Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Unexpected Mark of a Christian | Historical Books | Judges 12

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

How can you tell if someone is a Christian? Do you withhold grace from fellow Christians? How should we handle disagreements within the church? In today's episode, Keith shares how Judges 12 encourages us to stand out as Christians by loving one another. We love to hear from you all! If you're listening on Spotify, drop a comment below and tell us your biggest takeaway from today's episode. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Judges 12

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. How can you tell if someone is a Christian? If you see a hijab, you know the person is a Muslim. If you see a red dot on a person's forehead, you know they're a Hindu. A yamika, well, they're Jewish. But Christians, we don't have a uniform or a hat to put on.

We have different ethnicities. We listen to different music. We wear different clothes. So how can you tell if someone is a Christian? Jesus gives us the answer in John 13. He said, by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Love, that's supposed to be the defining mark of a Christian. But honestly, that makes me wonder, have I ever seen a Christian? Because when I look around to how Christians treat one another, including how I treat others on social media or in church politics or denominational

divides, I wonder. Facebook fights, Twitter meltdowns, theological tribalism, political war, racial tensions, sometimes it's hard to tell whether we're following Jesus or just looking for a holy war. But it's always been like that. Judges 12 is one of those tragic moments in Israel's history, where the greatest threat doesn't come from an outside enemy. It comes from inside the people of God. Jephtha, the judge of Israel, has just led a victorious battle against the Ammonites. But instead of celebrating, the tribe of Ephraim shows up furious. They weren't invited to the fight, and they feel robbed of the glory, they threatened to burn Jephtha's house down over it. Judges 12-1.

The Ephraimites ask Jeptha, why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head. This isn't the first time the tribe of Ephraim has pulled something like this. They did the same thing to Gideon back in Judges 8, complaining that they weren't included in the battle. But unlike Gideon, who de-escalated the situation with deprecallation. diplomacy. Jeptha doesn't bother with negotiation. He just goes right back at them. He goes to war with

him. Verse four. Jephtha called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim, striking them down. Then comes one of the most brutal scenes in the chapter. The Gileadites, so this is a tribe of Israel, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. That's another tribe in Israel. And whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, let me cross over, the men of Gileadites, the men of Gilead, Ad asked him, are you an Ephraimite? And if he replied, no, they said, all right, say Shibboleth. If he said Sibboleth, because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time. See, this wasn't just a battle, it was a massacre, and it happened because God's people turned on

each other. Here's what's chilling about this story. The Ephraimites didn't look any different from the other Israelites. They were the same people, they were part of the same nation, they were worshipping the same God, but when they spoke, their dialect betrayed them. So they were killed. Forty-two thousand Israelites died, not at the hands of an enemy nation, but at the hands of their own brothers. And here's the thing, when Jephtha ruled, there was no record of peace in Israel. Unlike previous judges who brought stability after their victories, Jeptha's time as a judge is marked by division, bloodshed, and a lack of unity among God's people. The scars of this internal war ran deep. It's easy to shake our heads at Israel's Civil War, but if we're honest, the church today isn't

much different. We might not take swords to each other, but we do cut each other down with our words, our accusations, our self-righteousness. We build walls between denominations, between political tribes and theological camps. We attack fellow believers over politics, worship styles, or minor theological agreements. Why is it that we are often more patient, more gracious, and more willing to listen to people outside the church than we are to our own brothers and sisters in Christ? Jephtha was willing to negotiate with foreign armies, but when it came to his fellow Israelites, he went straight for the kill. Do we do the same thing? Do we extend grace to outsiders but hold grudges against fellow Christians? Do we justify hostility toward Christians because they're wrong about something? Do we

look at people who worship differently, who vote differently, who interpret certain doctrines differently, and think of them as the enemy instead of as our family? Paul saw this same problem in the church in Corinth. They were dealing with division among their members. And in chapter six, Paul asks the church in Corinth a question, a question that would make most Christians today feel uncomfortable. Paul asks them, why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Think about that. Instead of demanding to be right, instead of clinging to our pride, instead of fighting for a reputation, what if we were willing to be wronged for the sake of unity? Isn't that what Jesus did?

In a later chapter, Paul goes on to say that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. He's saying you might be the smartest person in the room. You might have the best theology, the best argument, the most airtight doctrine, but if it doesn't lead to love, what good is it? If your knowledge makes you more arrogant instead of more compassionate, you're missing the point entirely. We often lament the way the world rejects Jesus, but sometimes we are the ones making him look less appealing. If love is supposed to be the mark of a Christian, what does it say about us when we're more eager to win a theological argument than to love our neighbor? And Jeptha's story is a warning of what happens when we forget that we are one people, saved by one God for one

purpose, and ultimately this points us to the only one who can unite us, and that's Jesus. Judges is a book filled with broken leaders, leaders who saved Israel for a time but couldn't change their hearts. But Jesus is the true and better judge, the one who didn't come to win a war against his people, but to win a war for his people. Unlike Jeptha, Jesus didn't strike down his people when they rebelled against him. Instead, he was struck down for them. John 111 says he came to his own, but his own did not receive him. Jesus knows what it's like to be rejected. The Israelites turned on him, the religious leaders opposed him, even his own disciples abandoned him, and yet, how do he respond? Not by calling down fire, not by raising up an army, not by striking

back. Instead, he responded with forgiveness. He prayed from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. While Jephtha responded to rejection with violence, Jesus responded to rejection with surrender. He gave his life to bring peace. He let himself be broken so that his people could be healed. Ephesians 2.14 says this about Jesus, for he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups won and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. And Jesus didn't come to build factions. He came to break down walls. And because of him, we don't have to be known for our divisions anymore. We don't have to fight for status, for theological dominance. We don't have to fight for control. The King of Kings has already won the

only battle that matters, the battle over sin and death. And he calls us to something greater than just being right. He calls us to love. We live in a world that is quick to divide and slow to reconcile. But as followers of Jesus, we are called to be different. Instead of assuming the worst about your fellow believers, extend grace. Instead of arguing to win, listen to understand. Instead of treating people who disagree with us as enemies, let's treat them as our family, as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let me ask you, where in your life do you need to lay down your sword? Maybe it's a church conflict that's gone on too long. Maybe it's a grudge against a fellow Christian, maybe someone who is in your small group. Maybe it's just the way you talk about other Christians when they're not around.

Whatever it is, Jesus calls us to something better. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. And that's the real sign of a Christian. Not a cross necklace, not a theological not a denomination, love. Let's be people who fight for that. Amen.