emphasize. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Those verses that we read first.
Expressing what the Lord Jesus did for us, we're called to have that same mind in US.
We're called to not look on our own things, to take the low place, to put others before ourselves.
And the reason I wanted to bring this out is because if we are following this example of the Lord Jesus and taking a low place, putting others before ourselves, when someone does something wrong to us. And there is that temptation to take offense, take things personally. If we've taken the low place and we're following the example of the Lord Jesus, putting others interests before ourselves, including the person that's done something wrong to us.
Then it can help us to not take it personally and hold it against that person.
So humbleness is the first characteristic and the second one is very, very closely connected to humbleness and.
That is meekness. These two words go together are put right together. Many times in both the Old and New Testament, loneliness and meekness are put right together.
This is a word that perhaps we don't as easily understand the meaning of as humbleness because we don't really use this word in our day-to-day conversation as much.
I put some thoughts up there on the slide. First of all, describe negatively. Meekness is the opposite of selfishness, just like humbleness is the opposite of pride. And then described in itself, meekness sets aside yourself in view of God's interest. I think one place we can see that is in the Beatitudes in Matthew, and that when you go through the Beatitudes.
00:15:04
A character, a person who exemplifies a characteristic, and then it states a reward, and often the the reward is the opposite of what that person endures. So it says blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Then when it gets to meekness, it says blessed are the meat, for they shall inherit the earth.
So a meek person is one that has given up themselves in view of God's interest. And that's why in part of the reason, at least in Matthew says they shall inherit the earth because God values that. And when it comes to Millennium, because they've given up themselves and their own interest in view of God's interest, he's going to reward them with an inheritance.
So in a certain sense, meekness is going beyond humbleness. Humbleness is taking a low place. It's saying I'm going to take a low place relative. I'm going to put others before myself. Meekness is going even further beyond that. It's saying I'm completely giving up my own interest in view of God.
And where that comes into the subject that we're looking into this evening.
Is when something is done, something is said about you or wrong is done to you. If you've completely given up your own interest in view of gods and someone wrongs you, you can let it go because you are only occupied with God's interest. Your own interests yourself has no bearing. You've given it up in view of God's interest.
OK, you can go ahead there. So I'd like to look at again how this is exemplified in the Lord Jesus. This is another passage that is often read on Lord's Day mornings, again, because it's so beautifully expresses what the Lord has done for us. First, Peter 2.
21 to 24.
For even here untu were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.
Who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, He threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. So in this verse there's two expressions where there was wrong done to the Lord Jesus by men who had the same wicked heart that you and I have in the middle there it says.
Uh, when he was reviled, when he was spoken evil of, he reviled not again.
When he suffered wrong, he threatened not. There was no response of vengeance or retribution in the Lord's heart. And how could that be in the Lord? Well, we know he couldn't sin, but it gives us a glimpse into here on how that could be. It says he committed himself to him that judges righteously. Lord Jesus had completely given up his own interest for His Father.
And then we know that the next part of this passage here explains what his Father's plan for Him was, and that it says who His own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, That we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness.
So when wrong was done to the Lord Jesus, when he was reviled, when he suffered at the hands of man, there was number response.
There's no retribution, there is no taking offense in his heart because he had set aside his own interests and view of honoring his father.
So after looking at those two characteristics, I'd now like to look at 2 examples of individuals in the word of God who lived out this exhortation in their own lives. So the first one is Moses.
In Numbers chapter 12 and verse one, the story is recounted where Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses.
It's not recorded what they the details of what they said, but they speak against him.
And I like this example because I find that wrong is done to us often take this exact form today someone says something about us that it may be true, it may not be true, but it's certainly not done in kindness and it's done against us and two verses down here it says the man Moses was very meek above all men, which upon the face of the earth and there's no.
Recorded on the PERS part of Moses, Miriam and Aaron undermine his authority as the representative of God amongst the people and they are speaking against him and I'm sure that hurt him. But there's no response from Moses. He left it with the Lord. He wasn't occupied with himself, his own interests, and therefore when this wrong was done to him and they spoke against him, he left it with the Lord. And the Lord did come in and address the situation.
00:20:21
And it's recorded here in the Word of God that the man Moses was very meek.
Above all, men which were upon the face of the earth. So the reason that he was able to respond in that way was he. He'd given up his own interest and he left it with the Lord.
Now I'd like to quickly look at an example of a woman who went through this very similar experience. This is Jeff's daughter. We'll turn to Judges 11, verse 36.
I am. I'm going to quickly recount part of the story here and not read the whole thing for the the sake of time. I I hope perhaps everyone here would know this story. Jeptha had gone out to battle with the Ammonite and Lord had given him a victory and in a moment of self righteousness and pride he'd made this rash vow that when he got back to his house he was going to offer the first thing that came out of his gate.
To the Lord, and he gets home.
And his daughter comes out of the house.
1St and.
If you're anything like me, perhaps you've read this story and you hear that happen and there's this voice in your head almost crying. God, it's not fair. Why would that have to happen to that poor girl? She's going to lose her life because of what her dad did.
Perhaps is a bit of an aside.
On that question of God being fair, God not fair, he never has been fair. He never will be fair. And I'm so glad he's not fair because if God was, God is light and God is love. If God was fair, every person in this room, including me, would spend eternity in hell. And that's a bit of an aside there. But I just when confronted in situations in life where I believe the enemy of our souls is speaking to me.
Saying it's not fair.
Well, fairness is a human concept that we've invented that's concerned with our rights, and it's not interested in in God's rights in our lives. But back to this story here. I want to read this girl's response when she finds out what has happened.
And in human terms, if there is anyone that ever had the right to take something personally, to take offense at this wrong that her father did to her, in human terms, we could say Washington was this girl.
She was gonna lose her life.
And this is her response in Judges 11, verse 36. And she said unto him, My Father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that.
Which have proceeded out of thy mouth, for as much as the Lord had taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
What an example, I don't know if there's anyone here that's ever going to have a wrong done to you to the level that this woman, this poor girl had done to her. And this is her response. And how is she able to respond this way? Because she gave up her own interest in view of God. She says, my father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord.
Dad, if you have made this solemn vow in view of God.
Then you need to do it. And she gave up her own interest.
This example speaks to my own soul so powerfully because I know so many times my own life or something so small is done to me and I respond in pride and selfishness and I hold a grudge against that person that's done it. And it wasn't even, again, in human terms, that big of a deal.
That we could take to heart this example of this girl who is going to lose her life because we're wrong, that her own father had done to her and this is how she responds.
Well, now I'd like to just make a few brief remarks on the action and attitude that can flow out of the heart of someone that exhibits an inner characteristic of humbleness and meekness. Go ahead there, Zach.
00:25:18
And that action is forgiveness. So again, I'll I'll say it again up there as a, as a definition, I suggest for forgiveness, it's the action and or attitude.
That flows out of an inner character of humbleness and meekness in response to a wrong. And again, if we were to describe it negatively, we could say it's the opposite of taking offense.
So.
In relation to the subject of forgiveness, I'd just like to put this question out there. When is it OK to take offense or take something personally or hold a grudge? And this is gonna be the easiest part of this whole talk because that exact question was addressed directly to the Lord Jesus and He answered it. So all we have to do is read the verses.
Matthew 18 verse 21 is up there. This is Peter.
He said to the Lord, Lord, how OFT shall my brother stand against me, and I forgive him till seven times. Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 * 7.
I think it's very clear here that the Lord was giving what we partially at least what we referred to in language as a rhetorical answer. It's not that we're supposed to add up until 70 * 7. The answer is never.
To never take offense, never hold take something personally. To never hold a grudge.
And now as a way of, uh, of review and summary of what we've talked about so far, I have a little diagram up there to summarize what we've talked about so far. And that is that if a wrong, that's the action is done to a person who has developed in following the example of the Lord Jesus and inner character of humbleness and meekness.
Then the response to that wrong will be forgiven.
And on the other hand.
If a wrong is done to someone who is in their character is one more of pride and selfishness, then the response to that wrong would be to take offense.
So now I just like to briefly look at the difference between being hurt.
And getting offended. And this is a very, very important difference.
And again, I'd like to do this by looking at the example of the Lord Jesus.
Psalm 69 is a Psalm that recounts the inner thoughts.
And feelings and experience of the Lord Jesus that prophetically that he went through when he suffered at the hands of man. There's not the only place, but it is one of the one of the places where it's most clearly expressed. And I we could read the whole Psalm, but for the sake of time, I picked out two verses.
That express what the Lord Jesus felt as He was wronged by.
Wicked man.
The first verse I put up there is Psalm 69, verse 20.
And let's just read this and think about it, speaking prophetically of how the Lord Jesus felt when he was wrong.
Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters but I found none. And then a second verse is earlier in the chapter, verse four. They that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully are mighty.
Then I restored that.
Which I took not away.
This is an expression of the heart of the Lord Jesus when he was wrong.
By men. Clearly he was hurt. Incredibly, deeply reproached.
Broken my heart. He was hurt incredibly by what men did to him.
00:30:04
But at the same time that it was true that he was hurt in the deepest manner, it was also equally true those verses that we read in first Peter chapter 2, that when he was reviled.
He reviled not again, and when he suffered he threatened not so, even though he was hurt very deeply. At the same time it was true that there was no part of him that in any way held it against the very one that did it to him. And this difference is very important, because if a wrong is done to us.
It's going to hurt.
And that's OK. It hurts the Lord Jesus when He was wrong. But that second part, that taking offense, holding the grudge, taking it personally, that is what you need to seek to avoid.
So then we might ask the question, OK, well.
Something is wrong is done to me. How can I know whether I've taken offense, whether I'm holding it against the person who's done it wrong? Especially since often this happens in its subconscious. We don't even realize that we're holding against that person. I'm going to recount 1 brief personal story. I was in my late teens at a young people's weekend and we were playing a game.
And my sister, who I love very much, was on my team.
And another young man who is competing very vigorously came along.
And just completely took her out in his effort to get the ball.
And I was mad. I love my sister and I didn't like to see her treated like that, so I took him out.
And but the part that I didn't realize at the time was that that little thing.
He, he, he got a little carried away in games. I think there's a lot of people here that could speak to me getting carried away playing sports because I'm very competitive. It wasn't a very big deal, but I held it against him and I didn't even realize until years later we were in a group and he, he asked me and it's just the two of us is there, is there something I've done that?
That bothers you?
And in that moment, I realized that way back then, years before that one little thing, I hadn't forgiven him, and I was still holding it against him. I didn't even realize it.
And so.
I I recount that to make us think about this question. How can we know when something wrong is done to us? In that case, it was someone close to me, it wasn't to me. How can we know whether we have taken offense?
And the answer that I would suggest is it's not a very deep thought, but if someone does something wrong to you, you need to take that to the Lord and in prayer before the Lord and in reading of the word of God, ask him to help you discern the thoughts and intents of your heart. That's what I put Hebrews 412 up there. I we we know that verse very frequently. The last phrase that worse says that the word of God.
Is a discerner.
Of the thoughts and intents of the heart and perhaps the the prayer of David in the Psalms when he said search me O God and know my thoughts, try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way. Everlasting would be a very appropriate prayer to address to the Lord if something is done to you and and it hurts.
But you, you want, you want to there to be forgiveness to that person. Take it to the Lord and ask him to help you discern your thoughts and to be able to forgive that person. And then, umm, maybe you can just go back one there, Zach.
I would just suggest one test from the Word of God that we could apply to help us discern whether we have forgiven someone. And this would be that expression that we read earlier in first Peter chapter two said of the Lord Jesus. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. So when he was spoken poorly of.
He did not return that in any way and how can we apply that to our own lives? If someone.
Does something to me that's wrong and I ever find myself.
Recounting what that person has done wrong to me to someone else.
00:35:01
I would just suggest on the basis of this adverse, that that would be a little test, a little indication that I have not in the spirit of homeless and meekness, forgiven that person because if I had, I would not be recounting what that person had done to someone else. This can happen very easily in conversation because we we appreciate sympathy.
And we recount what someone else has done wrong to us. We tell it to another person. And even if what we say is true, that's not putting that person in a good light. That's not out of care for a per that person. That's not taking a low place, that's not giving up myself in view of God's interest. So that's a little test I think we can apply to our own lives if we ever find ourselves repeating, oh, this person said this or this person did this to me.
That should be a red flag. There hasn't been real forgiveness in my heart.
OK, so now I'd like to look at two. I'll call them special cases.
Relating to this subject, one is offense on behalf of others. You'll see up there in the title on the slide. I've put quotes around the words on behalf, and we'll see why as we go through. But often it's not necessarily a case of a wrong that's done to me, it's a wrong done to someone that I care about.
Someone does something wrong to a friend or a family member and it hurts because I care about that person.
We care about that person, and it's possible to take offense and hold a grudge in that case as well. And I'd like to look at a story in the Word of God that illustrates how harmful this can be.
That story is in Genesis chapter 34.
This is one of.
The stories in the Word of God that we could say is perhaps a little bit unpleasant. There's a sad, violent story, but it's there to give us instruction.
Again, for the, for the purpose of time, I'm I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I'll, I'll briefly recount what happened here. Jacob had a daughter. Her name was Dinah. She was the direct sister, the daughter of Leah, and therefore the direct sister of Simeon and Levi. And it says in the first verse of Genesis 34 that she went out to Shechem, she Washington. So she went out to see the daughters of the land.
And there was a man in this town called Shechem. The man was also named Shechem. He saw her.
And he took her into his house and they slept together, which was wrong.
And the part of this story where it applies to the subject that we're talking about this evening is when we get to the response.
Of Jacob's sons, and therefore Dinah's brother's response to what happened here.
And in verse we they then check him, he wants to marry Dinah and they get together and they want to make this agreement to give their daughters to each other. And down in verse 13, as they're talking about this, it's recorded there that the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hammer's father deceitfully and said because he had defiled Dina, their sister.
And it's that part at the end of the verse that is to keep the reason that they are answering deceitfully was because he had defiled Dinah, their sister. And the rest of the story goes it's it's very sad. The sons of Jacob fool the the men and to getting circumcised. And then when they're in a weak condition, they go into the city and they.
Slaughter every single person in that city. Murder them.
Men, women and children. Oh, sorry, excuse me. They only the males, but they came in and slew all the men.
And when they come back to Jacob and Jacob confronts them about their action, because this didn't make him look very good in in the presence of all the rest of the people in the land. There's another verse there and the answer that Jacobsons give to Jacob.
Is the very last verse of the chapter and they said should he deal with our sister as with in Harlan.
And the point I'd like to take from the story is that.
I'm sure Jacob's brothers cared about their sister. So Arno Arong was done to her. Umm, she was perhaps partially guilty in the wrong. But this man Shechem, he, he defiled her. He, he acted wrongly towards her. That was wrong.
00:40:15
But Jacob's sons.
Took it as a wrong done to them.
And they justified it in their own minds, this action they took of deceitfully dealing with the men of Shechem and then going and killing them all when they were in a helpless condition. They justified it in their own mind by saying, well, it's OK because of what they did to our sister and the lesson that.
I'd like to take from this story is that I believe Satan does this very, very well with us. That story that I recounted earlier.
I think Satan did it with me. Then he gets us. Something is done to someone close to us and we take it personally. We get offended and hold it against the person who did the wrong. And we justify our attitudes and our actions toward that person in our own mind by saying, well it's OK because I care about this person close to me and therefore it's OK how I act toward this other person. Just like Jacob's son's here when they came back and Jacob said why? Why did you?
Do this, he said. Should they justify saying well he he was, he dealt with our sisters of the harlots, so therefore the fact that we deceitfully dealt with them in mergers and it was OK.
So Lord help us to it if we're put in that situation where we're tempted to.
Hold an attitude or act in a certain way towards someone that has perhaps hurt someone close to us. Be careful that Satan is not fooling you into acting in that way and justifying it in your own mind. Mind by saying it's OK because I'm acting this way because I care about someone. Be careful with that.
OK.
Let's look at a second unique case of this subject, and that is.
Offense within families, for assemblies, or really it could be any form of community.
So.
It hurts when someone does something wrong to us or someone close to us, but it can hurt even more deeply when a wrong is done to us by someone that is close to us, by a family member or someone in our assembly, or someone that we're close to us and they wrong us. That can hurt even more deeply.
And I'd like to look at another example in the Word of God that bears out.
This case.
So I have a map up there on the slide. This is a map of the northern portion of the tribes of Israel, and you can see that I've highlighted in red there two sections on that map. The one in green on the left is the NASA and the one in pink on the right is called on the map East Manasseh.
We often call that the half tribe of Manasseh.
Did you ever wonder why the tribe of Manasseh ended up like that?
It's a very interesting thing to look into and it has to do with this subject that we're talking about this evening. And we'll look into the verses now that that show that that it was because of a wrong done in that family way, way, way back, hundreds of years before a wrong was done. And the other part of the family held a grudge and held it against another part of the family. And years, hundreds of years later, you can see that old wrong and that old lack of.
Come out and lead to civil war within a family. It's a tragic story. We'll look into the verses that show this now.
So first Chronicles 7, verse 14, I think Bruce this morning was mentioning that when you read the whole Bible, you should read the genealogies too. And this is one spot within the genealogies where there's a little detail that puts a puzzle piece into the story and helps us to understand it.
First Chronicles 7 and verse 14 says the sons of Manasseh whom she bare. The she there is referring to Manasseh's wife.
But his concubine, the Aramitis Behr Maker, the father of Gilead. Gilead is the name in the Bible given to that land where the half tribe of Manasseh ended up settling. And you can see that in this other verse that I have up there on the slide, which is Numbers 3239 and 40. That verse there says the children of Maker.
00:45:10
The son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and Moses gave Gilead unto Maker, the son of Manasseh. So, just so we understand what these verses are saying, Manasseh had a wife and she had a son named Ashrie Ellen. In another verse, which I'm not going to look at, she had other sons as well, but he had a concubine.
And that concubine had a son, and that son's name was Maker.
Should Manasseh have had a concubine?
The answer to that is no, he shouldn't have done that. And it's interesting to point out that it wasn't only a concubine, it was a concubine that wasn't from the people of Israel. She was an Aramaic. So Manasseh did something wrong. He went and took a concubine, and he had a son by her. And that son, whose name was Maker, he's the father of all the people of Gilead. This is the half tribe.
That ended up on the side of Jordan. They were all the descendants of this man maker that was the son out of uh.
This relationship between Manasseh and his concubine and then it's interesting to just notice if I Click to the next slide, you'll see I've circled up there in the top right corner. What's the name of the land right next to where that half Dr. settled Arum and that verse we just read said that concubine was an Aramitis. It's it's an interesting detail. I just highlighted it there that when the children of Israel got to the land that one family, the descendants of this concubine they want they.
Right next to that land where where their mother was from. So this wrong was done. Manasseh made a mistake. He shouldn't have done that. And then he had a son, Maker, through that concubine. And we find out hundreds of years later that the rest of that family of Ephriam and NASA Ephraim was the other son of Joseph. They're often put together that the rest of the family, even NASA held it against Maker and against his descendants hundreds and hundreds of years.
That he was the son of a concubine. And we see that come out in the story of Jephthah, which we'll look at now. So again, I we can't read the whole thing here, so I'll just recount it briefly. The story of Jeptha after the part that we already talked about where he defeats the Ammonites, he Co he makes the rash bow, he comes back home and he has to offer his daughter as a sacrifice.
Then in the next chapter is gonna turn to it now in in judges chapter 12.
Verse One says The men of Ephraim, so this is a Ephraim was the brother of Manasseh, gathered themselves together and went northward and set into Jephthah. Wherefore passes thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with thee. We will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
In chapter said unto him, I and my people were at a great strife with the children of Ammon. And when I called you, you delivered me not out of their hands. Perhaps I should just, I didn't say this before, but Jephthah is a member of that, uh, half tribe in the land of Gilead, a descendant of Maker. Verse 3 And when I saw that you delivered me not, I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Wherefore then are you come up to me this day to fight against me then?
Gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim. And this is the critical part right here. It gives the reason for the whole conflict, the root cause, because they, if you might, said, Ye Gilly dice are fugitives of Ephraim among Ephraimites and among the monocytes.
Hundreds of years later after that happened, where Manasseh went and took the concubine and he had Maker.
Through that concubine and makers, the father of the family of Gilead, we come and we find the root cause for this division between that family and the rest of Ephraim and NASA, which we just read. This is what the people of Ephraim Manasseh said. Ye Giladites, your fugitives of Ephraim, among Ephraimites and NASDAQ, you don't really belong. You're the children of a concubine. You've never really belonged. You don't really have a rightful place here.
And.
That route way back then when that wrong was done and there was no, there was no humbleness and meekness on the part of that family asked that you accept Maker and his family. They were made to feel for hundreds of years that they were not really part of this family. And then we get to the story of Jeptha so far along and that route between that family that divided them apart ends up in full blown civil war.
00:50:16
And if we were to keep reading down there, we read after that, after the Gileadites defeated the Ephemites, that they went and took the Fords. And as they came to the floor to try and get back to their own land, they did the test with whether they could say shibla. Then they couldn't say it because they weren't from that country. And when they couldn't pass this test, they they killed them.
So something was done within a family that was wrong. Manasseh went and he took a concubine and that sun maker from that relationship. He didn't do anything wrong. He never did anything wrong. He was the result they were wrong. They had done before but the rest of the family, it must have started then or it never would have passed down. They made him feel you're not one of us, you're just a fugitive.
And it goes down hundreds of years through all the time in Egypt, through the time, through the Exodus. They settle in the land, they get through the land. And evidently that family still felt the same.
See is that half drive that wanted to settle way over on that side of Israel next to where their mother going all the way back was from. They wanted to be separate from the rest of Ephraim and NASA. And then they would come to the civil war where we find the root of it. Given you all are just fugitives, you don't really belong and it caused civil war within a family and the important lesson to take.
Here is that sometimes.
Someone close to us in our own family or our assembly or our friend has something wrong. I wanted someone close within a family. We could say it hurts especially bad and it's especially hard to forgive. But if we are not able to forgive.
Then Satan can use that to drive the wedge like he did with his family here and.
'Cause we could use it as an expression civil war within a family or within an assembly. So it's a very, very, very important thing.
When a wrong is done to us to take it to the Lord and.
Ask Him to discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts through the Word of God, to search us, search our hearts and help us know, and for us to follow after the example of the Lord Jesus, who in humbleness would give up everything.
For us, and then his attitude of meekness, where when he was wrong, when he was reviled, when he suffered at the hands of our wicked hearts, there would be no response in his heart to what was done to him because he completely given up his own interest and his only concern was for God. May we follow after that example and avoid a situation like this where?
There would be a fence taken and forgiveness not granted. It could be used to divide a family or divide an assembly.
And maybe just.
In closing this, read this one verse here Ephesians 4, verse 2.
Walk worthy location with which you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.
Let's pray.
Our God and Father, we.
We thank you for the Word of God and the instruction it has for us. We thank you for the example of the Lord Jesus that's recorded for us that we could read a little bit about this evening. And we would just pray that that example of the Lord Jesus in humbleness and meekness would speak to our hearts and that there would be a response in our hearts to seek to follow after the example of the Lord Jesus.
And that if it is the.
Difficult portion of one's year to have wrongs done to us in the future that we would be able to, in the spirit of homelessness and meekness, forgive, and that as a result there would be blessing in the lives of individuals and families and assemblies. And most of all, that honor and glory could be given to the Lord Jesus who gave up everything.
Even his own life to save us. And so we pray this and worthy impress this name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.