The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/judges/10.htm

Some of the stories of judges are in depth, some are very brief. And the first story in this chapter is about a judge named Tola, and is extremely brief. But stories like this are always a good example to learn more about the history that is in the Bible, world history, our history.

As I’ve said before, only first names were used in those times, so the Bible indicates that this “Tola” was the son of Puah, who was the son of Dodo, who was from the tribe of Issachar, one of Jacob’s sons.

He lived in a place called Shamir, which was in the territory of Ephraim. You can now tell that, independent of which tribe you came from, and despite which section of Israel your tribe inherited from God, the children of Israel move around from place to place. To make it even more personal, I like to look up an ancient map of the middle east to see where these places were located. And you never know if it is in a town, or perhaps just a camp.

In this case, Shamir is one of those places that’s location is in dispute. One source plotted Shamir in north-central Israel west of the Sea of Galilee, another said the name Shamir was a substitute for the name Samaria, and yet another plotted the town in the southern area of Israel southwest of Hebron, which makes the most sense as that is where the territory of Ephraim was.

Just some interesting facts that can help you understand the Bible. And scripture says that Tola judged Israel for 23 years. Now some may think this is pretty insignificant, but can you imagine how interesting it will be to speak to Tola when we meet him in Heaven? Just another reason to strive to be saved…imagine the stories we read about in the Bible, then imagine actually talking to many of those Biblical characters face to face! The stories they can tell will be a thousand times more indepth than what the Bible covers, and we will need eternity in Heaven to meet everyone. I hope. I hope Heaven is crowded.

The next judge was Jair, and we know even less about him. The Bible says he was from Gilead, a town on the east side of the Jordan River in present day Jordan. Research says that it was “significant” to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, but it doesn’t specifically say which territory the town was in.

Once again, we see the children of Israel return to their idolatry, this time even worse. Not only did they worship Baal, they also worshiped the gods of other places like the gods of Syria and the gods of the Philistines. So God removed his hedge of protection and allowed Israel to fall prey to the Philistines and to the people of Ammon which is in Jordan. And again, the children of Israel cried out for salvation, but this time, God told them to pray to the gods they had been worshiping to deliver them.

And the people of Ammon camped on the east side of the Jordan preparing to attack the land, and the children of Israel camped and Mispah and prepared for battle.

Now from the time of Moses until now was about 300 years, and we know from our immediate history how quickly things can spiral downhill. Just 250 years ago were the times of the Puritans who were very strictly religious, and today, I can’t even describe how evil our world is today, full of sex and violence and idolatry. So while we’ve studied just a short snippet in time, it was actually several generations between Moses and Joshua until the time we are reading about where Israel continuously sinned, was saved by God, then sinned again.

And today, I see a world where people are unable to survive without government. They are unable to live independently, always waiting for government to solve their problems, relying on the government, and who would likely be unable to survive without someone ruling over them. And it was very likely the same in those days. Without a dominant figure like Moses to constantly remind them of their purpose in life, they quickly fall prey to Satan and turn their backs on God. The more things change, the more they stay the same. (No, I can’t stake claim to that saying.)

Wouldn’t it be nice if we all learned from history, if we knew our lives and our world would be a much better place if we all just loved and served our God, our creator? But it just isn’t meant to be. Since the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, the stage was set for a battle between God and Satan, and God will prevail in the end. He sent a Messiah once to save us, and in the end, He will send that Messiah again. But it won’t be a blanket salvation. He won’t come to save everyone, not everyone is savable. God cannot allow sin into Heaven again, to repeat history, to taint Heaven. So only the ones who truly love God and Jesus and who have the ability to be obedient will be saved.

I was on social media yesterday and someone was asking about if you had to be baptized to be saved, and many of the responses indicated that all you had to do was “accept” Jesus and you’re guaranteed salvation. I don’t agree. I see many people simply saying “I accept Jesus”, and it is just lip-service. God knows the heart. He knows if you’re just giving “word salad” and if you’re heart is truly in it. And that is why Jesus said that many would call His name, but He wouldn’t know them.

Make sure God knows you. Keep Him in your heart and mind at all times. Talk to Him every chance you get. Read your Bible and get to know Him, get to know what He wants from you. Then stay with Him. Do not forsake Him like the children of Israel did over and over and over.